Political news

• May and Davis warn Tory rebels to toe the line over Brexit bill

  03-09-2017 23:00 via theguardian.com
  Support repeal bill or risk victory for Jeremy Corbyn, the PM and Brexit secretary tell MPs before Thursday’s second readingTheresa May will face a testing week as parliament returns on Tuesday, with Conservative whips braced for battles with newly emboldened party rebels over the repeal bill.Both May and the Brexit secretary, David Davis, warned MPs on Sunday they should not obstruct the bill’s passage via amendments or they will risk a victory for Labour’s leader, Jeremy Corb
  
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• The Guardian view on refurbishing parliament: get a move on | Editorial

  03-09-2017 19:40 via theguardian.com
  Delay only increases the cost and our political culture would benefit from a change of sceneTo describe parliament as a decaying institution, crawling with vermin, would be unjust as metaphor. As a literal account of the state of the building, it is accurate. The Palace of Westminster is in an advanced state of physical degradation, infested with mice and in need of an upgrade. Faulty wiring, antiquated plumbing and other structural inadequacies make it unsafe as a workplace – not just for
  
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• Scottish Labour leadership hopefuls call for unity

  03-09-2017 18:31
  Party figures set out their stalls after shock resignation of Kezia Dugdale
  
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• Britons need to know consequences of Brexit, says EU negotiator

  03-09-2017 18:27 via theguardian.com
  Michel Barnier says extremely serious consequences of leaving single market have not been explained to British peopleThe EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, has said the British people need to be educated about the consequences of leaving the single market, the latest in a series of blows traded by Brussels and UK government ministers after a bruising round of exit talks. In remarks likely to enrage UK ministers, Barnier said Brexit would be “an educational process” for the
  
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• Your employment rights could be put at risk through Brexit. Here’s why | Frances O’Grady

  03-09-2017 17:53 via theguardian.com
  Part-time and agency workers and those facing redundancy are already targeted by bosses – and the EU withdrawal bill could make them more vulnerableThis week’s European Union withdrawal bill will be a key moment for everyone concerned about fair treatment in the workplace. It’s the government’s vehicle to write EU law into UK law – but if that sounds routine, it’s anything but. Among the laws being transferred are those workers’ rights which trade unions
  
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• EU Chief Negotiator Michel Barnier Vows To 'Educate' British During Brexit Talks

  03-09-2017 17:43
  
  EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier has ramped up the tension over Brexit talks after warning he is trying to “educate” the UK about the price of quitting the European Union.
  Barnier’s antagonistic tone underlines how the EU is wants to play hardball with the UK as much as a deterrent to other countries contemplating an exit.
  It comes after a terse round of negotiations between Barnier and Brexit Secretary David Davis last week.
  On The Andrew Marr Show on Sunday, Davis branded
  
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• On Planet Tory, the radio signal from Earth is growing weaker by the day | Matthew d’Ancona

  03-09-2017 17:06 via theguardian.com
  The government confuses office with power, and may yet pay a terrible price for blindly believing the Brexit talks will prove the need for Tories at the controlsThe Conservative party is in the most desperate position that I can recall. It confuses office with power. It mistakes the EU referendum result for a party-political mandate. It assumes that the voters will sooner or later turn on Jeremy Corbyn as a dangerous socialist impostor. Its smile is really the rictus of internal paralysis. Relat
  
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• Boris Johnson on Brexit 'divorce bill'

  03-09-2017 16:34 via bbc.co.uk
  Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson says the UK will honour its financial obligations to the EU if they are "serious and validated in law".
  
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• Theresa May urged to force councils to build more homes

  03-09-2017 16:06 via theguardian.com
  Prime minister risks Conservative backlash over measures to tackle housing crisisTheresa May is being urged to face down a potential backlash from backbench Conservatives and sign off proposals aimed at forcing councils to unleash a building boom to tackle Britain’s housing crisis.The Department for Communities and Local Government has confirmed to the Guardian that it will publish details by the end of this month of how local authorities should assess the need for housing. Continue readin
  
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• As the UK economy sputters, it's all systems go in the eurozone | Richard Partington

  03-09-2017 15:47 via theguardian.com
  Far from David Cameron’s vision of a strident UK distancing itself from a failing union, Brexit may deliver the oppositeWhen David Cameron set out to create a “two-speed Europe” , the former prime minister did so with the words of the Eurosceptic Tory right ringing in his ears.Europe was doomed. Mounting problems for Greece and rising numbers of immigrants showed that Britain must cut itself free from a failing union. Far from prospering from our membership of the world’s
  
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• Rupert Murdoch's proposed Sky takeover reaches endgame

  03-09-2017 15:29 via theguardian.com
  Most likely outcome is that culture secretary will refer deal to CMA on grounds of media plurality but not broadcasting standardsMPs return from their summer breaks next week and one of the first issues on the agenda will be 21st Century Fox’s proposed takeover of Sky.A quick recap: before recess in June, Karen Bradley, the culture secretary, revealed the findings of Ofcom’s report into the deal and her initial view on whether it should go ahead. Continue reading...
  
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• Brexit: Labour position is 'grown-up politics'

  03-09-2017 15:29 via bbc.co.uk
  Labour's shadow Brexit secretary denies his party has u-turned over its position on the single market and customs union.
  
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• Boris Johnson: 'no easy military solution' after North Korea nuclear test

  03-09-2017 15:23 via theguardian.com
  UK foreign secretary says retaliation from west would come at huge cost to civilian lives, but all options remain on the tableBoris Johnson has warned there is “no easy military solution” to prevent North Korea escalating its nuclear aggression but said all options were still on the table for retaliation after the regime’s nuclear weapons test.The UK foreign secretary said it was not clear how a military response from the west would be possible, given the proximity of the South
  
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• Nicola Sturgeon 'to scrap public sector pay rise cap'

  03-09-2017 15:15 via bbc.co.uk
  It is understood the measure will be announced when the first minister reveals her programme for government on Tuesday.
  
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• Brexit: David Davis denies Theresa May will agree €50bn divorce bill

  03-09-2017 15:08 via theguardian.com
  Minister concedes there are ‘moral or political’ reasons to reach a deal but says EU ‘looks silly’ saying no progress madeDavid Davis has denied Theresa May is preparing to approve a Brexit ”divorce bill” of €50bn, saying UK negotiators would not allow time pressures to force Britain into paying vast sums.The Brexit secretary insisted there was no legal obligation for the UK to pay sums for EU projects after leaving the bloc, even those approved while th
  
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• The worst is yet to come for the NHS - hospital chiefs

  03-09-2017 14:47 via bbc.co.uk
  Hospital chiefs in England warn this winter could be the most difficult in recent history.
  
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• Keir Starmer: Labour won't give PM 'blank cheque' over Brexit vote

  03-09-2017 14:33 via theguardian.com
  Shadow Brexit secretary says Theresa May must answer accountability concerns over repeal bill extending ministers’ powersLabour’s Keir Starmer has warned Theresa May the government will face a parliamentary battle on the first Commons vote on controversial Brexit legislation unless she answers concerns about accountability.The shadow Brexit secretary said the party would not hand May a blank cheque over the repeal bill, which is to have its second reading when parliament returns next
  
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• Profiting from Brexit: cutting down on financial red tape

  03-09-2017 14:20
  Smaller institutions say EU has choked growth through cumbersome compliance costs
  
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• Brexit: UK to be 'educated' about consequences, says Barnier

  03-09-2017 14:17 via bbc.co.uk
  The EU's chief negotiator says it is his job to teach the UK about the cost of leaving the bloc.
  
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• Theresa May 'Winds Up' Tories By Vowing To Fight The Next Election, Says Ex-No 10 Spin Doctor

  03-09-2017 13:17
  
  Theresa May has thrown a “big rock” into the Conservative Party by claiming she wants to fight the next election, according to a former top Downing Street spin doctor.
  Craig Oliver, who served as David Cameron’s director of communications for five years, said May’s determination to carry on as PM until 2022 just “winds a lot of people up”.
  The Prime Minister’s comments are a marked contrast to her words to Tory MPs in the immediate aftermath of the part
  
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• David Davis rejects £50bn Brexit bill reports as ‘nonsense’

  03-09-2017 13:01
  Brexit secretary talks down suggestions UK will start trade talks with EU in October
  
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• David Davis: Brexit bill to "ensure continuity"

  03-09-2017 12:48 via bbc.co.uk
  Speaking on the BBC's Andrew Marr show Brexit Secretary David Davis said all Tories should back the Brexit bill to "ensure continuity".
  
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• David Davis: EU Is 'Silly' To Claim There's Been No Brexit Deal Progress

  03-09-2017 12:16
  
  The European Commission put itself in a "silly position" saying that nothing has been done - Brexit Secretary @DavidDavisMP tells #Marr pic.twitter.com/3K45cU01yB— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) September 3, 2017
  David Davis has branded the EU as “silly” for claiming no progress is being made in the Brexit negotiations.
  The Brexit Secretary hit out at EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier’s negative attitude in a press conference on Thursday that marked the end of the latest roun
  
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• PM urges Tories to support Brexit bill

  03-09-2017 11:57 via bbc.co.uk
  Theresa May calls for unity, as MPs return from the summer break to debate the EU repeal bill.
  
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• Scottish Labour leadership: Richard Leonard confirms bid

  03-09-2017 11:47 via bbc.co.uk
  In a newspaper article MSP Richard Leonard says Scotland needs a "united Labour Party committed to bold change".
  
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• May call for loyalty prompts backlash from pro-Europe Tories

  03-09-2017 09:25
  MPs attack ‘outrageous’ argument that backing softer Brexit equates to supporting Corbyn
  
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• Rohingya crisis: Johnson warns Suu Kyi over Muslim treatment

  03-09-2017 09:01 via bbc.co.uk
  Almost 400 people have died in Muslim-Buddhist attacks in the most recent outbursts of violence.
  
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• May's game of thrones - cartoon

  03-09-2017 01:05 via theguardian.com
  Chris Riddell on the prime minister’s pledge to stand at the next general election Continue reading...
  
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• Integrity, empathy, authenticity – what does Britain want in a leader?

  03-09-2017 01:05 via theguardian.com
  Strategists BritainThinks have been surveying UK voters since 2015. What politicians now impress us most?Gathered in the back room of a pub near Slough, our focus group of swing voters began by sharing photographs they had brought along. Each was of a leader, past or present, someone who embodied the qualities they most admired. Several chose “tough” leaders like Thatcher or Churchill, others “virtuous” examples such as Mandela or Gandhi, while a few went for “innov
  
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