Political news

• David Davis leaves Brussels after less than an hour of Brexit talks

  17-07-2017 22:18 via theguardian.com
  
  Minister’s early departure was planned and not linked to a vote in parliament, says department spokeswomanBrexit secretary David Davis took part in less than an hour of discussions with the EU on the first day of substantive negotiations with Brussels before his early return to Westminster prompted suggestions that the government’s parliamentary weakness was impeding the talks.Officials for the Department for Exiting the EU (DExEU) insisted that Davis had always intended to leave the
  
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• Theresa May likely to face coup attempt by some Tory MPs in autumn

  17-07-2017 22:04 via theguardian.com
  
  Conservatives are desperate for summer recess but MPs believe plotting to replace PM will resume after break – despite her calls to end infightingTheresa May is expected to face an effort by some Tory MPs to oust her in the autumn, despite her attempt to regain authority over her cabinet by ordering them to stop leaking details of their infighting over Brexit. With a letter of no confidence already in circulation but only a small number of signatures so far, several MPs said on Monday that
  
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• Big majority of Labour members 'want UK to stay in single market'

  17-07-2017 21:28 via theguardian.com
  
  Research could put pressure on Jeremy Corbyn to adjust Brexit stance, given his desire to give power to party grassrootsSupport for Britain to remain in the EU single market and customs union is overwhelming among Labour party members, according to a poll showing that more than eight out of 10 think the UK should stay in Europe’s key trading blocs.
  The figures, from research carried out as part of the Party Members Project funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and shared exclu
  
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• Boris Johnson And Michael Gove 'Dangerous And Deranged' On Hard Brexit, Senior Tory Tells HuffPostUK

  17-07-2017 21:21
  
  Boris Johnson and Michael Gove are “dangerous and deranged” in their push for a hard Brexit, a senior Tory has told HuffPost UK.
  The attack on the Foreign Secretary and Environment Secretary was the latest vitriol in the increasingly bitter Conservative party row over exactly how the UK should quit the EU.
  As Theresa May prepares to tell her Cabinet colleagues on Tuesday that she will not tolerate any future leaking of private meetings, the simmering row over Europe continued to boi
  
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• Extra cash in school budgets in funding shake-up

  17-07-2017 21:18 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Schools to receive an extra £1.3bn - to be taken from elsewhere in the education budget.
  
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• Schools will gain from funding shake-up, says Greening

  17-07-2017 20:54 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The education secretary says every school in England will gain from a shake-up of how funding is allocated.
  
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• Coming through: the estate homes facing demolition for HS2

  17-07-2017 20:33
  Residents angry at revised plan to push high-speed line through their town
  
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• UK government confirms HS2 route amid controversy over cost

  17-07-2017 20:06
  £6.6bn of construction contracts awarded for mammoth rail project
  
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• David Davis Re-Imagined As David Brent As Brexit Secretary Enters Talks Without Notes

  17-07-2017 20:01
  
  Pictures from Monday’s start of negotiations in Brussels have shown Brexit Secretary David Davis without notes or paperwork as he goes face-to-face with his nemesis, the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier.
  All three EU officials had thick piles of papers in front of them but Davis, his lead negotiator and Britain’s EU ambassador had none (ok, Oliver Robbins, a senior civil servant, had a slim black notebook and a pen).It prompted a bout of scorn on social media ...Well, the U
  
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• Schools given extra £1.3bn from existing education budget

  17-07-2017 19:42
  Government says some schools will gain up to 3% a year per pupil
  
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• Brexit: Davis and Barnier resume talks in Brussels

  17-07-2017 19:39 via bbc.co.uk
  
  UK Brexit Secretary David Davis says it is time to "get down to business" as talks resume in Brussels.
  
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• Britain cannot afford the luxury of Tory intrigues

  17-07-2017 19:35
  Cabinet infighting jeopardises hopes of a smooth deal with Brussels
  
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• Tory MPs Stop Public Submitting Petitions To Government Until At Least September

  17-07-2017 19:03
  
  Members of the public are unable to submit any petitions to Parliament this summer thanks to Tory MPs.
  Conservative backbenchers are delaying elections to Parliamentary committees until September - including the one which runs the petition website.No new petitions have been allowed since Parliament broke up for the election on May 3, and all those open at the time were closed.Mark Hunt, Communications Director at the charity Meningitis Now, is frustrated this vital tool for the public to put pr
  
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• Day two of Brexit talks – and the UK looks as underprepared as ever | Jennifer Rankin

  17-07-2017 19:02 via theguardian.com
  
  David Davis’s grin masked grim reality of ‘taking back control’ – the complexity of even basic issues. This is just the startOn day two of Brexit talks, the British lost the public relations battle early. The official photo shows the EU side on the left: two women and one man, each with a hefty sheaf of papers, a pen poised. On the right, the all-male British trio, almost empty handed. Only Olly Robbins, the permanent secretary to the Department for Exiting the European U
  
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• Extra cash in school funding shake-up

  17-07-2017 18:36 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Schools are being promised an extra £1.3bn - but Labour says there is 'not a penny of new money'
  
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• Grenfell Survivors Offered 'Budget Hotels' As Ministers Accused Of Housing 'Lie'

  17-07-2017 18:34
  
  Grenfell Tower survivors are staying in “budget hotels” as ministers stand accused of failing to offer them decent housing. 
  Hammersmith MP Andy Slaughter has accused the Government of a “lie” on its housing offer to victims as cheap hotels in his constituency were “being booked by the month” for Grenfell families. 
  Taking questions in Westminster, Sajid Javid confirmed that of 220 households affected by the blaze, 169 have been offered temporary hom
  
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• Dutch nationals taking UK citizenship 'will lose Netherlands passports'

  17-07-2017 18:29 via theguardian.com
  
  Dutch PM tells people living in Britain who want to avoid problems after Brexit that dual nationality is not an optionDutch nationals who take British citizenship to avoid having to leave the UK after Brexit will be stripped of their Netherlands passports due to existing limits on dual nationality, the Dutch prime minister has said.About 100,000 Dutch nationals living in Britain face an uncertain future after March 2019. The UK and EU are yet to reconcile their differences on the citizens’
  
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• Justine Greening raids free schools budget for £1.3bn education bailout

  17-07-2017 18:08 via theguardian.com
  
  Education secretary promises increase in core funding per pupil but there is no new money from TreasuryJustine Greening, the education secretary, has promised £1.3bn in funding for schools in England to head off a Conservative revolt, raiding the budget for free schools and new buildings to pay for the rise.
  She said schools would get the bailout over the next two years, after complaints from Conservative MPs that Theresa May’s failure to deal with concerns about struggling schools c
  
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• Lord Mancroft says only hunting groups care about foxes

  17-07-2017 18:05 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Lord Mancroft says supporters of the ban show "no interest" in the animals' welfare.
  
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• From Xinnie-the-Pooh to Putin as Dobby – world leaders and their cartoon alter-egos

  17-07-2017 18:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The chubby little cubby has been booted off Chinese websites due to a likeness to Xi Jinping. He’s not the first animated character to be compared to a politicianLittle trouble in big China this week, as Winnie-the-Pooh has been suppressed by the politburo. In olden times, rhetoric about the neoliberal devils at Disney might have been offered for the disappearance of the chubby little cubby all stuffed with fluff. Nowadays, however, it is simply the vanity of the Chinese premier, Xi J
  
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• Jeremy Corbyn Urges Labour MPs To Unite As Leadership Rule Change Faces Defeat

  17-07-2017 17:54
  
  Jeremy Corbyn is set to urge all wings of Labour to unite against the Tories - amid growing signs that his supporters will have to wait at least a year to shift the party further to the Left.
  In an end-of-term address to the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) in the Commons on Monday night, Corbyn was expected to point out the party’s general election performance proved how it could succeed without in-fighting.
  The Labour leader this weekend started his ‘summer election campaign&rsquo
  
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• Jeremy Corbyn Urges Labour MPs To Unite As He Vows To Tour 100 Tory Seats In Summer Campaign

  17-07-2017 17:54
  
  Jeremy Corbyn has urged all wings of Labour to unite against the Tories - amid growing signs that his supporters will have to wait at least a year to shift the party further to the Left.
  In an end-of-term address to the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) in the Commons on Monday night, Corbyn pointed out the party’s general election performance proved how it could succeed without in-fighting.
  The Labour leader revealed to his MPs that his ‘summer election campaign’, touring the
  
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• Schools Will Get Extra £1.3bn Over Next Two Years, Says Justine Greening

  17-07-2017 17:49
  
  Schools will receive an extra £1.3 billion in funding over the next two years, the government has announced.
  In a statement to the House of Commons on Monday, education secretary Justine Greening said funding per pupil would also be protected until 2020, after analysis by experts revealed many schools would face a real-terms cut under the Tory election pledge to increase the overall school budget by £4 billion this Parliament.
  She said the government would press ahead with plans to
  
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• David Cameron says Tories must do more to inspire people

  17-07-2017 17:39 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The Conservatives need to continually modernise and stay in touch with people, their ex-leader says.
  
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• Farmer Simon Fairlie on meat and climate change

  17-07-2017 17:01 via bbc.co.uk
  
  One way to tackle climate change and feed the growing population would be by taxing meat in supermarkets.
  
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• ‘Jump-start’ stalled Northern Powerhouse, urges Liverpool mayor

  17-07-2017 16:59
  Better transport links across the north is the biggest priority, says Steve Rotheram
  
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• Political speeches: Smiths, Rick Astley, Mikado, Julie Andrews and Stormzy

  17-07-2017 16:53 via bbc.co.uk
  
  How The Smiths, Julie Andrews, Stomzy and Rick Astley appear perhaps involuntarily, in political prose.
  
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• Theresa May to tell ministers: stop leaking details of cabinet rifts

  17-07-2017 16:43 via theguardian.com
  
  Spokesman says PM will remind ministers that cabinet discussions should remain private following days of damaging leaksTheresa May is to order her ministers to stop leaking details of cabinet discussions following days of infighting over Brexit policy and anonymous briefings against ministers, particularly targeting Philip Hammond.While there was no formal investigation planned into the leaks, May’s spokesman said, the prime minister would use Tuesday morning’s weekly cabinet meeting
  
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• David Davis Is 'Thick As Mince' Says Vote Leave Campaign Chief Dominic Cummings

  17-07-2017 16:35
  
  Brexit Secretary David Davis is “thick as mince” and “lazy as a toad”, according to the brains behind the Vote Leave campaign.
  Dominic Cummings launched the astonishing attack on the Brexit Secretary just hours after Davis returned from crucial talks in Brussels.
  Cummings, the campaign director of Vote Leave, also claimed Theresa May “does not understand” the Brexit Bill unveiled last week, and it has a clause allowing the Government to drop everything in it
  
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• Britain’s Conservative cabinet shambles over Brexit

  17-07-2017 15:07
  Philip Hammond and Liam Fox are divided over 2 issues
  
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• Jeremy Corbyn urges Theresa May to broaden Grenfell Tower inquiry

  17-07-2017 14:58 via theguardian.com
  
  Labour leader suggests Stephen Lawrence murder Macpherson-style panel, which must have diverse membershipJeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, has written to the prime minister, Theresa May, urging her to broaden the inquiry team looking into the Grenfell Tower fire and saying a diverse panel is important if local people are to have full confidence in the process.
  In a letter formally setting out his party’s ideas for the inquiry’s terms of reference, Corbyn recommended a panel-type syst
  
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• Privacy campaigners criticise UK plan for age checks on porn websites

  17-07-2017 14:47 via theguardian.com
  
  Sites could reportedly be blocked for failing to follow government rules forcing users to provide credit card details as verificationPrivacy and free speech campaigners have criticised the government’s plans to force pornography websites to use age checks or face being blocked.Websites flouting the new rules, which are part of the Digital Economy Act, could reportedly find that a regulator has told internet service providers to prevent access to them. Those who provide payment and other se
  
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• Jeremy Corbyn's Grenfell Tower Fire Letter To Theresa May In Full

  17-07-2017 14:43
  
  Jeremy Corbyn said the Government risks “disrespecting” Grenfell Tower victims if the inquiry fails to unearth “underlying causes” for the lethal inferno. 
  The Labour leader has written to Prime Minister Theresa May calling for sweeping changes to the probe into the west London blaze, which killed at least 80 people. 
  An ethnically diverse panel should advise judge Sir Martin Moore-Bick, he said, and, to retain the confidence of Grenfell survivors, the hear
  
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• Grenfell Tower Fire: Jeremy Corbyn's Letter To Theresa May In Full

  17-07-2017 14:43
  
  Jeremy Corbyn said the Government risks “disrespecting” Grenfell Tower victims if the inquiry fails to unearth “underlying causes” for the lethal inferno. 
  The Labour leader has written to Prime Minister Theresa May calling for sweeping changes to the probe into the west London blaze, which killed at least 80 people. 
  An ethnically diverse panel should advise judge Sir Martin Moore-Bick, he said, and, to retain the confidence of Grenfell survivors, the hear
  
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• Don't slip backwards, David Cameron warns infighting Tories

  17-07-2017 14:28 via theguardian.com
  
  Former prime minister says Conservatives need idealistic and inspiring vision to counter Jeremy Corbyn’s LabourDavid Cameron has warned the Conservatives not to slip backwards as Theresa May’s leadership descends into infighting over the future of the party.The former prime minister suggested the Tories needed to push more of an idealistic and inspiring vision for the country, after May lost her majority in the June general election following a surge in support for Labour’s Jer
  
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• Porn ID checks set to start in April 2018

  17-07-2017 14:21 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The government sets a nine-month countdown to porn ID checks, but is told this seems "unrealistic".
  
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• David Davis returns from Brexit talks after lightning Brussels trip

  17-07-2017 14:15
  Negotiations to continue without UK’s chief negotiator as tensions in government mount
  
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• Department Of Health Cannot Be In Charge Of Contaminated Blood Inquiry, Says Labour MP

  17-07-2017 14:11
  
  The Department of Health must not be allowed to lead a public inquiry into the contaminated blood scandal, a Labour MP has warned.
  Theresa May announced last week the government will order an investigation into the tragedy which claimed the lives of 2,400 people in the 1970s and 80s - mainly haemophiliacs - who were given blood infected with HIV and hepatitis. 
  But Hull MP Diana Johnson - a longstanding campaigner on behalf of families affected - has written to the prime minister to say th
  
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• Elections watchdog wants double voting rules tightened

  17-07-2017 13:42 via bbc.co.uk
  
  While there is little evidence of abuse, regulator says registration system must be better co-ordinated.
  
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• David Cameron Wants To Strap Former Cabinet Colleagues To A Raft And Throw Them In A River

  17-07-2017 13:38
  
  David Cameron has revealed what punishment he would like to dole out to some of his former cabinet colleagues.
  “If it involved crossing a very, very dangerous river on a raft, I can think of a few I’d want to strap together,” the former prime minister told the Evening Standard today.
  Cameron suggested the activity for Tory MPs if they every took part in his new National Citizen Service scheme for young people.
  He also warned May that she needed to offer a “more inspiring
  
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• How Brexit should be done

  17-07-2017 13:34
  UK need not be trapped by Article 50 — that done by treaty can be undone by treaty
  
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• Theresa May to warn ministers against leaks

  17-07-2017 13:23 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Ministers will be "reminded" that cabinet talks should remain private, Downing Street says.
  
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• Online vitriol and death threats – a way of life for MPs

  17-07-2017 13:17
  Social media has made political partisanship increasingly hostile and dangerous
  
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• UK plans age verification for porn websites from 2018

  17-07-2017 13:13 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Users face checks before accessing content, with a new regulator overseeing the rules by next April.
  
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• Labour Accused Of 'Lying' After John McDonnell Claims Pledge To Wipe Graduate Debt Was Just An 'Ambition'

  17-07-2017 12:52
  
  The Labour Party has been accused of “lying” to young voters after John McDonnell revealed that Jeremy Corbyn’s pledge to wipe out student debt was an ambition - not a promise.
  The party vowed to abolish university fees in its manifesto. But just days before the election, Corbyn appeared to hint at plans to wipe out tuition fee debt for thousands of recent university-leavers too - winning widespread acclaim from students and graduates across the country. 
  Acknowledgin
  
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• The democratic case for stopping Brexit

  17-07-2017 12:51
  The question is whether the British public would support a second referendum
  
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• HS2 contracts worth £6.6bn awarded by UK government

  17-07-2017 12:45 via theguardian.com
  
  Contracts announced as transport secretary prepares to unveil changes to final Manchester and Leeds routesThe government has awarded £6.6bn in contracts to build the new high-speed HS2 railway between London and Birmingham, to companies including crisis-ridden construction firm Carillion.
  Construction work is due to begin next year on new stations, tunnels, embankments and viaducts on the London to Birmingham line, which forms the first phase of the controversial HS2 project. The civil eng
  
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• Brexit talks resume: Get down to business, David Davis urges

  17-07-2017 12:42 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The second round of talks between the UK and EU negotiating teams is under way.
  
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• Brexit's toll on foreign policy: Losing our reputation day after day

  17-07-2017 11:34
  
  Whether through arrogance or incompetence, the government is trashing Britain's reputation
  
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• Lord Falconer: Assisted dying law 'outrageous'

  17-07-2017 11:07 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Lord Falconer calls for the assisted dying law to be "changed with safeguards".
  
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