Political news

• Jeremy Corbyn Holds Manchester Victory Rally For Andy Burnham Without Him

  05-05-2017 22:37
  
  Jeremy Corbyn has held a victory rally in one of the few places Labour actually won - but the winner didn’t show up.
  After a disastrous performance in local elections across the UK, Corbyn staged a rally on Friday evening on the steps of the Manchester Convention Centre, after Andy Burnham easily won the race for Greater Manchester’s newly created mayoralty.
  This led people to assume, logically enough, that Burnham would be there.
  But he wasn’t.Journalists reported the Labour
  
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• John McDonnell gets bigger Labour role after local election failures

  05-05-2017 22:32
  
  Shadow chancellor will push ‘for the many, not the few’ message in bid to restore trust in Labour party in run-up to the general electionJohn McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, will be at the centre of Labour’s pitch to voters in the next four weeks as the party tries to win the public’s trust after a poor set of local council results.The party had lost 321 council seats by early evening on Friday and intends to respond to the losses by showing more of the shadow chancello
  
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• Local elections: UKIP suffers big losses across England

  05-05-2017 22:17 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Leader Paul Nuttall is defiant despite losing 145 seats and being wiped out in several English councils.
  
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• Martin Rowson on the local elections – cartoon

  05-05-2017 22:07
  
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• What now?

  05-05-2017 21:49 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Labour has a plan to avert disaster at the general election - and it means we'll be seeing more of Jeremy Corbyn.
  
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• Corbyn says Labour faces 'challenge on historic scale' to win general election – as it happened

  05-05-2017 21:47
  
  Analysis: Conservatives reap the rewards of Brexit tough talkTories profit from Ukip collapse amid Labour lossesLive results tracker: local and mayoral elections 2017The Snap: sign up for our daily election email – and read today’s8.47pm BSTThis live blog is closing now but below is a summary of events: 8.09pm BSTIn a 15-minute speech in Manchester on Friday night, Corbyn accepted Labour’s performance was mixed. He began, not by focusing on Andy Burnham’s emphatic win, bu
  
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• Would you be ready to vote aged 16?

  05-05-2017 21:41 via bbc.co.uk
  
  He can vote in Scotland's local elections, so should he be able to have a say in choosing his MP?
  
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• Local and mayoral results: Tories advance amid Labour losses

  05-05-2017 21:27 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Labour loses control of councils in England, Wales and Scotland and UKIP loses all of its seats, as voters switch to the Tories.
  
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• Tim Farron pledges to double number of Lib Dem MPs

  05-05-2017 21:03 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The Liberal Democrat leader says the party increased its share of the vote by 7% in the local elections.
  
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• No more excuses: Jeremy Corbyn is to blame for this meltdown | Jonathan Freedland

  05-05-2017 20:50
  
  Labour should be winning, but even its supporters say they can’t vote for a party with Corbyn as leaderWhat more evidence do they need? What more proof do the Labour leadership and its supporters require? This was not an opinion poll. This was not a judgment delivered by the hated mainstream media. This was the verdict of the electorate, expressed through the ballot box, and it could scarcely have been clearer – or more damning. Related: Last night was a Tory landslide – 8 June
  
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• Straws deny Conservatives in Northumberland election

  05-05-2017 20:47 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Liberal Democrats win a crucial county council seat following two recounts and the drawing of straws.
  
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• Confident Tories set sights on Labour heartlands after local elections surge

  05-05-2017 20:34
  
  Theresa May aims to break historical ties to Labour in north of England and Midlands on back of council and mayoral winsThe Conservatives are making plans to go after seats in Labour’s traditional heartlands after winning mayoral contests in the north-east of England and the West Midlands as well as seizing control of 11 more councils.Theresa May insisted she was “not taking anything for granted” before the 8 June general election but the local and mayoral results showed the Co
  
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• Pinn’s illustration of the week: Amuse-bouche

  05-05-2017 20:31 via ft.com
  War of words between London and Brussels over Brexit
  
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• Labour losses 'not as bad as expected' in Wales

  05-05-2017 20:28 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Labour keeps control of Swansea and Cardiff councils as the Tories fail to make the expected gains.
  
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• Local knowledge

  05-05-2017 20:25 via bbc.co.uk
  
  What do the local election results mean for the outcome of June's general election?
  
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• Jeremy Corbyn reacts to local election results

  05-05-2017 20:24 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The Labour leader says the results in some areas are disappointing, but it isn't all bad news.
  
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• UK Election Countdown: blue Britain

  05-05-2017 20:20 via ft.com
  34 days to go: the age of May has arrived
  
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• Hard labour for mayoral hopefuls in opposition heartlands

  05-05-2017 20:17 via ft.com
  Victories in Liverpool and Gtr Manchester — but Tees Valley and West Midlands go to Tories
  
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• Elections 2017 results: Who are the new metro mayors?

  05-05-2017 20:06 via bbc.co.uk
  
  With powers over transport, planning and skills, six new combined authority mayors have been chosen.
  
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• Council election results: Sturgeon hails victory despite Tory surge

  05-05-2017 19:58 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The SNP finishes as comfortably the biggest party in the Scottish council elections despite big Conservative gains.
  
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• The Guardian view on the 2017 local elections: a clear and present warning | Editorial

  05-05-2017 19:57
  
  The council elections show Theresa May on course for general election triumph. Opponents of her hard Brexit plans must respond or face an even worse defeatDemocracy is among the proudest of human achievements. But politics and journalism are unsentimental. It is the fate of the 2017 UK council elections to be largely ignored as the local democratic events they actually are. Instead they are already being viewed largely through the prism of the general election that is due a month from now. That&
  
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• Ukip may be over but the Brexit party goes on and on | Marina Hyde

  05-05-2017 19:53
  
  Big and small anti-European Union parties have united, and Labour wants to pin the blame on the likes of meCelebrating the demise of Ukip in the local elections is a little like celebrating the end of anything that could technically be described as the Austrian far right in March 1938. You probably don’t want to get overly carried away with the party poppers. Still, the near-clean assimilation of the Ukip vote by the Conservatives is the successful result of a deliberate strategy by Theres
  
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• Ukip, my old party, is finished. And I’m elated about it | Douglas Carswell

  05-05-2017 19:48
  
  The flood of Kippers switching to Theresa May shows two things: Ukip’s done its job of getting us out of Europe. And she is now the anti-establishment candidateIt’s over. Ukip, only a few months ago seen as an insurgent party riding high in the polls on over 20%, is finished. Today my former party lost all but one of the local council seats it was contesting. As Ukip’s first – and last – MP, I am far from despondent. In fact, I am elated. Why? Because we have won. R
  
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• This week on the election trail

  05-05-2017 19:31 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The big moments from the election campaign this week.
  
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• A royal precedent for longer working lives

  05-05-2017 19:27 via ft.com
  Career structures and corporate culture must adapt to older workers
  
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• Scottish Conservatives enjoy major gains in local elections

  05-05-2017 19:12 via ft.com
  Party hopes council victories will provide momentum ahead of general election 
  
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• Paper-based voting system slows down UK election results

  05-05-2017 19:11 via ft.com
  Electoral experts say British traditions leave it out of step with other democracies
  
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• Jeremy Corbyn's 'Values' And 'Patriotism' Under Fire As Labour Suffers Big Losses In Local Elections

  05-05-2017 19:04
  
  Jeremy Corbyn faced claims he was out of touch with Labour voters’ ‘values’ after the local elections saw the party stunned by losses in both marginal seats and its heartlands.
  The Labour leader came under fire as the Tories all but wiped out UKIP and scored historic victories over Labour in the north East, Scotland and West Midlands.
  Just five weeks before the general election, Theresa May looked on course for a big Tory majority at Westminster – though not perhaps a la
  
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• Elections 2017 results: Tories win four new mayors

  05-05-2017 18:41 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Former John Lewis boss Andy Street wins the West Midlands mayoral race to cement a series of Tory wins.
  
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• Local elections: Theresa May on Conservatives' success

  05-05-2017 18:39 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The PM says there's still much at stake, despite the Conservatives' success in the local elections.
  
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• Labour's hint of a pulse leaves Theresa May unsated | John Crace

  05-05-2017 18:36
  
  The Supreme Leader won’t sleep easy until all opposition is ground into the dirt and she has smitten every Brussels bureaucrat Shortly after 4pm, Kim Jong-May stepped out of her bunker to deliver a three-minute victory speech to a few members of the media in a factory in Brentford, west London. Not that it was a victory. Not by the Supreme Leader’s demanding standards.Related: Local elections 2017: Conservative Andy Street elected mayor of West Midlands as Labour's losses mount - liv
  
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• Air pollution plan: sacrificing the nation's health to save an election campaign

  05-05-2017 18:26
  
  Penalising UK drivers in the heat of an election campaign promises a political car crash, so the government has hit the brakes and slammed clean air policy into reverseFor seven years, people in Britain have been forced to hold their breath and wait for a comprehensive plan to tackle the nation’s toxic air crisis. After a series of humiliating defeats in the courts, Friday’s government plan was meant to finally deliver.But instead ministers hit the brakes and slammed the policy into
  
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• Labour's local losses – Politics Weekly podcast

  05-05-2017 18:20
  
  Anushka Asthana is joined by Martin Kettle, Deborah Mattinson and Sam Tarry to discuss what the local council results mean for the general election. Plus France prepares to elect its new presidentLabour has suffered through a bruising set of local election results ahead of next month’s general election as the Conservatives take advantage of a collapse in the Ukip vote and a lack of enthusiasm for Labour in areas once considered its heartlands.Joining Anushka Asthana to discuss it all are D
  
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• Last night was a Tory landslide – 8 June could be even worse for Labour | Lewis Baston

  05-05-2017 18:17
  
  Conservative triumph in the local elections came from a turnout of just 30%. When people less politically engaged vote the advantage might be even greaterCouncil elections are normally a mixed bag, with some comfort for everyone. It is rare for the overall narrative to be quite so clear – Labour’s performance in May 2016 was intriguingly mixed and productive to analyse. The results of the 2017 local elections are absolutely clear: a Conservative landslide. Related: The Lib Dems&rsquo
  
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• Andy Burnham elected mayor of Greater Manchester

  05-05-2017 18:17
  
  Labour’s former health secretary wins 63% of vote to acquire substantial powers of region’s first directly elected mayorAndy Burnham has won a decisive victory to become the first directly elected mayor of Greater Manchester in an election his friends and opponents said was won on the strength of his personal name recognition.The 47-year-old quit his parliamentary seat in Leigh, Wigan, in order to win the inaugural ballot with 63% of the vote, taking 359,352 votes to secure victory i
  
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• Rubbish Party takes seat in Ayrshire

  05-05-2017 18:12 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Sally Cogley had been campaigning to clamp-down on litter, dog fouling and fly tipping in Irvine Valley.
  
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• Government Plans To Tackle Air Pollution 'Woefully Inadequate', Say Campaigners

  05-05-2017 18:03
  
  Government plans to tackle air pollution across the country have been branded ‘woefully inadequate’ by leading campaigners.
  Defra was forced to publish its draft air quality strategy this week by the High Court, despite attempts to delay it until after the general election.
   It includes plans for a ‘targeted’ diesel scrappage scheme - but campaigners say it would only translate to about 9,000 out of two million diesel car owners being paid to swap their heavily pollu
  
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• 'Corbyn is an albatross': readers on the local election results

  05-05-2017 17:58
  
  Ukip wiped out, Labour in serious trouble and the Lib Dems not making the gains they would have hoped. Our readers reflect on the local election results
  Labour has suffered serious losses in local elections across England, Wales and Scotland, with the Conservatives making significant gains. Though Labour managed to win mayoral elections in Liverpool and Manchester, it lost out to the Tories in Tees Valley, a traditional Labour heartland. Meanwhile, Ukip is facing a near wipeout of its council se
  
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• General election 2017: BBC announces Scottish leaders debate

  05-05-2017 17:53 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The leaders of the country's five main political parties will take part in the 90 minute showdown.
  
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• Jean-Claude Juncker Upsets Some By Claiming 'English Is Losing Importance In Europe'

  05-05-2017 17:32
  
  Jean-Claude Juncker has joked English is “losing importance” in Europe because of Brexit, in a clear jibe aimed at Theresa May.
  As the European Commission president’s relationship with May plumbs new depths, he told a conference in Italy he would give a speech in French because English was “slowly but surely losing importance in Europe”.
  It follows the commission leaking a scathing account of Juncker’s meeting with May to the German press and the prime mi
  
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• Tory draws the short straw in bizarre election boost for Lib Dems

  05-05-2017 17:20 via ft.com
  Conservatives lose control of Northumberland county council after dead heat
  
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• Welsh Labour to distance itself from UK party in general election

  05-05-2017 17:05
  
  Wales wing did better than expected at local elections and will stress it is a Welsh entity with its own identity in campaignWelsh Labour will try to distance itself from the national party during the general election campaign after it did better than activists and experts anticipated in the local elections.While Welsh Labour was upset at losing out in constituencies with strong historical ties to the party such as Merthyr Tydfil and Blaenau Gwent, it held on to power in Newport, Swansea and Car
  
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• Brexit: English is losing its importance in Europe, says Juncker

  05-05-2017 17:02
  
  European commission chief’s remark follows Theresa May’s broadside against EU ‘meddling’ in UK electionsThe English language is losing importance in Europe, the president of the European commission has said amid simmering tensions over the Brexit negotiations.Speaking to an audience of European diplomats and experts in Florence, Jean-Claude Juncker also described the UK’s decision to leave the EU as a tragedy. Continue reading...
  
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• UK's new air pollution plan dismissed as 'weak' and 'woefully inadequate'

  05-05-2017 16:46
  
  Lawyers who forced ministers to deliver new proposals to tackle toxic air crisis say government is not taking responsibility for public health emergencyThe government’s new plan to tackle the UK’s toxic air crisis is “much weaker than hoped for”, according to the environmental lawyers that forced ministers to deliver the proposals.James Thornton, chief executive of ClientEarth, said the government was “passing the buck” to local authorities and said he failed
  
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• Bernie Sanders Mocks Donald Trump Over Health Care Gaffe

  05-05-2017 16:39
  
  Bernie Sanders has mocked Donald Trump after the president praised Australia’s universal health care, just hours after Republicans voted to strip millions of Americans of theirs. 
  On Thursday evening, the President met with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, aboard the USS Intrepid to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Coral Sea.
  During a short press conference, Trump said: “It’s going to be fantastic health care.
  “I shouldn&rsqu
  
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• Politicians react to their contrasting fortunes in local polls.

  05-05-2017 16:35 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The Conservatives have gained ground in local elections at the expense of Labour and UKIP.
  
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• Scottish Conservatives enjoy major gains in UK local elections

  05-05-2017 16:31 via ft.com
  Party hopes council victories will provide momentum ahead of general election
  
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• English language is losing its importance in Europe, says Juncker

  05-05-2017 16:11 via ft.com
  Jibe by Commission’s president caps week of confrontation between London and Brussels
  
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• Diane Abbott gets her numbers wrong ... again – video

  05-05-2017 16:05
  
  Answering questions about Labour’s net losses in the local elections, shadow home secretary estimates that the number of seats lost by her party is ‘about 50’, but is told by the interviewer that the figure actually stands at about 125. Abbott then pauses and alters her answer, saying: ‘Well, the last time I looked we had net losses of 100 but obviously this is a moving picture.’Diane Abbott’s error-filled LBC interview on police funding – videoLocal ele
  
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• Brexit: English language 'losing importance' - EU's Juncker

  05-05-2017 16:02 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The EU Commission chief chooses French because English "is losing importance in Europe".
  
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