Political news

• Poland fails to stop Donald Tusk EU re-election

  09-03-2017 23:06 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Prime Minister Szydlo refuses to endorse the EU summit's final statement in protest.
  
  Read more

• ‘Time to get on’ with Brexit talks, says May

  09-03-2017 22:47
  Eyes turn to PM’s post-EU summit statement in Commons on Tuesday
  
  Read more

• Boris Johnson urges Theresa May to resist £50bn EU bill

  09-03-2017 22:22
  
  Foreign secretary recalls Margaret Thatcher’s stance on Europe in advice to PM over possible demand for EU exit feeTheresa May should think back to Margaret Thatcher’s fight for a UK rebate from Brussels as she battles a multibillion pound Brexit divorce bill from the EU, Boris Johnson has suggested.The foreign secretary – referring to the actions of the former Conservative prime minister – appeared to apply pressure on May to stand firm against EU demands for cash, amid
  
  Read more

• Boris Johnson: UK should reject 'Brexit cash bill'

  09-03-2017 22:01 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Boris Johnson tells the BBC that Britain should reject any EU demands for a £50bn "exit bill".
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Boris Johnson says UK should follow Thatcher precedent

  09-03-2017 22:00 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The foreign secretary says Britain should reject any Brexit bill demands from the EU.
  
  Read more

• Theresa May delays vote on self-employment tax hike

  09-03-2017 21:32
  Back-pedaling by prime minister comes after Tory revolt over Budget proposal
  
  Read more

• May promises to soften blow of national insurance

  09-03-2017 21:32
  Minister calls for apology as revolt against self-employed measure gathers pace
  
  Read more

• May prepares way for concessions on national insurance

  09-03-2017 21:32
  Minister calls for apology as revolt against self-employed measure gathers pace
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• May delays vote on self-employment tax rise

  09-03-2017 21:32
  Back-pedaling by prime minister comes after Tory revolt over Budget proposal
  
  Read more

• Theresa May Defends National Insurance Tax Hike As 'Fair'

  09-03-2017 21:31
  
  Prime Minister Theresa May has insisted that the controversial Budget changes to National Insurance Contributions for self-employed workers will make the system “simpler, fairer and more progressive”.
  The Government is facing a rebellion from its own MPs after Chancellor Philip Hammond announced the move yesterday amid fears it will punish entrepreneurship.
  It also breaks a 2015 Conservative manifesto pledge not to increase National Insurance.
  Speaking in Brussels, May defended the
  
  Read more

• Tories 'Telling Lies' About How Crucial General Election Seats Were Won, Whistleblowers Say

  09-03-2017 21:15
  
  EXCLUSIVE: Tory whistleblowers accuse Conservatives of "huge betrayal" of the electorate over Battlebus and election expenses. pic.twitter.com/3x7CcYUqpg— Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) March 9, 2017
  The Tories are “telling lies” when they deny having “cheated” election law to win crucial seats in the General Election, two whistleblower ex-activists have said.
  Gregg and Louise Kinsell were on the Battlebus campaign that took activists to crucial seats around the co
  
  Read more

• Second Scottish independence vote looks ‘inevitable’

  09-03-2017 20:40
  Sturgeon targets late 2018 but Downing St will seek delay until after Brexit
  
  Read more

• Tories face tax revolt and Northern Ireland's deadlock – Politics Weekly podcast

  09-03-2017 20:25
  
  Heather Stewart is joined by Larry Elliott, Jonathan Freedland, Rowena Mason and Torsten Bell to discuss Philip Hammond’s first budget. We hear from Labour’s Jonathan Reynolds and Tory Ed Vaizey. Plus: Henry McDonald in Belfast on the deadlock in Northern Ireland’s power-sharing talksSubscribe and review: iTunes, Soundcloud, Audioboom, Mixcloud, Acast & Stitcher and join the discussion on Facebook and TwitterPhilip Hammond’s first budget is met with a barrage of bad h
  
  Read more

• How the Conservatives pledged no rise in national insurance, then raised it

  09-03-2017 19:49
  
  However you spin it, from David Cameron’s tweets to four unambiguous promises in the election manifesto, this was a pledge brokenThe Conservatives’ pledge not to raise national insurance or income tax for five years was a central plank of the party’s successful general election campaign in 2015.The chancellor, Philip Hammond, spent much of Thursday morning evading questions about whether he breached that pledge by hiking national insurance contributions for the self-employed in
  
  Read more

• Self-employed give thumbs down to Hammond

  09-03-2017 19:36
  Tax changes anger workers in wide variety of professions and on different incomes
  
  Read more

• MPs debate asking BoE not to promote Charlotte Hogg

  09-03-2017 19:28
  New deputy governor under pressure over non-disclosure of brother’s Barclays role
  
  Read more

• NHS bosses order hospitals to make urgent changes

  09-03-2017 19:01
  Official figures show just 85%of A&E cases treated within four hours
  
  Read more

• Brexit Briefing: Wake Up And Serve The Coffee

  09-03-2017 18:49
  
  All you need to know from the world of Brexit this week.
  You can sign up for this briefing by clicking here, and you’ll receive it straight to your inbox every Thursday afternoon.
  1) No One Has Told Philip Hammond About Brexit Judging By His Budget SpeechChancellor Philip Hammond campaigned for Remain in the EU Referendum, and yesterday he delivered a Budget as if he’d been on the winning side. Apart from introducing his speech by saying “as we start our negotiations to ex
  
  Read more

• No pay rise for 15 years, IFS warns UK workers

  09-03-2017 18:41
  
  Thinktank’s post-budget analysis says average wages will be no higher in 2022 than in 2007 with weak pay growth exacerbated by looming welfare cutsWorkers in Britain are on course to suffer an unprecedented 15 years of lost earnings growth and have been warned to prepare for a third successive parliament of austerity by a leading thinktank.Analysing Philip Hammond’s spring budget, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said that after suffering a lost decade of earnings growth, house
  
  Read more

• National insurance rise ‘step in right direction’

  09-03-2017 18:33
  Think-tank takes aim at ‘foolish’ politicians who promise not to raise taxes
  
  Read more

• How Philip Hammond walked headfirst into Budget controversy

  09-03-2017 18:27
  Boxed in by predecessor, chancellor had nothing to soften National Insurance rise
  
  Read more

• Budget 2017: IFS says Britain facing 'third parliament of austerity' after 2020 - Politics live

  09-03-2017 18:22
  
  Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including reaction to the budget, Philip Hammond and John McDonnell’s morning interviews and the IFS press conferenceHammond’s morning interviews - SummaryMcDonnell’s morning interviews - SummaryIFS’s verdict on the budget - SummaryAfternoon summary 5.16pm GMTI find what’s interesting is the response to yesterday’s statement has been one of anxiety right the way across the political spe
  
  Read more

• When in doubt keep digging: Undertaker faces media over budget | John Crace

  09-03-2017 17:38
  
  Chancellor Philip Hammond thought he had done a decent enough number. Then all hell broke loose…It hadn’t been a good night for The Undertaker. He’d always prided himself on being a safe pair of hands. The man who could dispose of bodies with little fuss. And he thought he’d done a decent enough number on the budget. Steady as she goes, mind the rocks and all that. The prime minister had even laughed at his crap gags. Then all hell had broken loose. The rightwing press h
  
  Read more

• SDP's 'Gang of Four' reunited on stage

  09-03-2017 17:19 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Is a new play about the politicians who formed the Social Democratic Party in 1981 worth your vote?
  
  Read more

• Donald Trump's EPA Chief Scott Pruitt Denies Carbon Dioxide Causes Global Warming

  09-03-2017 17:11
  
  Donald Trump’s head of the agency that protects the environment has said he doesn’t think carbon dioxide is one of the main causes of climate change.
  Scott Pruitt, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, said he “would not agree” CO2 drives rising temperatures - effectively saying he does not believe global warming is man-made.
  “I think that measuring, with precision, human activity on the climate is something very challenging to do and there&rsquo
  
  Read more

• Hammond link fuels row over Surrey ‘sweetheart deal’

  09-03-2017 17:09
  Pressure grows on May to reveal what she knows about funding ‘conversations’ with Tory council
  
  Read more

• Hammond link fuels row on Surrey ‘sweetheart deal’

  09-03-2017 17:09
  Pressure on PM to reveal what she knows of funding ‘conversations’ with Tory council
  
  Read more

• The fantasy of Commonwealth bonds hinders progress

  09-03-2017 16:54
  Britain lacks the resources to strike more than a few bilateral deals at a time
  
  Read more

• Commonwealth dreams threaten progress on trade

  09-03-2017 16:54
  The UK lacks the resources to do more than a few bilateral deals at any one time
  
  Read more

• Labour Infighting Over Manchester Gorton By-Election 'Risks Gifting Seat To Liberal Democrats'

  09-03-2017 16:45
  
  An internal Labour battle over the Manchester Gorton by-election risks gifting the seat to the Liberal Democrats, party sources have told HuffPost UK.
  Attempts by Jeremy Corbyn’s allies to skew the candidate selection towards supporters of the Labour leader have backfired amid claims of chaos and incompetence, insiders say.
  The by-election for the traditionally safe Labour seat, which was prompted by the death of Sir Gerald Kaufman, is expected to be held on May 4.
  But following the loss
  
  Read more

• Daily Politics: When politics becomes a laughing matter

  09-03-2017 16:44 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Apparently some politicians think it's all a bit of a laughing matter, including Theresa May at Prime Minister's Questions.
  
  Read more

• Have we made progress towards gender equality?

  09-03-2017 16:40 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Have we made progress towards gender equality and increased opportunities for women and girls?
  
  Read more

• Miners' strike files suggest 'hints of political direction' of police

  09-03-2017 16:36
  
  Latest batch of files relating to ‘Battle of Orgreave’ needs examining, says South Yorkshire police and crime commissionerThere are “hints of political direction of the police” in the 1984-85 miners’ strike that need to be examined in the latest release of secret Home Office files, the South Yorkshire police and crime commissioner has said.Dr Alan Billings said he was deeply shocked by some of the disclosures in the batch of Whitehall files. “There are hints o
  
  Read more

• Hammond must calm National Insurance nerves

  09-03-2017 15:27
  The growing calls for a U-turn should be listened to, writes Sebastian Payne
  
  Read more

• Northern Ireland could face another snap election, says Brokenshire

  09-03-2017 15:25 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Northern Ireland could face another election if parties don't reach agreement in three weeks, James Brokenshire says.
  
  Read more

• Poland threatens 'whole EU summit' over Tusk vote

  09-03-2017 15:10 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The government is desperate to stop its own citizen getting a new term as European Council leader.
  
  Read more

• UKIP unravelling, says Welsh ex-chairman as he quits party

  09-03-2017 15:03 via bbc.co.uk
  
  UKIP's ex-chairman in Wales leaves the party, saying it is "unravelling".
  
  Read more

• Should Britain pay the Brexit bill?

  09-03-2017 14:48
  Logic suggests that UK and EU will be forced to compromise
  
  Read more

• Institute for Fiscal Studies backs National Insurance increase

  09-03-2017 14:42 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The independent Institute for Fiscal Studies backs Budget move to raise self employed NI contributions.
  
  Read more

• Sturgeon: Autumn 2018 'common sense' for indyref2

  09-03-2017 14:41 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Scotland's first minister suggests autumn 2018 may be when a second independence vote is held.
  
  Read more

• Budget tax rise

  09-03-2017 14:40 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Who is affected by the most controversial measure announced in the Budget?
  
  Read more

• Tories' Budget Bombshell To Hike National Insurance Unravels Overnight

  09-03-2017 14:36
  
  Theresa May faces the prospect of her biggest Budget announcement being scrapped, after her pledge to hike National Insurance contributions unravelled overnight. 
  The policy has riled many backbench Conservatives, as it breaks a key promise not to raise National Insurance made in the party’s 2015 general election manifesto.
  But it could now face defeat by a cross-party effort by MPs, if Chancellor Philip Hammond does not U-turn first and scrap it from the Budget. Former Shadow Ch
  
  Read more

• George Galloway To Write Children's Book About An 'Ethical Pirate'

  09-03-2017 14:27
  
  George Galloway has signed a publishing deal to write a children’s book about an “ethical pirate” prompting a flood of presumably unwelcome title suggestions.
  The former Labour and Respect MP will be the author of a new series relaying tales about a Robin Hood of the high seas.
  The 62-year-old said he feels qualified to write for children as he is expecting his fifth and also has four grandchildren.He told the Guardian: “I’ve read to them a very large number of chil
  
  Read more

• Philip Hammond Right To Increase National Insurance Tax For Self Employed, Says IFS

  09-03-2017 14:15
  
  Philip Hammond is right to increase National Insurance for some self-employed workers, the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) has said
  In its analysis of the chancellor’s Budget, the independent think-tank said raising the tax was a “modest but welcome change” which would help “create a less unequal playing field between the self employed and employees”.
  The chancellor is facing a rebellion from Tory backbenchers who worry the move will punish entrepreneurship. 
  
  Read more

• Sean Spicer Botches Yet Another White House Press Briefing

  09-03-2017 14:08
  
  Sean Spicer dropped not one, not two, but three humdingers during his latest press briefing as the confusion, furore and intrigue surrounding Donald Trump’s claim he was wiretapped by President Obama continue.
  The White House Press Secretary started out strong enough but then managed to backtrack, get his alternative facts wrong and get shown up by one of his own questions during Wednesday’s confrontation with the media.
  First up, that alternative fact, presented during a section dis
  
  Read more

• Mhairi Black Appears To Mouth 'You Talk Shite, Hen' At Tory Minister In Housing Benefit Debate

  09-03-2017 14:03
  
  Yet more cuts that Scotland didn't vote for and no real answers from the Minister. pic.twitter.com/CPhYFtYfcU— Mhairi Black MP (@MhairiBlack) March 7, 2017
  Outspoken MP Mhairi Black appeared to let her frustration at a Tory minister show when the pair clashed in a debate on housing benefit. 
  She was caught on camera mouthing what looked like “you talk shite, hen” in a heated clash over the proposed withdrawal of allowances for 18 to 21-year-olds.
  Black, 22 and Parliament&
  
  Read more

• Hammond: Budget National Insurance rise due to 'new challenges'

  09-03-2017 13:44 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The chancellor defends Budget measure that breaks manifesto pledge not to raise National Insurance.
  
  Read more

• Brexit: Ministers aim to reverse Lords defeats on Monday

  09-03-2017 12:55 via bbc.co.uk
  
  MPs will get the chance to overturn Lords amendments to the Brexit bill on Monday.
  
  Read more

• Nick Robinson Accidentally Brands Philip Hammond 'Spreadshit Phil'

  09-03-2017 11:41
  
  Poor Nick Robinson suffered a very unfortunate slip of the tongue while discussing Philip Hammond on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
  The presenter meant to use the Chancellor’s nickname “Spreadsheet Phil”.
  But poor Robinson accidentally ended up saying “Spreadshit Phil” instead.Ouch.
  He quickly corrected himself but it was too late - the slip-up was noted by many listenersAh wonderful. Nick Robinson describing the chancellor 'spreadshit Phil Hammond.... so
  
  Read more

• Sturgeon eyes late 2018 for second independence vote

  09-03-2017 11:30
  First minister says she has not decided whether to call another referendum
  
  Read more

Follow @political_UKnws on Twitter!