Political news

• Boris Johnson 'dismayed' by Russia's UN Syria veto

  12-04-2017 23:57 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The foreign secretary called on Russia to stop acting "as a lifeline for a murderous regime".
  
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• Donald Trump Says US-Russia Relations 'May Be At All Time Low' After They Veto UN Resolution On Syria

  12-04-2017 22:58
  
  Donald Trump has said US-Russia relations might be at “an all time low”, after the two countries clashed over the future of Syria and Russia vetoed a UN resolution condemning the chemical attack there.
  The attack is the latest diplomatic flashpoint between the West and Russia, which backs Syrian dictator Assad, whom the Americans blame for gassing a rebel-held town and killing scores of people, including more than 30 children.
  Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov had said h
  
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• Syrian crisis

  12-04-2017 19:34 via bbc.co.uk
  
  It has not been a great week for Boris Johnson. Where does he stand at the end of it?
  
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• Sharp rise in London gun crime reverses falling trend

  12-04-2017 19:33
  Surge of 42% as more young people carry weapons as status symbols
  
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• We reject the call for Labour to expel Ken Livingstone | Letters

  12-04-2017 18:58
  
  As Jewish and non-Jewish members and supporters of the Labour party, we reject the call for the expulsion of Ken Livingstone (Letters, 7 April). Those who call for a new disciplinary hearing simply because they didn’t like the conclusions of the previous one demonstrate contempt for democracy and due process.A year ago Livingstone, responding to a question from Vanessa Feltz on BBC Radio London, said: “Let’s remember when Hitler won his election in 1932, his policy then was tha
  
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• Man jailed for threatening to kill Caroline Ansell MP

  12-04-2017 18:43 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Mark Sands was angry at proposed disability cuts when he posted the comments on Facebook.
  
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• Britain changes strategy on selling arms to India

  12-04-2017 17:27
  Defence minister’s trade mission pushes technology expertise rather than weapons
  
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• Is park next to Parliament the right place for Holocaust memorial?

  12-04-2017 17:22 via bbc.co.uk
  
  There are some people unhappy with the decision to site the memorial in park next to Parliament.
  
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• Deadline for new Northern Ireland executive extended

  12-04-2017 16:43
  Minimal progress made after six weeks of talks
  
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• MP Caroline Ansell: 'How I coped with Facebook death threat'

  12-04-2017 16:31 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Caroline Ansell MP on how her 12-year-old son reacted to hearing about the threat to his mother.
  
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• Sean Spicer Apologises Again For 'Inexcusable' Adolf Hitler Comments

  12-04-2017 16:19
  
  White House press secretary Sean Spicer has described his comments about Adolf Hitler as “inexcusable and reprehensible”, as he again apolgogised for suggesting the Nazis “didn’t even sink to using chemical weapons”.
  Spicer has been under fire since Tuesday’s press briefing where he compared the use use of chemical weapons by Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime to the actions of Hitler.
  The Nazis gassed millions of Jewish people in concentra
  
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• MEPs Demand Theresa May Take Action Against 'Abhorrent' Concentration Camps In Chechnya

  12-04-2017 16:01
  
  Theresa May has been urged to intervene and condemn the shock emergence of “concentration camps” for gay men in Chechnya.
  British politicians from all parties are demanding the Government summon Russia’s ambassador to the UK to help stop the “horror” unfolding on Europe’s doorstep.
  Chechnya is a federal republic of Russia. It has a troubled relationship with the Eastern superpower and was part of the Soviet Federalist Republic for over 40 years.
  MEPs spo
  
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• Britain needs to stop holding referendums

  12-04-2017 15:53
  EU vote was flawed and there are better forms of democracy, writes Sebastian Payne
  
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• Devon and Cornwall PCC expenses inquiry file sent to prosecutors

  12-04-2017 15:51
  
  Alison Hernandez is being investigated over role as agent for Tory MP Kevin Foster during 2015 general electionInvestigators examining whether a police and crime commissioner failed to properly declare expenses during the last general election have referred the matter to the Crown Prosecution Service.The Independent Police Complaints Commissionhas sent the CPS a file on the allegations against Alison Hernandez, the Devon and Cornwall police and crime commissioner.Continue reading...
  
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• Brexit: foreign states may have interfered in vote, report says

  12-04-2017 15:48
  
  MPs are concerned about allegations governments including Russia and China may have interfered with EU referendum websiteForeign governments such as Russia and China may have been involved in the collapse of a voter registration website in the run-up to the EU referendum, a committee of MPs has claimed.A report by the Commons public administration and constitutional affairs committee (PACAC) said MPs were deeply concerned about the allegations of foreign interference in last year’s Brexit
  
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• UK wage growth slows as higher inflation starts to bite

  12-04-2017 15:02 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The UK unemployment rate remains at 4.7% as inflation starts to erase wage growth, ONS figures show.
  
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• Thousands have disability vehicles taken away

  12-04-2017 14:55 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Some 51,000 disabled people have had vehicles removed since changes to benefits in 2013.
  
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• Northern Ireland power-sharing talks given extended deadline

  12-04-2017 14:37
  
  Northern Ireland secretary says negotiations will continue after Easter in last-ditch attempt to reach agreementTalks aimed at restoring a power-sharing cross-community government in Northern Ireland have been given an extended deadline over Easter.The Northern Ireland secretary, James Brokenshire, had imposed a deadline of 18 April for the discussions to end. But he said on Wednesday the parties were being given one last chance to secure a deal to resurrect the devolved government at Stormont.
  
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• Decriminalising homosexuality: Lord Owen

  12-04-2017 14:23 via bbc.co.uk
  
  David Owen helped to pass the 1967 legislation decriminalising homosexual acts in private.
  
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• MPs call for sweeping changes to housing association regulation

  12-04-2017 14:21
  
  Demand comes after Guardian investigation uncovered issues including damp and rats at newbuild developmentsThe regulation of housing associations needs sweeping changes, MPs have told the Guardian, after an investigation into troubled new-build developments that have benefited from more than £60m of public money.The investigation into properties across London found issues with five housing associations: Catalyst, Sanctuary, Notting Hill Housing, Wandle and the One Housing Group, who togeth
  
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• Ukip's Paul Nuttall urges party to 'keep the faith' after turbulent year

  12-04-2017 14:19
  
  Leader launches local election campaign, promising members they will bounce back after near-extinction since EU referendumThe Ukip leader, Paul Nuttall, pleaded with his activists to hold their nerve and “keep the faith” as the party launched its local election campaign in Kent with a frank admission it had been suffering a post-Brexit-referendum slump and came close to collapse last year.Addressing councillors in the Ukip heartland of Thanet, Nuttall acknowledged it had been the par
  
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• Is there a Brexit steel trade remedy?

  12-04-2017 14:16
  Ministers will need to consider their approach to defensive measures
  
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• Living standards in UK fall for the first time since 2014

  12-04-2017 14:14
  
  Despite another fall in unemployment and a rise in vacancies, inflation outstripped pay growth in FebruaryRising prices and stagnant wage growth have resulted in the first fall in living standards in two and a half years, according to official figures.Labour market data from the Office for National Statistics showed that regular pay in the UK in February was 1.9% higher than a year earlier and is running below the 2.3% increase in prices. Continue reading...
  
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• Lower Thames Crossing route between Kent and Essex revealed

  12-04-2017 14:12 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The transport secretary announces the new road will connect the M25 in Essex with the A2 in Kent.
  
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• Boris Johnson: how he has flip-flopped over Russia and Syria

  12-04-2017 14:05
  
  Foreign secretary, who is under fire over his diplomacy, has had several changes of heart on how to deal with Putin and AssadThe day after Boris Johnson was appointed foreign secretary, a Middle East analyst at the thinktank Chatham House pointed out a possible problem: his publicly stated position on Syria appeared different from the government’s.The primary issue, Tim Eaton noted, was that when Johnson was mayor of London he advocated several times that the UK should work with the Syrian
  
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• Police and Crime Commissioner expenses probe file sent to prosecutors

  12-04-2017 13:35 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Devon and Cornwall PCC Alison Hernandez was in charge of election spending in Torbay.
  
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• Next wave of free schools approved

  12-04-2017 12:59 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Another 131 are to open in England, creating 69,000 extra places.
  
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• Brexit vote site may have been hacked, MPs say in report

  12-04-2017 12:55 via bbc.co.uk
  
  MPs are calling for increased cyber security to protect UK elections from foreign attack.
  
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• Sean Spicer Admits Twice That Donald Trump Wants To 'Destabilise' Syria

  12-04-2017 12:34
  
  Whoops! Sean Spicer slips up & admits today why the US REALLY struck Syria: "The goal for the US is to make sure that we destabilize #Syria" pic.twitter.com/3Il7lfCuQL— Sarah Abdallah (@sahouraxo) April 11, 2017
  Sean Spicer managed to drop a barely-noticed but horrific clanger when trying to row back on claims Hitler never used chemical weapons. 
  The White House Press Secretary appeared to inadvertently admit in his U-turn that Donald Trump was attempting to “destabilise&rd
  
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• Sean Spicer Admits Twice That Donald Trump Wants To 'Destabalise' Syria

  12-04-2017 12:34
  
  Whoops! Sean Spicer slips up & admits today why the US REALLY struck Syria: "The goal for the US is to make sure that we destabilize #Syria" pic.twitter.com/3Il7lfCuQL— Sarah Abdallah (@sahouraxo) April 11, 2017
  Sean Spicer managed to drop a barely-noticed but horrific clanger when trying to row back on claims Hitler never used chemical weapons. 
  The White House Press Secretary appeared to inadvertently admit in his U-turn that Donald Trump was attempting to “destabilise&rd
  
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• Catastrophe looms at ports after Brexit, shipping industry warns

  12-04-2017 12:15
  
  UK Chamber of Shipping predicts problem across Europe unless frictionless border is in place after Britain leaves the EUThe UK is facing an “absolute catastrophe” if it does not sort out a “frictionless and seamless” border at Dover and other ports, the shipping industry has warned.
  The UK Chamber of Shipping, which represents more than 170 freight ship, tanker and cruise liner companies, has called on governments across Europe to urgently grasp the challenge, arguing tha
  
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• Boris Johnson 'Embarrassed' UK With Failed Plan To Impose Sanctions On Russia, Says John McDonnell

  12-04-2017 11:46
  
  Boris Johnson “embarrasses” the United Kingdom with his failed attempt to persuade the G7 to impose fresh sanctions on Russia, John McDonnell has said.
  Yesterday Western foreign ministers decided not to back the foreign secretary’s proposal to punish Russia in the wake of the chemical attack against civilians in Syria.
  A decision on any further sanctions has been put off until the outcome of an investigation into the attack which killed 89 people.
  The attack prompted Donald Tr
  
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• Student Loan Interest Rates Soar To 6.1% Thanks To Post-Brexit Inflation

  12-04-2017 11:43
  
  Millions of graduates will be forced to pay more interest on their student loans thanks to Brexit, it has been announced. 
  A rise in inflation following a post-Brexit slump in the pound means that students and graduates could see the amount of interest they pay soar to 6.1%. 
  The rise of almost a third, based on the retail price inflation figure (RPI), comes at a time when high street personal loans are available with interest rates as low as 2.8%.   Shadow education sec
  
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• Sean Spicer Hitler Apology And 7 Reasons Not To Fire Him

  12-04-2017 11:37
  
  Sean Spicer has landed himself in more than a bit of bother for suggesting that even Hitler “didn’t use chemical weapons”.
  After four attempts to apologise for the monumental gaffe many, including House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi and the New York-based Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect have called for him to be fired.
  But while such a blunder is inexcusable especially when your job rests on a foundation of clear communication, it could be argued that the world would be a
  
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• Boris Johnson is a liability for Britain, says John McDonnell

  12-04-2017 10:23
  
  Shadow chancellor says foreign secretary’s ‘poor judgment’ undermines UK credibility, adding that even cabinet has no confidence in himLabour has called Boris Johnson a liability for the UK who “undermines our credibility” after the foreign secretary failed to gain the backing of fellow G7 foreign ministers to penalise Russia and Syria over last week’s chemical weapons attack.Downing Street had insisted Theresa May fully backs Johnson after the 30-page communi
  
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• EU Referendum Site Crash May Have Been Result Of Foreign Cyber Attack, MPs Warn

  12-04-2017 09:33
  
  The crash of a key voter registration website in the run-up to the EU referendum may have been the result of a foreign cyber attack, MPs have warned.
  The Commons Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee (PACAC) said it was deeply concerned about the allegations of foreign interference in last year’s Brexit vote, the Press Association reported.
  While the committee did not identify who may have been responsible, it noted that both Russia and China use an approach to cyber a
  
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• Politics Live - readers' edition: Wednesday 12 April

  12-04-2017 09:29
  
  Discuss today’s politics and share links to breaking news, and to the most interesting stories and blogs on the web8.29am BSTI’m not writing my usual blog this week but here, as an alternative, is the Politics Live readers’ edition. It is a place for you to discuss today’s politics, and to share links to breaking news and to the most interesting stories and blogs on the web.Feel free to express your views robustly, but please treat others with respect and don’t reso
  
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• Sean Spicer Apologises For Hitler Sarin Gas Chemical Weapons Blunder

  12-04-2017 09:12
  
  Sean Spicer has apologised for his remarkable claim that Adolf Hitler “didn’t even sink to using chemical weapons” - four times.Pepsi: We're definitely going to make the biggest PR mistake of the year.
  United: Hold my be--
  Sean Spicer: HITLER WASN'T THAT BAD— FAT WHEAT (@Mornacale) April 11, 2017
  The first attempt came during the press conference in which he made the statement, much to the bewilderment of the onlooking press corps.
   [email protected]/Mfor5k
  
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• UK retirees less willing to move abroad after Brexit vote, poll finds

  12-04-2017 08:00
  
  Over-50s considering leaving for warmer climates deterred by concerns over access to good healthcare following exit from EUThe prospect of retiring to the sunny hills of Provence or the playas of Spain is less attractive since the EU referendum, with older voters concerned their healthcare would no longer be covered post-Brexit, a survey has found. The research shows that 41% of over-50s who were previously considering leaving the UK to retire in continental Europe were now “less likely to
  
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• Brexit risks pushing UK out of EU space contracts

  12-04-2017 06:00
  Punitive terms and security fears threaten involvement in Galileo programme
  
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• May ensures only Brexit key allows entry to No 10

  12-04-2017 05:02
  Business leaders find access to PM elusive and there are unwritten rules
  
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• Brexit Referendum Was A 'Bluff' The Government Must Never Repeat, MPs Warn

  12-04-2017 01:03
  
  The Government must never again “bluff” with a referendum and fail to plan for a shock result like Brexit, MPs have warned.
  Instead, it must prepare for the outcome it opposes - such as Britain voting to leave the EU - and avoid being unready to act, the cross-party parliamentary report said.
  Better planning could have helped David Cameron survive his Brexit defeat, the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee suggested, but instead his “credibility and a
  
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• MPs fear foreign hack of EU referendum voter website

  12-04-2017 01:01
  Cabinet Office site failed hours before deadline for registration
  
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• Is West ready for new deal with Russia?

  12-04-2017 01:00 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Steve Rosenberg explains what Russia would want in a new "grand bargain" with the West.
  
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