Political news

• UK and Japan plan enhanced co-operation on security

  30-08-2017 23:49
  Initiatives proposed on defence and counter-terrorism
  
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• Minimal talks progress as Brexit sides play cards close

  30-08-2017 23:32
  Money remains biggest sticking point as UK lays out case against exit ‘bill’
  
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• UK tells Brussels negotiators their Brexit bill sums do not add up

  30-08-2017 23:30 via theguardian.com
  Tensions rise as EU says Britain failing to show its hand and UK argues some claims for money have no legal basisThe UK has told EU negotiators their sums on the Brexit bill do not add up, as talks on Britain’s separation from the bloc hit deadlock.Tensions boiled over in Brussels as the EU accused Britain of failing to reveal its hand on the financial settlement. UK officials hit back at the EU, saying some claims for money had no legal basis.Continue reading...
  
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• Theresa May expresses unity with Japan in face of North Korea threat

  30-08-2017 23:30 via theguardian.com
  UK prime minister to unveil plans to increase cooperation in defence and cyber-security with Japan Theresa May has promised that the UK will stand “shoulder to shoulder” with Japan over the threat from North Korea, with the prime minister due to announce in Tokyo an increase in mutual cooperation over defence and cyber-security.However, the prime minister faced a rebuff from China over her call for North Korea’s neighbour and sometime ally to exert more pressure on Pyongyang, w
  
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• Theresa May to lead Conservatives into next general election

  30-08-2017 23:05 via bbc.co.uk
  The prime minister told the BBC she would lead her party into the next general election.
  
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• So, May eyes retirement. But should PMs try to orchestrate their departures?

  30-08-2017 23:00 via theguardian.com
  Blair and Cameron both arranged their respective leaving parties, and acknowledging your political mortality can be a shrewd moveTheresa May must have felt she had little choice but say she was ready to fight another election after weekend reports suggested she had told backbenchers in cosy chats at Chequers that she was pencilling 30 August 2019 as a good day to resign.But past prime ministers have had mixed success when they have tried to set – or indefinitely delay – their own dep
  
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• 'I'm not a quitter': Theresa May says she could fight another election as PM

  30-08-2017 23:00 via theguardian.com
  May tells reporters she is ‘in this for the long term’, risking reigniting anger in her party over the disastrous general election and criticisms of her leadershipTheresa May insisted she could fight another general election as prime minister, arguing that she is “not a quitter” despite June’s disastrous election result and repeated criticisms of her leadership style.Risking reigniting anger from within her own party, the Conservative leader said that she was &ldquo
  
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• What Does Kezia Dugdale's Resignation Mean For Labour's National Executive Committee?

  30-08-2017 22:49
  
  When Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee met in London last September, the party’s Scottish leader Kezia Dugdale staged her very own sit-in to get her way.
  Just a week before the annual conference reconfirmed Jeremy Corbyn’s second landslide leadership election, the meeting at the party’s HQ in Victoria Street was yet another of those tense, finely-balanced affairs that had come to characterise the Corbyn era.
  Dugdale, who had taken the provocative step of publi
  
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• Sebastian Gorka Tells Channel 4 News's Krishnan Guru-Murthy He's 'Spinning Left-Wing Wet Dreams'

  30-08-2017 22:17
  
  Donald Trump’s former aide Sebastian Gorka is continuing to bash the media on behalf of his former boss, despite leaving the White House last week.
  Gorka is an American citizen who was born in Britain to Hungarian parents, so has been repeatedly invited on UK television when broadcasters need to wrap a union flag around a Trump story.
  Invariably, Gorka has been happy to oblige, even though he appears to loathe the mainstream media/MSM. Earlier this year, he accused the BBC of an &ldq
  
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• Search for doctors set to cost NHS £100m in agency fees

  30-08-2017 22:03
  Recruiters to be paid £20,000 for each GP in drive to fulfil Hunt’s 7-day service pledge
  
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• Grenfell Inferno Prompts Review Of Whether UK Regulations 'Fit For Purpose'

  30-08-2017 20:33
  
  A “long overdue” fire and building safety rules review - ordered in the wake of the Grenfell Tower blaze - will explore whether there were “potential systemic failures” in the. 
  The independent review, led by Dame Judith Hackitt, will compare British regulations with examples from around the world to ensure the system is fit for purpose, particularly focusing on tower blocks.
  The independent assessment, led by engineers, will probe the cladding used for high-rises a
  
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• Conor Burns, Boris Johnson's Principal Private Secretary, Says Michel Barnier Tweets On Brexit Were Hacks

  30-08-2017 19:42
  
  An MP and senior staffer to Boris Johnson has claimed a series of tweets to the EU’s chief negotiator questioning him over Brexit were the result of a hack.
  Conor Burns’ Twitter posted two messages to Michel Barnier, asking how the bill the UK may have to pay to leave the EU was being calculated. They were then deleted after around three hours and Burns said he had been hacked.
  Barnier had said Britain needed to “get serious” about leaving the EU as the third round of Bre
  
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• Tory MP claims account hacked after tweets sent to EU chief negotiator

  30-08-2017 19:04 via theguardian.com
  Conor Burns, an aide to Boris Johnson, tweeted Michel Barnier demanding details of UK’s payment obligations to the EUA Conservative MP who is a parliamentary aide to Boris Johnson has claimed that his Twitter account was hacked after tweets were sent to the EU’s chief negotiator demanding details of the UK’s payment obligations to Brussels.An official account belonging to Conor Burns sent several tweets directed at Michel Barnier’s account, each an hour apart, telling him
  
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• Shane Ridge Is British Citizen Says Home Office

  30-08-2017 18:02
  
  The Home Office has apologised for ordering a man who was born and raised in the UK to leave the country, saying it now realises he is “automatically a British citizen”.
  Shane Ridge, 21, who describes himself as “as British as they come” was “speechless” after being told last week that he was in fact not a British citizen and had to “leave the UK voluntarily” or face prison or a fine.
  But the Home Office has now retracted the threat and admitted it
  
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• UK will pay more and get worse Brexit deal because of election result, says William Hague - Politics live

  30-08-2017 17:26 via theguardian.com
  Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happenFull text of Kezia Dugdale’s resignation letterTheresa May’s TV interviews in Japan - Summary 4.26pm BSTThe EU is refusing to budge on Britain’s calls for a more “flexible” approach to Brexit talks, amid growing signs of deadlock on the divorce bill.In a sign of mounting frustration, Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator, tweeted the EU’s guidelines were designed for “seri
  
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• Scottish Labour MSPs rule out leadership bids

  30-08-2017 17:18 via bbc.co.uk
  Two of the early favourites rule themselves out of the race to replace Kezia Dugdale as Scottish Labour leader.
  
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• Brexit progress slow, warns EU Parliament's Verhofstadt

  30-08-2017 17:18 via bbc.co.uk
  The influential MEP says talks on trade are unlikely to begin soon, as the UK wants, at current rate.
  
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• Home Office apologises for ordering man born in Britain to leave UK

  30-08-2017 17:02 via theguardian.com
  Shane Ridge, 21, was wrongly sent letter saying he had no lawful basis to remain despite living in Britain all his life The Home Office has apologised after a 21-year-old man who was born and raised in Britain was wrongly told to leave the UK because he was not a British citizen.Shane Ridge, a joiner from Colne in Lancashire, received a letter from the Home Office last week informing him that his driving licence would be revoked as he had “no lawful basis to be in the UK”. It came as
  
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• Kezia Dugdale’s resignation creates opportunity for Corbyn backers

  30-08-2017 16:33
  Leftwingers seek control of Scottish Labour in move that would tilt balance of UK party
  
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• Brexit: Britain Will Get 'A Worse Deal' Because Of May's Disastrous Snap Election Result - William Hague

  30-08-2017 16:29
  
  Britain will “get a worse deal” on Brexit thanks to Theresa May’s disastrous snap election result, former Tory leader William Hague has declared.
  Hague said the PM’s loss of her Commons majority had weakened the UK’s hand in the talks with Brussels and it would now have to pay more money to get a “softer” exit from the EU.
  Speaking to Radio 5 Live, the former Foreign Secretary said Brexit had become “more difficult to negotiate” following Ma
  
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• The end of Scottish Labour’s civil war? Don’t bet on it | Ruth Wishart

  30-08-2017 16:13 via theguardian.com
  Candidates are jostling for pole position after Kezia Dugdale’s resignation. But taking the helm of this notoriously faction-prone party won’t be easy
  • Ruth Wishart is a Scottish freelance columnist and broadcaster, who has spoken in favour of Scottish independenceLet’s be fair: at certain times all political parties can give sack-dwelling ferrets a decent run for their money. But the resignation of Kezia Dugdale as Scottish Labour leader bookends a time that began with t
  
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• MPs attack ejection of 'underperforming' sixth-formers

  30-08-2017 16:12 via theguardian.com
  Labour and Lib Dems condemn practice but say St Olave’s grammar school is not the only institution to ‘weed out’ students The practice of weeding out “underperforming” sixth-form students mid-course after failing to secure top grades at AS level has been criticised by politicians, who say pupil wellbeing is more important than league tables.The Guardian revealed on Tuesday that St Olave’s grammar school in Orpington in the London borough of Bromley was facing
  
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• Who will replace Kezia Dugdale? Some possible leadership candidates

  30-08-2017 15:59 via theguardian.com
  After the Scottish Labour leader’s surprise resignation, the way is open for a leader more sympathetic to the Corbyn projectKezia Dugdale’s resignation as Scottish Labour leader will trigger a tight race to succeed her in the post, which has become far more attractive after Labour’s successes in the 2017 election than it was when the party was wiped out north of the border two years ago. Related: Labour urges swift contest to replace Kezia Dugdale as Scottish leaderContinue rea
  
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• Javid 'misunderstood planning policies' in approving fracking site, court hears

  30-08-2017 15:55 via theguardian.com
  Campaigners urge court of appeal to overturn communities secretary’s decision to allow Cuadrilla to drill in Lancashire The communities secretary, Sajid Javid, “misunderstood key local and national planning policies” when he gave the green light to fracking in Lancashire, campaigners have told the court of appeal.Leading judges were urged on Wednesday to overturn a government decision to approve a fracking site at Preston New Road in Lancashire. Continue reading...
  
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• This time Britain must resist colluding in US drone terror | Clive Lewis

  30-08-2017 15:39 via theguardian.com
  The use of drones devastates communities and fuels terrorist recruitment. Theresa May should not be drawn into Trump’s threats against Pakistan• Clive Lewis is the Labour MP for Norwich SouthI know what it’s like to feel the fear of battle. To be constantly looking over my shoulder and thinking every sound might be a bomb or a bullet. When I served in Afghanistan in 2009 I felt that fear, but I made a choice to serve in the army and I knew I could come home to safety at the end
  
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• Kezia Dugdale: Why she quit and who will replace her

  30-08-2017 15:14
  
  What's next for Scottish Labour?
  
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• Japanese lessons for Theresa May

  30-08-2017 15:06
  UK cannot work on free trade deals with other countries until Brexit terms resolved
  
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• Kezia Dugdale is a casualty of Scotland’s single-minded politics

  30-08-2017 14:21
  The Scottish Labour leader struggled to redefine her party, writes Sebastian Payne
  
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• Sebastian Gorka Explained Why He Left The White House And He Still Makes No Sense

  30-08-2017 14:17
  
  Sebastian Gorka has graced the right-wing friendly airwaves to explain why he left the White House last week.
  The former national security aide is still insisting he resigned but his account was contradicted by officials at the time who said “he did not resign but he no longer works” for the Donald Trump administration. two admin officials tell me Gorka was pushed out, did not resign, had been on vacation for weeks.— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) August 26, 2017
  T
  
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• Tory Millionaire Says Brexit Is Good For Young People As They Will Be Able To Work Longer In Shops

  30-08-2017 14:07
  
  A multi-millionaire Tory peer has been mocked after suggesting Brexit will be good for young people as they will be able to work longer hours in shops.
  Lord Harris, estimated to be worth more than £100million, claimed retailers could currently only employ young people for 35 hours a week because of EU law.
  In fact, the European Working Time Directive means employees cannot be forced to work longer than 48 hours a week – and even then, they can opt-out of the restriction.
  Brexit-back
  
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• What’s next for Scottish Labour after Kezia Dugdale’s exit? | Jonathan Freedland

  30-08-2017 13:55 via theguardian.com
  Don’t bet on a Corbynite putsch – the left is a crowded marketplace in Scotland and it’s best not to make assumptionsThe obvious way to read the surprise resignation of Kezia Dugdale as leader of the Scottish Labour party is to cast her as the victim of a likely putsch by forces loyal to Jeremy Corbyn. According to this view, Dugdale jumped before she was pushed, pre-empting the challenge she would have faced sooner or later as punishment for opposing Corbyn from the start &nda
  
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• The contenders

  30-08-2017 13:53 via bbc.co.uk
  A look at the most likely candidates to replace Kezia Dugdale as leader of the Scottish Labour Party.
  
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• Corbyn ally rules out Scottish Labour leadership bid

  30-08-2017 13:25 via bbc.co.uk
  Jeremy Corbyn's closest ally in Scotland confirms he will not stand in the contest to replace Kezia Dugdale.
  
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• UK looks to replicate EU trade deals after Brexit, says May

  30-08-2017 13:23
  EU-Japan talks could be basis for future UK-Japan agreement, suggests prime minister
  
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• Domestic violence solicitor: 'I've been forced out by government cuts'

  30-08-2017 13:22
  
  Cuts to legal aid are pushing out much needed specialist talent from the legal sector
  
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• Party Insiders Revolt As Alex Rowley Crowned Interim Scottish Labour Leader

  30-08-2017 13:15
  
  Alex Rowley has been appointed interim Scottish Labour leader after Kezia Dugdale’s bombshell resignation. 
  Rowley, formerly deputy leader takes on the role straightaway after Dugdale resigned on Tuesday, but party insiders are calling for a full contest, not “a coronation”. 
  Former Labour leader Harriet Harman has also called for the position to be filled by a woman, tweeting: “Thank you for all you’ve done and for being a true @UKLabour sister.
  “PS
  
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• May to press Japan on its EU trade deal in hopes of a model for UK

  30-08-2017 13:05 via theguardian.com
  PM’s remark that model could be used to speed up post-Brexit trade deals with other countries mocked by Vince Cable as a ‘cut and paste Brexit’Theresa May has held her first talks with Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, in Kyoto at the start of an intensive three-day visit intended to reassure the country that the UK can swiftly replicate the trade benefits of EU membership after Brexit. Before meeting Abe, May reiterated her intention to kickstart post-Brexit trade by r
  
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• Labour urges swift contest to replace Kezia Dugdale as Scottish leader

  30-08-2017 13:05 via theguardian.com
  Party believes next election will be won in Scotland, as Dugdale allies point to personal reasons behind surprise decision to quitLabour’s Westminster leadership will be urging a quick contest to replace Kezia Dugdale as the leader of the party in Scotland, which will be a key battleground at the next general election.“What we in the UK party have made perfectly clear is that Scotland is where the next election will be won,” said one senior figure. Continue reading...
  
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• Poundland 'gets jobless to work for free under government scheme'

  30-08-2017 12:34 via theguardian.com
  Participants in DWP work experience programme say budget chain used them to stack shelves all dayPoundland has been criticised for employing jobseekers, without pay, for up to two months under a deal with the government.Several of those who have worked on the scheme told the Guardian they had worked up to 30 hours a week for at least three weeks stacking shelves in Poundland. They were told that the work experience was voluntary but one said: “I had no say in it really.” Continue rea
  
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• 17 from '17: Labour Firebrand Laura Pidcock Admires Mhairi Black But Says Mum Is Her True Hero

  30-08-2017 12:29
  
  There aren’t many MPs who use their maiden speech to say the House of Commons “reeks of the establishment and power”. 
  But then Laura Pidcock, who has been elected as the new Labour MP for North West Durham, has not made it to Parliament to play it safe. 
  The outspoken anti-racism campaigner and staunch trade unionist is very much at home in Jeremy Corbyn’s remodelled Labour Party, and is tipped to climb far and fast. 
  Daughter of a catholic priest turned L
  
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• China must 'pressure' North Korea over weapons tests - May

  30-08-2017 12:12 via bbc.co.uk
  Theresa May, in Japan, says China should do more to stop Pyongyang's "provocative" weapons testing.
  
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• Corbyn Should Consider Sacking MP Who Described Antisemitism Attacks As ‘Bullshit’, Says Jewish Group

  30-08-2017 12:00
  
  Britain’s leading Jewish organisation has called on Jeremy Corbyn to consider sacking a shadow minister who dismissed antisemitism allegations against Labour as a “really dirty lowdown trick”.
  The Board of Deputies of British Jews wants action taken against Shadow Fire Minister Chris Williamson after the Derby North MP claimed there had been a “weaponisation of antisemitism for political ends”.
  In an interview with the Guardian, Williamson described the row over Co
  
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• Prime Minister Theresa May on Brexit and Japan

  30-08-2017 11:19 via bbc.co.uk
  The PM is asked about the UK's post-EU relationship with Japan as she begins a trip to the country.
  
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• Iain Duncan Smith warns government over cuts to relationship counselling

  30-08-2017 10:41 via theguardian.com
  Ex-cabinet minister says plan to scrap the £10m available to help prevent couples splitting up would be ‘retrograde step’The former Conservative cabinet minister Iain Duncan Smith has warned that the government plans to cut support for marriage and relationship counselling. In an article for Conservative Home, the former work and pensions secretary said his former officials had told him they had been asked to draw up plans to scrap the £10m available to help prevent coupl
  
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• Japan is as curious as everyone else: what is Theresa May’s Brexit plan? | Henry Newman

  30-08-2017 10:30 via theguardian.com
  The talk of the prime minister’s visit will be the ‘progress’ of UK-Japan trade deals. But there are bigger questions to be askedDespite their famous politeness, the Japanese know how to play diplomatic hardball. In September last year, after the Brexit referendum and ahead of a G20 meeting, Tokyo sent a punchy open letter to the UK and EU calling for certainty, clarity and protecting the business environment. Now, several months later, as Theresa May embarks on a three-day vis
  
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• Australians love to swear, especially when it comes to what you can and can't call Abbott | First Dog on the Moon

  30-08-2017 09:43 via theguardian.com
  In homes and pubs, in parliaments and preschools, everyone is busting out expletives like it’s nobody’s business. Or is it?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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• KKK Hoods And Urine-Proof Sheets Seen At Trump Tower Gift Shop

  30-08-2017 09:38
  
  This is golden.
  Rubber pee-proof sheets, KKK hoods and Russian flags were spotted among the items for sale in Trump Tower’s gift shop this week.
  According to Gothamist, a New York-based news outlet, two local artists slipped the satirical items into the store located in the lobby of the president’s namesake Manhattan building on Monday afternoon. Aside from the sheets, flags and white hoods that were marketed to “fine people,” other items that mocked Donald
  
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• Theresa May: China should curb North Korea's 'outrageous' missile ambitions

  30-08-2017 09:02 via theguardian.com
  On a visit to Japan prime minister declines to rule out possibility of military action against Pyongyang Theresa May has urged China to intervene more vigorously in curbing North Korea’s missile ambitions, calling Beijing “the key” to defusing tensions as she arrived in Japan for a three-day visit.The British prime minister, who was to hold the first of several rounds of meetings with her counterpart, Shinzo Abe, on Wednesday, touched down a day-and-a-half after North Korea fir
  
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• Donald Trump Makes Hurricane Harvey All About Himself With Crowd Turnout Comments

  30-08-2017 08:51
  
  Crises like major weather disasters offer presidents the chance to unify the country and rise above partisan politics. Although a significant amount of aid work is done at the state and local levels, the president still has a major role in coordinating the response and setting the tone for the country. 
  But for Donald Trump, Hurricane Harvey has been a golden opportunity to promote himself. 
  “We want to be looked at in five years, in 10 years from now as, this is
  
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• High-profile Tories back Labour bill on free meals in school holidays

  30-08-2017 08:01 via theguardian.com
  Jacob Rees-Mogg and Mel Stride among those supporting Frank Field’s proposals to help poorer children who may go hungryMore than a dozen Conservative MPs have publicly backed a Labour MP’s bill to provide free meals to poorer children who may go hungry in the holidays because of the absence of school lunches.High-profile Tories supporting the backbench bill include the newly appointed Treasury minister Mel Stride and the chair of the 1922 committee of Conservative MPs, Graham Brady.C
  
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