Political news

• Donald Trump 'Curtsy' For Saudi King Is Tragically Cute

  20-05-2017 23:06
  
  Back in 2009 Barack Obama took a lot of flack for bowing to the King of Saudi Arabia.
  It seems Donald Trump has learned this lesson and for some reason thought a dainty little curtsy would do instead."I just did a great joke on the Trump people. Told them we have a custom that you CURTSY when you meet the king."pic.twitter.com/Ms23Mj2bQd— Jeremy Vine (@theJeremyVine) May 20, 2017
  Aww, cute.
  Predictably, Twitter is having a whale of a time (as well as arguing over whether it’s “
  
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• Scrap feuds and keep your eye on victory, Unison chief tells Labour

  20-05-2017 23:04 via theguardian.com
  
  Dave Prentis warns against factions as he attacks Theresa May’s wooing of working familiesThe head of Britain’s biggest public sector union has warned Labour figures against talking down the party’s election hopes to help their own “factional advancement”.Dave Prentis, the Unison boss, said only a Labour victory would represent success, as he hit back at Theresa May’s attempts to redefine the Conservatives as a party for workers’ rights. Continue reading
  
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• Is Labour fighting ‘shocking’ media bias or does it need to get its act together?

  20-05-2017 22:31 via theguardian.com
  
  Jeremy Corbyn’s party says it’s losing the fight for fair coverage but others point out it has always struggled against press barons. How crucial is the battle for headlines?“Can anything be done about the shockingly biased media?”Judging by the cheers, it was one of the more popular questions posed at Labour’s manifesto launch last week. Few seemed to mind the irony of its being asked by the man from the Morning Star, a paper once owned by the Communist Party of Gr
  
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• NHS chief tells ministers: face up to the pay crisis

  20-05-2017 22:23 via theguardian.com
  
  Chief executive of hospital trusts group issues warning that nursing morale and recruitment will be hitMinisters should address mounting disquiet among NHS staff about pay and recruitment if the health service is to avoid a full-blown staffing crisis, the head of the official body that represents hospital trusts and mental health services says today.The stark warning from Niall Dickson, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, comes as GP leaders predict that 2,000 European-born doctors could l
  
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• May’s plan to end free school lunches ‘to hit 900,000 struggling families’

  20-05-2017 22:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Move could undermine key Tory target of helping families that are ‘just about managing’, as concerns grow over social care pledgeAbout 900,000 children from struggling families will lose their right to free school lunches under a cut unveiled in the Conservative manifesto.The total includes more than 600,000 young children recently defined as coming from “ordinary working families”, according to analysis for the Observer by the Education Policy Institute. Continue reading
  
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• May school lunch cut ‘would hit 900,000 children of struggling families’

  20-05-2017 22:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Move could undermine key Tory target of helping families ‘just about managing’, as concerns grow over social care pledgeAbout 900,000 children from struggling families will lose their right to free school lunches under a cut unveiled in the Conservative manifesto.The total includes more than 600,000 young children recently defined as coming from “ordinary working families”, according to analysis for the Observer by the Education Policy Institute. Continue reading...
  
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• Only Labour can save our public services | Dave Prentis

  20-05-2017 21:54 via theguardian.com
  
  The stakes are huge: decline under the Conservatives or the promise to rebuild the country under LabourIn just over three weeks, the country faces a historic choice. That’s the case at any general election, but this time the stakes have been heightened by the aftermath of the Brexit vote and all that might mean for our schools, hospitals and other public services. Related: Scrap feuds and keep your eye on victory, Unison chief tells LabourContinue reading...
  
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• Election campaigning to be halted for an hour in Jo Cox tribute

  20-05-2017 20:37 via theguardian.com
  
  Parties to pause campaign to visit community projects in mark of respect to Labour MP murdered last yearThe leaders of all the main political parties will stop campaigning for an hour on Sunday in memory of Jo Cox, the Labour MP murdered in her Yorkshire constituency a year ago.Party leaders will halt political activity and instead visit community projects. The parties have asked all their candidates to do the same. Continue reading...
  
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• Pragmatism, not ideology, shapes the Conservative agenda

  20-05-2017 20:22
  May’s election manifesto aims to make markets work better for consumers
  
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• 'If I Were Prime Minister....' Bury Voters Tell HuffPost UK Their Priorites

  20-05-2017 19:43
  
  As part of our Beyond Brexit series, getting the views outside the London ‘bubble’, we talked to working class voters in Bury in Lancashire.
  Each was asked what one thing they would do if they were Prime Minister.
  Teacher Jack said he would cut the amount of testing of primary school pupils.
  Youth worker Jo said she would focus Government policy on people who are “working very hard” but are “middle of the line” in incomes.
  Phil, an NHS psychiatric nurse, said
  
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• Conservative lead over Labour falls by six points in a month

  20-05-2017 18:47 via theguardian.com
  
  Observer/Opinium poll says Tory party now has 13-point lead, with 46% share of the voteThe Conservative lead over Labour has fallen by six points in the last month, but the party retains a commanding advantage in the latest Opinium poll for the Observer.Theresa May’s party has a 13-point lead over Labour, with a 46% share of the vote. The party is down one point on last week’s poll. Continue reading...
  
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• Labour Voters Fear Family, Friends Will 'Disown' Them For Backing Tories - HuffPostUK/Edelman Focus Group

  20-05-2017 17:46
  
  Northern Labour voters are switching to Theresa May despite strong fears that they will be “disowned” by their friends and family for backing the Tories, the latest HuffPost UK-Edelman focus group has found.
  Working class men and women in the swing marginal of Bury South revealed their agony in being seen to vote for the Conservatives after supporting Labour all their lives.
  For many the social shame and embarrassment of voting Tory was evident, as were their heartfelt complaints ab
  
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• Labour manifesto ‘would keep £7bn of planned Tory welfare cuts’

  20-05-2017 17:37 via theguardian.com
  
  Analysis by Resolution Foundation shows Jeremy Corbyn’s party would go ahead with most of George Osborne’s planned benefits reductionsAt least £7bn of George Osborne’s plan to slash welfare will go ahead after the election even if Labour wins power, an analysis of the party manifestos has revealed.Three-quarters of the huge package of benefit cuts announced by the former chancellor in 2015 are yet to be implemented, including a major reduction in support given to the low-
  
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• How workable – and how expensive – might Labour’s renationalisations be?

  20-05-2017 17:00 via theguardian.com
  
  John McDonnell says taking water, energy and rail back into public ownership is a step forward, not back. But questions remain over costs and long-term benefitsLabour has outlined plans to bring the rail, water and energy supply industries back into public ownership. Royal Mail will also be nationalised as part of a manifesto pledge to reverse some of the high-profile privatisations pushed through by the Conservatives in the 1980s and 90s, and by the more recent coalition government. Shadow chan
  
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• Jeremy Corbyn: Theresa May 'creating war between generations'

  20-05-2017 14:42 via theguardian.com
  
  Labour leader calls on prime minister to drop manifesto plans to target pensions, winter fuel allowance and social care
  Jeremy Corbyn has accused the Tories of creating a “war between generations” with a manifesto that pitched young people against older members of society. The Labour leader called on Theresa May to drop the “anti-pensioner package” in the Conservative manifesto, including plans to means-test the winter fuel allowance which has caused division within her p
  
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• Tories look to edge out SNP in Scotland’s most marginal seat

  20-05-2017 12:16
  In Berwickshire, Roxburgh & Selkirk, the Conservatives were beaten by just 328 votes
  
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• Labour front bench row over Trident commitment

  20-05-2017 12:16 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Shadow defence secretary says her colleague was wrong to suggest Trident could be subject to review.
  
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• Conservatives look to edge out SNP in Scotland’s most marginal seat

  20-05-2017 12:16
  In Berwickshire, Roxburgh & Selkirk, the Conservatives were beaten by just 328 votes
  
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• Donald Trump's Saudi Arabia Visit Overshadowed By More Russia And Comey Allegations

  20-05-2017 11:52
  
  As Donald Trump this morning landed in Saudi Arabia on his first trip abroad as President, back in Washington the already stormy cloud that has hung over the White House since his inauguration threatened to erupt.
  Trump flew to Riyadh overnight on Air Force One and was greeted by an elaborate welcoming ceremony at Riyadh’s airport, punctuated by a military flyover and a handshake from Saudi King Salman.Getting ready for my big foreign trip. Will be strongly protecting American interests -
  
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• 'The police service is living hand to mouth' | Anonymous police officer

  20-05-2017 11:13 via theguardian.com
  
  My town had 18 officers on the beat 10 years ago. Now there are four. The service we provide is woefully inadequate - but not for the want of tryingI’ve already been at work for 10 hours and should have been home by now, but I am only five miles away from an emergency call; the next available police officer is 30 miles away. It’s a dilemma that has long since taught my family that I’ll be home “when I’m home”.If you had asked me 10 years ago, I would have said
  
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• Lifelong Labour Voters Back Means-Testing For Free School Meals, HuffPostUK-Edelman Focus Group Finds

  20-05-2017 11:04
  
  Lifelong Labour voters are backing Theresa May’s plans to cut wealthy people’s entitlement to winter fuel allowance, free school meals and social care funding, the latest HuffPost UK-Edelman focus group has revealed.
  Both women and men in the key marginal of Bury South in Lancashire said that they supported an extension of means-testing – where income is linked to state aid - and opposed Jeremy Corbyn’s plans to abolish student tuition fees.
  The focus group participants,
  
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• The derided railway sandwich, and its role in the privatisation of Britain | Ian Jack

  20-05-2017 09:00 via theguardian.com
  
  From restaurant cars to curling corners, onboard catering tracked the fortunes of public ownershipAs from today there will be no more bacon-and-sausage baps for sale on the trains from London Marylebone to Banbury and Birmingham; no more ploughman’s sandwiches or cheese-and-onion crisps; neither hot drinks nor cold. Chiltern Railways, which operates the service, is the latest train operator to abolish onboard catering. Most travellers now bring their food and drink with them in little pape
  
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• Green party proposes scrapping all existing student debt

  20-05-2017 09:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The Greens are set to unveil manifesto on Monday, when they say they will present the means by which they will pay for such plansWith Labour having promised to scrap university tuition fees if elected, the Greens are going one step further, with a pledge to write off all existing student loan debts, at a cost of more than £14bn over the next parliament.The party, which is already committed to ending tuition fees, concedes that this cost would be significantly higher over time, given the lo
  
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• Ukip candidate suspended for sending racist tweets

  20-05-2017 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  I’ve never been racist, says candidate who made online attacks on Jews, Israelis, Pakistanis and Africans A Ukip candidate for the general election has been suspended after a series of racist tweets emerged.Paddy Singh, who was standing in Wiltshire North, posted abusive messages about Jews, Africans and other groups. The party said it would hold a “full investigation” into the tweets and was “withdrawing support for [Singh’s] candidacy” at next month’s
  
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• Britain’s cities are falling victim to Theresa May’s cold, crabby nostalgia politics | John Harris

  20-05-2017 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Our urban centres are bearing the brunt of the latest austerity cuts. Not since the Thatcher era has a Tory government dared to pit town against country this cynically‘There’s nobody representing us,” said the thirtysomething man killing time on a side street in Handsworth, Birmingham. Amid the weekday bustle on nearby Soho Road, a smattering of people told me they would be voting Labour, there was irate talk about the Conservatives’ record on immigration, and a few Briti
  
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• Plain packaging on cigarettes makes UK anti-smoking stance clear

  20-05-2017 05:01
  Tobacco groups plan to adapt as branding and adverts are banned from packets
  
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• Discipline and control on the road with Theresa May

  20-05-2017 05:01
  Prime minister’s carefully scripted campaign includes blocking views of bad weather
  
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• Winter fuel payment: Ruth Davidson says Scots should keep benefit

  20-05-2017 04:52 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The payment should not be means-tested in Scotland because of its colder climate, says Ruth Davidson.
  
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• How Sports Direct and migrant labour changed Shirebrook

  20-05-2017 04:27 via bbc.co.uk
  
  John Humphrys assesses how one East Midlands town has adapted to 10 years of immigration.
  
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• Election Lexicon: Robin Hood tax, cockroaches and Heineken politician

  20-05-2017 04:25 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The hidden meaning of Robin Hood tax, cockroaches, 'Heineken politician' and other election buzzwords.
  
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• Election 2017: Will the Liberal Democrats win over young voters?

  20-05-2017 03:59 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Can the party entice young voters back after the controversial coalition with the Conservatives and U-turn on tuition fees?
  
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• Conservatives stand by migration target 'aim'

  20-05-2017 02:12 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Critics claim the Conservatives have no intention of meeting their "tens of thousands" target.
  
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• Donald Trump Told Russians James Comey Was A 'Nut Job'

  20-05-2017 00:07
  
  UPDATE: Jared Kushner said to be “person of interest” in Russia probe, see below.
  Donald Trump bragged to Russian officials about the firing of James Comey, calling him a “nut job” and saying the move relieved “great pressure” on him, according to a report in The New York Times.
  The comments come from a meeting Trump hosted with Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov and Russian ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak at the White House on 10 M
  
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