Political news

• 12 Times BBC's Andrew Neil Skewered Theresa May Over Her 2017 General Election Manifesto

  22-05-2017 22:54
  
  Theresa May’s day of “manifesto meltdown” got worse after she was skewered by the BBC’s Andrew Neil over everything from social care to how many pensioners would lose their £300 winter fuel allowance.
  Hours after the Prime Minister was forced to “clarify” her policy on funding for elderly people, she was grilled on BBC1 by Neil over the changes – as well as her broken promises on immigration, cuts to benefits for the working poor and lack of costin
  
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• Tory Attempts To Distract From Theresa May's 'Painful' Andrew Neil Interview Backfire

  22-05-2017 22:39
  
  Theresa May has been interviewed for half-an-hour by journalist Andrew Neil on BBC One, and most agreed it was a proper grilling.Theresa May is REALLY NOT enjoying this interview with Andrew Neil. Palpably wants it to end. Very uncomfortable #bbc1— Caitlin Moran (@caitlinmoran) May 22, 2017I actually think this format works better than a debate. Puts the politicians under much greater pressure.— (((Dan Hodges))) (@DPJHodges) May 22, 2017Can't we just get Andrew Neil to negotiate with
  
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• Maybot policy reboot ends in an embarrassing interview meltdown | John Crace

  22-05-2017 22:38 via theguardian.com
  
  After some tough questioning from the BBC’s Grand Inquisitor Andrew Neil, the prime minister was left floundering on her dementia tax U-turn “Nothing has changed. Nothing has changed,” the Supreme Leader snarled, her eyes narrowing into a death stare, her face contorted and her arms spread wide, twitching manically. “Nothing has changed.”Everyone at Conservative party’s Welsh manifesto launch in Wrexham saw it rather differently. They had distinctly heard her
  
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• Four held in Lancashire County Council contract probe

  22-05-2017 22:38 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The arrests were on suspicion of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice and witness intimidation.
  
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• Here's How Theresa May's U-Turn Played On The Doorstep Seconds After She Announced It

  22-05-2017 21:52
  
  If Theresa May was hoping for an instant bounce after her social care funding u-turn, she got in Colchester.
  Tory candidate Will Quince was out canvassing for support in the seat he won from the Lib Dems in 2015 when news of the policy shift came through.
  After being read out the details of his leader’s speech from the HuffPost UK, Quince continued knocking on doors in the Essex town – and the very next people he spoke to raised concerns over the policy.
  Harry and Pam Trott, 72 and 7
  
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• Theresa May struggles in Andrew Neil interview – video

  22-05-2017 21:49 via theguardian.com
  
  Speaking on BBC1’s The Andrew Neil Interviews, Theresa May struggles to defend her U-turn over the ‘dementia tax’. Last week, the Conservative manifesto rejected a cap on social care costs; now, May says there will be a capWatch the full interview on the BBC’s homepage
  Theresa May faces ‘chaos and confusion’ claimsContinue reading...
  
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• Theresa May faces 'chaos and confusion' claims after social care U-turn

  22-05-2017 21:44 via theguardian.com
  
  Prime minister spends day battling against accusations of indecision after change to policy outlined in manifestoTheresa May has been accused of “chaos, confusion and indecision” after announcing a U-turn on her plans to make people pay more for social care just days after they were first announced.
  The prime minister battled throughout Monday to defend her decision to put in place an “absolute limit” on the amount that people would have to pay despite no mention of the i
  
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• General election 2017: Theresa May struggles to defend 'dementia tax' U-turn in BBC interview – as it happened

  22-05-2017 21:33 via theguardian.com
  
  Andrew Neil grills PM on day that she was forced into a major climbdown over the plans for social car laid out in her manifesto Labour pledges to abolish tuition fees as early as autumn 2017Greens to unveil plans for universal basic income in manifesto launchThe Snap: sign up for our daily election email – and read today’s
  What May’s social care U-turn means for the election - Snap analysis 8.33pm BSTMy colleague, Jessica Elgot, points out that the Conservatives are being attac
  
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• Theresa May's responses to Andrew Neil's five toughest questions

  22-05-2017 21:24 via theguardian.com
  
  Prime minister pressed on the social care U-turn and paying for manifesto promises in BBC interviewTheresa May faced the BBC’s Andrew Neil in a tense interview on Monday. He repeatedly pressed the prime minister on her social care policy U-turn and details of the costs of some of her manifesto pledges, among other issues. Here are some of his toughest questions. Related: Team May takes a hit to dampen 'dementia tax' backlashContinue reading...
  
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• Team May takes a hit to dampen 'dementia tax' backlash

  22-05-2017 21:17 via theguardian.com
  
  Change of tack on social care policy will renew concerns about the way the PM and her tight group of aides make decisions“Thank God, what a relief.” That was the verdict of one Tory candidate in a marginal seat on Monday upon hearing that while he’d been out knocking on doors, Theresa May had announced a crucial “clarification” of her social care policy by adding a cap on overall care costs.May and her tight group of close aides, including campaign supremo Sir Lynto
  
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• Big energy firms lobby Theresa May to water down price cap pledge

  22-05-2017 20:57 via theguardian.com
  
  Electricity and gas suppliers push for compromise that would see price caps for 6m rather than 17m householdsEnergy companies are lobbying the Conservative party to water down its policy of a price cap on bills, with proposals that would protect millions fewer UK households from tariff rises.Theresa May has promised to cap electricity and gas costs for 17 million families on default energy deals, called standard variable tariffs, after five of the big six suppliers increased prices. But under a
  
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• May’s wobbles bode badly for Brexit

  22-05-2017 20:09
  The question is not what this government stands for but whether it is any good
  
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• 'You lied to us Boris,' yells heckler

  22-05-2017 19:55 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has been heckled during an election campaign visit to St Ives. A man accused Mr Johnson of lying "about the money".
  
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• Jeremy Corbyn plans to speak to families of IRA Hyde Park bombing victims

  22-05-2017 19:34 via theguardian.com
  
  It is understood Labour leader has expressed interest in campaign of families and supports their efforts to get justice Jeremy Corbyn would like to speak to the families of victims killed in the IRA Hyde Park bombing, the Guardian has learned, as accusations surrounding the Labour leader’s past links to the organisation continue to dog the party.Relatives of the four soldiers killed in the IRA attack in July 1982 are engaged in a fundraising campaign to finance a legal action against the o
  
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• 'Nothing has changed' on social care

  22-05-2017 19:22 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The prime minister says there will be two million more people over the age of 75 within 10 years.
  
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• Theresa May wobbles as she defends social care reversal

  22-05-2017 19:02
  Prime minister’s working style under attack after hasty retreat
  
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• SNP says sorry for attacking TV debate nurse

  22-05-2017 18:44
  Sturgeon claims ‘honest mistake’ over smear following election broadcast
  
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• Q&A: Reinstating the cap on social care

  22-05-2017 18:32
  What does Theresa May’s U-turn mean in effect?
  
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• May’s welcome U-turn on an ill-conceived policy

  22-05-2017 18:32
  A parental health lottery is no way to pay for long-term social care
  
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• The Greens' manifesto at-a-glance: Summary of key points

  22-05-2017 18:19 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The Greens' launch their manifesto ahead of the general election. Here are some of the key points.
  
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• Welsh Tories pledge end to 'devolve and forget'

  22-05-2017 17:38 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Working with Welsh ministers "will not be the limit of our actions in Wales", the Welsh Conservatives say
  
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• Smears against SNP critic show it's not just 'fringe elements' using dirty tactics

  22-05-2017 17:33
  
  One nurse takes on the Scottish first minister - and is treated to an exercise in online political smears
  
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• Dementia Tax 'Alternative' Google Ads Taken Out By 'Concerned Individual'

  22-05-2017 17:27
  
  A ‘concerned individual’ has decided to take on the Tories’ controversial ‘dementia tax’ Google advertising campaign by injecting cash into his own.
  Jason Scales, 22, from Manchester, has spent £750 so far on “Strong and unstable deception” paid-for search results to run two advertising campaigns revealing “the truth about the Conservatives’ plan to screw you”.
  The posts link to this page, which reads ‘Batten down
  
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• The Grime Artist Using Her Music To Hit Out At Tory Policy

  22-05-2017 17:15
  
  Melz says she makes her music political in an aim to prove people of all backgrounds and races care about politics.
  The 22-year-old grime artist - real name Melissa Owusu - was born in Croydon and titled her latest song ‘Fuck Theresa May’.“[We need to] centre grime music as an actual academic exploration, because things that people say in their music is so powerful and it’s so reflective of the situation and it’s so political. But the culture is continually underval
  
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• Tories can be damaged by the dementia tax U-turn - but only if Labour is smart about it

  22-05-2017 16:43
  
  Focusing on the 'dementia tax' is good for Labour - but talking about leadership isn't
  
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• General election 2017: Corbyn pressed over IRA comments

  22-05-2017 16:31 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The Labour leader is criticised for not unequivocally condemning the IRA in an interview.
  
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• General election 2017: Caring for older people

  22-05-2017 16:21 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Voters are asked if they back the Conservative or Labour leader over caring for older people.
  
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• Daily Mail Front Page About Theresa May Really Hasn't Aged Well

  22-05-2017 16:16
  
  The Daily Mail has been mocked for a front page it published last week, in which Theresa May’s manifesto was heralded as “remarkably honest”.
  Images of the paper’s bold headline were shared on social media in light of  the Tories’ unprecedented u-turn on their flagship social care policy, which the Mail had initially highlighted.
  Friday’s front page declared of Theresa May: “At last, a PM not afraid to be honest with you.”It praised the p
  
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• Scottish Labour unveils election manifesto

  22-05-2017 16:10
  Leader appeals to voters to back struggling party against ‘twin evils’ of SNP and Tories
  
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• Theresa May backs down on ‘dementia tax’ social care plans

  22-05-2017 15:41
  Conservatives plan cap on total care costs after outcry on original manifesto pledge
  
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• Mandelson legacy looms large as Hartlepool approaches crossroads

  22-05-2017 15:30 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 in your area. In the latest dispatch from Hartlepool, Josh Halliday and photographer Gary Calton find opinion divided on the man who was the local MP for more than a decadeIt was 9am on 24 June 2016. Peter Mandelson stood shellshocked on College Green in Westminster as Britain woke to its decision to leave the EU. It was, he told the television cameras, the wo
  
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• Jeremy Corbyn's Vow To Abolish Tuition Fees Sparks Outrage Among Graduates

  22-05-2017 15:20
  
  Jeremy Corbyn’s latest tuition fee policy has sparked outrage among recent graduates, who have branded the pledge “unfair” to those left with £27,000 of tuition debt. 
  The Labour leader and shadow education secretary Angela Rayner announced this morning that the party will scrap tuition fees for all students from 2018 if elected, while also writing off the first year of fees for those starting university this September. 
  Students who are part-way through their c
  
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• Success Of Progressive Alliance Will Be Down To The Greens, Says Jonathan Bartley

  22-05-2017 15:18
  
  Any Progressive Alliance success at next month’s election will be down to Green Party candidates ‘showing leadership’, co-leader Jonathan Bartley has claimed.
  At the launch of the Greens’ manifesto on Monday, Bartley and leadership colleague Caroline Lucas were asked what success on June 8 would look like.
  “Despite the fact the Labour leader and Lib Dem leader did not respond to our letter [about a Progressive Alliance] at the start of the campaign, there is an ins
  
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• Register To Vote: 11 Reasons You Should Sign Up Before Tonight's Deadline

  22-05-2017 14:49
  
  As this Judge Judy Gif clearly illustrates, time is SERIOUSLY ticking towards the deadline to register to vote in the General Election.
  Yup, you have until midnight tonight (Monday 22 May) to register to vote folks. Here’s how.Today is your last chance to #RegisterToVote if you want to vote in the U.K. General Election. pic.twitter.com/UVOGWxXzI2— Voting Counts (@VotingCountsUK) May 22, 2017
  Don’t panic like Pikachu. But here are 11 reasons you really should register to vote.LA
  
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• An embarrassing volte-face for Theresa May

  22-05-2017 14:40
  Reversal raises wider questions of how PM will fare at general election and after
  
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• Theresa May’s 9 U-turns

  22-05-2017 14:07
  The prime minister is making a habit of retreating from policies
  
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• Labour suggests arts sector could be Brexit bargaining chip

  22-05-2017 13:53 via theguardian.com
  
  Party pledges to seek good deal on Brexit and says creative industries will be at heart of industrial strategyGeneral election 2017 – live updates
  Labour has suggested it will use Britain’s artistic prowess as a bargaining chip in the Brexit negotiations, despite the hostility of many artists and performers to the prospect of leaving the European Union.
  The party’s culture manifesto, launched on Monday in Hull, the current UK capital of culture, by Jeremy Corbyn and Labour&rsqu
  
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• Theresa May's Social Care Cap U-Turn Prompts Many To Point Out It Doesn't Seem Like A 'Strong And Stable' Decision

  22-05-2017 13:49
  
  Theresa May has been roundly derided for U-turning on her flagship social care policy just four days after it was announced.
  The policy - dubbed the “dementia tax” - would mean elderly people would have to pay for care in their own home if they have total assets of £100,000 or more.
  But speaking at a launch of the Welsh Tory manifesto in Wrexham on Monday, the prime minister announced that a cap on social care costs will be included as an option in a consultation on reforms to
  
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• Green party outlines plan for 'caring Britain' in manifesto launch

  22-05-2017 13:45 via theguardian.com
  
  ‘Green Guarantee’ centres on opposition to hard Brexit and aims to woo young voters with pledge to axe university tuition feesGeneral election 2017 – live updates
  The Green party has launched an election manifesto for what it calls a “confident and caring Britain”, centred on proposals including a universal basic income, opposition to a hard Brexit and an appeal to young voters.Introducing the 23-page document, the party’s co-leader, Caroline Lucas, said young
  
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• General election 2017 poll tracker: latest soundings suggest Tory wobble

  22-05-2017 13:29 via theguardian.com
  
  Find out what the pollsters are expecting on 8 June as Theresa May seeks to turn an opinion poll lead into an increased majority. We’re compiling daily updates from all the main polling firms and tracking the trendAfter 2015, Brexit and Trump can we still trust opinion polls?Continue reading...
  
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• UK PM Theresa May backs down on key election pledge

  22-05-2017 13:11
  U-turn on ‘dementia tax’ comes as polls narrow after outcry over social care
  
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• Theresa May Performs Unprecedented 'Weak And Wobbly' Manifesto U-Turn On Social Care Policy

  22-05-2017 12:52
  
  Theresa May has u-turned on her flagship social care policy just four days after it was announced as the headline measure in the Conservative Party manifesto.
  The prime minister announced that a cap on social care costs will now be included as an option in a consultation on reforms to be launched after the General Election
  A cap on costs was promised by David Cameron in his 2015 manifesto But was dropped from May’s manifesto launched on Thursday.
  And health secretary Jeremy Hunt said the i
  
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• Theresa May Performs Unprecedented 'Weak And Wobbly' Manifesto U-Turn On 'Dementia Tax' Policy

  22-05-2017 12:52
  
  Theresa May has u-turned on her flagship social care policy just four days after it was announced as the headline measure in the Conservative Party manifesto.
  The prime minister announced that a cap on social care costs will now be included as an option in a consultation on reforms to be launched after the General Election
  A cap on costs was promised by David Cameron in his 2015 manifesto, but was dropped from May’s manifesto which she launched on Thursday.
  May said today it was not a u-tu
  
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• 'Dementia Tax' Debate Heats Up As Tories Buy Google Ads To Counter Negative Coverage

  22-05-2017 12:45
  
  The Tories were empty-chaired on the Victoria Derbyshire programme this morning during a debate on what has become known as (despite the party’s best efforts) the “dementia tax”.The @VictoriaLIVE empty chair the Tories who refuse to send someone on to explain their #dementiatax < Theresa May has no shame! #GE2017 pic.twitter.com/QpME42I9Lj— (((Richard Angell))) (@RichardAngell) May 22, 2017
  It came mid-way through a shambolic few hours for Theresa May which culminated
  
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• Labour tuition fees promise: Students this year 'would not pay'

  22-05-2017 12:31 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Labour says students starting university in England this autumn would not pay fees.
  
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• General election 2017: Green Party launch plan for 'caring Britain'

  22-05-2017 12:24 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Manifesto pledges include universal basic income, shorter working week and referendum on Brexit deal.
  
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• Angela Rayner accuses Theresa May of sneering at her in the Commons

  22-05-2017 11:09 via theguardian.com
  
  Shadow education secretary makes claim when asked about PM’s choice of ideal dinner guests, saying she was ‘probably not posh enough’ for MayThe shadow education secretary, Angela Rayner, has accused Theresa May of “sneering” at her when they sit opposite each other in the Commons, saying she felt she was not sufficiently posh for the prime minister.The comments by Rayner, who left school without any qualifications aged 16 when she was pregnant, came when she was as
  
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• Donald Trump's Saudi Arabia Visit In Weird Moments - From Mystery Orbs To Dainty Curtsies

  22-05-2017 10:34
  
  We all knew Donald Trump’s trip to Saudi Arabia would produce some awkward moments - and the US president certainly hasn’t disappointed.
  This is Trump’s first foreign trip as president and has seen him sign agreements including an $110 billion arms deal.
  The trip, lasting eight days, will also include visits to Israel, the Palestinian territories, Brussels, the Vatican, and Sicily, according to the BBC.We’ve rounded up some of the weirdest moments of his trip so far: 
  
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• Am I Registered To Vote? Everything You Need To Know Ahead Of The 2017 General Election

  22-05-2017 10:29
  
  Since Theresa May announced a snap General Election last month, more than two million people have registered to vote on June 8. 
  But millions more still stand to miss out on having their say because they have not applied to join the electoral register. 
  Today (May 22) is the last day you can register for the General Election - if you do not apply by midnight tonight, you will not be allowed to take part in the vote.  
  But how do you find out if you’re already registered to v
  
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• The Waugh Zone May 22, 2017

  22-05-2017 10:20
  
  The five things you need to know on Monday, May 22…1) BARNACLE BILL
  Tory campaigns guru Sir Lynton Crosby famously told David Cameron he wanted to scrape the ‘barnacles off the boat’ in 2015, dumping all the potentially risky and needless policies that hindered a smooth progress to victory. But thanks to her new manifesto policies on the elderly, Theresa May looks like she’s holing her own general election ship below the waterline.
  The backlash against the social care pl
  
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