Political news

• Past scandal likely to send Fox bid for sky to Ofcom

  03-03-2017 21:09
  Culture secretary is ‘minded’ to intervene on media plurality and standards concerns
  
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• Fiona the Unemployed Bettong v. Centrelink's Tudgesquad | First Dog on the Moon

  03-03-2017 21:00
  
  Prepare to send this Bettong’s private information to a journalist or two so they can tell our side of the story. Deploy the Tudge-o-matic 5000!Sign up here to get an email whenever First Dog cartoons are published
  Get all your needs met at the First Dog shop if what you need is First Dog merchandise and printsContinue reading...
  
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• The Guardian view on Tory politics: a crisis submerged by government | Editorial

  03-03-2017 20:38
  
  Conservatism is seeing a revolutionary nationalist movement grafted on top of a liberal internationalist one. When it fails to live up to its promises there will be troubleThe prime minister’s speech in Scotland is a reminder that the Tories appear in the ascendant. Theresa May taunted the governing Scottish National party as an establishment out of touch with voters’ real-life concerns, pitching unity in diversity with a clever payoff line: “We are four nations, but at heart w
  
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• Labour caught in struggle to survive media attacks, says John McDonnell

  03-03-2017 20:34
  
  Shadow chancellor says people are suffering but Labour is not getting chance to promote policies to transform societyJohn McDonnell says that the Labour leadership has been embroiled in a “360 degree struggle to survive” in the face of repeated attacks in the media and anonymous briefings.In an interview with the Guardian, the shadow chancellor said his team had been involved in a daily battle against critics who have “been coming at us”, making it more difficult to get t
  
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• Theresa May’s pointless supremacy | Deborah Orr

  03-03-2017 20:18
  
  If the prime minister knows what she’s doing, she is doing it awesomely well. But what is it all for?I just don’t know what to make of Theresa May, and I’m not the only one. In early January, the Economist dubbed her “Theresa Maybe: Britain’s indecisive premier.” Two months onand an editorial this week describes her as: “Monarch of all she surveys.” The pertinent change during this period has been May’s adoption of hard Brexit, which no one c
  
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• May’s handling of Brexit riles Scottish nationalists

  03-03-2017 20:02
  Ignoring Scotland’s views has brought back the independence debate
  
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• Bereavement benefit cut 'to help people readjust to single-parent life'

  03-03-2017 19:56
  
  Conservative minister defends reduction in payments to widows and widowers with young childrenA Conservative minister has defended a decision to reduce benefits paid to widows and widowers with young children by claiming the old system risked stopping people from “readjusting” to life as a single parent.Richard Harrington claimed that a societal shift in which women were more likely to work meant it was right to reduce the time over which payments were made. He also defended not exte
  
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• Zoo inspectors to face questions from MPs over 500 animal deaths

  03-03-2017 19:52
  
  Committee wants answers over conditions at South Lakes Safari zoo and why action wasn’t taken earlierZoo inspectors have been called to give evidence to MPs after it was revealed that nearly 500 animals died at a zoo in Cumbria in less than four years.This week a damning report on conditions at South Lakes Safari zoo in Dalton-in-Furness, Cumbria, which is home to more than 1,500 animals, found that 486 inhabitants had died of causes including emaciation and hypothermia between December 20
  
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• Why is this children's heart unit facing closure? A day on the NHS frontline

  03-03-2017 19:23
  
  The Royal Brompton hospital’s heart centre is among the best in the country, so why is it earmarked for closure? We spend a day with patients and staff to try to understand the vexed questions at the heart of the government’s planned NHS reforms 5.26pm GMTFor our last appointment of the day, we meet Robert Craig, the chief operating officer at Royal Brompton. NHS England’s plans to close the unit might be emotionally distressing for staff and patients, but if giving other hospi
  
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• Martin Rowson on Theresa May and Nicola Sturgeon – cartoon

  03-03-2017 19:20
  
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• Sex education finally gets an upgrade

  03-03-2017 19:05
  Government action reduced teen pregnancies and its new intervention is welcome news
  
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• Fond memories of Gerald Kaufman | Letters

  03-03-2017 18:53
  
  In your obituary of Gerald Kaufman (28 February), you refer to his support for the Palestinians. When I first met him, more than 30 years ago, he was a supporter of the Labour Friends of Israel and Poale Zion. It was the horror and brutality of Israel’s occupation and its refusal to concede a Palestinian state that led him to speak out, as a Jewish MP, against Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. On 15 January 2009, at the time of Israel’s Cast Lead bombardment of Gaz
  
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• Rape exemption clause for tax credits 'in chaos', says MP Alison Thewliss

  03-03-2017 18:49
  
  Victims meant to be exempt from two-child limit, but with weeks to launch no systems are in place, claims SNP politicianThe government’s plan to exempt women from a two-child limit for claiming tax credits if they have been raped are in “absolute chaos”, a leading opponent has argued, with no system in place for the scheme just weeks before it begins.The proposal to restrict tax credit entitlement for any new claimants to a maximum of two children was announced in 2015 budget b
  
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• Nigel Farage 'knighted' in bizarre TV skit – video

  03-03-2017 18:49
  
  Ukip’s former leader Nigel Farage is ‘knighted’ by a child dressed as the Queen on Sam Delaney’s News Thing programme on RT. Shortly afterwards, the young girl surprises Farage by telling him: ‘my mummy says you hate foreigners’, to which the host, Delaney, quickly ends the show as laughter is heard in the studio Continue reading...
  
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• Sinn Fein makes early advances in Northern Ireland poll

  03-03-2017 18:29
  Unionist voters seem put off by DUP involvement in public-spending scandal
  
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• Shaping up

  03-03-2017 18:14 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Former cabinet minister Lord Falconer talks Labour's future and his "obsessive" diet with the BBC's Becky Milligan.
  
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• Housing Benefit For 18-21 Year-Olds Axed Under New Rule Slipped Out By Department For Work And Pensions

  03-03-2017 18:13
  
  Housing benefit is to be axed for 18-21 year-olds within weeks after ministers decided to go ahead with controversial plans to force young unemployed people to live with their parents or pay their own rent.
  Labour condemned the move, which was slipped out on a quiet Friday in new regulations published to Parliament when the House of Commons was not sitting.
  The new Universal Credit regulations, which are secondary not primary legislation and open to less scrutiny by MPs, state that jobless unde
  
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• Charities set for £2bn funding from dormant accounts

  03-03-2017 17:34 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Cash languishing in dormant savings accounts and other unclaimed assets could be spent on good causes.
  
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• Theresa May lays down independence vote challenge to Nicola Sturgeon

  03-03-2017 17:26
  
  PM escalates attacks on SNP demand for greater autonomy after Brexit, throwing down referendum gauntletTheresa May has signalled a tougher line on Scottish demands for greater devolution after Brexit, laying down a clear challenge to Nicola Sturgeon to call another independence referendum.
  The prime minister told the Scottish Conservative party she would fight against any further decentralisation of power which meant the UK became “a looser and weaker union”. “We cannot allow o
  
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• Nigel Farage Got Knighted By A Child Dressed As The Queen On Russia Today

  03-03-2017 17:20
  
  Nigel Farage has been given an “honourary” knighthood by a child dressed as the Queen on Russia Today. 
  Yes, you read that correctly.
  The former Ukip leader got down on one knee in the Kremlin-backed TV station’s studios to receive the honour it is rumoured he is so sought after. 
  “Come on then,” he said, as the young girl - wearing a plastic golden crown and red cloak - rested her toy sword on both his shoulders. 
  Presenter Sam Delaney announced: &ld
  
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• Fox’s £11.7bn Sky bid faces Ofcom scrutiny

  03-03-2017 17:12
  Culture secretary is ‘minded to’ intervene on media plurality and standards concerns
  
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• Politics Live - readers' edition: Friday 3 March

  03-03-2017 16:30
  
  Discuss today’s politics and share links to breaking news, and to the most interesting stories and blogs on the web3.32pm GMTWe’re wrapping up updates above the line - but comments below will remain open. Thanks for all your contributions today, and have a good weekend.3.30pm GMTWe have a handy interactive outlining the latest results in the Northern Ireland assembly election.Related: Northern Ireland Assembly election: latest resultsContinue reading...
  
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• Sky takeover: Minister 'minded' to examine Fox takeover

  03-03-2017 16:22 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Culture Secretary Karen Bradley cites concerns over competition and broadcasting standards.
  
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• Labour Loses Out In Council By-Election Results After Jeremy Corbyn Attacked Media For Ignoring Them

  03-03-2017 16:14
  
  Labour suffered a series of disappointing results in council elections last night, as they lost a long-held seat to the Tories and their share of the vote plummeted elsewhere. 
  The party failed to hold on to a council seat in Kersal, Salford, their first loss in the city since 1989. Their vote share fell by 21.5%. 
  Jeremy Corbyn’s preferred measure for Labour’s success is local council by-elections. He has also previously attacked the media for ignoring a gain from Ukip on
  
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• May’s speech shows how little Scotland means in her dangerous game of Brexit | Lesley Riddoch

  03-03-2017 16:08
  
  The Brexit vote has changed everything, and independence is now a realistic option for many people who voted no to it just two years agoHow did Theresa May’s Scottish Conservative party conference speech go down? Ah dear. It’s like shooting fish in a barrel.“Government is not a platform from which to pursue constitutional obsessions,” said the Tory leader, even though she is presiding over the economic and social nightmare that is Brexit, brought on by her own party&rsquo
  
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• Daily Politics: The political week in 60 seconds

  03-03-2017 15:31 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A 60-second look back at the biggest headlines of the political week, by Daily Politics reporter Adam Fleming.
  
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• How can Labour reunite? – Politics Weekly podcast

  03-03-2017 15:17
  
  Anushka Asthana is joined by Paul Mason, Zoe Williams and Richard Angell to discuss whether Labour’s warring factions can put aside their differences and reconnect with lost voters. Plus John McDonnell on tackling tax avoidance After a battering in Copeland and just about hanging on in Stoke, the Labour party is struggling to convince what was once its core vote amid bitter divisions among MPs and the party membership. As the party tries to face in all directions on Brexit, polls show the
  
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• 'Draft-Dodging' Donald Trump Blasted For Speech To Military Aboard Warship

  03-03-2017 14:59
  
  Donald Trump has drawn sharp criticism from US veterans after making a speech aboard a new warship carrier whilst wearing a military coat and hat - despite his own questionable service record.
  The President appeared to relish sporting a green naval bomber jacket and baseball cap when he spoke in Virginia on Thursday and made clear his delight: “You know what, they just gave me this beautiful jacket. They said, ‘Here Mr President, please take this home.’
  “I said, &lsq
  
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• Wanted: strong centrist European leaders with star quality

  03-03-2017 14:53
  
  Elections in the Netherlands, France and Germany highlight lack of dynamic political talent emerging from centre groundAfter Brexit and Donald Trump’s shock victory, international attention is focused on the advance of comparable populist, nativist and nationalist forces across Europe in the run-up to this month’s pivotal election in the Netherlands and upcoming polls in France and Germany.But another, less dramatic side of the story has received less scrutiny: the failure of politic
  
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• Labour membership falls by 26,000 in six months

  03-03-2017 14:38 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Brexit is blamed by some for reason to quit but membership is still way above pre-Corbyn levels.
  
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• Theresa May quits crisps and a factory shuts. How many was she eating? | John Crace

  03-03-2017 14:31
  
  This week the Obamas signed book deals, Owen Paterson talked fish, and the Guardian politics team took part in a quiz A couple of months ago my next-door neighbour told me the pipe bringing water into our house had a leak and was slowly flooding her front garden. I called Thames Water and a man came round. After drawing a blue arrow on the path to show where the leak was, he went back to his van to phone the helpline to get someone to come round and fix it. Ten minutes later he knocked on the do
  
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• Another bumpy week for the UK car industry

  03-03-2017 14:23
  If the UK loses access to the EU market it could put British sites at a disadvantage
  
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• Theresa May takes hard line with SNP demands

  03-03-2017 14:17
  PM’s speech to Scottish Tories fuels speculation of push for second referendum
  
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• May takes hard line with SNP on Brexit demands

  03-03-2017 14:17
  PM’s speech to Scottish Tories fuels speculation over second referendum
  
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• Rising Euroscepticism 'poses existential threat to EU'

  03-03-2017 14:03
  
  Man tipped for European commission president job says Brexit has shown political leaders the risks of fuelling anti-EU sentimentRising Euroscepticism and domestic political point-scoring pose an existential threat to the EU, according to the man tipped to replace Jean-Claude Juncker as president of the European commission.
  However, Britain’s decision to leave has helped dissuade some political leaders from continuing to attack the bloc, said Jyrki Katainen, a commission vice-president. Con
  
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• Polish MEP Janusz Korwin-Mikke Claims Women Should Be Paid Less 'Because They Are Weaker, Smaller And Less Intelligent'

  03-03-2017 14:02
  
  A right-wing Polish MEP has stunned the European Parliament after claiming women should earn less than their male counterparts “because they are weaker, smaller and less intelligent”.
  Janusz Korwin-Mikke is now being investigated over the comments made during a discussion on the gender pay gap.
  The 74-year-old, who has his own party named Poland’s Coalition for the Renewal of the Republic–Liberty and Hope, said: “Of course women must earn less than men because they
  
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• ITV shouldn't get away with blaming Brexit for falling revenues | Nils Pratley

  03-03-2017 14:02
  
  The commercial broadcaster grumbles about ‘political and economic uncertainty’ – but consumer confidence is still highNice dividend, shame about the advertising revenues. ITV’s shares rose 4.5% to close at their highest price since last June’s referendum as the broadcaster demonstrated again that it is very good these days at generating cash and distributing the spoils to investors. It is less clear, however, whether its 3% fall in advertising spend – the firs
  
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• Week in Review: The Brexit age of double-think

  03-03-2017 13:52
  
  We are in age of speeches dedicated to the exact thing they plan to destroy
  
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• Government accused of ignoring Britons' rights in Europe after Brexit

  03-03-2017 13:31
  
  Group representing 32,000 Britons in Europe says no officials have contacted them, despite claims made in policy papersThe government has been accused of misleading parliament over efforts to protect the rights of British nationals already settled in Europe after Brexit.A coalition of 12 groups representing 32,000 Britons living across Europe said the government had not been in touch with any of them – despite claims officials had engaged with expatriate groups on the issue.Continue readin
  
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• Uber loses court battle over English test for drivers

  03-03-2017 13:29
  Transport for London’s essay topics include ‘Life on Mars’
  
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• Theresa May Accused Of 'Mind-Boggling Hypocrisy' Over Pro-Brexit, Anti-Scottish Independence Speech

  03-03-2017 13:22
  
  Theresa May has been accused of hypocrisy for arguing an independent Scotland’s economy would be damaged outside the UK - at the same time as she prepares to take the UK out of the EU single market.
  The PM was speaking in Glasgow on Friday when she slammed campaigners trying to “wrench Scotland out of its biggest market” by calling for a second independence referendum. 
  May said that “time and again the benefits of the Union – of doing together, collectively, w
  
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• PM Theresa May makes case for 'our precious Union'

  03-03-2017 12:48 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The prime minister says the case for "our precious" United Kingdom should be made "loudly and clearly".
  
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• Theresa May Facing Second Defeat In Lords Over Demands Parliament Get Final Brexit Vote

  03-03-2017 12:45
  
  Theresa May is facing a second defeat in the House of Lords on the Bill designed to begin the Brexit process.
  Labour and Liberal Democrat peers have the numbers to amend the EU (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill on Tuesday to demand parliament be given a “meaningful vote” on the draft exit deal negotiated with Brussels.
  The prime minister has said she would rather walk away with “no deal” than with a “bad deal”.
  But the amendment would require May to receive p
  
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• BBC Question Time Audience Member With Russian Wife Wants 'England To Look After Its Own First'

  03-03-2017 12:16
  
  A BBC Question Time audience member has been criticised after insisting England should “look after its own first” despite having a Russian wife.
  The pony-tailed gentleman also caused confusion when he suggested he wouldn’t be too bothered if his “foreign” friends weren’t guaranteed the right to stay in Britain after Brexit.
  Thursday night’s edition of the show, broadcast from Bedford, debated at length the recent House of Lords vote to give EU citizens l
  
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• UK economy cooling after post-Brexit vote growth, surveys show

  03-03-2017 12:12
  
  Latest surveys bolster expectations that Bank of England will leave interest rates at their record low for rest of the yearBritain’s economy is cooling fast, according to the latest surveys of the services, manufacturing and construction sectors, bolstering expectations that the Bank of England will leave interest rates at their record low for the rest of this year and beyond.Coming days before Philip Hammond’s spring budget, the figures add to evidence that the economic strength see
  
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• Enough's enough: An open letter to Jeremy Corbyn from a former supporter

  03-03-2017 12:08
  
  A Labour member and former Corbyn supporter on why he's lost patience with the leader
  
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• Record 910,000 UK workers on zero-hours contracts

  03-03-2017 11:55
  
  Nearly 1m people on controversial terms but growth slowdown points to ‘zero-hours juggernaut’ grinding to a halt, say expertsThe number of people on zero-hours contracts in the UK has hit a record high of 910,000 but there are signs the trend may have reached a peak after Britain’s decision to leave the EU, according to a leading thinktank.
  The figures for the final three months of 2016 represented a rise of more than 100,000, or 13%, compared with the same period in 2015, the
  
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• Fundamentalists hacked my husband to death. The same hate is spreading across the world | Rafida Ahmed

  03-03-2017 11:36
  
  Two years ago, we were ambushed in Bangladesh by the sort of group the west’s populist leaders claim to oppose. But they are two sides of the same coinI have no memory of the attack, but the pictures of my husband’s bloody, motionless body on the street, me next to him pleading for help, the four large stab wounds on my head and a sliced-off thumb, will remind me forever of the hatred and intolerance that changed my life.Our assailants, armed with machetes, were Islamists who on 26 F
  
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• Labour's 'Lost Nearly 26,000 Members Since Last Summer', Leaked Data Reveals

  03-03-2017 10:12
  
  The “tide is turning” for Labour after it was revealed the party has lost nearly 26,000 members since last summer, according to leaked data.
  More than three-quarters of these had joined after the 2015 general election, a period that saw membership grow rapidly under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership.
  Figures seen by The Times showed the number of resignations in 2016 was more than the previous six years combined, while more than 15,465 have left since mid-December.The leaked
  
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• SNP mull Norway-style arrangement to solve their Brexit problem

  03-03-2017 10:11
  
  Could Sturgeon strike a deal to stay in the single market without maintaining full EU membership?
  
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