Political news

• 5 Extraordinary New Revelations About Theresa May's Election Disaster

  10-09-2017 22:37
  
  Thought you knew everything about June’s incredible ‘snap’ general election, one of the greatest self-owns in British political history? Think again.  
  A new book from political journalists Tim Ross and Tom McTague has unearthed some startling revelations about how the badly the Conservative Party’s election campaign played out in a new book, ‘Betting the House’, with extracts serialised in the Mail on Sunday. Here are five of the most eye-catc
  
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• Blair and Adonis have spoken, but will France and Germany help remainers?

  10-09-2017 20:16
  Pair’s call for firmer grip on immigration from within the EU relies heavily on the same mood for change existing on the continentTony Blair and Andrew Adonis, his former Downing Street policy chief, have made separate if coordinated proposals for new controls on UK migration as a viable route back from Brexit and for the UK’s continued membership of the EU single market.To some, the proposals appear like a pro-remain version of Boris Johnson’s love of having and eating cakes &
  
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• Brexit Risks Leaving UK With 20,000 Shortfall In Nurses By 2020, Says Pro-EU Open Britain

  10-09-2017 19:18
  
  Britain’s shortage of nurses and midwives could increase by 20,000 by 2020 if trends following last year’s Brexit referendum continue, the Government has been warned.
  The Open Britain campaign group for close ties with the EU said fewer than 300 European nurses a year would come to work in the UK if the drop in applications since last June’s referendum continues.
  This compares to more than 7,000 a year in the period before the referendum, the campaigners said, citing Nursing an
  
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• Irma unleashes its fury on south Florida

  10-09-2017 18:29 via ft.com
  Fears of 15ft storm surge set to swamp communities on state’s west coast
  
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• Slashing Tuition Fee Interest Payments Latest Young Voter Friendly Policy Fed To Downing Street

  10-09-2017 16:59
  
  Theresa May is reportedly considering cutting the interest rate of student loans in a bid to win back young voters.
  The Sunday Telegraph quoted a source who had discussed the plan with Downing Street, which would see the 6% interest levied on tuition fees slashed.
  Jeremy Corbyn made the abolition of tuition fees one of the key policies in his general election campaign, and saw the majority of under 40s backing his party.
  A source close to Downing Street told the Sunday Telegraph: “We
  
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• 'It Only Helps Richer Graduates' Tory Plan To Slash Tuition Fee Interest Rates Slammed

  10-09-2017 16:59
  
  Theresa May is reportedly considering cutting the interest rate of student loans in a bid to win back young voters.
  The Sunday Telegraph quoted a source who had discussed the plan with Downing Street, which would see the 6% interest levied on tuition fees slashed.
  The plans were criticised by financial journalist Martin Lewis, who said such a move would only help the top earning graduates.
  Jeremy Corbyn made the abolition of tuition fees one of the key policies in his general election campaign,
  
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• Irma slams into south Florida communities

  10-09-2017 16:28 via ft.com
  Deadly storm surge warning as winds rip through deserted Miami
  
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• Scottish tidal power scheme thrown into doubt

  10-09-2017 15:28 via ft.com
  MeyGen subsea turbines in Pentland Firth told to compete for subsidies with offshore wind
  
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• Labour to force vote in Commons on scrapping public sector pay cap

  10-09-2017 13:26
  Shadow health secretary calls on Tory MPs to back motion to lift ‘unfair’ cap as opposition seeks to pressure PM to actLabour is to force a Commons vote on scrapping the 1% public sector pay cap.
  On Sunday, the shadow health secretary, Jon Ashworth, called on Tory MPs to join his party in backing moves to end the “unfair” cap with a motion to be debated on Wednesday.Continue reading...
  
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• Britain can control immigration without Brexit, Blair says

  10-09-2017 12:53 via ft.com
  Former Labour prime minister comes under fire from senior Tory minister
  
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• Sunday Show Round Up: Tony Blair And Ken Clarke Lament Brexit

  10-09-2017 12:51
  
  The Andrew Marr Show
  Defence Sectary Sir Michael Fallon appeared on the BBC show, and the interview started with a discussion the UK’s response time to British territories hit by Hurricane Irma.
  Some 500 UK troops have been sent to Anguilla, Turks and Caicos, and British Virgin Islands (BVI) to help people affected by the huge storm.
  Tory MP Tom Tugendhat and Conservative peer Lord Naseby have criticised the Government’s actions, saying the response was “too slow”.
  Sir Mi
  
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• Tony Blair says UK could restrict immigration without Brexit

  10-09-2017 12:25
  Former PM publishes paper outlining options such as making EU migrants show they have offer of a job before entering UKTony Blair declared a “renewed sense of mission” to fight against Brexit on Sunday as he insisted Britain could impose tough new restrictions on immigration without leaving the EU.In the first of a series of interventions he plans this autumn as Brexit talks intensify, the former prime minister’s Institute for Global Change has published a paper setting out a s
  
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• UK's Hurricane Irma response was not late – Fallon

  10-09-2017 11:38 via bbc.co.uk
  Defence Secretary Michael Fallon says the response was "as good as anybody else's".
  
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• Michael Fallon defends UK's response to Hurricane Irma

  10-09-2017 11:34
  Defence secretary says Britain’s efforts to help its Caribbean territories have been as good as any other country’sMichael Fallon has defended the British response to Hurricane Irma against criticism that it has been less effective than that of other countries with territories in the Caribbean such as France and the Netherlands.Responding to sharp attacks on the government’s handling of the crisis, the defence secretary said on BBC1’s The Andrew Marr Show that the UK resp
  
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• Tony Blair defends call for EU migration curbs

  10-09-2017 11:25 via bbc.co.uk
  Critics accuse the former prime minister of a belated "epiphany" on the need for controls.
  
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• Tony Blair Calls For New Immigration Rules In Bid To Stop Brexit

  10-09-2017 11:25
  
  Tony Blair has said that tough new immigration rules would allow Britain to exert greater control at its borders without leaving the European Union.
  The former Labour prime minister also said that Brexit is a “distraction” from the real problems facing the UK as he called for parliament to provide solutions to “actual problems” facing communities. 
  Blair’s comments come after he put his name to a report calling for tighter domestic controls and the negotiation
  
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• Chances Of An Accidental War With North Korea Is 'Extremely Great', Warns Sir Michael Fallon

  10-09-2017 11:09
  
  The chances of war with North Korea because of a “miscalculation” or “accident” are “extremely great”, the Defence Secretary warned today.
  Sir Michael Fallon told BBC’s The Andrew Marr Show that the rogue state is clearly increasing their programme for developing weapons, although it does not yet have a weapon which could reach the UK.
  A week ago North Korea conducted its sixth – and largest – nuclear test, with experts believing the state e
  
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• Chance Of An Accidental War With North Korea Is 'Extremely Great', Warns Sir Michael Fallon

  10-09-2017 11:09
  
  The chances of war with North Korea because of a “miscalculation” or “accident” are “extremely great”, the Defence Secretary warned today.
  Sir Michael Fallon told BBC’s The Andrew Marr Show that the rogue state is clearly increasing their programme for developing weapons, although it does not yet have a weapon which could reach the UK.
  A week ago North Korea conducted its sixth – and largest – nuclear test, with experts believing the state e
  
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• Jacob Rees-Mogg's Views On Abortion And Same Sex Marriage 'Wouldn't Be So Acceptable Coming From A Muslim'

  10-09-2017 09:57
  
  Jacob Rees-Mogg’s “extremist” views on abortion and gay marriage are more palatable because he is a white, Catholic politician who is part of the establishment, experts have said.
  The backbench Tory MP, who is tipped as a potential leadership contender, made the controversial comments on Wednesday, sparking a backlash on social media.
  He defended his views on Friday, saying: “The Catholic Church’s teachings are authoritative. To take a life after a rape is not the a
  
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• Why workers’ right don’t matter in Silicon Valley | John Naughton

  10-09-2017 08:00
  The leaders of the world’s biggest technology companies are liberal on social issues and trade, but anti-union and anti-regulationOne of the stranger sights of June was watching the titans of Silicon Valley meekly obeying Trump’s summons to a tech summit (dubbed his American Technology Council) at the White House. Those attending included Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Safra Catz of Oracle, Tim Cook of Apple, John Doerr of Kleiner Perkins (the venture-capital firm), Brian Krzanich of Intel, T
  
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• When it comes to Brexit scoops, the reaction to the story is also a story

  10-09-2017 08:00
  It’s certainly news when a major immigration proposal is leaked. But also keep an eye on who briefs who once it’s publishedThe difficulty with great political stories can often be deciding what the real story is. Take the Guardian’s authentic scoop over the government’s embryo immigration policy. Here, last week, were plans in writing, rather than Commons blah. Here was British business up in arms.But there was, of course, a second, and perhaps even more telling, story to
  
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• There is no Brexit ‘punishment’, apart from the self-inflicted one

  10-09-2017 08:00
  Michel Barnier did not say we needed to be taught a lesson. We are not being blackmailed or fined. We are simply unwilling to accept our obligations‘Sometimes you get the impression that the British are talking to themselves,” said the outgoing French ambassador, Sylvie Bermann, on the Today programme last week.There have been suggestions that the French are rubbing their hands and doing their best to lure as much business as they can from the City of London to Paris. Continue readin
  
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• Britain ‘not doing enough’ to help its Caribbean territories

  10-09-2017 04:42
  MPs warn ministers that response has been found wanting as overseas subjects remain in grave needBritish police officers will be deployed as part of the UK’s efforts to support the Caribbean islands left devastated by Hurricane Irma, the government announced yesterday as it scrambled to deflect criticisms over its handling of the disaster.The UK’s response to Irma, which devastated the British overseas territories of the British Virgin Islands and Anguilla, has been found wanting, ac
  
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• Like fading powers of the past, Britain shows signs of being in terminal decline | Will Hutton

  10-09-2017 01:05
  The case for reform is plain to see but it won’t happen because too many at the top have stakes in the old orderIt was a glorious September morning. But I was in a ruminative mood, walking towards Westminster’s Church House for the unveiling of another damning account of Britain’s economy. It was the launch of the interim report from the Institute of Public Policy’s (IPPR) economic commission. Time for Change is one of the best I’ve read and yet I was wondering how
  
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• If only all we middle-aged Brits had Philip Hammond’s millions | Barbara Ellen

  10-09-2017 01:05
  Does the chancellor actually believe that everyone his age has paid off their mortgage and got a fabulous pension?Philip Hammond was not, as accused, “boasting” that he doesn’t have the same money troubles as the younger generation. Even if these comments did unfortunately coincide with a nurses’ march about low pay, Hammond, worth a reputed eight million, wasn’t “boasting”, but being unusually open about not having the slightest clue about the difficult
  
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• David Davis's power grab – cartoon

  10-09-2017 01:05
  David Simonds on the so-called Henry VIII powers that will rewrite EU laws without parliamentary debate Continue reading...
  
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• Changing nappies is not the best guide to being a good father | Vanessa Thorpe

  10-09-2017 01:05
  Harriet Harman called out Jacob Rees-Mogg as a ‘deadbeat dad’ but she was wrong to see nappy skills as a true marker of fatherhoodWho out there wants to be a “deadbeat dad”? No takers? If you put aside the fact this insult is pleasantly alliterative and rather quaint, it is clearly not a good thing to be called.When Harriet Harman used the term to urge the fathers of Britain to change more nappies last week she put the fear of god into them by pointing at Jacob Rees-Mogg,
  
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• Politicians hand over power at their peril | David Kynaston

  10-09-2017 01:04
  The Bank of England under Mark Carney has a good reputation but does it have too much leeway?On the morning of 24 June 2016, as Britain woke up to endless replays of David Dimbleby announcing: “We’re out”, all eyes were on Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England. Suddenly, he seemed like the only grown-up left in the room as he calmly explained the measures he was taking to ensure economic stability in the potentially turbulent days ahead.Last month, 200 chief financial of
  
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• Minority governments are easy to wound, but much harder to kill | Andrew Rawnsley

  10-09-2017 01:04
  It won’t be pretty and it may be paralysed. But this weak administration could cling on for longer than many expectAt the first prime minister’s questions since the summer break, Jeremy Corbyn twitted Theresa May about being forced to bin much of the Tory manifesto because the electorate took her majority away. The Labour leader mocked the dilution of her plans to reform corporate behaviour, but I assume that he is more happy that there are not going to be new grammar schools. Nor wi
  
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• British arms sales to repressive regimes soar to £5bn since election

  10-09-2017 01:04
  Campaigners claim that government is putting ‘exports to despots ahead of human rights’UK arms manufacturers have exported almost £5bn worth of weapons to countries that are judged to have repressive regimes in the 22 months since the Conservative party won the last election.The huge rise is largely down to a rise in orders from Saudi Arabia, but many other countries with controversial human rights records – including Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Venezuela and China – ha
  
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• Humans will always control killer drones, says ministry of defence

  10-09-2017 01:03
  New doctrine issued in response to expert letter citing fears over artificial intelligence in remote weaponsBritain’s military will commit to ensuring that drones and other remote weaponry are always under human control, as part of a new doctrine designed to calm concerns about the development of killer robots.The move by the Ministry of Defence comes after more than 100 leading robotics experts wrote to the United Nations urging the organisation to step in to halt the development of artif
  
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• Theresa May 'looking to ease student debt burden'

  10-09-2017 00:32
  Prime minister is trying to find ways to appeal to younger voters who backed Labour during the general electionTheresa May is reportedly looking at plans to ease the burden of student debt in a bid to win back young voters who appeared to back Labour in their droves at the general election. Related: Maintenance debt weighs on my mind as a poorer studentContinue reading...
  
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