Political news

• Revealed: how free schools boom helps England’s richest regions

  15-04-2017 23:00
  
  Figures show lion’s share of free schools spending goes to wealthy southTheresa May’s education policies came under fresh attack on Saturday night amid evidence that the Tories’ flagship “free schools” programme wastes huge sums of public money while benefiting prosperous areas in the south far more than deprived places elsewhere.With the prime minister already facing cross-party criticism over plans to open more grammar schools, ministers were confronted with data
  
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• It’s time for Theresa May to ditch damaging grammar school plans | David Laws

  15-04-2017 23:00
  
  Tory ideology ignores evidence that selection undermines the prospects of the poorestIt is one of the worst kept secrets in Westminster that education secretary Justine Greening is not the biggest supporter of the policy that is now the social mobility “flagship” of Theresa May’s government – expanding the number of grammar schools.Greening must be aware of the clear UK and international evidence that selective education both fails to raise overall standards, and undermin
  
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• Britain set to lose EU ‘crown jewels’ of banking and medicine agencies

  15-04-2017 22:13
  
  Rival member states vie to attract prestigious agencies currently located in London as diplomats agree to block talks on future comprehensive trade dealThe EU is set to inflict a double humiliation on Theresa May, stripping Britain of its European agencies within weeks, while formally rejecting the prime minister’s calls for early trade talks.The Observer has learned that EU diplomats agreed their uncompromising position at a crunch meeting on Tuesday, held to set out the union’s str
  
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• Ban on council park fun run fees proposed in England

  15-04-2017 20:40 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Ministers also mull whether professional dog walkers and personal trainers should be charged or not.
  
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• Lib Dems say they have real chance of winning Manchester byelection

  15-04-2017 20:28
  
  Party briefing says candidate is closing gap on Labour opponent in Gorton seat that Gerald Kaufman held until his deathThe Liberal Democrats are fast closing the gap on Labour in polling ahead of next month’s Manchester Gorton byelection and believe they could steal a victory to match their stunning success over the Conservatives in Richmond last December, according to an internal campaign briefing. Related: Only 45% of Labour voters think Corbyn would be best PM: pollContinue reading...
  
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• May’s Brexit stance has not softened but now it must

  15-04-2017 18:33
  The prime minister if bold could salvage something in the talks
  
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• Number of Britons seeking Irish passports increases by two-thirds

  15-04-2017 18:11
  
  Ireland’s foreign minister, Charlie Flanagan, says near 20,000 rise in number of applications partly the result of Brexit voteThe number of Britons applying for Irish passports has increased by more than two-thirds, at least partly because of Brexit, Ireland’s foreign minister has said.Charlie Flanagan said he was very concerned about the impact of the UK’s impending departure from the European Union. Continue reading...
  
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• NUT backs strike action in English schools over funding crisis

  15-04-2017 15:47
  
  National Union of Teachers approves industrial action in worst-hit areas and says further cuts could trigger a national strikeSchools in England could be closed by strikes before the end of the summer term, after the National Union of Teachers backed industrial action over the education funding crisis at its annual conference.The vote to strike came after delegates were told of children at one school who spent two weeks wearing hats and coats in their classroom this winter because of budget pres
  
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• Only 45% of Labour voters think Corbyn would be best PM: poll

  15-04-2017 14:11
  
  Research by Opinium also suggests the Conservatives are the most trusted party on all major issues except the NHSFewer than half of Labour voters think Jeremy Corbyn would be the best prime minister, according to a poll for the Observer that finds the Conservatives remain the most trusted party on all key issues except the NHS.Research by Opinium suggests that given a two-way choice between Corbyn and Theresa May, 14% of voters would choose the Labour leader, compared with 47% for the prime mini
  
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• West Midlands mayoral candidate seeks to tell a different Labour story

  15-04-2017 09:00
  
  On the campaign trail in the Black Country, Siôn Simon struggles to distance himself from party’s internal struggles Siôn Simon, Labour’s candidate for the new job of West Midlands mayor, is out canvassing on a sunny day in the Black Country, trying to persuade residents to pick him as their choice for what he calls “a job that doesn’t yet exist”.Hamid and Basit Miah are Labour fans. They have invited Simon into their home and they perch smilingly alongs
  
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• End of an idyll: how the sun went down on Britain’s retirement dream | Ian Jack

  15-04-2017 09:00
  
  Once it was unimaginable. Now, thanks to Brexit, the pensioner’s Mediterranean lifestyle may soon be againIt used to be that every year at this resurrectionary season – the blossom out, the sunshine warmer, the grass greener – a thought would rise from the tomb where it had lain buried since the previous autumn: should we live elsewhere? That is, should we leave the city where I’ve lived and worked for nearly 50 years, where our family and so many friendships have been cr
  
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• Steve Hilton: 'I’m rich, but I understand the frustrations people have'

  15-04-2017 08:00
  
  David Cameron’s former blue-sky thinker says the rise of populism is due to the super-rich’s inability to put themselves in the shoes of those less well off – before accepting a free cab ride and becoming lost for words about his own wealthSteve Hilton’s office looks so typically San-Fran tech-startup that it could be the work of a set designer. Surfaces are matt white, the centrepiece is the kitchen, and there are various bins for different types of recycling. The only t
  
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• Industrial strategy 'must help' UK creative industries

  15-04-2017 04:53 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Ministers told film-making, music, and video games are becoming important parts of industry.
  
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• Councils urge chewing gum firms to aid street clean-up

  15-04-2017 04:49 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Local councils in England and Wales urge gum manufacturers to help foot a £60m street cleaning bill.
  
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• Labour steps up attack on ‘irresponsible’ big business

  15-04-2017 01:07
  McDonnell’s tax return proposal seeks to galvanise support ahead of local elections
  
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• Jo Cox memorial plaque to be unveiled

  15-04-2017 01:05 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The plaque will feature a coat of arms that her children helped design.
  
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• Labour plans clampdown on 'sweetheart deals' to close £36bn tax gap

  15-04-2017 01:01
  
  Party to ‘pour the disinfectant of sunlight’ on multinationals’ accounts by forcing big companies to publish full tax returns The Labour party has said it would force big companies to publish full tax returns to expose any “sweetheart” deals that firms arrange with the taxman to potentially reduce their tax bills.Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said if Labour wins the next general election it would “close the loopholes through which large corporations swindle
  
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