Political news

• Theresa May’s deputy political director joins Portland

  31-08-2017 23:54
  Latest Downing Street staff member to exit since election
  
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• May’s deputy political director quits Number 10 to join Portland

  31-08-2017 23:54
  Latest Downing Street staff member to exit since election
  
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• Sir Philip Green sends legal warning to MP Frank Field over BHS pension deal

  31-08-2017 23:05 via bbc.co.uk
  The tycoon warns that the MP should read the lawyers' letter "very very carefully".
  
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• Only sing when you're winning? May says she has never done karaoke

  31-08-2017 23:00 via theguardian.com
  UK prime minister commits minor faux pas on visit to Japan, where she admits that she is no fan of the country’s beloved pastimeIt is not likely to be seen as a diplomatic incident, but Theresa May has committed a minor faux pas on her trade-based charm offensive in Japan by admitting that she does not like karaoke.The typically alcohol-fuelled activity, in which participants enthusiastically belt out words projected on to a screen to a recorded backing track, originated in Japan in the 19
  
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• UK’s approach to Brexit is ‘nostalgic and unrealistic’, says EU negotiator

  31-08-2017 21:37 via theguardian.com
  Michel Barnier at odds with David Davis after latest talks as he delivers scathing verdict on financial settlement, citizens’ rights and single marketThe UK’s approach to Brexit is nostalgic, unrealistic and undermined by a lack of trust, the EU’s chief negotiator has said in his strongest criticism of the UK’s stance at the talks so far.In a tense press conference alongside his British counterpart David Davis after the third round of exit talks in Brussels, Michel Barnie
  
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• Grenfell Tower Immigration Amnesty For Residents Slammed As 'Travesty' By BMELawyers4Grenfell

  31-08-2017 21:23
  
  The one-year immigration amnesty for undocumented residents of Grenfell Tower is a “travesty” and will jeopardise the public inquiry into the fire, lawyers said as the deadline for signing up was extended.
  BMELawyers4Grenfell’s comments come as campaigners for survivors and victims of the blaze, which killed at least 80 people on June 14, accused the government of a “cover up”.
  The Home Office gave survivors of the inferno, who were living in the country illegally,
  
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• Hotel plan for landmark Edinburgh building thrown out

  31-08-2017 21:19
  Council votes unanimously to veto high-end Royal High School scheme
  
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• Arlene Foster says she does not think Irish language is threat to union

  31-08-2017 21:01 via theguardian.com
  DUP leader calls for ‘new cultural deal’ to provide a long-term approach to the issue of identity in Northern Ireland
  Unionists will only accept legislation for the Irish language if it also includes protections for British culture and the Ulster Scots identity, Arlene Foster has said.
  In a keynote speech ahead of negotiations between the main parties represented in the Stormont assembly, the former first minister of Northern Ireland told the DUP ruling executive on Thursday night th
  
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• GPs quit NHS in England at rate of 400 a month

  31-08-2017 21:00
  Rising workload and falling income blamed for early retirements and reluctance to join family practice
  
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• Leader of anti-migrant Defend Europe campaign to speak at Ukip youth rally

  31-08-2017 20:43 via theguardian.com
  Martin Sellner has been invited to speak at Young Independence’s annual conference in Sheffield, which is to be held on SaturdayThe leader of a campaign to stop rescues of migrants crossing the Mediterranean has been invited to speak at the annual conference of Ukip’s youth wing. Martin Sellner, the Austrian co-leader of the pan-European Génération Identitaire – a far-right group that opposes migration as a threat to European identity – is set to speak at th
  
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• Brexit Briefing: Barney In Brussels

  31-08-2017 20:43
  
   
  You can sign up for this briefing by clicking here, and you’ll receive it straight to your inbox every Thursday afternoon.If you like what you read, make sure you subscribe to our Commons People podcast here for even more analysis about what goes on in Westminster. The EU Negotiators Are Showing Just Why So Many People Voted LeaveThe gloves are finally off. After a couple of ‘yeah everything’s going get’ press conferences from David Davis and M
  
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• Disability assessors 'lack right skills'

  31-08-2017 20:35 via bbc.co.uk
  Anastasia, a wheelchair user, says she was asked ridiculous questions in her disability assessment.
  
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• Britain's Priti Patel urges others to help Nigeria

  31-08-2017 20:21 via bbc.co.uk
  North-east Nigeria has been devastated by Boko Haram attacks, with 8.5 million people needing aid.
  
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• 'Divorce bill' row frustrates Brexit talks

  31-08-2017 20:14 via bbc.co.uk
  UK's David Davis urges more flexibility as EU negotiator says "no decisive progress" has been made.
  
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• EU divorce bills to citizens' rights: six things we learned about Brexit this week

  31-08-2017 20:00 via theguardian.com
  Third round of Brexit negotiations live up to limited billing, with gulf between two sides growing and deal in October seeming even less likelyNo one expected a breakthrough in talks on Britain’s EU separation during a few muggy afternoons in late August. And predictably, the latest round of Brexit talks lived up to its limited billing.But the gulf between the two sides has become sharper, with neither prepared to budge on what both see as a trump card: money. For the UK, writing a multi-b
  
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• Brexit healthcare deal is ‘good news for pensioners’

  31-08-2017 19:54 via theguardian.com
  David Davis says negotiators have agreed to maintain reciprocal healthcare for British and EU retirees affected by Brexit
  British pensioners who have retired to other EU countries will continue to have their healthcare paid for by the NHS post-Brexit, after a deal in principle was agreed by negotiators in Brussels.In one of the few advances made in discussions about EU citizens’ future rights, the Brexit secretary, David Davis, said there had been agreement on four key areas, including rec
  
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• Statistics chief criticises leak of Home Office student migration report

  31-08-2017 19:48 via theguardian.com
  Sir David Norgrove urges home secretary Amber Rudd to ban pre-release of official statistics to ministers and officials The Home Office has launched a leak inquiry into how a “seriously misleading” ­account of an official report into student migration appeared in the press on the morning of the report’s publication.The UK Statistics Authority chair has written to the home secretary, Amber Rudd, voicing strong concerns over the partial leak of the report to the Daily Telegra
  
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• Four of the mini-successes in August Brexit talks

  31-08-2017 19:47
  Pensioners and Northern Ireland among those to benefit in Brussels this week
  
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• Britain pays dearly for the shortfall in doctors

  31-08-2017 19:36
  One answer is to improve working conditions for practitioners
  
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• Dawn Butler Replaces Sarah Champion As Labour's Women And Equalities Shadow Minister

  31-08-2017 19:22
  
  Dawn Butler has been appointed as Labour’s new shadow women and equalities spokeswoman, HuffPost UK has learned.
  Highly rated by Jeremy Corbyn, Butler is currently shadow diverse communities minister and a member of his top team in the Shadow Cabinet.
  Her expanded role means she will replace Sarah Champion, who was ousted from the equalities post after writing in the Sun newspaper that Britain had “a problem with British Pakistani men raping white girls”.
  Corbyn said last week
  
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• UK summons North Korean ambassador

  31-08-2017 19:14 via bbc.co.uk
  A foreign office minister met the country's ambassador to condemn its latest missile test.
  
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• EU Brexit negotiator: UK demands on single market are impossible - Politics live

  31-08-2017 19:11 via theguardian.com
  Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including Theresa May’s press conference in Japan and the David Davis/Michel Barnier press conference at the end of the Brexit talksTheresa May’s press conference with Shinzo Abe - SummaryDavis/Barnier Brexit press conference - Snap analysisDavis/Barnier press conference - Full summaryAfternoon summary 6.04pm BST 5.35pm BSTTurning back to the Conservative party leadership, Theresa May has just received a signi
  
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• Britain’s cake-and-eat-it Brexit routine wears thin with Barnier

  31-08-2017 18:27 via theguardian.com
  EU’s chief negotiator shows frustration with lack of progress and British ‘nostalgia’It was hard not to conclude, watching David Davis and Michel Barnier during their tense joint press conference at the end of the third round of Brexit talks in Brussels, that here were two men – and two sides – largely talking past each other.For the ever-upbeat Brexit secretary, “concrete progress” had been made – he listed some smaller, discrete areas to do with
  
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• 'Tory Momentum' Activate Reports Twitter Hack To Police

  31-08-2017 18:01
  
  The Twitter account for Activate - a right-wing campaign group dubbed the ‘Tory Momentum’ - has been hacked.  
  According to a post by @ActivateBritain on Thursday, the incident was reported to police. Activate's Twitter account came under a successful hacking attempt at 15:34 today. The hacker has been identified & reported to the police.— Activate UK (@ActivateBritain) August 31, 2017
  Activate, which is described as an independent organisation that “se
  
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• Inside the project to fix Britain’s low-performing businesses

  31-08-2017 17:43
  ‘Long tail’ of weak companies holding back economy, says BoE economist
  
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• Who Are the Candidates To Be The Next Scottish Labour Leader?

  31-08-2017 17:40
  
  Kezia Dugdale’s bombshell resignation as leader of the Scottish Labour Party has triggered a race for the top job north of the border. 
  But who is in the running and what are their chances of success? 
  After the general election brought Jeremy Corbyn’s brand of politics unexpected success in Scotland - the party now has seven MPs after facing near-annihilation in 2015 - all eyes are on who will be the candidate of the left. 
  No-one has officially declared they will ru
  
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• Theresa May, the Arsène Wenger of politics — but without the wins

  31-08-2017 17:37
  Crashing out of Europe offers a chance to play in other global leagues
  
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• Corbyn effect helps boost Labour’s membership fees by 50%

  31-08-2017 17:34
  Party received £14.4m in fees in 2016, 10 times more than the Conservatives
  
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• Brexit hard grind

  31-08-2017 17:00 via bbc.co.uk
  Diplomatic decorum could not conceal big gaps between the EU and UK, Kevin Connolly reports.
  
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• Ryanair chief: May should be doing Brexit deal, not drinking sake

  31-08-2017 16:30 via theguardian.com
  Michael O’Leary warns Brexit puts flights between UK and Europe at risk, saying EU27 can use issue to ‘stick it to the British’Ryanair has stepped up warnings that flights between the UK and Europe are imperilled by Brexit, with the airline’s chief executive Michael O’Leary claiming that the prospect of disrupting aviation was one of the quickest and best ways for the EU27 to “stick it to the British”.O’Leary said that only “panic and fudge&r
  
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• Theresa May looks to reassure Shinzo Abe over Brexit

  31-08-2017 16:05
  Japan PM calls for ‘transparency and predictability’ to minimise disruption to business
  
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• Over half of parents apply for free 30 hours' childcare

  31-08-2017 16:01 via bbc.co.uk
  More than 200,000 parents in England applied to the scheme, but charities warn it is underfunded.
  
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• Tory MPs sceptical about PM’s election ambitions

  31-08-2017 15:46 via bbc.co.uk
  Some Conservative MPs say they do not believe the prime minister's claim she could fight the next general election.
  
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• North Korea: China again urged by May to use its leverage

  31-08-2017 15:33 via theguardian.com
  PM’s comments come as UK tries to get Beijing to participate in tougher sanctions on Pyongyang over its missile programmesTheresa May has reiterated her call for China to put more pressure on North Korea to limit its missile programmes as the UK tries to get Beijing to participate in imposing tougher sanctions on Pyongyang.After a state-linked Chinese newspaper labelled May “weak” for pressing China over the issue, the prime minister told a press conference in Tokyo that Beijin
  
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• The Tory Momentum?

  31-08-2017 15:05 via bbc.co.uk
  Is a Conservative version of Momentum the answer to address the party's lack of appeal to young voters?
  
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• Can the Brexit deadlock in Brussels be broken?

  31-08-2017 14:51
  Lack of breakthrough does not mean the failure can simply be brushed aside
  
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• Fewer Migrant Deaths In Mediterranean Amid Reports Of Controversial Libyan Militia Deal Emerge

  31-08-2017 14:47
  
  No migrant deaths have been recorded in the Mediterranean in the last 20 days, the UN Migration Agency (IOM) has announced, coinciding with worrying reports of an Italian Government-backed deal with Libyan people-traffickers.
  The overall flow of people making the journey from North Africa to Europe had dramatically reduced in August although a number of rescues were carried out by NGO boats in the past few days.Among those rescued overnight are unaccompanied Syrian brothers aged 13 & 17. It'
  
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• Nicola Sturgeon says Scotland must help 'shape the future'

  31-08-2017 13:53 via bbc.co.uk
  The first minister says Scottish businesses must be capable of designing and producing the products of the future.
  
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• Brexit talks latest: how the negotiations stand

  31-08-2017 13:48 via theguardian.com
  Negotiations on the UK’s withdrawal from the EU are happening on several fronts simultaneously, with multiple seemingly contradictory positions being stated almost daily. At least on the UK side. Find out what the latest state of play is, and how the mood is changing Continue reading...
  
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• EU Chief Negotiator Michel Barnier Slams No 'Decisive Progress' On Brexit Talks

  31-08-2017 13:36
  
  Michel Barnier has slammed no “decisive progress” on Brexit talks in Brussels in a fractious joint press conference with David Davis in Brussels. 
  European Commission chief Brexit negotiator Barnier said issues of "trust" remain behind himself and Brexit Secretary Davis, before accusing the UK of a "sort of nostalgia".
  He also went on to say the two sides are still “quite far” away from being in a position to begin discussions on future trade arrangements in October.
  
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• Real Wages Have Fallen By 0.5% On Average Under The Tories, New Figures Claim

  31-08-2017 12:57
  
  Fresh evidence of Britain’s wages squeeze has been seized on by Labour as new figures showed that real earnings have fallen by an average of 0.5% since the Tories came to power.
  A House of Commons Library analysis of Office for National Statistics figures revealed the earnings drop after David Cameron became PM in 2010.
  London and the South East of England have been particularly badly hit, with real wages falling by an average of 1.2% per cent and 0.9% per cent a year respectively.Althoug
  
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• May's post-Brexit trade policy unravels in Japan

  31-08-2017 12:26
  
  The promises of the Brexiters are in tatters
  
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• National Postal Strike Looms As Communications Workers Union Rejects Royal Mail Pensions, Pay Plan

  31-08-2017 12:04
  
  The first national postal strike since the privatisation of Royal Mail is set to go ahead unless the company “significantly” shifts its line on pensions, job cuts and pay, union bosses have warned.
  Blogging for HuffPost UK, Communication Workers Union (CWU) general secretary Dave Ward, said that a ballot for industrial action will take place if the deadlock isn’t broken in talks this week.
  Royal Mail was privatised by the Tories four years ago, but is now facing major disrupti
  
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• Electoral ambitions

  31-08-2017 11:34 via bbc.co.uk
  Theresa May's claim she plans to fight the next election has caused a stir - but has anything changed?
  
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• Fixing the north's transport system should be a national priority

  31-08-2017 10:38
  
  If the north of England succeeds economically, so does the rest of the UK - but it needs vision from the government, not obfuscation
  
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• Theresa May Cannot Pretend She Is Margaret Thatcher, Grant Shapps Warns

  31-08-2017 10:33
  
  Theresa May cannot pledge to “go on and on” like Margaret Thatcher once did, former chairman Grant Shapps has warned. 
  May moved to dispel questions about her premiership on Wednesday by vowing she is in post “for the long term” and would fight the 2022 general election, adding: “I’m not a quitter.” 
  But her words were given a thumbs-down by some backbench MPs, including Shapps and Nicky Morgan, who said the Tory Party will decide how long she
  
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• Bringing down statues of controversial figures isn't new - and it isn't wrong

  31-08-2017 10:28
  
  Monuments have always risen and fallen in line with our ever-changing relationship with the past
  
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• UK Should Apologise To Japan For 'Breaking Promises' With Brexit, Says Asian Business Expert

  31-08-2017 08:00
  
  Japanese businesses are owed an apology from the UK for breaking the promise of making Britain the “gateway” to the Single Market, according to a leading advisor to Asian companies.
  Pernille Rudlin, who has consulted leading Japanese firms including Hitachi, Mitsibushi and Nikon, says she feels “embarrassed” that after so much investment, the Brexit vote could damage access to the European market for those companies with UK bases.
  Her comments come as Prime Minister Ther
  
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• Andy Burnham urges Theresa May to rescue contaminated blood inquiry

  31-08-2017 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Greater Manchester mayor says victims’ trust could be lost for good if Department of Health continues to oversee processThe mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, has urged Theresa May to step in to save the troubled inquiry into contaminated blood, as he warned that victims of the scandal could lose trust in the process for good unless it is moved away from the Department of Health.Burnham called on the prime minister to intervene after weeks of stalemate over the inquiry. Campaigners
  
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• Corbyn and Trump join hands against the liberal world order

  31-08-2017 06:08
  The organising ideology of Corbynism is not pacifism but anti-Americanism
  
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