Political news

• Ben Jennings on the strongman leaders' club – cartoon

  17-04-2017 23:05
  
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• Labour to promise unpaid carers 17% allowance increase

  17-04-2017 23:00
  
  Jeremy Corbyn would fund £10-a-week rise by reversing inheritance tax cut announced by George Osborne in 2015Around 1 million carers would receive an extra £10 a week under plans for a significant rise in the value of the carer’s allowance being announced by the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, on Tuesday.
  Labour would fund the 17% increase, which would cost £538m by the time of the next election, by reversing the inheritance tax cut announced by George Osborne, the then cha
  
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• Scottish Voters 'Would Know More About Brexit By Time Of Second Indy Ref'

  17-04-2017 20:57
  
  A substantial amount of information about the UK’s Brexit deal will be available by the time Nicola Sturgeon wants to hold a second referendum on independence, a think tank has insisted.
  But the Scottish Centre on European Relations (SCER) warned if a fresh ballot took place in March 2019, there would still be “some substantial uncertainty” about the implications of the UK’s departure from the European Union - and also about an independent Scotland’s future relatio
  
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• Yes, the left has a racism problem

  17-04-2017 19:48
  
  Sections of the left will still defend or turn a blind eye to anti-Semitism
  
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• The Guardian view on apprenticeships: an invitation for employers to cheat | Editorial

  17-04-2017 19:43
  
  A good idea is being put at risk by a government in a hurry, with monitoring and assessment systems not yet readyThere is plenty to admire in the government’s plans to beef up apprenticeships, funded from a levy that came into force this month on all companies with a payroll of more than £3m a year. The scheme will provide an extra 3m apprenticeships, which the government believes will help fill the skills and productivity gap that dogs the British economy. Everyone, from the CBI to
  
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• May is the most conservative leader since Thatcher

  17-04-2017 19:31
  To see the government as the sum of outside pressures is to patronise and exonerate
  
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• Theresa May needs a Clement Attlee | Letters

  17-04-2017 19:03
  
  As well as shuffling people (Theresa May must now build the cabinet she really wants, 14 April) the prime minister should also consider whether the structure of her government is fit for a successful Brexit negotiation: our country’s biggest challenge since the second world war.When Neville Chamberlain declared war in 1939 he saw its conduct as being fitted into the existing cabinet committee structure. When Winston Churchill took over, he made winning the war the supreme purpose of the go
  
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• UK considers two-year visa for young Europeans after Brexit

  17-04-2017 18:43
  Scheme would be aimed at low-skilled sectors to address potential staffing shortages
  
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• London’s housing crisis is abetted by illicit funds

  17-04-2017 18:16
  Revealing the true ownership of UK property may help stop the rot
  
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• Call for fundraising pages to be regulated amid fraud concerns

  17-04-2017 17:48
  
  Demand for oversight of sites such as JustGiving follows doubts over pages launched after Westminster attackIt has become a familiar moment in the aftermath of any catastrophe – the appearance of a slew of online fundraising pages designed to funnel donations for the traumatised, injured and bereaved.But after doubts were raised over some JustGiving pages launched in the aftermath of the Westminster attack, government ministers have been urged to impose regulation – or face a growing
  
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• Big six energy firms braced for government price crackdown

  17-04-2017 17:43
  
  New rules are expected to be implemented as soon as next week, most likely in form of price cap on standard variable tariffsCentral heating systems are being turned off across the country as spring takes hold, but winter is coming for energy companies who have recently hiked bills for millions of households.Theresa May said the energy market was “manifestly” not working after a flurry of price rises by the big six companies – British Gas, e.on, EDF, npower, ScottishPower, and S
  
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• Labour MP Neil Coyle Says He Won't Be Intimidated After 'Absurd' Complaint From Corbyn Aide

  17-04-2017 17:19
  
  A Labour MP has insisted he will not be intimidated after an “absurd” complaint was made about him to party officials by Jeremy Corbyn’s office.
  Neil Coyle wrote to the leader to raise concerns over the lack of briefings for MPs on Brexit and growing criticism of Labour’s slow response in reacting to major news stories.
  But then Corbyn’s office manager Karie Murphy reported him for “not raising questions with [a] line manager” to chief whip Nick Br
  
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• Local elections, national worries: tough task for Labour's doorstep troops

  17-04-2017 16:47
  
  Whether it’s Clive Lewis in Norfolk or John McDonnell in Coventry, party’s MPs trying to spread positive message before May voteThe front gardens of the comfortable Victorian terraced streets of Nelson ward, in south Norwich, are bristling with political signboards – most of them bright Labour red, but a fair smattering of Green party green and the occasional yellow of the Liberal Democrats.“Some streets are just ablaze with red, which is great. And because the Greens are
  
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• Jeremy Corbyn critic says he is victim of Labour smear campaign

  17-04-2017 16:20
  
  Neil Coyle says accusations he has been abusive to party staffers are unfounded and based on his criticism of the leadershipA Labour MP strongly critical of Jeremy Corbyn has said he has been the victim of a smear campaign after it emerged that his conduct had left him facing potential disciplinary action.Neil Coyle is being investigated by the party’s chief whip, Nick Brown, over a series of complaints about him allegedly being abusive to members of Labour party staff.Continue reading...
  
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• Blair prosecution opposed by attorney general, says paper

  17-04-2017 15:58 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The Guardian says documents show the attorney general wants a prosecution against the ex-PM blocked.
  
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• What Brexit should have taught us about voter manipulation | Paul Flynn

  17-04-2017 14:24
  
  The EU referendum was won by the side with the means to distribute the most plausible lies through social mediaThe single thunderous lesson from the EU referendum is that new technology trumps arcane democratic safeguards. Artificial intelligence, algorithms and invisible money sources can overwhelm democratic rules.A report by MPs on the public administration and constitutional affairs committee – Lessons Learned from the EU Referendum – gained considerable attention after highlight
  
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• Brexit Voters Respond Angrily To News EU Agencies Will Withdraw From UK Within Weeks

  17-04-2017 10:58
  
  Brexit voters have responded angrily to news that EU diplomats are plotting to withdraw flagship agencies from Britain ‘within weeks’.
  The Daily Express reported the move was a ‘Brexit punishment’ - despite admitting the loss of the European Banking Authority and the European Medical Agency (EMA) was inevitable after the triggering of Article 50.
  Readers of the paper who voted Leave reacted with outrage.
   
  The two agencies not only employ hundreds of staff, man
  
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• 10 lessons on getting into No 10: this is how you attack the Tories | Theo Bertram

  17-04-2017 10:00
  
  To beat Theresa May, Jeremy Corbyn must stop being so feeble. Having worked with Blair, I know how Labour can muster some attacking competenceIn the past few weeks there have been some welcome signs of basic competence creeping back into the Labour operation. Three meaty policy announcements (on free school meals for all, increasing the minimum wage, and tackling late payments for small businesses) were decently prepared and served. This is a significant improvement on Labour’s announcemen
  
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• Food nourishes mind and body. So let’s enjoy eating | Ruby Tandoh

  17-04-2017 09:00
  
  Anxiety surrounding food is making people ill. Society needs to do more to help those who struggleAs you read this I’m probably tucking into my third chocolate bunny, with a side of hot cross bun. It wasn’t always like this. When I was 18, I was admitted to a mental health ward. I’d been swinging between anorexia and bulimia for three years, but the tipping point was a suicide attempt one night during the summer holidays after my A-levels. Related: Bad fad – Ruby Tandoh o
  
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• Steve Bell’s If ... when Trump says he's going to bomb something, he bombs it

  17-04-2017 08:10
  
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• Brexit upheaval reduces new laws to 20-year low

  17-04-2017 06:01
  Normal business on hold as government gives priority to EU referendum fallout
  
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• Sharp rise in rejected claims for disability benefit

  17-04-2017 01:01
  
  Labour raises alarm over number of people being turned down for personal independence paymentsAbout 200,000 people face seeing their claims for a disability benefit to help with daily living and mobility refused this year, new figures obtained by Labour suggest.Senior MPs have called on the government to explain an apparent spike in people being turned down for personal independence payment (PIP), which is a top-up benefit with two components related to the extra costs of daily living and limite
  
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• Ofcom accused of on and off-screen diversity failures at BBC

  17-04-2017 01:01
  
  Former culture minister David Lammy concerned over lack of specific ethnicity targets in draft regulatory frameworkA former culture minister has accused the media regulator Ofcom of shirking its responsibilities to improve diversity both on and off screen at the BBC and has called on the government to ensure that improvements are made to its powers.David Lammy, the Labour MP who was instrumental in the parliamentary push to include diversity in the current BBC charter, expressed concerns over Of
  
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• More than 90% of top mayoral roles 'likely to be held by white men'

  17-04-2017 01:01
  
  Electoral Reform Society says English devolution risks becoming ‘plaything of old boys’ club’ on its current trajectoryMore than 90% of most powerful positions in the new English mayoralties and their cabinets are likely to be held by white men, according to analysis by the Electoral Reform Society.The thinktank said English devolution risked becoming a “plaything of the old boys’ club” on its current trajectory, as residents of six city regions - Greater Manc
  
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