Political news

• Labour promises to cap interest payments on credit cards

  24-09-2017 23:20 via ft.com
  McDonnell says borrowers will not pay back more than original debt in interest charges
  
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• Labour Promises To Cap Credit Card Fees For Three Million People 'Trapped' By Debt

  24-09-2017 23:01
  
  The Labour Party has pledged to cap credit card fees for three million people in dire financial straits to ensure no-one pays back more than twice what they borrowed.
  In his keynote speech at the Labour Party conference, Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell will urge the Government to introduce a cap on interest payments on credit cards similar to the ceiling placed on payday loans.
  Lambasting “Tory economic failure” that has created a “perfect storm” of falling wages and ri
  
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• Corbyn Supporter Set To Win Scottish Labour Leadership After Thousands Of Unite Members Sign Up

  24-09-2017 21:35
  
  The leftwing candidate for Scottish Labour leader is on course for a decisive victory after the Unite union signed up thousands of members to take part in the election.
  MSP Richard Leonard, a keen supporter of Jeremy Corbyn, looked set to beat rival Anas Sarwar following a hugely successful snap campaign to bring trade unionists on board.
  HuffPost UK can reveal that Len McCluskey’s union signed up 2,700 members to the “political levy” – a payment needed to be eligible to
  
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• Labour Members Boo And Shout 'Shame' Amid Row Over Brexit Vote

  24-09-2017 21:01
  
  Labour MPs have torn into the decision not to hold a meaningful Brexit debate at this year’s party conference, with one of Jeremy Corbyn’s frontbenchers branding it “strange”.
  Party members did not back voting on the issue at its conference in Brighton, with the Corbyn-supporting movement Momentum asking its supporters not to include Brexit in a list of “priority” motions.
  When news of the decision filtered through to delegates gathered at a fringe rally meet
  
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• Northern Ireland farmers call for five-year transition after Brexit

  24-09-2017 20:36 via ft.com
  Livestock and Meat Commission finds WTO rules would have heavy impact on trade
  
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• Corbyn camp blocks conference Brexit vote

  24-09-2017 20:34 via ft.com
  Leader accused of making party ‘laughing stock’ despite claims of more democracy
  
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• London accused of ‘bogus’ Uber ruling

  24-09-2017 20:22 via ft.com
  Licence cancellation dubbed politically motivated
  
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• MPs challenge rollout of UK’s universal credit benefits system

  24-09-2017 20:17 via ft.com
  Warning that long delays to payments are leaving poorest families in lurch
  
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• Sadiq Khan: Government Should Be Giving EU Citizens Cast-Iron Guarantee Things Won't Change Post-Brexit

  24-09-2017 20:05
  
  The government should be thanking Britain’s EU nationals and giving them a cast-iron guarantee that their lives will not change after Brexit, according to Sadiq Khan.
  Speaking at a fringe event at the Labour Party Conference in Brighton, the Mayor of London said anyone in favour of leaving the EU had to recognise that it was in their interests to make the UK’s exit from Europe work for both the capital and the rest of the country.
  He told delegates: “London was the one region
  
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• Imagination sale set to test UK government over China deals

  24-09-2017 19:47 via ft.com
  Canyon Bridge purchase of Hertfordshire-based group comes at key time for ministers
  
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• Brexit talks resume after Theresa May’s ‘constructive’ shift

  24-09-2017 19:04 via ft.com
  Barnier and Davis teams face task of fleshing out measures from Florence speech
  
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• Brexit’s complexities are succour for Jeremy Corbyn

  24-09-2017 18:51 via ft.com
  Voters are unlikely to blame themselves if leaving the EU is less than splendid
  
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• Battle to lead the Labour party in Scotland tacks to the left

  24-09-2017 18:38 via ft.com
  Centrist candidate Anas Sarwar faces threat from former trade union organiser
  
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• 'Stitch-Up' Claim As Brexit Vote Kept Off Labour Conference Agenda

  24-09-2017 18:35
  
  Jeremy Corbyn has avoided a damaging row over Brexit after a last-minute move by left-wing supporters kept a vote on the issue off the Labour conference agenda.
  “Contemporary” motions on the UK quitting the EU lost out in the party’s “priorities” ballot of party members and trade union affiliates on Sunday.
  Instead, conference will discuss and vote on on eight other issues: housing, social care, the NHS, rail services, workers’ rights, investment an
  
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• 'Stitch-Up' Claim As Brexit Kept Off Labour Conference Agenda

  24-09-2017 18:35
  
  Jeremy Corbyn has avoided a damaging row over Brexit after a last-minute move by left-wing supporters kept the issue off the Labour conference agenda.
  A bid to discuss “contemporary” motions on the UK quitting the EU was defeated in the party’s “priorities” ballot party members and trade union affiliates.
  Instead, conference will vote on eight other issues: housing, social care, the NHS, rail services, workers’ rights, investment and growth, public s
  
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• German Elections: Far-Right AfD Set To Gain First Seats With Third Place Finish

  24-09-2017 18:12
  
  The radical right-wing party AfD looks set to enter the German parliament for the first time after an exit poll signalled it will finish in third place in the country’s  national election.
  While Angela Merkel looks set to claim a fourth term as German Chancellor, Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) is on course for more than 13 per cent of the vote - a share that guarantees seats in the German Parliament.German elections: Full exit poll predictionshttps://t.co/nYZsyERryL pic.t
  
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• Labour MP Reveals The Surefire Way To Wind Up Boris Johnson

  24-09-2017 18:04
  
  His on-air tussle with Boris Johnson was one of the most bizarre clips of the election campaign – and Andrew Gwynne has now revealed just how to get under the Foreign Secretary’s skin.
  Labour’s election guru memorably clashed with Johnson in the spin rooms of two leaders debate – with the Tory Brexiteer almost pushing Gwynne into a TV camera during as the two scuffled.
  Speaking to HuffPost UK’s Waugh Zone Live fringe at Labour conference, Gwynne let the audience in
  
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• Momentum Founder Jon Lansman Tells Labour MPs Jeremy Corbyn Won Their Seats, Not Them

  24-09-2017 17:54
  
  Labour MPs owe their election victories to Jeremy Corbyn and party members not their own personal campaigning, the chairman of Momentum has said.
  Jon Lansman told a meeting on the fringes of the Labour Party conference in Brighton on Sunday afternoon that MPs did not have a special “personal” mandate from voters.
  “The massively increased in majorities of people in the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP), some of whom have been critical of Jeremy Corbyn, was not down to the person
  
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• Labour MPs Complain Of Being 'Banned' From Party Conference Hall Floor

  24-09-2017 16:44
  
  Labour MPs and peers have reacted angrily after being ‘banned’ from the floor of the party’s annual conference.
  Several Parliamentarians told HuffPost UK of their surprise at being ordered to sit in the balcony at the Brighton Centre.
  A party spokesman insisted that the move stemmed from a sheer lack of space after a record number of delegates were accredited for the conference.
  More than 1,200 local party members are in Brighton – nearly three times the usual number - a
  
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• Brexit Rows Could Tear Labour In Two, Warns Party's Election Chief Andrew Gwynne

  24-09-2017 16:12
  
  Labour’s election chief warned rows over Brexit could tear the party in two today as he called for unity ahead of the next election.
  Andrew Gywnne, who helped drive the campaign which saw Labour pick up 30 seats in June, urged activists and MPs to thrash out disagreements in a “comradely fashion” as the party’s annual conference in Brighton kicked off.
  The Shadow Communities and Local Government Secretary told HuffPost UK’s Waugh Zone live fringe event the party sh
  
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• UK and US report trade surplus with each other

  24-09-2017 12:58 via ft.com
  Statisticians attempt to solve mystery of differing figures
  
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• David Davis Dismisses Claim Boris Johnson Changed UK's Brexit Policy

  24-09-2017 12:08
  
  David Davis has shot down suggestions Boris Johnson’s controversial Brexit article has had any influence on Government policy.
  The Foreign Secretary published a 4,000 word piece a week before Theresa May’s landmark speech in Florence on the UK’s negotiation goals.
  The move was criticised by numerous Tories, with Home Secretary Amber Rudd accusing Johnson “backseat driving” the Brexit process.
  According to reports, Johnson believes his article shifted May into backi
  
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• Jeremy Corbyn: I Will 'Be With' Workers On Illegal Strikes

  24-09-2017 11:21
  
  "I will be with those workers demanding a decent pay-rise" - @jeremycorbyn tells @MarrShow https://t.co/foLmOyFo92 pic.twitter.com/vccpzjCupU— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) September 24, 2017
  Jeremy Corbyn has vowed to stand with workers who undertake illegal strike action over pay.
  Speaking on The Andrew Marr Show this morning, the Labour leader was repeatedly pressed on whether he backed the view of his long-term supporter Unite chief Len McCluskey that workers should flout the law in order
  
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• Labour conference 2017: Corbyn suggests staying in EU single market could stop Labour implementing its policies - Politics live

  24-09-2017 11:15
  Rolling coverage of the first day of the Labour conference in Brighton 10.15am BSTThis is what Jeremy Corbyn said in his interview about how staying in the EU single market could stop him implementing Labour policies. (See 9.41am.) When it was put to him that 66% of Labour members want to stay in the single market, he said he would listen to them. He also said he wanted tariff-free access to the single market. But he want on:I would also say that we need to look very carefully at the terms of an
  
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• Labour faces backlash over Brexit divisions

  24-09-2017 11:11 via ft.com
  Transport union accuses Corbyn of smothering debate over immigration
  
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• 'Fix' Claims As Labour Conference Urged By Momentum Not To Vote On Anti-Brexit Motions

  24-09-2017 10:03
  
  Jeremy Corbyn supporters have launched an eleventh-hour bid to prevent the Labour conference from toughening the party’s line against Brexit.
  In what appeared to be an attempt to avoid embarrassment to the Labour leader, the leftwing grassroots movement Momentum has asked its members not to include the issue in a list of motions at the gathering in Brighton.
  Pro-EU Labour members swiftly accused the group of a ‘fix’ that ran counter to Corbyn’s own demands to allow the r
  
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• Boris Johnson forced May’s hand on EU, claim Tories as cabinet truce unravels

  24-09-2017 09:17
  Foreign secretary ‘stopped prime minister backing the Norway option for Brexit’The fragile cabinet truce over Europe was already fracturing on Saturday night as allies of Boris Johnson declared that the foreign secretary had forced the prime minister to alter her crucial Brexit speech.In claims that infuriated Downing Street, supporters of Johnson were claiming that he had successfully stopped Theresa May backing the so-called “Norway option”, under which Britain would co
  
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• Vast Majority Of Brits Want The UK To Stop Selling Arms To Saudi Arabia - Poll

  24-09-2017 09:01
  
  The vast majority of British voters think the UK should stop selling arms to Saudi Arabia, an exclusive poll for HuffPost UK has revealed. 
  The BMG survey found 61% backed Jeremy Corbyn’s calls for Prime Minister Theresa May to cease all UK arms sales to the Arab state, arguing that the weapons were being used in the Yemen civil war.
  Just 16% thought the arms deals should continue, while 22% said they did not know.
  Labour leader Corbyn decided to ban Saudi Arabia from the party’
  
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• May’s ‘renaissance’ speech paints over cracks in Tories’ Brexit position

  24-09-2017 08:00
  A trip to Florence failed to provide clarity on the government’s position on leaving the EUTheresa May has a history of hedging her bets when it comes to Brexit – and her speech in Florence on Friday was no exception. Even before she took to the stage in an annexe of the Santa Maria Novella church, it was clear what her objective was. Her chancellor Philip Hammond, foreign secretary Boris Johnson, and Brexit secretary David Davis had been flown to Italy to applaud her every word. The
  
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• May’s Brexit speech stirs discontent among the rebels of Rochester

  24-09-2017 08:00
  The Kent constituency that gave Ukip its second MP in 2014 reacted to the prime minister’s speech in Florence with suspicion and derisionPolitical upheavals have erupted at such regular intervals in recent times that it is easy to forget that, just three years ago, the picturesque Kent town of Rochester provided the latest proof that disruptive forces were coursing through British politics. It was here, in November 2014, that Ukip secured its second MP and caused panic in the Tory ranks.Su
  
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• Brexit isn’t a new Black Wednesday. It’s far darker than that

  24-09-2017 08:00
  This autumn marks the anniversaries of two notable economic humiliations. But they are as nothing to what might happen if we leave the EUThis is quite an anniversary year for great British economic disasters. Last weekend saw the 25th anniversary of the ignominious exit of the pound from the European exchange rate mechanism – “the first Brexit”, and, I still hope, the only one.Then this November will see the 50th anniversary of the dramatic 14% devaluation of the pound –
  
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• Sadiq Khan Should Be The Next Labour Leader, Poll Of UK Voters Finds

  24-09-2017 07:16
  
  Sadiq Khan should be leader of the Labour Party if Jeremy Corbyn decided to step down, a poll of British voters has found. 
  The BMG poll, commissioned by HuffPost UK, also found a staggering 57% thought no high-profile Labour figure could fill Corbyn’s shoes. 
  Of the candidates picked out, most (12%) of the 1,500 sample thought the Mayor of London was the best candidate for the job, while the second most popular figure was Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham. 
  Just 3% thought the
  
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• Brexit: Jeremy Corbyn pressed to commit to single market

  24-09-2017 05:49 via bbc.co.uk
  More than 40 senior Labour figures, including 30 MPs, sign an open letter published in the Observer.
  
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• Theresa May, teetering on the edge – cartoon

  24-09-2017 01:05
  Chris Riddell on the prime minister’s Brexit speech in Florence Continue reading...
  
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• The shadows dancing on the walls at Labour’s Brighton celebration | Andrew Rawnsley

  24-09-2017 01:05
  A record number of delegates are on the south coast to cheer Jeremy Corbyn but party unity remains brittleNothing can seem so long ago as the very recent past. It is just two years since Jeremy Corbyn made his debut appearance as leader at his party’s conference. After a career spent on the margins, he was thrust centre stage. Where once his personal conference highlight would be addressing a fringe meeting of the Cuba Solidarity Campaign, he was enthroned in the leader’s seat and st
  
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• The Observer view on Theresa May’s Florence speech |Observer editorial

  24-09-2017 01:05
  The prime minister still seems less concerned about Britain’s position outside than Europe than about holding her party togetherLast Friday, the prime minister stepped into a church filled with stunning frescoes in a city regarded by many as the cultural capital of Europe. But, it was to prove, only to deliver a speech to a roomful of British journalists, in front of a bland backdrop that would have been at home in an anonymous conference room in any corner of Britain. It is a fitting meta
  
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• Overstretched hospitals face winter flu crisis, doctors warn

  24-09-2017 01:05
  A&E departments risk ‘grinding to a halt’ as number of patients waiting more than 12 hours for treatment soarsEmergency departments risk “grinding to a halt” this winter, say medical leaders. They warn that the number of patients facing long waits for treatment is likely to hit record levels.Dr Taj Hassan, president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said staff were dangerously overstretched, as NHS figures showed the number of people waiting more than 12 hou
  
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• Nurses who failed English test aimed at curbing immigration set for a reprieve

  24-09-2017 01:05
  Hurdle that included correct use of tenses and essay structure led to dramatic fall in skilled staff registeringLanguage rules introduced to curb immigration are set to be relaxed after they prevented native English-speaking nurses from working in the NHS.The NHS has a shortage of 40,000 nurses and recruiters and NHS employers have been lobbying for looser language requirements so that thousands of nurses from countries such as Australia, India and the Philippines can work in Britain. Continue r
  
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• Ministers told to cut wait for new benefit amid evidence it is causing debt

  24-09-2017 01:05
  Report raised ‘very serious concerns’ with government over delay before first paymentMinisters are facing growing calls to slash the time welfare claimants are forced to wait before being entitled to the government’s flagship new benefit, having been warned some time ago by their own advisers that the delay is “beyond reasonable justification”.David Gauke, the work and pensions secretary, has been under pressure to slow down the roll-out of universal credit, which c
  
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• Glasgow is in denial over monument to Great Famine | Kevin McKenna

  24-09-2017 01:05
  Why is the city dithering over a suitable memorial to the events that brought in the first Irish immigrants?More than 150 years after starving Irish people first sought sanctuary in Glasgow, it seems the city’s acceptance of them remains a qualified one. The bulk of those who settled here had fled the horrors of the Great Famine (An Gorta Mór) in Ireland between 1845 and 1852. During this period, a million of Ireland’s poorest people starved to death and a million more were fo
  
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• Are you a dotard or a Centrist Dad? Oh do keep up|Alex Clark

  24-09-2017 01:05
  The lexicon of abuse evolves with alarming speed but old favourites can still make a comebackLife is hard if you’re a pedant. When Kim Jong-un taunted Donald Trump by pronouncing that “a frightened dog barks louder”, I paused for longer than one might in the face of an approaching apocalypse to wonder whether it shouldn’t be “barks more loudly”.But that didn’t sound quite right. Then again, a verb needs an adverb, right? And on and on, while everyone els
  
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• Why does the BBC keep creating these political monsters? | Catherine Bennett

  24-09-2017 01:04
  After Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage, the broadcaster is now giving Jacob Rees-Mogg the oxygen of publicityThere’s nothing wrong with holding up bits of paper: Gillian Wearing’s design for a new statue of Millicent Fawcett shows the suffragist with a placard, maybe to placate people who’d wanted the livelier Pankhurst. For living people, however, in the age of Photoshop, the gesture has its risks, being an invitation for online detractors to write satirical things on the piece
  
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• Mrs May’s falsehoods and fantasies are designed only to keep her party together| Will Hutton

  24-09-2017 01:04
  For all her talk in Florence of a ‘creative departure’, she is ignoring wider political and economic truthsRemainers are too reasonable. One emollient speech from our beleaguered prime minister making concessions to reality that have been obviously necessary ever since the 2016 referendum is depicted as a breakthrough. A “cliff edge” has been averted, trills a leading business lobby group. This overture deserves a fair hearing: prepare for a new partnership with Europe, o
  
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• Who Are The AfD? It Could Be The First Radical Right Wing Party In Germany's Bundestag Since 1945

  24-09-2017 01:01
  
  Alternativ für Deutschland (AfD) politicians sing the German anthem at the party’s events. For a country whose national identity is still tied to its shameful past, this is intended to break a taboo on nationalism.
  The AfD aims to reach out to those fed up with that taboo.
  In just four years, it has gone from a eurosceptic party, focussing on rolling back the Eurozone, to a fiercely anti-Islam one whose leader said, as hundreds of thousands of refugees arrived
  
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