Political news

• Hammond admits EU has ‘legitimate’ concerns about City regulation

  13-09-2017 23:39
  Theresa May to make Brexit speech in Florence, Italy, on September 22
  
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• The EEA option: Saving Britain from hard Brexit (Part 2)

  13-09-2017 22:31
  
  The second part of your guide to a soft Brexit
  
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• May suffers humiliation as DUP backs Labour on NHS pay and tuition fees

  13-09-2017 21:39 via theguardian.com
  Party propping up May’s minority government breaks with Tories for first time since election deal, voting to increase NHS workers’ pay and scrap tuition fee riseTheresa May has suffered a major embarrassment in the House of Commons after the Democratic Unionist party backed Labour motions in favour of increasing NHS pay and against a rise in tuition fees.Labour’s motions passed on Wednesday without being pushed to a vote after it became clear the government had no majority to o
  
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• Conservatives feel heat after DUP backs Labour on NHS pay

  13-09-2017 20:48
  Government finances under pressure as tuition fees rise is also dropped
  
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• Amazon and eBay turning blind eye to VAT evasion, say MPs

  13-09-2017 20:10 via theguardian.com
  Online marketplaces face criticism from public accounts committee over foreign sellers misusing their platformsAmazon and eBay have been accused by MPs of profiting from VAT evasion at the expense of taxpayers and UK businesses.Executives representing the ecommerce groups were told that their firms were “turning a blind eye” as organised criminals in the UK and China handle undervalued or misclassified goods for the British market.Continue reading...
  
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• Grenfell Tower Fire Inquiry Mustn't Let Guilty Parties Evade Responsibility, Key Figures Say

  13-09-2017 19:58
  
  The inquiry into the Grenfell disaster must hold individuals to account and not hide behind broad phrases like “lessons have been learned”, key figures searching for answers have said.
  The controversial judge-led inquiry opens on Thursday, three months after the 24-storey building was gutted by the blaze that killed around 80 people.
  As the survivors and families of the dead demand answers, the inquiry has struggled to convince them it will provide any.
  The judge Sir Martin Moore-Bic
  
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• 'I'm a migrant in a foreign country' – Europeans protest at Westminster

  13-09-2017 19:44 via theguardian.com
  EU citizens living in the UK gathered in Westminster to campaign for their post-Brexit rights. Here are some of their voicesEU citizens from across the UK and Britons settled in Europe gathered to lobby Westminster on Wednesday in an effort to inject some renewed energy into the campaign to secure their rights post-Brexit.Nurses, doctors, scientists, social workers, council workers and artists lined up to tell of their fears and explain why they could not trust Theresa May or David Davis’s
  
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• Firefighters Reject 2% Pay Offer Amid Fears Over Job Losses

  13-09-2017 18:55
  
  Firefighters have rejected a 2% pay offer as it included a “whole host of strings”, the Fire Brigades Union said as it warned a rise funded through cuts is “unacceptable”.The Government on Tuesday lifted the seven-year public sector pay freeze, caving to pressure from voters, unions and Tory MPs.
  Ministers had already offered a 2% pay increase this year to firefighters, which was seen as the first breach of the pay cap.
  But the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) on Wednesday said
  
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• MPs Want Six-Month Parental Leave To Get More Ordinary People Into Politics

  13-09-2017 18:40
  
  MPs want a proper parental leave system to be introduced in Parliament in a bid to get more “ordinary” people involved in politics.
  The introduction of a six-months’ maternity and paternity leave won cross-party support at a Westminster Hall debate on Wednesday, tabled by Tory MP Mims Davies to examine the barriers facing women entering Parliament.
  The member for Eastleigh said the idea of juggling family commitments with an intense work schedule put many “normal”
  
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• MPs Agree To Give All NHS Staff 'A Fair Pay Rise' After Tory-DUP Alliance Falters

  13-09-2017 17:58
  
  Theresa May has suffered fresh humiliation over public sector pay after the House of Commons unanimously agreed to give NHS workers “a fair pay rise”.
  The Prime Minister was accused of “running scared” from the issue as the Government refused to oppose a Labour motion demanding an end to the 1% cap on wages in the health service.
  May herself was absent and decided not to put the issue to a vote after the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) had signalled it would back the Opp
  
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• Labour MP Says George Osborne Should Apologise For Theresa May 'Freezer' Comments

  13-09-2017 17:09
  
  A Labour MP has said George Osborne should apologise for using “misogynistic language” after saying he wanted Theresa May “chopped up in bags in my freezer”.
  The former chancellor, who now edits the Evening Standard, reportedly made the remarks to staff at the London newspaper.
  Osborne, who has commissioned scathing articles and columns about the prime minister since taking on the editorship, has not commented on the claims revealed by Esquire magazine.
  During a debate o
  
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• George Osborne Thinks Austerity Had Nothing To Do With The Grenfell Tower Fire

  13-09-2017 16:27
  
  George Osborne thinks the austerity he imposed on the UK had nothing to do with the Grenfell Tower fire, it has emerged. 
  The David Cameron-era Chancellor turned London Evening Standard editor said “instant experts” have “rushed to blame” the blaze on cutbacks by the local council, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC). 
  In an interview with Esquire, it was also claimed Osborne also told allies he would not stop attacking Theresa May until she is &l
  
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• Andy Burnham: I'm Back In The Real World

  13-09-2017 16:08
  
  Andy Burnham, the newly-elected Manchester Mayor twice thwarted in his bid to become Labour leader, is not a man filled with regret. 
  “There has not been one minute of one day where I have thought: I wish I was back in Westminster,” he says, getting comfortable in his Oxford Street office. 
  “I’m up at about 7am and I’m back home at 7pm, so they are long days but they are good days.
  “And tonight, I can get home and go and play five-a-side. I know that
  
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• PMQs: Theresa May Just Revealed That Michael Fabricant MP Is Going On Channel 4's Celebrity First Dates

  13-09-2017 16:04
  
  PMQs is usually full of twists and turns, but Prime Minister Theresa May breaking a showbiz exclusive in the midst of political debate is a move no one saw coming.
  May announced to the Commons on Wednesday that Conservative MP Michael Fabricant would be appearing on the Channel 4 dating show First Dates, much to the amusement of the chamber and those watching at home.I've just entered the room with my TV on when Theresa May mentioned Celebrity First Dates... #PMQs #bbcdp pic.twitter.com/hMblDj04
  
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• Britain’s new approach to EU defence

  13-09-2017 15:07
  UK’s latest paper setting out post-Brexit policy is far more constructive in tone
  
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• Union differences

  13-09-2017 15:04 via bbc.co.uk
  A behind-the-scenes look at the TUC conference where talk of illegal strike action loomed large.
  
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• Police Union Accuses Theresa May Of Telling A 'Downright Lie' About Pay Rise

  13-09-2017 14:58
  
  Theresa May has been accused of telling a “downright lie” in the House of Commons after she said police officers have received a 32% real terms pay increase.
  Yesterday the government announced it would be scrapping the 1% cap on public sector pay that has been in place since 2010.
  The Cabinet also agreed a 1.7% pay hike for prison officers and improvements totalling 2% in police pay for 2017/18.
  Speaking during prime minister’s questions today, May said: “A calculation s
  
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• PMQs: Daniel Zeichner Says Brexit Labour Shortage Has 'Dealt Blow To Great British Pub'

  13-09-2017 14:48
  
  A Labour MP claims pubs in his constituency are struggling to serve food because of a staff shortage caused by Brexit.
  Daniel Zeichner said half of the cleaning staff at schools in Cambridge have left and many pubs are under-resourced because EU migrant workers are returning home. 
  He told Prime Minister’s Questions: “Cambridge parents tell me that when young people returned to schools and colleges last week, in some cases they found that almost half of the cooks and cleaners ha
  
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• George Osborne criticised for gruesome remarks against Theresa May

  13-09-2017 14:23 via theguardian.com
  Esquire reports former chancellor told Evening Standard staff he would not rest until May was ‘chopped up in bags’ in freezerGeorge Osborne told colleagues at the Evening Standard that he would not rest until Theresa May was “chopped up in bags in my freezer”, according to a profile of the former chancellor.Osborne, now editor of the Evening Standard, is said by Esquire magazine to have mentioned the phrase to more than one person at the London newspaper. Continue reading
  
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• Overseas territories warn of ‘catastrophic’ post-Brexit funding loss

  13-09-2017 13:00
  Falkland Islands raises concerns about impact on relationship with Argentina
  
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• There Are Hardly Any Women On Some Select Committees And MPs Say It's Unacceptable

  13-09-2017 12:50
  
  There are currently no women on Parliament’s science and technology select committee and less than 25% on many others.
  Female MPs have a majority on just three committees - women and equalities, education  and health - and make up less than a quarter of the membership of Brexit, transport, defence and foreign affairs committees. 
  Both science and technology and Welsh affairs currently have no female representation at all - but some women are expected to be drafted in after MPs s
  
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• Nick Clegg And Miriam González Durántez Reveal Teenage Son's Battle With Cancer

  13-09-2017 11:59
  
  Nick Clegg and Miriam González Durántez have spoken in public for the first time about their teenage son’s battle with cancer.
  The former deputy prime minister and his wife told ITV’s Lorraine programme this morning about how their 14-year-old son Antonio was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in September 2016.
  González Durántez and Clegg took Antonio to the doctor after finding a “very small lump” on his neck.
  After the diagnosis, Clegg
  
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• The Waugh Zone Wednesday September 13, 2017

  13-09-2017 10:15
  
  1. THAW’S HAMMER
  It’s PMQs day again and both Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn are not short of ammo to lock and load as they prep for the despatch box. May will be hoping the jobless stats at 9.30am keep up their incredible run on low unemployment. She may also be itching to raise Corbyn’s, ahem, varying statements on Brexit. For his part, the Labour leader could raise fire chiefs’ calls for sprinklers in tower blocks, problem gambling, the NAO’s damning homeless
  
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• Homelessness is not inevitable. It's a political choice | Melanie Onn

  13-09-2017 08:13 via theguardian.com
  The UK government doesn’t appear to be interested in measuring or preventing homelessness. We need urgent changeMelanie Onn, MP for Great Grimsby, is a shadow housing ministerMore and more people are starting to notice rising levels of homelessness, as they see rough sleepers on the streets of towns and cities across the country. The reality is that these visible signs of homelessness are just the tip of the iceberg. The new report from the independent National Audit Office (NAO) finds tha
  
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• Brexit's buildings: how the negotiating halls could affect Britain's fate

  13-09-2017 08:12 via theguardian.com
  If a broken air conditioner could worsen a 1987 quarrel between Margaret Thatcher and the EU, what does that mean for the two very different Brussels buildings – the ‘Starfish’ and the ‘Space Egg’ – where Brexit will be hatched?It was summer: Brussels was in the grip of a heatwave and Britain was isolated in Europe. The year was 1987 and Margaret Thatcher was in her prime, recalls Lord John Kerr, a former UK ambassador to the European Union.Fresh from her 1987
  
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• Grenfell campaigner calls for return of local assets as reparation

  13-09-2017 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Edward Daffarn says council should restore services of library, college and stables as atonement for years of neglect
  The man who said it would take a “catastrophic” fire in Grenfell Tower before council officials would act on safety concerns has demanded that community assets are returned to residents as reparation for the disaster.
  Edward Daffarn, the key author of the Grenfell Action Group blog which detailed the management failures and fire safety problems at the block for five y
  
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• Andy Burnham: Labour Ignores Northern Brexit Voters At Its Peril

  13-09-2017 07:01
  
  Labour risks losing touch with northern Brexit voters if the party fails to crackdown on freedom of movement, Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has warned. 
  In an exclusive interview with HuffPost UK, the former Health Secretary sounded the alarm over the Labour’s new stance on Brexit, which leaves the door open to permanent single market (SM) membership. 
  Burnham denies he lobbied Corbyn over the move and said it risks an angry backlash from northern leave voters, who may feel igno
  
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• Free movement: a circle that cannot be squared in the Brexit debate

  13-09-2017 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Tony Blair is among those hoping a deal on immigration can keep Britain in the single market, but EU leaders are unconvincedTony Blair is only the latest politician to attempt to square the Brexit circle: rewriting the European Union’s basic rules to allow Britain to stay in the single market and regain control of immigration.The debate that the former UK prime minister reopened is most acute for the Labour party. When Keir Starmer set out the party’s new Brexit policy, he called for
  
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• Brexit rots our rights. How can Theresa May ignore the stench?| Rafael Behr

  13-09-2017 07:00 via theguardian.com
  It’s not only EU nationals in the UK who fear Brexit may unravel their identity. But the prime minister is obliviousPrime ministers are rarely judged on the power of their noses. The way they speak and listen attracts comment. They are praised if they have a common touch or strong vision. Smell is routinely underrated among the political senses, and yet I am increasingly convinced that deficiency in this department is Theresa May’s greatest weakness. Related: Europeans need not apply
  
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• Bookmakers’ revenues face £150m hit from betting machine curbs

  13-09-2017 05:05
  Maximum £100 stake could be cut to as little as £2 for contentious fixed-odds games
  
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• Brexit: Ex-minister Lord Bridges urges 'honesty' over EU exit

  13-09-2017 02:25 via bbc.co.uk
  Lord Bridges emphasises the "complexity and scale" of the task and the "need to compromise".
  
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• Homelessness rise 'likely to have been driven by welfare reforms'

  13-09-2017 02:16 via bbc.co.uk
  The government has a "light touch approach" to tackling the issue, the National Audit Office says.
  
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• Tory changes to Commons committees are 'power grab', say critics

  13-09-2017 01:23 via theguardian.com
  Opposition MPs accuse government of ‘constitutional outrage’ after successful motion on legislation on securing majorities on crucial committeesMPs have supported controversial changes to parliamentary committees amid warnings the government’s proposals were a fresh “power grab” after the election.Related: Tory-DUP £1bn payment needs parliament's approval after Gina Miller challengeContinue reading...
  
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• Damning Report Reveals Government Has No Plan To Tackle Skyrocketing Homelessness

  13-09-2017 01:01
  
   A damning report has revealed the government has no real plan to tackle homelessness, despite huge hikes in the number of people sleeping rough.
  The National Audit Office says the Conservatives ‘light touch’ approach to solving the problem has failed and there are no proposals to properly assess the impact of welfare cuts on people losing their homes. 
  Since 2010, the number of people living on the streets has more than doubled and the number of households living in tempo
  
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• Sky-Fox deal faces further hurdles

  13-09-2017 00:14 via bbc.co.uk
  The Culture Secretary is now "minded" to refer Fox's bid to regulators on grounds of broadcasting standards.
  
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