Political news

• Lib Dems To Put Fighting 'Bad Brexit' At Heart Of 2017 General Election Manifesto

  16-05-2017 23:31
  
  Tim Farron will put fighting Theresa May’s “extreme” version of Brexit at the heart of the Liberal Democrat manifesto, which the party publishes on Wednesday.
  The Lib Dems have pledged to hold a second referendum on the eventual deal the prime minister negotiates with Brussels - which would allow the public to vote to remain inside the EU.
  Speaking ahead of his manifesto launch tomorrow, Farron said his party was offering a “brighter future” compared to the prime m
  
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• Tim Farron says he's pro-choice after 2007 interview emerges

  16-05-2017 23:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Liberal Democrat leader called abortion ‘wrong’ in article published in War Cry magazine, but now says he supports the law as it stands
  Tim Farron claimed that “abortion is wrong” and something that he would like to wish away in a 2007 interview with a Salvation Army publication that he later claimed he had never read, seen or heard of.The Liberal Democrat leader has now, for the first time, declared himself pro-choice after the Guardian obtained a hard copy of his commen
  
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• Are you being targeted by political ads?

  16-05-2017 22:19 via bbc.co.uk
  
  How is social media being used by the political parties in this election? We need your input!
  
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• 'I’m suffering': woman who confronted May tells of disability cuts ordeal

  16-05-2017 21:15 via theguardian.com
  
  Kathy Mohan, who became an overnight champion of disabled people, says Tories’ PIP scheme has left her unable to copeKathy Mohan didn’t know Theresa May was coming to her home town of Abingdon on Monday, but when she saw the prime minister walking around the town centre canvassing for votes, she decided she had to make herself heard. Continue reading...
  
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• Police delegates jeer Diane Abbott over comments on spit hoods

  16-05-2017 21:03 via theguardian.com
  
  Shadow home secretary runs into difficulty at Police Federation conference as she fails to back use of controversial protectionDiane Abbott’s attempt to woo the Police Federation ended up with her being jeered as she failed to back officers having controversial protective equipment to save them from being spat at.
  Abbott went to the federation’s conference armed with promises that Labour would fund 10,000 more officers if elected and rhetoric attacking years of cuts to police funding
  
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• Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Manifesto Launch: The Rock Star Lecturer Hits Bradford’s Campus

  16-05-2017 20:37
  
  For a politician who looks every inch the university lecturer, the venue for Jeremy Corbyn’s launch of Labour’s 2017 general election manifesto was pretty perfect.
  Famed for his linen jackets, his avuncular charisma and huge popularity on campus, the Leader of the Opposition arrived to cheers and whoops from students and activists crowding every vantage point in Bradford University’s cavernous atrium.
  “Corbyn! Corbyn! Corbyn!” they chanted as if on a football terra
  
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• UK Election Countdown: Raise the scarlet standard high

  16-05-2017 20:10
  23 days to go: Labour goes back in time
  
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• Labour's manifesto: analysis of the key points and pledges

  16-05-2017 19:43 via theguardian.com
  
  Unpicking the party’s 128-page document for the election, including tax plans and a pledge to renationalise the water industry After last week’s leak of the Labour manifesto, the release of the final 128-page version adds details and costs to the policies already announced, as well as new commitments. There are specifics on the party’s tax plans, a pledge to renationalise the water industry, a promise of 30 hours’ free childcare, a new section on security and counter-terr
  
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• Reality Check: Who would be hit by Labour's higher taxes?

  16-05-2017 19:29 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Under a Labour government the highest earners would be hit by higher taxes. But who are the higher earners in the UK?
  
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• Tory Candidate Kristy Adams Slammed For Refusing To Reveal What She Thinks About Brexit

  16-05-2017 19:26
  
  A Tory parliamentary candidate in one of the UK’s most marginal seats has been slammed for refusing to reveal how she voted at the EU referendum.
  Kristy Adams, who is standing in the Hove constituency, was condemned by incumbent Labour MP Peter Kyle for saying she was “not going to answer” questions about her views on Brexit.
  Adams had said in an interview with the Brighton Argus:“I didn’t campaign for the outs and I didn’t campaign for the ins. I think we&rs
  
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• Labour lays out £49bn tax rise in radical election manifesto

  16-05-2017 19:24
  Britain’s opposition party details alternative economic vision
  
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• Judge overturns block on Scottish wind farms

  16-05-2017 19:18
  RSPB had succeeded in stopping 4 big projects in firths of Forth and Tay
  
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• Labour NHS spending plans will "leave £7bn funding gap"

  16-05-2017 19:16
  
  Labour will have to make savings on top of spending billions just to stand still, according to the Health Foundation
  
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• Donald Trump 'Didn't Know Where Intel Came From' Revealed To Russia Says Security Adviser H.R. McMaster

  16-05-2017 19:03
  
  Donald Trump was unaware of where the intelligence he discussed with Russia came from, his national security adviser H.R. McMaster has admitted in an astonishing insight into the care the President takes with crucial information.
  Speaking to reporters at the White House, McMaster said President Trump could not have jeopardised US spies because he was ignorant of the source of what he was revealing.
  “The president in no way undermined sources or methods in the course of this conversation,&r
  
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• Labour Changes Its Benefits Freeze Policy Four Times In Five Hours After Manifesto Launch

  16-05-2017 18:57
  
   
  Labour’s benefit payments policy is in “chaos” this afternoon after the party struggled to agree if it would scrap the freeze on welfare.
  Party leader Jeremy Corbyn gave seemingly conflicting answers today when asked if Labour would reverse the Tories’ benefit freeze, introduced last year.
  A Labour spokesperson tried to clear up matters by saying the freeze would be axed, only for Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry to say it woudn’t be “reversed
  
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• Labour manifesto breakdown

  16-05-2017 18:50
  A new 50p rate of income tax proposed for earnings above £123,000
  
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• Labour manifesto at-a-glance: Summary of key points

  16-05-2017 18:34 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Labour launches its manifesto ahead of the general election. Here are some of the key points.
  
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• Somerset: can the Lib Dems flourish after Tim Farron leaves the stage?

  16-05-2017 18:00 via theguardian.com
  
  In the run-up to the general election, six Guardian reporters are writing from constituencies across the country to find out what matters to you and in your area. In the second of their dispatches, Steven Morris and photographer Sam Frost move from Wells to Burnham-on-Sea and find voters underwhelmed and undecidedIn 2015, Boris Johnson donned a jumpsuit, lifebelt, and crash helmet for an election photo opportunity on a hovercraft in Burnham-on-Sea.If that was a predictable bit of Johnson electio
  
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• High earners surprised to make it on to Labour’s rich list

  16-05-2017 18:00
  Voters who earn more than £80,000 respond to proposals to raise income tax
  
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• Labour seeks to increase tax to level last seen in 1940s

  16-05-2017 17:59
  Manifesto lays out largest sustained boost to public investment since 1970s
  
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• Plaid manifesto pledge to protect Wales from 'tidal wave'

  16-05-2017 17:01 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The party's general election manifesto pledges to "protect" Wales during Brexit.
  
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• General election: Theresa May on her reading achievement

  16-05-2017 16:37 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The prime minister shares her reading record with eight year old Amarpreet Bahra.
  
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• BBC's Ben Brown Slapped After Accidentally Pushing Woman Away By The Breast

  16-05-2017 16:22
  
  A BBC presenter was slapped by a woman after accidentally grabbing her breast in a bizarre interruption on live TV. 
  Ben Brown had been interviewing Norman Smith, the BBC’s Assistant Political Editor, to get reaction to Labour’s manifesto launch in Bradford today. 
  But a female member of the public wandered into shot behind the pair and, giving a thumbs up, said: “Absolutely fantastic”.Smith politely asked her to leave them alone during the live segment on BBC N
  
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• Labour Manifesto 2017 Launch Hears Emotional Speech From Man Who Tried To Take His Own Life

  16-05-2017 15:16
  
  Labour Party members at Jeremy Corbyn’s manifesto launch today heard an emotional message from a supporter who attempted to take his own life due to the pressure of family illnesses.
  Martin Killgallen, a father of five from Bradford, said one of his sons suffers from acute asthma while three others have autism.
  He said his experience of the NHS was of “mayhem” in hospitals as medical staff struggled to deal with the workload.
  “During this time in my life I would work unti
  
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• Jeremy Corbyn U-Turns On Pledge To Axe Benefit Freeze After Just An Hour

  16-05-2017 14:48
  
  Jeremy Corbyn faced accusations of a “chaotic” u-turn over benefit payments this afternoon, after rowing back on plans to lift a freeze on welfare in the space of an hour.
  The Labour leader today vowed to axe the Tory freeze on benefits as he took questions from journalists after unveiling his party’s manifesto.
  Yet within an hour Corbyn went on the promise – which did not feature in the manifesto – prompting accusations of a u-turn.
  The Conservatives said the shift
  
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• Tactical Voting Tool Tells Students Where Their Vote Will Matter Most In The General Election

  16-05-2017 14:46
  
  Thousands of students have been sharing a tactical voting tool that allows them to find out where their vote will count most in the General Election. 
  The website ge2017.com/students, created as part of the #TurnUp voter registration campaign, compares where students live during term-time and in the holidays, identifying whether either of the constituencies are swing seats. 
  It then recommends where their vote is “worth more”, with students allowed to register at both their
  
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• Brexit’s potential health benefits

  16-05-2017 14:29
  An opportunity exists to modify outdated regulatory system specifically for the UK
  
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• Labour Manifesto Launch Crowd Boo Journalists Apart From Morning Star Reporter

  16-05-2017 14:19
  
  Jeremy Corbyn supporters were in fine voice at Labour’s official manifesto launch, booing almost every journalist who dared to ask a question - with limited exceptions.
  Questions at Tuesday’s Bradford event came from both the general public and the national media, with whom the Labour leader has a fraught relationship.The audience booed Andy Bell from Channel 5 News, who asked about immigration, while even Jack Blanchard from the Labour-supporting Daily Mirror was castigate
  
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• Labour in confusion over benefit freeze

  16-05-2017 14:08
  
  Jeremy Corbyn had said Labour would axe the benefit freeze despite no mention of it in manifesto
  
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• Corbyn's manifesto will bind those who seek to replace him

  16-05-2017 14:02
  
  The popularity of Labour's policies means prospective leaders will be expected to keep them
  
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• What the hell is Labour's Brexit policy part #1,467

  16-05-2017 13:33
  
  Labour's manifesto makes their Brexit policy no clearer
  
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• Tory Election Candidate Apologises For Telling Schoolgirl To 'F**k Off'

  16-05-2017 13:31
  
  A Tory election candidate who is re-standing to be an MP has apologised for telling a teenage girl to “fuck off” for backing Scottish independence. 
  James Heappey, who represented the Wells constituency in Somerset, said his outburst at a debate with sixth-formers last week was only meant as a “joke”.
  The girl reportedly left the meeting, later telling her father, who then raised it with the school. 
  Heappey later admitted the quip was “inappropriate
  
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• Labour Manifesto 2017 Costings: How Jeremy Corbyn Will Pay For His ‘Radical’ Plans

  16-05-2017 13:11
  
  Labour has not revealed how much money is needed to fund its renationalisation programme when Jeremy Corbyn unveiled the party’s manifesto today.
  The party committed to pumping an additional £48.6billion into education, social care and pensions, using tax hikes on businesses and top earners to pay for it.
  Yet in its “Funding Britain’s Future” document, released alongside its manifesto, there was no mention of how a Corbyn-led government would pay for renationalising
  
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• Labour Manifesto Pledges Jeremy Corbyn Will 'Not Be Afraid' Of Disagreeing With Donald Trump

  16-05-2017 13:10
  
  Labour’s manifesto has promised to distance the United Kingdom from the United States should Donald Trump break the “shared values” of the special relationship.
  Jeremy Corbyn unveiled his final programme for government on Tuesday morning.
  In it, the party says: “Since the Second World War, Britain’s most important diplomatic relationship has been with the US. But that special relationship is based on shared values.
  “When the current Trump administra
  
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• 'Outrageous interference' with rule of law as DWP sets 80% benefit appeal rejection target

  16-05-2017 12:41
  
  DWP has set staff a target of upholding 80% of the benefit decisions they're asked to reassess
  
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• Labour's Manifesto 2017 Launch: What's Changed And What's New?

  16-05-2017 12:39
  
  1. Nationalise the water industry
  Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell confirmed this morning Labour wants to bring the industry into public ownership - a policy which didn’t appear in last week’s leaked draft manifesto.  But the pledge is not accounted for in the party’s list of costings.  McDonnell told the BBC Labour would ‘look at how this could be done’ and said one option would be to buy the firms outright - but did not want to set a price as it wou
  
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• Matt Singh: The Election Analyst

  16-05-2017 12:36
  
  What is really happening in the run-up to June’s election
  
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• Labour Manifesto 2017 PDF In Full: Jeremy Corbyn's 'Radical' And 'Responsible' Programme For Government

  16-05-2017 12:30
  
  Jeremy Corbyn has unveiled his “radical” and “responsible” manifesto for the general election on June 8.
  The Labour Party’s policy programme was launched this morning in Bradford and Corbyn said it would create a “country run for the many not the few”.
  Despite Theresa May’s Conservative Party holding a sizable poll lead, Corbyn said “opinion is changing and it’s moving towards Labour”.
  A draft of the document was leaked last week,
  
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• John McDonnell Denies BBC Presenter's Suggestion He Was 'Passed A Bit Of Paper' On Deficit Question

  16-05-2017 10:33
  
  Labour struck a difficult start to its manifesto launch today, as the party’s Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell was accused of being handed a note during a grilling on the deficit, before proceeding to bungle the forecast figure.
  McDonnell was quizzed three times over the net figure of government incomings and outgoings in an appearance on the BBC’s Today programme. 
  At one point during the interview, presenter Nick Robinson asked him: “Did somebody pass you a bit of paper
  
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• Donald Trump 'Leaked Classified Information To Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov'

  16-05-2017 10:29
  
  Donald Trump revealed highly classified intelligence about an Islamic State (IS) plot in front of Russian officials during a meeting last week, according to an explosive report in The Washington Post.
  The information related to the use of laptop computers on aircraft to carry out terror attacks and was allegedly disclosed by the President to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak.
  White House officials denounced the story, insisting no intelligence
  
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• The Waugh Zone May 16, 2017

  16-05-2017 09:38
  
  The five things you need to know on Tuesday, May 16…This morning's 'radical' and 'responsible' Waugh Zone is by Ned Simons. Paul is away.1) TAKE TWO
  Jeremy Corbyn releases his manifesto this morning. Again. Only this time on purpose. It is described by Labour as both "radical" and "responsible".
  Ahead of the formal launch at 11am in Bradford, some policies have been handed out to the papers. The Guardian reports the manifesto will include a fat-cat tax on big businesses as well as plans f
  
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• Vince Cable Says Creation Of New Political Party Depends On How Lib Dems Perform At The Election

  16-05-2017 08:45
  
  Vince Cable has said the creation of a new political party in the UK depends on how the Liberal Democrats perform at the general election.
  In an interview with HuffPost UK, Cable said “politics after the election may be more interesting than before it” if Jeremy Corbyn refuses to quit and the Labour party “fragments”.
  The former business secretary, who is hoping to recapture his old Twickenham seat in south London from the Tories on June 8, said Theresa May was &ldq
  
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• Landmark European court case could curtail freedoms of British dual nationals

  16-05-2017 08:01 via theguardian.com
  Case could mean EU citizens who become British citizens and keep dual nationality may be unable to bring family members to UKJudges at the European court of justice have gathered to rule on a landmark case that could have widespread implications for all EU citizens applying for British passports. The court in Luxembourg will consider whether the British government has breached the family rights of a dual British-Spanish citizen seeking to have her Algerian husband live with her in the UK.Continu
  
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• Air Pollution: Until People Realise It's As Big A Health Risk As Smoking, Nothing Will Be Done

  16-05-2017 08:00
  
  On a sunny day, tourists often flock to the seaside town of Southend, Essex.
  But for resident Janet Morrison, who suffers from three serious lung conditions, more visitors means more cars - meaning she is often trapped in her own home when traffic jams are choking up the roads.
  The 62-year-old has emphysema and bronchiectasis, which make breathing difficult and has also had asthma for most of her life.
  “I lived in North London until I was 11 and I remember as a child the terrible smogs we
  
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• Brexit dishes up food safety dilemma for UK

  16-05-2017 06:07
  Work of EU vets ensuring quality of global imports needs to be covered
  
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• What is behind Labour’s rise in the polls?

  16-05-2017 06:00
  Leaving out undecided voters may have exaggerated swing because the pool is smaller
  
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• Matt Singh: What is behind Labour’s rise in the polls?

  16-05-2017 06:00
  Leaving out the ‘don’t knows’ may have exaggerated swing
  
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• Labour battles to cling on to its last seat in Scotland

  16-05-2017 06:00
  Candidate Ian Murray appeals for Tory support to scupper the SNP’s ‘indyref2’ plans
  
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• How Brexit is driving a wedge between Labour and Leave camp

  16-05-2017 06:00
  Worst scenario shows 1 in 3 Eurosceptic Labour voters shunning the party at the polls
  
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