Political news

• Irish government will not design 'Brexiteer border', says Varadkar

  28-07-2017 22:53 via bbc.co.uk
  "It's the British who are leaving so if anyone should be angry it's us," says Irish PM Leo Varadkar.
  
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• Donald Trump Tells Police To Be More Brutal To Suspects And Gets Cheered For It

  28-07-2017 22:31
  
  President urges officers to commit acts of brutality, officers laugh and cheer wildly. Beginning to think problem isn't a few bad apples. pic.twitter.com/o1sSgw6lGy— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) July 28, 2017
  Donald Trump has encouraged police to be more brutal in how they handle suspects - and been applauded and cheered for it.
  Trump was addressing law enforcement in Long Island on Friday and, during his meandering speech in which he also lauded his political acumen, encouraged them to be
  
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• Labour can stop Brexit – but only with fresh vote, says Sadiq Khan

  28-07-2017 22:00 via theguardian.com
  London mayor raises hopes of remainers, arguing pledge in manifesto or second referendum would both be legitimateSadiq Khan: ‘I’m not sure what Donald Trump’s beef is with me’Sadiq Khan has set out the possibility of Britain remaining within the EU, arguing that Brexit could be legitimately stopped if the Labour party included the pledge in an election manifesto or committed to a second referendum.In a considered and powerful intervention that could raise the hopes of rem
  
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• Martin Rowson on political turmoil in the UK and US – cartoon

  28-07-2017 20:56 via theguardian.com
  Continue reading...
  
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• Dublin heaps pressure on May over Northern Ireland

  28-07-2017 20:27
  Varadkar says there must be no economic border
  
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• MPs' portraits: Photos show 'human' side of Parliament

  28-07-2017 20:15 via bbc.co.uk
  Photographs of MPs taken just after the June general election have gone down a storm.
  
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• A solution to Brexit – everyone should leave | Brief letters

  28-07-2017 20:10 via theguardian.com
  Brexit | Abuse of gay people | Drop in sperm counts | Electric cars and LSD | Jane Austen and baseballExcellently written and compelling argument by Vince Cable (Progressive MPs must fight Corbyn’s hard line on the EU, 28 July) but, if he wants more of us Jeremy supporters to join him, he should stop describing the far left as being in a “time warp”. I, for example, have six progressive grandchildren, my own company, and I teach leadership and management in world-class business
  
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• Fire rules under review after 82 buildings fail post-Grenfell safety test

  28-07-2017 19:44
  Nine are on a single estate in Pendleton, Greater Manchester
  
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• Fire rules reviewed after 82 buildings fail post-Grenfell test

  28-07-2017 19:44
  Nine are on a single estate in Pendleton, Greater Manchester
  
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• Labour’s Angela Rayner: ‘Ideology never put food on my table'

  28-07-2017 19:13 via theguardian.com
  The shadow education secretary endures appalling abuse over her rise from teenage mother and union boss to Labour education secretary. Is she right that someone like her could never become PM?
  ‘Aren’t the children quiet,’ says the shadow education secretary, Angela Rayner, to a group of parents at a community centre in Crewe. They have come to hear her talk about the rising cost of childcare during the summer holidays. “My children wouldn’t be that quiet!” Ray
  
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• Building regulations to be reviewed after safety tests following Grenfell

  28-07-2017 18:20 via theguardian.com
  Government announces independent inquiry after tests find 82 high-rises use unsafe mix of cladding and insulationThe government has announced an independent review of building regulations after tests showed that at least 82 residential high-rises use a combination of insulation and cladding that does not meet fire safety standards.The tests, which were ordered after the Grenfell Tower blaze, involved a large-scale fire test with the same combination of aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding
  
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• Momentum’s video is full of simplistic prejudices and won’t win over anyone | Deborah Orr

  28-07-2017 18:16 via theguardian.com
  The leftwing campaign group’s dinner-party video has provoked outrage. That’s not surprising: it’s a divisive attack on baby boomers• Deborah Orr is a Guardian columnistThat great moral arbiter, the Sun, is very upset by a video from the Labour campaign group, Momentum. The film shows four smug members of the baby boomer middle-class, along with a middle-aged son, discussing how they don’t understand why Jeremy Corbyn appeals to young people. The Sun declares this to
  
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• Brexit transition must end by 2022, says Hammond

  28-07-2017 18:01 via bbc.co.uk
  Chancellor Philip Hammond says "many things will look similar" for up to three years after Brexit.
  
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• Week in Review: Corbyn's Brexit overshoot

  28-07-2017 16:06
  
  Jeremy Corbyn's comments on immigration ruffled friendly feathers and set the tone for a week of confusion
  
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• Who Is Anthony Scaramucci? 9 Extraordinary Things That Tell You Everything You Need To Know

  28-07-2017 16:00
  
  After a week in the job, Anthony Scaramucci has risen to be the second most high profile person working in the White House after Donald Trump.
  The ex-Wall Street financier has launched a foul-mouthed, on-the-record tirade about his colleagues, made a bizarre on-air phone call to CNN to accuse his boss of leaking, and denied he stabs people in the back because he’s “more of a front-stabbing person”.
  This man is so brash he gives the august, patrician New Yorker magazine no optio
  
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• The dinner party video has wound up Momentum’s critics. They just don’t get it | Maya Goodfellow

  28-07-2017 15:59 via theguardian.com
  The anger provoked by Momentum’s film shows that rightwing political analysis hasn’t moved on since Labour was 20 points behind in the polls• Maya Goodfellow is a writer and researcherMomentum’s latest video has caused quite a stir. Described as “hateful” by the Sun, the reaction from parts of the (rightwing) media has shown they haven’t updated their analysis of the Labour party since before the election. The people who have a significant platform and ar
  
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• The Bizarre Story Behind The Ousting Of Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif

  28-07-2017 15:13
  
  A humble typeface appears to have unexpectedly played a massive part in forcing Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to resign.
  The bizarre twist in the tale of the corruption charges brought against the leader by Pakistan’s Supreme Court comes from the incredible possibility that defence documents may have been outed as fake because they were typed in Calibri, a year before the font had been released by Microsoft.
  Here’s a brief timeline of some of the key events leading up
  
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• Brexit has already split the UK. Now it risks tearing Labour apart | John Harris

  28-07-2017 14:58 via theguardian.com
  In ignoring the party’s remainers and embracing hard Brexit, Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell risk inviting economic doom for the sake of ideology• John Harris is a Guardian columnistIn advance of Brexit negotiations really getting down to the nitty-gritty, British politics currently resembles an unruly works outing to a restaurant. Philip Hammond seemingly wants the vegetarian option. Liam Fox fancies coq au chlorine. David Davis keeps asking the waiter for another five minutes, whil
  
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• May's absence keenly felt as Tory headless chickens rule the roost | John Crace

  28-07-2017 14:37 via theguardian.com
  PM’s holiday highlights terrifying truth that there is no other member of the cabinet you would want running the country I can only imagine that William Higham, a futurologist who has co-authored a report for Amazon that suggests owners will be able to communicate with their dogs within 10 years, isn’t a dog owner himself. One of the main joys of having a dog is that they are the only living thing guaranteed to be pleased to see you at any given moment. It is a constant source of joy
  
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• Momentum video parodies older voters discussing Corbyn's policies

  28-07-2017 14:22 via theguardian.com
  Viral clip implies group discussing free university tuition and other policies don’t understand difficulties others faceA controversial video from Momentum, the pro-Jeremy Corbyn movement, parodying middle-class people sitting around discussing the Labour leader’s policies has reached nearly two million people in less than 24 hours.The video, called Pulling up the Ladder, has been shared 17,000 times. It shows a group of older voters ridiculing the Labour leader.Continue reading...
  
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• Government Admits 60,000 Bodies Will Have To Be Exhumed To Make Way For HS2

  28-07-2017 13:57
  
  At least 60,000 bodies will have to be exhumed to make way for the first phase of the HS2 rail network, the government has admitted.
  St James Gardens in Camden falls under the redevelopment plans for Euston station and huge amounts of human remains will have to be dug up when infrastructure work starts. 
  The site was used as a burial ground from 1788 until the 1870s and contains the grave of Lord George Gordon, who led the Gordon Riots against Catholicism in the 18th century. 
  Tory pe
  
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• A guide to the hot autumn ahead

  28-07-2017 13:48
  When politicians return to Westminster, tensions are likely to be even sharper
  
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• 'Scottish Steve Bannon' Bombarded With Tweets From Angry Americans In Twitter Handle Confusion

  28-07-2017 12:51
  
  It’s safe to say it’s not been a great few days for Donald Trump’s chief strategist Steve Bannon. 
  In an explosive interview with the New Yorker, Anthony Scaramucci - the new White House communications director - launched a scathing attack on the former film producer.  
  “I’m not Steve Bannon, I’m not trying to suck my own cock,” Scaramucci told the magazine. 
  “I’m not trying to build my own brand off the fucking strength o
  
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• 'A bit of me is dying. But I can’t stay': the EU nationals exiting Britain

  28-07-2017 12:34 via theguardian.com
  Feeling betrayed and bewildered after years in the UK, many EU citizens are leaving before Brexit. And some Britons are going too …They are doctors, academics, small business owners and stay-at-home parents; accountants, pensioners and IT consultants. They came to Britain from Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Finland, Norway or France, some a few years ago, others decades earlier. Now they are leaving.Their decisions are driven by both emotion – frustration, sorrow, anger – a
  
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• No more Brexit metaphors

  28-07-2017 12:22 via bbc.co.uk
  From cakes and cherries to cats and golf clubs - attempts to explain what Brexit means have got out of hand.
  
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• The government must act to rescue Northern Irish power-sharing

  28-07-2017 11:56
  
  Northern Ireland secretary James Brokenshire always tries to avoid the last problem rather than avoiding the next one
  
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• Philip Hammond lays out his route to a post-EU Britain

  28-07-2017 11:49
  UK chancellor says transition must be completed before 2022 general election
  
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• Brexit Transition Deal Will End By 2022, Says Philip Hammond

  28-07-2017 11:43
  
  Philip Hammond has said any transition deal struck with the European Union to ease the United Kingdom into Brexit will end by 2022.
  Britain will officially leave the EU in March 2019. But the chancellor told BBC Radio 4′s Today programme this morning that “many things will look similar” the day after Brexit. 
  He said a “transition period when we would hope to have continued access to the European market” could be in place for two or three years.
  “There w
  
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• Hammond says UK will seek Brexit transitional deal of up to three years

  28-07-2017 11:15 via theguardian.com
  EU responds to chancellor’s remarks, signalling a transition period can only be agreed after separation terms from blocBritain’s relationship with the EU may look similar to its current one for up to three years after Brexit, with free movement, access to the single market and an inability to strike trade deals with other countries, Philip Hammond has said.The chancellor confirmed multiple reports over the past week that the cabinet had agreed to seek a transitional period of about t
  
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• Brexit transition 'must end by 2022'

  28-07-2017 11:05 via bbc.co.uk
  Philip Hammond gives a time limit of three years on Brexit transition phase
  
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• Maltese PM: I'm starting to believe Brexit will not happen

  28-07-2017 11:03 via theguardian.com
  Joseph Muscat, who has inside view of Brexit talks as his country holds EU presidency, sees signs that ‘tide is turning’ Brexit may not happen and a political leader in Britain should show courage and fight for a referendum on the terms of the country’s exit deal with the EU, the prime minister of Malta has said.
  Joseph Muscat, who has been on the inside track of the Brexit talks in recent months while Malta has held the rotating presidency of the European council, has spoken o
  
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• US Senate Gasps As John McCain Votes Against Repealing Obamacare

  28-07-2017 10:41
  
  US Senator John McCain has shocked his colleagues in Capitol Hill by voting against the Obamacare repeal bill and contributing to its defeat.
  Gasps as well as some clapping and cheers can be heard in footage from the Senate floor of McCain giving a thumbs down gesture when casting his vote on President Donald Trump’s Health Care Freedom Act - a revised health care package of the Affordable Care Act, dubbed Obamacare, set up by his predecessor Barack Obama.
  McCain, who only returned to Wash
  
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• Grenfell Tower: Cladding And Insulation Used In 82 Tower Blocks Fails New Stringent Tests

  28-07-2017 10:13
  
  A total of 82 high-rises have failed fire safety tests in the wake of the Grenfell Tower blaze, the Government has confirmed.
  Unlike previous tests, these ones did not analysed different types of cladding in combination with the insulation used at Grenfell, where at least 80 people died in the fire last month.
  Witnesses to the blaze said the cladding allowed the fire to spread as far and fast as it did.
  The Government ordered an independent review into building regulations and fire sa
  
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• Why sleep-in carers like me deserve a fair night’s pay | Anonymous

  28-07-2017 10:00 via theguardian.com
  The government has said that underpaid support workers won’t be remunerated – despite the ruling of a tribunal. It’s a cruel blow to a dedicated workforceIn the early hours of Wednesday, the government announced that the minimum wage for care workers who slept over would be suspended, effectively ignoring a tribunal decision that me and my colleagues should receive £60 a night, instead of the £35 flat rate per sleep-in we currently get. The announcement said that th
  
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• DUP: Irish Sea border 'absurd'

  28-07-2017 09:20 via bbc.co.uk
  Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has said there is no way the DUP would create a border with the UK
  
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• Alright everyone I'm ready to give my findings on this water cotton thingy | First Dog on the Moon

  28-07-2017 09:20 via theguardian.com
  I watched the extremely boring 4 Corners story, I drank a glass of water and I am wearing cotton underpants. So I’m as qualified to form a view on the issue as the next potato!Sign up here to get an email whenever First Dog cartoons are publishedGet all your needs met at the First Dog shop if what you need is First Dog merchandise and printsContinue reading...
  
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• The British empire’s hidden history is one of resistance, not pride | Priyamvada Gopal

  28-07-2017 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Modern apologists would have us misty-eyed over the empire era. Instead we should celebrate the many forgotten voices who spoke out• Priyamvada Gopal teaches in the Faculty of English at the University of CambridgeSome news never gets old. Twitter recently gave fresh life to a 2014 YouGov poll when imperialism’s leading televangelist, Niall Ferguson, reposted its findings that 59% of respondents believed the British empire was something to be “proud” of, while 19% felt &ld
  
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• Councils ask Treasury to replace lost EU regeneration funds post-Brexit

  28-07-2017 07:01 via theguardian.com
  Local Government Association calls for more certainty to guarantee projects will not lose out when UK leaves EUCouncils have said they will need billions of pounds in extra funding from the Treasury after Brexit to replace the money lost from EU regeneration funds.The Local Government Association called for more certainty from ministers to guarantee that regeneration projects will not lose out when the UK leaves the bloc in 2019. Continue reading...
  
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• After Trump and Brexit, is this the end for the Anglo-Saxon west? | Timothy Garton Ash

  28-07-2017 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Some welcome the prospect of decline in Britain and the US. They should be careful what they wish for• Timothy Garton Ash is a Guardian columnist‘“You must be from England,” says the shop assistant at the CVS drugstore in Menlo Park, California. When I mention Donald Trump, he says: “Well, don’t get me started on how things are going on your side of the Atlantic. Your Mrs May there in Downing Street is being [expletive deleted] by the bureaucrats in Brussels &h
  
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• Anthony Scaramucci Swears Like A Sailor In Extraordinary Attack On White House Colleagues

  28-07-2017 04:39
  
  Ah, Anthony Scaramucci.
  The UK met the new White House communications director properly on Wednesday, when he gave a free-wheeling interview to the BBC’s Newsnight.
  ‘The Mooch’ compared Donald Trump’s plan to repeal Obamacare to the abolition of slavery and suggested the US President was not part of the elite because he eats cheeseburgers.
  But within 24 hours, he’s topped that.
  The New Yorker published a jaw-dropping interview on Thursday where Scaramucci
  
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• Diane Abbott: 'Single market is still on the table'

  28-07-2017 01:23 via bbc.co.uk
  Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott says Labour are not taking "any options off the table" after Brexit.
  
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• More Than A Million Children Could Go Hungry This Summer, Figures Show

  28-07-2017 01:02
  
  More than a million children could go hungry in England this summer, according to Labour and charity bosses.
  The party says those that are eligible for free school meals will miss out over the six-week holiday, and nearly four million more whose families are living in poverty may not be able to afford extra food costs.
  New analysis from the Trussell Trust, which runs a 400-strong network of foodbanks across the country, shows an increase in the number of food parcels being given to families wit
  
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• UK councils seek guarantee for €10.5bn of EU funding post Brexit

  28-07-2017 01:01
  LGA says successor to structural funds should be ‘of at least equivalent value’
  
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• Local councils seek government guarantee for €10.5bn of EU funding

  28-07-2017 01:01
  LGA says successor to structural funds should be less bureaucratic
  
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