Political news

• Shopworkers' Union Backs Corbyn-Ally In Scotland As Rival Gets Mired In Living Wage Row

  20-09-2017 23:34
  
  The shopworkers’ union Usdaw has backed Jeremy Corbyn-ally Richard Leonard for Scottish Labour leader after his opponent became embroiled in a wage row, HuffPost UK can reveal. 
  Leonard’s rival for the top job, Anas Sarwar, admitted his family’s cash-and-carry firm did not pay its workers the “voluntary” real living wage of £8.45-an-hour, though he stressed he was personally supportive of the rate being mandatory. 
  The union would ordinarily opt for
  
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• Theresa May to fly Boris Johnson back early from US to discuss Brexit

  20-09-2017 23:30
  Foreign secretary changes schedule to accompany PM back to UK for cabinet meeting, amid speculation over his futureTheresa May will seek to heal the rifts in her cabinet and bind them into backing her over Brexit on Thursday, after Boris Johnson changed his plans in order to fly back to London at her side.The prime minister is convening a cabinet meeting on Thursday where she is expected to meet little open resistance to the thrust of a closely-guarded speech she will deliver in Florence on Frid
  
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• UK threatens to withhold United Nations funding

  20-09-2017 23:29 via bbc.co.uk
  Up to 30% of the core funding will depend on the organisation being more efficient and transparent.
  
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• Theresa's speech to the UN proved that it's not only a British audience the Maybot can lose | John Crace

  20-09-2017 22:35
  Gentle threats over UN funding, a warning to North Korea and a swipe at Syria – PM goes through motions as delegates doze offUnder normal circumstances, a speech to the United Nations general assembly would be a big deal. But with the week that Theresa May has just had, involving trying to deal with Boris – not to mention this Friday’s Florence EU gig – talking to the UN was a bit of light R&R.A chance to let off a bit of steam and say what was on her mind, safe in th
  
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• Theresa May Delivered Her Big United Nations Speech To A Pretty Empty Room

  20-09-2017 22:33
  
  It was Theresa May’s big moment at the United Nations, and she used her keynote speech in New York to have a dig at Donald Trump and warn the multi-nation body it needed to reform.
  Punchy stuff, but delivered to just a handful of diplomats. Awkward.
  In her address, May appeared to rebuke the US President for threatening to pull out of the Paris Climate accord, singling out the deal as an example of how countries can work together to promote “fairness, justice and human rights”.
  
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• Britain to invest £65m in US neutrino project

  20-09-2017 21:56
  First substantial investment in American science will help unravel subatomic mysteries
  
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• EU fears Theresa May 'will not be able to uphold Brexit pledges'

  20-09-2017 21:48
  Exclusive: Keir Starmer says Brussels has ‘high expectations’ for PM’s speech but she must face down Boris Johnson’s ‘fantasy Brexit’ and adopt a real positionBrussels fears an enfeebled Theresa May will not be able to stand by any pledges she makes in this week’s major speech on Brexit but has dismissed Boris Johnson’s intervention as an irrelevance, according to the shadow Brexit secretary.Following meetings with all the major players in the EU&r
  
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• Theresa May warns tech firms over terror content

  20-09-2017 21:04 via bbc.co.uk
  The prime minister says internet companies should remove extremist content within two hours.
  
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• Nigel Farage Ridiculed For Posting Video Of Himself Delivering Complaint Letter To BBC

  20-09-2017 21:02
  
  Nigel Farage has threatened to stop paying his licence fee in a long-standing protest against the BBC broadcasting an interview that claimed he had “blood on his hands” following the death of a Polish man in the wake of Brexit.
  The former Ukip leader posted a video on social media showing him walking up to Broadcasting House to deliver his letter of complaint to the corporation’s director general Lord Tony Hall.Delivering my letter of complaint to the BBC Director-General
  
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• Theresa May criticises states that flout global treaties

  20-09-2017 21:00
  British PM’s rebuke over Paris accord could irritate White House
  
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• How long can Labour’s uneasy truce over Brexit last?

  20-09-2017 19:39
  It is not just the Conservatives: the opposition party also has sharp divisions over Europe
  
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• George Osborne takes on seventh job with Stanford University role

  20-09-2017 18:35
  Former chancellor adds another role to his post-cabinet career, becoming visiting fellow at university in CaliforniaGeorge Osborne has taken on a seventh professional role, and his third at a university, it has been announced.
  Osborne, the editor of the London Evening Standard, among many other jobs, has been named a visiting fellow at Stanford University in California, the university said in a statement on Wednesday. Continue reading...
  
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• Boris, Brexit and the Labour rulebook – Politics Weekly podcast

  20-09-2017 18:34
  Anushka Asthana is joined by Boris Johnson’s biographer Sonia Purnell to discuss the foreign secretary’s 4,000-word intervention on Brexit this week. Plus: the Labour chair Ian Lavery on changes to the party’s leadership election rules. On the panel: Gaby Hinsliff, Paul Mason and Richard AngellSubscribe and review: iTunes, Soundcloud, Audioboom, Mixcloud, Acast & Stitcher and join the discussion on Facebook, Twitter and EmailBoris Johnson’s 4,000-word Brexit intervent
  
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• UK 'must find Irish border solution' - Guy Verhofstadt

  20-09-2017 18:14 via bbc.co.uk
  The European Parliament's Brexit negotiator says the UK must find way a way to avoid new controls.
  
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• Labour Should Reclaim The England Flag And Woo 'Patriotic' Voters, Former Cabinet Minister Urges

  20-09-2017 18:11
  
  Labour must stop associating the England flag with far-right extremism if it is to have a chance of winning back Brexit and Tory voters needed to win an election, a former Cabinet minister has warned.
  John Denham, co-founder of a new English Labour Network group, said that too often the St George’s flag was linked by some in the party to the English Defence League and hate crime.
  Ahead of the launch of the campaign at the annual conference in Brighton, Denham told HuffPost UK that Labour
  
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• The Bank of England should take the long view on interest rates

  20-09-2017 18:07
  Short-term economic fluctuations must not throw monetary policy off course
  
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• BoE needs to take long view on interest rate rises

  20-09-2017 18:07
  Monetary policy should not be thrown off course by short-term economic fluctuations
  
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• No more Nigels

  20-09-2017 18:06 via bbc.co.uk
  Film stars and other celebrities may influence choice of baby names but it seems politicians don't.
  
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• Should drugs be legalised? Some answers to Prince William’s ‘massive question’

  20-09-2017 17:06
  On a visit to a rehab centre this week, the Duke of Cambridge posed the question to former addicts. Here, we ask five people – a mix of experts, academics, writers and policy-makers – for their opinionThe Duke of Cambridge reignited debate surrounding the legalisation of drugs following his recent visit to the Spitalfields Crypt Trust in east London, where he had “a very massive question” for former addicts. Should drugs be legal – what were their opinions?Responses
  
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• Chris Grayling Slammed For Allowing HS2 Staff To 'Waste' £5m On Train Fares

  20-09-2017 16:21
  
  Transport secretary Chris Grayling has been slammed for allowing HS2 staff to “waste” more than £5 million on train fares in four years.
  Labour told the minister to “get a grip” after a response to a written question Parliamentary revealed £5,257,350 was spent between June 2013 and July 2017.
  The government’s flagship high-speed rail scheme, which will better connect London to the Midlands, Leeds and Manchester, employs about 1,900 staff.
  Labour sa
  
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• Brexit: The UK's future in the European Economic Area (EEA)

  20-09-2017 16:14 via bbc.co.uk
  The UK is part of the European Economic Area, signed by countries within the single market, but will it leave the EEA?
  
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• Party conferences 2017

  20-09-2017 16:12 via bbc.co.uk
  The latest on the major political parties in the autumn conference season.
  
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• Two Britain First leaders charged with religiously aggravated harassment

  20-09-2017 16:02
  Paul Golding and Jayda Fransen to appear in court over leaflets distributed in Thanet and Canterbury, police sayTwo leading members of the far-right group Britain First have been charged with causing religiously aggravated harassment, police have said.Paul Golding, 35, and Jayda Fransen, 31, were bailed to appear before Medway magistrates court next month. Golding has been charged with three counts, Fransen with four, Kent police said on Wednesday. Continue reading...
  
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• Ukip could fall apart after latest leadership election, say insiders

  20-09-2017 15:26
  Warning comes as Ukip members vote to pick fourth leader in a year from seven-strong list of little-known candidatesUkip faces the real prospect of a split or even gradual extinction following a leadership election that could result in the party lurching towards a hard-right brand of populism, senior insiders have warned.Just two years since Nigel Farage led the party to third place by vote share in the 2015 election, top figures say Ukip risks becoming a defunct political force as it struggles
  
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• Brexit bill battle switches from principle to price

  20-09-2017 15:03
  May is preparing to make an opening offer but will it be enough?
  
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• Boris’s vision of buccaneering Britain

  20-09-2017 14:44
  Foreign secretary and his supporters favour a clean, quick break from the EU
  
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• Rise in female workers suppressing wages, says OECD

  20-09-2017 14:38 via bbc.co.uk
  A rise in the number of lower-paid female workers has held back global wage growth, the OECD says.
  
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• Nigel Farage ridiculed over video of him delivering letter to BBC

  20-09-2017 14:34
  Social media users mocked Farage’s post that shows him striding up to the broadcaster’s London HQNigel Farage has been roundly derided on social media for posting a video of himself marching up to the doors of the BBC’s Broadcasting House in London brandishing a letter of complaint.Delivering my letter of complaint to the BBC Director-General yesterday. pic.twitter.com/TerWF4Z2dO Continue reading...
  
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• Warning over food import delays if no Brexit deal

  20-09-2017 13:09 via bbc.co.uk
  If the UK cannot negotiate a trade deal, food prices could rise to pay for extra border checks, the BBC is told.
  
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• Millicent Fawcett statue gets Parliament Square go ahead

  20-09-2017 11:36 via bbc.co.uk
  A statue of Millicent Fawcett will be unveiled to coincide with the centenary of women winning the right to vote.
  
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• Donald Trump's UN Speech And How The World Reacted

  20-09-2017 11:34
  
  Donald Trump gave his first ever address to the United Nations General Assembly yesterday and seemed pretty pleased with himself for threatening to “to totally destroy North Korea”.A great and important day at the United Nations.Met with leaders of many nations who agree with much (or all) of what I stated in my speech!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 20, 2017
  Considering his 41-minute monologue was variously described as “warmongering” and “cont
  
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• Chris Grayling's probation reforms have been a disaster for the service

  20-09-2017 11:01
  
  Warnings about the scale and pace of the reforms have come to fruition
  
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• Islamic State: UK military could honour drone pilots

  20-09-2017 10:38 via bbc.co.uk
  The defence secretary announces a review of how personnel are recognised for their contribution.
  
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• Brexit lies and how to fight them

  20-09-2017 10:33
  
  A six-point guide to spotting and addressing Brexit lies
  
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• Government backs tighter rules on takeover of UK companies

  20-09-2017 10:32
  Takeover Panel says bidders should say what will happen to head office and R&D in wake of row over Kraft’s Unilever bidBidders for UK stock market listed companies must lay out more detailed plans for their target, including location of its head office and research and development investment, under proposed rules put forward by the takeover watchdog and backed by the government.The new rules, which were published in a consultation document on Tuesday, also give companies, unions and ot
  
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• The Waugh Zone Wednesday September 20, 2017

  20-09-2017 10:11
  
  1. RUNNING ON THE SPOT
  With latest Mexican earthquake, North Korea threat and Rohingya refugee crisis, you’d think there was enough to keep our Foreign Secretary focused on his day job.  But as Boris Johnson proved yesterday, it’s Brexit (and his own leadership ambitions, cynics add) that often preoccupies him most.
  The spectacle of Johnson being cornered by journalists, outside a New York lift after a sweaty jog, and asked if he would or wouldn’t quit this weekend, may ha
  
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• Brexit splits: what divides May, Johnson, Davis and Hammond on the big issues

  20-09-2017 09:42
  As cabinet disagreements over Brexit policy are played out via long essays in newspapers, we examine what the government’s four most senior members believe on each substantive issue Continue reading...
  
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• The Australian government responds to Rohingya crisis – with emojis and cash! | First Dog on the Moon

  20-09-2017 09:35
  What? Genocide? Really? How awful, is there a GoFundMe or a Facebook page?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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• 'The Need For This Couldn't Be Greater' Ex-Immigration Minister Launches New Migration Museum Exhibition

  20-09-2017 08:01
  
  It is photo just like thousands of others taken by people as they soar into the air onboard a passenger plane.
  The buildings merging into a mass of man-made construction while the sea shimmers with reflected sunlight, as clouds begin to obscure what is being left behind.
  But this photo is not a snap taken by a holiday maker on their way home, or a business traveler wishing to capture a final image of city stayed in for too brief a time, it is a photograph documenting the moment of escape; the m
  
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• Mental Health Patients Are Victims Of Postcode Lottery, Says Labour MP

  20-09-2017 01:01
  
  Mental health patients are victims of a postcode lottery and are being failed by the government, according to a Labour MP.
  New figures unearthed by Luciana Berger revealed half of Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), which set NHS trust budgets, plan to cut their spending on mental health for the next financial year. 
  Despite Theresa May’s pledge to give mental health parity of esteem with physical health, Berger claims she has had to submit Freedom of Information requests on health
  
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• Ambulance Staff Took 80,000 Sick Days Due To Stress In A Single Year

  20-09-2017 01:01
  
  Frazzled paramedics and ambulance staff had to take 80,000 days off sick due to stress last year, their union has revealed.
  GMB says a total of 2,468 workers - or one in eight - had to miss shifts and says Theresa May’s government will be to blame if patients lose their lives.
  It comes after an investigation by the Press Association revealed the over-stretched NHS is spending millions of pounds on hiring private ambulances due to a lack of resources.
  Kevin Brandstatter, GMB National
  
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