Political news

• Theresa May to call on Britons to unite as she triggers article 50

  28-03-2017 23:01 via theguardian.com
  
  PM signs letter that will be hand-delivered to European council president at the same time as she addresses House of CommonsTheresa May will call on the British people to unite as she triggers article 50, beginning a two-year process that will see the UK leave the European Union and sever a political relationship that has lasted 44 years. A letter signed by the prime minister will be hand-delivered to the president of the European council at about 12.30pm – as she rises in Westminster to d
  
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• May sends historic Brexit letter to Brussels

  28-03-2017 23:00
  No 10 anxious to avoid acrimonious divorce after setting Article 50 process in motion
  
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• Steve Bell on the Daily Mail – cartoon

  28-03-2017 22:32 via theguardian.com
  
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• Brexit: Theresa May eyes 'special partnership' with EU

  28-03-2017 21:12 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The PM wants a "deep partnership" with the EU as she prepares to begin process of leaving.
  
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• Holyrood backs Sturgeon's call for Indyref2

  28-03-2017 20:38 via bbc.co.uk
  
  MSPs voted by 69 to 59 in favour of seeking permission for a referendum before the UK leaves the EU.
  
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• All in the timing

  28-03-2017 20:33 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The Scottish Parliament has backed a second independence referendum - but what happens next?
  
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• Department for Education launches property group

  28-03-2017 20:11
  LocatED will get £2bn to find sites for free schools despite poor precedent from NHS
  
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• Scottish parliament votes to seek new referendum – video

  28-03-2017 20:10 via theguardian.com
  
  Nicola Sturgeon speaks to the press after MSPs voted 69-59 on Tuesday to back her call to ask the British government for an independence vote. The first minister says Scots must be given the chance to vote on their future before Britain leaves the European Union, adding outside Holyrood that she would wait until the terms of Brexit were known before pursuing the second referendum
  Scottish parliament votes for second independence referendum Continue reading...
  
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• If only Nicola could let her legs do the talking

  28-03-2017 20:02 via theguardian.com
  
  The Scottish first minister has a mind of her own when it comes to Brexit but then so do her lower extremitiesA pair of legs stood up and the body attached to them prepared to speak. There were so many things Nicola Sturgeon’s shapely shanks would have liked to say. About how the Daily Mail had said how much more attractive they were than Theresa May’s famously long extremities. About how the prime minister had been so intimated – or was that seduced? – by her luscious le
  
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• UK to negotiate cut-off date for EU citizens’ rights

  28-03-2017 19:52
  MEPs say Europeans should be able to move to Britain until day of divorce
  
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• Tenants Protected From 'Dodgy' Letting Agents Who Go Bust, Ministers Announce

  28-03-2017 19:43
  
  Tenants are to be legally protected from “dodgy” letting agents who take rents and then go bust, ministers have announced.
  In a major victory for housing campaigners, the Government confirmed that it will amend its own Housing and Planning Act to prevent people from losing thousands of pounds when agents go bust.
  The compulsory “Client Money Protection” plan, which was urged by charities such as Shelter and recommended by a Labour and Liberal Democrat review, will now be
  
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• Britain triggers Article 50: the choreography

  28-03-2017 19:40
  Theresa May signs the letter on Tuesday evening before it is transported to Brussels
  
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• Scottish parliament backs second independence vote

  28-03-2017 19:29
  Holyrood approves new plebiscite by 69 to 59 votes, setting up clash with Downing St
  
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• The time has come for Theresa May’s stark choice over Britain’s future | Letters

  28-03-2017 19:14 via theguardian.com
  
  Theresa May has a stark choice to make. Sadly, either way she loses. She can choose to lose face in the short term, or choose to lose the wellbeing of this nation for the long term. Which is it to be?Wise and effective leadership rarely goes hand in hand with popularity. The role of the leader is to discern what is in the best interests of their people, then do their best to carry the people with them as they lead in that direction. That takes courage, understanding, trust, explanation, persuasi
  
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• Hope for those stuck in mental health institutions | Letters

  28-03-2017 19:13 via theguardian.com
  
  Among other weighty events on Wednesday, there is a chink of light that could transform the lives of thousands of people with learning disabilities, needlessly stuck in mental health institutions away from homes, families and communities. On Wednesday, the public affairs committee will hear from Simon Stevens, head of NHS England, and others, on reducing the number of people with learning disabilities in mental health hospitals to improve their quality of life. As a psychiatrist, I see many pati
  
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• UK government signals it will block second Scottish independence referendum until early 2020s - Politics live

  28-03-2017 19:09 via theguardian.com
  
  Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happenLunchtime summaryMundell signals London will block second referendum until early 2020sScottish independence debate - Summary 6.02pm BSTWell, there has indeed been a surge in support. But it’s not a surge in support for independence. But it’s a surge in support for Theresa May. Because Nicola Sturgeon has achieved something remarkable for an SNP politician and the first minister of Scotland. She has boosted the p
  
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• UK government signals it will block second Scottish independence referendum until early 2020s - as it happened

  28-03-2017 19:09 via theguardian.com
  
  Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happenLunchtime summaryMundell signals London will block second referendum until early 2020sScottish independence debate - Summary 6.02pm BSTWell, there has indeed been a surge in support. But it’s not a surge in support for independence. But it’s a surge in support for Theresa May. Because Nicola Sturgeon has achieved something remarkable for an SNP politician and the first minister of Scotland. She has boosted the p
  
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• Proposal to privatise Channel 4 dropped

  28-03-2017 19:05
  Ministers step up pressure on public service broadcaster to move out of London
  
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• The Guardian view on Brexit: start by protecting EU nationals | Editorial

  28-03-2017 19:03 via theguardian.com
  
  It is morally and politically repugnant to try to bargain over the future of people who have enriched our livesBritain is poised to embark on a fraught and uncertain course. Leaving the European Union will weaken the remaining 27 members, and it is likely to set this country on a decade or more of instability. It is the end of a partnership that has brought much more to Britain than can be guessed at from the churlish nature of our relationship, which rarely recognised the wonder of this au
  
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• David Miliband Lifesize 'Bananas' Cut Out Binned By Tory Minister Greg Hands

  28-03-2017 19:01
  
  A Tory minister has confessed to throwing away a life size cutout of David Miliband saying: “Bananas”.
  Back in his heyday as a Gordon Brown’s foreign secretary, the elder Miliband was photographed holding a banana at the 2008 Labour Party conference.
  He later quit the Labour frontbench - and eventually parliament and the country - after narrowly losing out on his party’s leadership to his younger brother.As he fades from memory in British public life, someone spotted a li
  
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• Theresa May takes empty rhetoric to a new level | Ros Coward

  28-03-2017 18:39 via theguardian.com
  
  The prime minister’s motivational generalities over Brexit and beyond may be about to tip over into something darker – authoritarian delusionsBefore meeting Nicola Sturgeon on Monday, Theresa May insisted she would “never allow the UK to become looser and weaker”. But how, precisely, will she accomplish that, given that Sturgeon, with considerable support from the Scottish people, intends the opposite? Of course there were no details of steps to be taken to prevent the UK
  
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• Scottish Parliament backs referendum call

  28-03-2017 18:37 via bbc.co.uk
  
  It is agreed by 69 votes to 59 that Nicola Sturgeon should make a request to the UK government.
  
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• Scottish parliament votes for second independence referendum

  28-03-2017 18:28 via theguardian.com
  
  MSPs pass motion to give Nicola Sturgeon the authority to begin negotiation with UK parliament on breakaway vote
  The Scottish parliament has voted in favour of holding a second referendum on independence.MSPs voted 69 to 59 to give the first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, the authority to negotiate with the Westminster government on holding another vote. Continue reading...
  
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• Unions criticise 1% pay rise for public sector workers

  28-03-2017 18:17 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Ministers defend the below-inflation deal but unions say NHS staff are being "taken for granted".
  
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• Eurosceptic MPs reject ‘gloomy’ Brexit report

  28-03-2017 18:15
  Committee members protest over draft’s emphasis on the downsides of leaving the EU
  
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• Scottish Parliament Backs Second Independence Referendum As Article 50 Looms

  28-03-2017 18:10
  
  The Scottish Parliament has backed a second independence referendum, as Westminster reiterated its refusal to negotiate on the matter.
  Theresa May has rejected Nicola Sturgeon’s plan for another referendum as Britain leaves the EU but MSPs backed one on Tuesday by 69 votes to 59.
  Sturgeon wants to hold the referendum between autumn next year and spring 2019 but the UK Government has said it will block one until Britain has left the EU.Sturgeon has said there is an “unquestionabl
  
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• Britain’s divorce from the EU will be bitter. Yet the failure is Europe’s too | Nick Herbert

  28-03-2017 18:04 via theguardian.com
  
  After the referendum, an opt-out on free movement could have avoided full-scale Brexit. But both sides rejected any such compromiseIt wasn’t Britain’s absence from the EU’s birthday celebration last week that shamed me. It was the sight, while I was in Berlin, of our union flag projected on to the Brandenburg Gate. Even as Europe’s capitals stood in loyal solidarity with ours, we plotted a divorce.The story after the referendum could have been different. Despite the narro
  
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• Tory MP says Brexiters suppress opposition by branding it subversive

  28-03-2017 18:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Nick Herbert also calls into question May’s strategy, saying another prime minister might have renegotiated with the EU after the referendum• Opinion: Britain’s divorce from the EU will be bitterBritish people are afraid of questioning the “new orthodoxy” of hard Brexit because those who do are branded heretics and accused of subversion, a leading Conservative remainer has claimed.In an article in the Guardian to mark the triggering of article 50, Nick Herbert accuse
  
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• How can N Ireland’s political crisis be resolved?

  28-03-2017 17:47
  
  Brexit fears have given Sinn Fein a moment in the spotlight, writes Sebastian Payne
  
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• Stormont talks: Westminster to 'consider all options' after Easter

  28-03-2017 17:40 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The UK government will "consider all options" after Easter if talks to form an NI Executive fail.
  
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• Brexit secretary David Davis revealed his negotiating knowhow in 1988 book

  28-03-2017 17:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The cabinet minister was working for sugar company Tate & Lyle when he came up with a blueprint for striking a sweet deal“This puts a premium on nerve,” wrote the author of a management textbook explaining how best to bluff your way through important negotiations. “A general air of visible determination and activity is extremely important to the perception-shaping exercise”.
  It could have been bravado taken straight from Donald Trump’s 1987 bestseller The Art of
  
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• G4S And Ministry Of Justice Wrapped For 115 Electronic Tags Wrongly Reporting Tampering

  28-03-2017 16:56
  
  The Government has been slammed by prison campaigners for admitting over 100 offenders were fitted with faulty electronic tags - and some could have wrongly been sent back to prison as a result.
  Justice minister Sam Gyimah revealed in a written statement on Tuesday that a private security firm contracted to administer tagging for offenders under house arrest discovered 115 of its devices were not working properly. 
  G4S alerted the Government to the problem in February 2017 - four months af
  
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• G4S And Ministry Of Justice Slammed For 115 Electronic Tags Wrongly Reporting Tampering

  28-03-2017 16:56
  
  The Government has been slammed by prison campaigners for admitting over 100 offenders were fitted with faulty electronic tags - and some could have wrongly been sent back to prison as a result.
  Justice minister Sam Gyimah revealed in a written statement on Tuesday that a private security firm contracted to administer tagging for offenders under house arrest discovered 115 of its devices were not working properly. 
  G4S alerted the Government to the problem in February 2017 - four months af
  
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• Daily Mail Front Page Complaints Don't Bother The Paper Or Sarah Vine

  28-03-2017 16:44
  
  The Daily Mail has told its critics to “get a life”, despite being reported to IPSO over its “legs-it” front page.
  Sarah Vine’s column was sold on the front of the first edition of the Mail with the headline “Never mind Brexit, who won Legs-it!”, alongside a picture of Theresa May and Nicola Sturgeon.DAILY MAIL: Blueprint to save the NHS #tomorrowspaperstoday pic.twitter.com/rZMzhP8dQ5— Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) March 27, 2017
  Amelia Womack, dep
  
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• What do many lone attackers have in common? Domestic violence | Hadley Freeman

  28-03-2017 16:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Desperate attempts to profile Khalid Masood after the Westminster attacks blame Islam, Kent or even drunk teenagers, but the common thread in terrorism is often misogynyThe reactions to Khalid Masood’s attack last week played out with script-like predictability: rightwing commentators tried desperately to blame the actions of this Kent native on immigration, while the media pored over whatever anecdotes they could find from neighbours and schoolmates. All The Day Today cliches were ticked
  
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• Brexit deal with 'cut-off date' for free movement would be vetoed by MEPs

  28-03-2017 16:19 via theguardian.com
  
  Exclusive: Resolution detailing European parliament’s red lines is amended to rule out ‘degradation’ of rights of EU nationals arriving in UK in next two yearsThe European parliament will veto any Brexit deal that prevents EU citizens who move to the UK during the next two years from having the same rights to live and work in Britain as those already in the country.
  The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, and MEPs are understood to be concerned by reports that t
  
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• Direct rule of Northern Ireland not ruled out, Brokenshire says

  28-03-2017 16:15 via theguardian.com
  
  Northern Ireland secretary tells Commons all options are on the table if power-sharing talks at Stormont collapseThe government is not ruling out any options for a politically deadlocked Northern Ireland, including the reintroduction of direct rule from London, James Brokenshire has said.But the Northern Ireland secretary did rule out a suggestion from Dave Anderson, his Labour shadow in the House of Commons, that an external chairperson could be brought in to oversee another few weeks of negoti
  
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• What do school children think about Brexit?

  28-03-2017 16:00 via bbc.co.uk
  
  What do young people think about Brexit? Tim Muffett reports on a BBC School Report survey.
  
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• Sarah Vine says people have had 'sense of humour failure'

  28-03-2017 15:54 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Daily Mail columnist Sarah Vine has defended her "Legs-it" column, saying she created "a more approachable version" of the story.
  
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• Triggering article 50 – Brexit podcast

  28-03-2017 15:46 via theguardian.com
  
  Jon Henley is joined by Jill Rutter, Daniel Boffey and Dan Roberts in the week that Britain formally invokes article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty – the EU’s exit clause. How quickly can a deal be done? What will be covered in the talks? And what will be the main sticking points?The die is cast. In the week that the EU celebrates 60 years of its founding Treaty of Rome, Britain gets ready to cross the Rubicon and trigger article 50. But then what? With the two-year countdown clock about to
  
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• What the Daily Mail means when it talks about May and Sturgeon’s ‘pins’

  28-03-2017 15:33 via theguardian.com
  
  The language used in the newspaper’s coverage of the two most powerful politicians in the UK is a by-numbers attempt to reduce women to objectsJust for the avoidance of doubt, those things that Theresa May and Nicola Sturgeon both share, the “finest weapons in their physical arsenal”, as the Daily Mail’s Sarah Vine called them in a column on yesterday’s meeting between the two women, they are just legs. Millions, even most, women have them. They are not a “vas
  
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• Sports Direct workers paid less than minimum wage yet to get back pay

  28-03-2017 15:10 via theguardian.com
  
  Transline, exposed as part of Guardian investigation, has not paid money to scores of employees, BEIS committee hearsScores of Sports Direct workers who were found to have been paid less than the minimum wage are yet to receive the back pay owed for their shifts.Steve Turner, the assistant general secretary of the Unite union, told MPs on the business, energy and industrial strategy (BEIS) select committee on Tuesday that Transline, one of the employment agencies exposed during an undercover Gua
  
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• Brexit is an opportunity to make a federal UK

  28-03-2017 15:06
  The English question has thwarted any plans for more devolution
  
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• Pro-Brexit MPs Walk Out Of Meeting In Protest At A 'Gloomy' Report On Theresa May's Plans

  28-03-2017 15:03
  
  Anti-EU MPs are reported to have walked out of a Brexit Select Committee meeting because it produced a “gloomy” response to the Government’s EU exit plans.
  The BBC claimed Committee chair Hilary Benn, who campaigned for Remain in last year’s referendum, tried to “bounce” other members into accepting a response to the Government’s Brexit White Paper.
  The 21-member strong Committee has several high-profile Leave campaigners, including former Cabinet Minist
  
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• Potholes 'the talk of the canteen'

  28-03-2017 15:02 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Drivers complain about the state of local roads as a survey shows deteriorating conditions.
  
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• MPs 'walk out' in protest at 'too gloomy' Brexit report

  28-03-2017 15:00 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Several Brexit-backing MPs "politely" walked out of a Brexit select committee meeting, it is claimed.
  
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• MPs hail Tobias Ellwood as he returns to Commons after Westminster attack

  28-03-2017 14:57 via theguardian.com
  
  Junior foreign office minister praised by politicians for attempt to save PC Keith Palmer’s lifeTobias Ellwood, the junior foreign office minister praised after he was among the first people seeking to help the police officer murdered during last week’s terrorist attack in Westminster, has received tributes from fellow MPs upon his return to Commons duties. Related: Tobias Ellwood MP praised for attempt to save police officer's lifeContinue reading...
  
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• Tobias Ellwood: 'I was one of many that stepped forward' – video

  28-03-2017 14:56 via theguardian.com
  
  Tobias Ellwood, the junior foreign minister who ran to help the police officer murdered in the Westminster terror attack, is praised by his colleagues in the House of Commons. The MP, who was pictured kneeling over PC Keith Palmer, says he was very grateful for the kind remarksMPs hail Tobias Ellwood as he returns to Commons after Westminster attackContinue reading...
  
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• Theresa May refuses to comment on Daily Mail 'Legs-it' front page

  28-03-2017 14:56 via theguardian.com
  
  No 10 spokesman rebuffs question about whether paper’s focus on leaders’ bodies instead of Brexit talks is appropriate
  Theresa May’s official spokesman has refused to comment on the Daily Mail front page that prompted political outrage after declaring: “Never mind Brexit, who won Legs-it!”The newspaper headline, over an image of the prime minister with the Scottish first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, has been criticised as sexist and offensive by a string of politician
  
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• Daily Mail refuses to apologise and tells 'po-faced' leftwingers to get sense of humour - Politics live

  28-03-2017 14:50 via theguardian.com
  
  Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happenLunchtime summary 1.50pm BSTNicola Sturgeon has chided the Daily Mail for “taking Britain back to the early 1970s” after it ran a widely condemned front page article in its English editions focusing on her and the prime minister’s legs and dress.Alongside a posed photograph of the two leaders before they opened talks on Brexit and Scotland the headline ran: “Never mind Brexit, who won Legs-it!”
  
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