Political news

• Grenfell Tower: Survivors Still Being Found Homes A Week On, Confirms Downing Street

  21-06-2017 23:12
  
  Survivors of the Grenfell fire are still being found homes more than a week after the blaze ripped through the tower block, Downing Street announced this evening.
  A statement from Number 10 this evening revealed “work is ongoing to re-house all residents” made homeless by the fire, which killed at least 79 people.
  After a meeting of the Grenfell Recovery Taskforce, Downing Street also revealed £488,000 has been paid out from the Government relief fund – with many househo
  
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• The Waugh Zone Special: Queen's Speech 2017

  21-06-2017 22:22
  
  1. OTHER THERESA
  “There is no Mayism!” She got that right, alright. The PM’s irritated riposte, at the launch of her ill-fated Tory manifesto four long weeks ago, was borne out with a vengeance today. The Queen’s Speech, a ruthlessly filleted version of her very personal policy programme, leaves little trace of Theresa Mary May on its pages.
  Hemmed in by her own side, by the Democratic Unionist Party and the strengthened ranks of Opposition, she has a two-year legislativ
  
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• Boris Johnson Blunders His Way Through Painful Interview With Radio 4's Eddie Mair

  21-06-2017 20:48
  
  Boris Johnson has faced embarrassment at the hands of the BBC’s Eddie Mair after the Foreign Secretary blundered his way through a probing that had echoes of the Jeremy Corbyn and Diane Abbott interview fails.
  Johnson was part of a ministerial full-court press following Theresa May’s first Queen’s Speech, which outlined a modest programme of Government for the Conservative Party following its general election humiliation.
  The MP toured studios defending dropping major aspects
  
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• State opening of parliament a crowning humiliation for Maybot | John Crace

  21-06-2017 20:20
  
  With most of the Tory manifesto dumped after the general election the Queen was able to rattle through her speechThe crown wasn’t at all happy. Normally it got to sit on the Queen’s head; now it was made to ride in a separate limo. The Queen also didn’t look best pleased by the lack of pursuivants, heralds and ladies of the bedchamber. Her expression never rose above the miserable throughout. Still, at least she was able to make a statement of sorts by wearing a hat in the styl
  
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• Queen's Speech leaves schools funding in limbo

  21-06-2017 20:11
  
  Theresa May has given herself wriggle room on austerity - but there's no sign of it ending
  
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• Tories Tell Theresa May's 'Deputy' To Do More On Housing And Schools To Attract Corbyn Voters

  21-06-2017 20:09
  
  Tory MPs have urged one of Theresa May’s closest colleagues to do more on housing and education to attract younger voters inspired by Jeremy Corbyn.
  At a meeting of the party’s backbench 1922 Committee, Cabinet Office Minister – and effective Deputy Prime Minister – Damian Green was asked what plans the party had to tap into this new electorate.
  Analysis of the June 8 vote showed under-45s came out in force for Labour, while the Conservative vote fell among that age-grou
  
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• Theresa May scraps manifesto pledges to clear path for Brexit

  21-06-2017 20:09
  Legislative battle ahead to clear hung Commons and Scottish Parliament
  
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• Theresa May ditches manifesto pledges to clear decks for Brexit

  21-06-2017 20:09
  Legislative battle ahead to clear hung Commons and Scottish Parliament
  
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• May braced for two years of parliamentary battles

  21-06-2017 19:57
  Fight over Brexit laws set to revive memories of John Major’s European difficulties
  
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• Grenfell survivors to be rehoused in Kensington luxury development

  21-06-2017 19:43
  City of London Corporation buys new flats for victims of tower block fire
  
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• A Queen’s Speech to reflect a sombre Britain

  21-06-2017 19:39
  A loss of authority following election has undercut May’s ambitions
  
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• Theresa May can’t hold a grudge – and 15 more things we’ve learned since we voted leave

  21-06-2017 19:17
  
  On Saturday, it will be a year since Britain gave the proverbial up yours to Jacques Delors. And what have we learned? That there is only a hard Brexit and David Cameron likes expensive shedsOne year ago today, we knew so little. A YouGov poll on referendum day last year predicted a 52% to 48% remain victory and even arch-Brexiter Nigel Farage, for a moment, lost his insufferably oleaginous smirk as he conceded that it looked “like remain will edge it”. In the end, leave won by 51.9%
  
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• A dress-down Queen’s Speech for an ill-at-ease nation

  21-06-2017 19:08
  Parliament opens at high speed but with little apparent enthusiasm
  
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• Divorce falls to lowest levels for 45 years

  21-06-2017 18:49
  Decline is partly because fewer people are getting married
  
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• London Mayor Sadiq Khan Urges 'Compassion' On Grenfell Survivors' Immigration Status

  21-06-2017 18:32
  
  All Grenfell survivors must be granted the right to remain in the UK on “compassionate grounds”, Sadiq Khan has said.
  The London Mayor was speaking at the funeral of Mohammed Alhajali, a 23-year-old Syrian refugee who died in the blaze. 
  Mohammad came to the UK in 2014 to study civil engineering but perished when the fire took hold of the tower block.
  He had become separated from his brother Omar, with whom he lived in the 14th floor.
  Khan said all survivors of the blaze should
  
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• Queen's speech 2017: May apologises for failing Grenfell Tower survivors - live

  21-06-2017 18:28
  
  Rolling coverage of the Queen’s speech, with analysis of all the bills and coverage of the opening of the debate featuring Theresa May and Jeremy CorbynMay drops key manifesto pledges from Queen’s speechFull list of bill in Queen’s speechAll the Guardian’s Queen’s speech storiesCorbyn v May - Verdict 5.28pm BSTDowning Street claims that the Salisbury convention - which says the Lords will not vote against measures in the manifesto of the governing party - will apply
  
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• 12 Jokes MPs Made During Queen's Speech Debate

  21-06-2017 18:22
  
  MPs tried their hands at comedy as they kicked off the Queen’s Speech Debate in Parliament…and it wasn’t all laugh-a-minute.
  It is a parliamentary tradition that the proposer and seconder of the Humble Address – an official thank-you to the Queen for delivering the speech – crack a few gags in the Commons.
  Tory MPs Richard Benyon and Kwasi Kwarteng raised some laughs from colleagues, but Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn’s attempts at humour were less successful.
  
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• Regulator moves to stop pensions mis-selling

  21-06-2017 18:13
  FCA wants more protection for people considering giving up a ‘defined benefit’ pension
  
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• Caroline Lucas Has Upset The DUP By Calling Them Dinosaurs

  21-06-2017 17:54
  
  Green Party co-leader Caroline Lucas upset Democratic Unionist Party MPs in the Commons by calling them ‘dinosaurs’.
  The Brighton Pavilion MP challenged Theresa May on the absence of environmental policies in her first Queen’s Speech and asked if the Prime Minister had been influenced by her new potential governing allies.  
  “It’s good to see her facing the other parties and that she has actually turned up - which was not always the case in the election campaig
  
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• Queen's Speech 2017: The Strangest Customs, Including Dennis Skinner’s Ritual One-Liner

  21-06-2017 17:34
  
  No offence to Her Majesty, after all she doesn’t even write it..."Hey, I don't write this shit, I just read it" #QueensSpeech pic.twitter.com/h94P4IfBK8— Declan Cashin (@Tweet_Dec) June 21, 2017
  ..but the actual Queen’s Speech is pretty boring.
  However, the pomp and procession around it is gloriously bonkers and British, with plenty of ancient rituals, weird customs and frankly bizarre traditions.
  Let’s begin with the journey to the palace:
  1) If you thought austerity was
  
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• Fed policymaker rejects criticism of rate rise decision

  21-06-2017 17:26
  Philadelphia central bank president argues for ‘pause’ during balance sheet reduction
  
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• UK Will Have To Trawl Through 19,000 EU Laws To Decide Which Ones To Keep After Brexit

  21-06-2017 17:20
  
  The government will have to trawl through 19,000 EU laws to decide which ones to keep after Brexit.
  More than 700 laws have been passed in Brussels in the year since the referendum and Theresa May’s government will need to examine them all before finalising which will be written into UK legislation.
  The formerly grandly-titled Great Repeal Bill - now just the Repeal Bill following Wednesday’s Queen’s Speech - will see a new statue book drawn up on the day the UK leaves the EU.&
  
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• Grenfell Tower: Theresa May Apologises To Victims For 'Failure Of The State'

  21-06-2017 17:19
  
  Prime Minister Theresa May has apologised to the survivors of the Grenfell Tower disaster during a speech in the House of Commons. 
  The Conservative leader gave a moving speech after the official state opening of Parliament on Wednesday and said the initial response to victims of the inferno that claimed at least 79 lives “was not good enough”. 
  “One lady I had met ran from the fire wearing nothing but a T-shirt and a pair of knickers,” she said. 
  “Sh
  
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• Queen's Speech 2017: Jeremy Corbyn Mocks Theresa May's 'Threadbare' Programme That Ditched Manifesto Pledges

  21-06-2017 17:10
  
  Jeremy Corbyn has mocked Theresa May’s “threadbare” Queen’s Speech which was delivered today shorn of her most high profile manifesto commitments.
  The prime minister this morning unveiled a legislative agenda which did not include previous plans to expand grammar schools, means-test winter fuel payments or legalising fox hunting.
  Speaking for over half an hour in the Commons, Corbyn savaged the May for Tory austerity policies and her election disaster, with one Labour MP
  
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• Queen's Speech 2017: Jeremy Corbyn And Labour MPs Mock Theresa May's 'Threadbare' Programme

  21-06-2017 17:10
  
  Jeremy Corbyn has mocked Theresa May’s “threadbare” Queen’s Speech which was delivered today shorn of her most high profile manifesto commitments.
  The prime minister this morning unveiled a legislative agenda which did not include previous plans to expand grammar schools, means-test winter fuel payments or legalising fox hunting.
  Speaking for over half an hour in the Commons, Corbyn savaged the May for Tory austerity policies and her election disaster, with one Labour MP
  
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• Trump's state visit to UK not mentioned in Queen's speech

  21-06-2017 16:58
  
  Address covering state visits for next two years refers to welcoming Spanish king and queen in July, but not US presidentThe Queen’s speech has given a further indication that Donald Trump’s planned state visit to the UK has been put on hold, after the monarch did not mention it in her address.The speech usually mentions any state visits planned for the duration of the parliament. Speaking on Wednesday, the Queen said she and Prince Philip “look forward to welcoming their majes
  
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• UK inheritance tax receipts top £5bn

  21-06-2017 16:55
  House prices help push up amount collected to highest share of GDP since early 1980s
  
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• House price boom pushes inheritance tax receipts past £5bn

  21-06-2017 16:55
  Contentious levy still collects relatively little revenue for government
  
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• Ed Miliband learns how to scream like a death-metal singer - video

  21-06-2017 16:49
  
  BBC Radio 2 producer Tim Johns films the former Labour leader attempting to sing like a death-metal singer. Ed Miliband is being tutored by the lead singer of Napalm Death, Barney Greenway. Miliband is filling in for Jeremy Vine all week, presenting daily between 12pm and 2pm Continue reading...
  
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• London’s Met Police consider tighter rules on vehicle hires

  21-06-2017 16:11
  Westminster Bridge, London Bridge and Finsbury Park attacks all involved hired vans
  
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• Rediscovering optimism is vital for Tory renewal

  21-06-2017 16:08
  After a botched election, the party must accept Britain is more liberal and diverse
  
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• Theresa May drops key manifesto pledges from Queen's speech

  21-06-2017 16:04
  
  Embattled PM’s programme focuses on Brexit, but omits grammar schools expansion and foxhuntingTheresa May’s minority government has dropped key Tory manifesto pledges, including expanding grammar schools and revisiting the foxhunting ban, as the Queen announced a pared-down legislative programme focused on delivering Brexit.As she formally opened what the embattled prime minister hopes will be a two-year session of parliament, the Queen set out the government’s intention to del
  
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• The Queen's Speech highlights a government out of touch with its people

  21-06-2017 15:44
  
  The striking thing about the Queen's speech is what it didn't mention
  
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• The appeal of the European Economic Area for the UK

  21-06-2017 15:27
  Staying in internal market of the EU28 and 3 other countries may offer best solution
  
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• Hat's that: did the Queen's headgear allude to Brexit?

  21-06-2017 15:23
  
  In a pared-down ceremony – though her crown got its own car – the Queen seemed to wave goodbye to the EU via her outfitIs today the Queen’s Damascene moment? We only ask because today, as she opened parliament and laid out the government’s intention to deliver the eight bills necessary for Brexit, the Queen – long thought to be a Brexiteer – wore a hat that bore a strong resemblance to the European Union flag. The hat itself was glorious. A shade of papal purp
  
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• Queen's Speech 2017: Jeremy Corbyn And Theresa May's Walk Looked Absolutely Excruciating

  21-06-2017 15:16
  
  Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn’s meeting during the State Opening of Parliament looked absolutely toe-curling, as the pair had to walk side by side to go and hear the Queen’s Speech.The prime minister and the Labour leader endured what felt like the world’s longest walk as they exited the Commons for the House of Lords to hear the monarch.
  The pair retained as much distance between them as the corridors of the Palace of Westminster would allow.
  And while Boris Johnson and Emily
  
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• This party is not fit to govern. May can’t hide behind the Queen’s speech | Polly Toynbee

  21-06-2017 15:11
  
  This is the impasse parliament – nothing can be done by a rudderless government immobilised by a toxic combination of state-shrinkers and EurophobesNo gold carriage, no content worth the vellum it’s written on, nothing much to see here: move on. But where to? The Black Rod absurdity of the Queen’s speech flummery does nothing to disguise a rudderless country in the depth of crises unseen since the second word war, as two Conservative-made disasters flap home to roost – Br
  
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• Bow row: Jeremy Corbyn did not snub the Queen, says Labour

  21-06-2017 15:00
  
  Party sources say leader was following protocol by not bowing to the monarch at state opening of parliamentLabour sources have rejected claims that Jeremy Corbyn snubbed the Queen by not bowing to her at the state opening of parliament, arguing that it was against protocol for MPs to do so. Related: Queen's speech 2017: Government will deliver eight separate bills on Brexit - liveContinue reading...
  
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• 'People are stronger together': readers on what unity means to them

  21-06-2017 14:57
  
  In light of the Great Get Together in memory of the MP Jo Cox and recent events, we asked you to share your experiencesEvents promoting the “More in Common” theme were held across the country on the weekend to mark the one-year anniversary of the murdered MP Jo Cox. We asked readers for their experiences of unity and why it’s important.Continue reading...
  
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• Why wealth is the enemy of the young

  21-06-2017 14:52
  
  Britain is very good at generating wealth – but awful at sharing it out. For the sake of our younger generations, we cannot continue to ignore the huge role it plays in today’s levels of inequalityBritain is very good at generating wealth. So much so that it’s now worth upwards of £11 trillion – or more than six times our national income. But we are awful at sharing it out: one in 10 adults own half the nation’s wealth. If not addressed, this could have disast
  
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• DUP deal risks damaging the UK's reputation on fighting corruption

  21-06-2017 14:47
  
  We've made gains in fighting corruption but a deal with the DUP could put that at risk
  
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• Jeremy Corbyn 'Observed Correct Protocol' By Not Bowing To The Queen

  21-06-2017 14:28
  
  Jeremy Corbyn observed the correct protocol by not bowing to the Queen at the State Opening of Parliament, HuffPost UK has been told. 
  The Labour leader has been criticised for failing to bow his head to the monarch along with the Prime Minister ahead of the Queen’s Speech on Wednesday morning.
  But a senior source said Corbyn had in fact followed the corrected protocol and it was in fact Theresa May who made the faux pas.
   “The correct protocol is that the Speaker and Blac
  
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• Queen's Speech summary: Bill-by-bill at a glance

  21-06-2017 14:18 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A bill-by-bill guide to the proposed legislation in the 2017 Queen's Speech.
  
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• UK budget deficit to increase this year amid living standards squeeze

  21-06-2017 14:09
  
  Figures show slowdown starting to hit public finances, but public borrowing fell in May in boost for Philip HammondThe government’s spending deficit is on course to worsen this year as official figures show the economic slowdown is beginning to take a toll on the UK’s public finances.As ministers struggle with demands for higher spending on health, police and social care, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said public borrowing was narrowly lower in May than the same month last
  
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• Did Jeremy Corbyn forget to bow before the Queen? – video

  21-06-2017 14:05
  
  Jeremy Corbyn appears not to bow his head before the Queen as he enters the House of Lords ahead of the state opening of parliament. Some of the other parliamentarians he is with bow as they enter the roomDennis Skinner makes his traditional Queen’s speech joke - videoWhat did May say to Corbyn before Queen’s speech? – videoContinue reading...
  
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• Watch Dennis Skinner's traditional Queen's speech joke - video

  21-06-2017 14:02
  
  Labour MP Dennis Skinner, a republican, by tradition always makes a joke as Black Rod summons MPs to attend the Queen in the Lords. This time it’s a reference to the fact the Queen is heading for Royal Ascot later What did May say to Corbyn before Queen’s speech? – videoContinue reading...
  
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• Queen's Speech: Theresa May Signals Grenfell Tower Response Won't Repeat Mistakes Of Hillsborough

  21-06-2017 13:57
  
  Theresa May has signalled her determination not to repeat the mistakes of Hillsborough in the wake of the Grenfell disaster. 
  The Queen’s Speech set out a raft of new measures to support families in the aftermath of the Kensington blaze, as the Prime Minister bids to shore up her government’s response.
  An independent public advocate will be appointed and will stay in regular contact with families and victims of the fire.
  Meanwhile, a new ‘Civil Disaster Reaction Taskforce
  
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• What did May say to Corbyn before Queen's speech? – video

  21-06-2017 13:34
  
  Theresa May appears to speak to Jeremy Corbyn while walking together into the House of Lords. They seem to have an awkward conversation as they walk with other MPs ahead of the Queen’s speech Continue reading...
  
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• A non-speech for a non-government's non-manifesto

  21-06-2017 13:22
  
  Theresa May's disastrous election has forced her to junk much of what made it a disaster
  
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• Head of Theresa May’s policy unit leaves Downing Street

  21-06-2017 13:21
  John Godfrey the latest in string of key advisers to quit
  
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