Political news

• Big Ben will chime again in November but may be inaccurate

  18-10-2017 23:34 via bbc.co.uk
  The chimes will be the first since August when they stopped to allow repairs to the Elizabeth Tower.
  
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• Theresa May Tells EU Citizens They Can Stay After Brexit But Won't Guarantee Other Rights

  18-10-2017 23:31
  
  EU citizens living in the UK will be allowed to stay regardless of any Brexit deal, Theresa May will confirm today as she appeals directly to those worried about their future.
  On the eve of a crunch summit in Brussels, May will email the 100,000 EU citizens who have asked to be kept informed of developments, promising they can remain in the UK after March 2019.
  She will also publish the letter on her Facebook page, vowing not to use EU nationals as “bargaining chips” in the Bre
  
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• May claims Brexit citizens’ rights deal within ‘touching distance’

  18-10-2017 23:31
  Simple process promised to allow EU nationals in Britain to gain ‘settled status’
  
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• Theresa May Says Being Transgender Is 'Not An Illness' And Promises To Change The Law

  18-10-2017 23:27
  
  Theresa May has said being transgender is “not an illness” as she promised to “demedicalise” the process of changing gender.
  Speaking at the Pink News awards in Westminster on Wednesday evening, the prime minister said her government was also “determined to eradicate homophobic and transphobic bullying”.
  In her speech, May said: “I am proud to be a member of one of the most diverse Parliaments in the world and of the long way we have come as a coun
  
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• Stabbed, Spat At, Punched: Emergency Workers Tell HuffPost UK Why New Law Is Needed To Protect Them

  18-10-2017 23:11
  
  A new law to protect emergency workers from assaults has won the personal backing of Theresa May after police, paramedics and nurses lobbied MPs for tougher sentences.
  A private members’ bill to specifically target abuse against 999 staff has secured the Prime Minister’s approval, HuffPost UK has been told.
  The Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Bill, tabled by Labour MP Chris Bryant, is due to have its Second Reading in the Commons on Friday and is now expected to get enough
  
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• Young Tory MPs Form New Group To Stop Party Veterans Drowning Them Out

  18-10-2017 22:59
  
  Young Tory MPs are joining forces to oust veteran colleagues from the airwaves and have a greater say on policy in a bid win back the votes of under 40s.
  The group – spearheaded by Mansfield MP Ben Bradley – is made up of Conservative MPs under 35 years old who are determined to reconnect with younger voters.
  Bradley is planning to sign up all 20 Tory MPs who are under 35, and with such a slim Government majority the group could hold sway on a number of key votes.
  As well as acting
  
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• Theresa May refuses to pause universal credit rollout

  18-10-2017 21:36
  Tories suffer notional defeat after Labour whips enable vote on opposition motion
  
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• Freeze on tax thresholds on Budget agenda

  18-10-2017 20:59
  Document snapped outside No 11 indicates possible hold on raising brackets
  
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• Universal Credit Vote: Symbolic Victory For Labour As Tory MPs Abstain En Masse

  18-10-2017 20:21
  
  Theresa May has suffered fresh embarrassment over the expansion of the Government’s flagship benefit reform after Labour secured a symbolic victory in Parliament to underline the deep unease over the policy.
  After Tory MPs abstained en masse from the vote, a Labour motion calling for the Government to pause the roll-out of Universal Credit passed with no opposition.
  Some 299 MPs voted for the motion and none against it, with Labour MPs shouted “resign” as the result was read ou
  
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• Former UK climate change minister to chair Russian conglomerate

  18-10-2017 20:21
  Appointment at EN+ raises fresh concerns about UK parliament’s revolving-door culture
  
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• BAE Systems takes below-deck role on UK’s Type 31 frigate

  18-10-2017 19:38
  First time in three decades its yards have not led warship construction
  
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• Theresa May refuses to pause universal credit roll-out

  18-10-2017 19:13
  UK prime minister defends policy as government slashes charges for claimants’ helpline
  
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• Girl Orphaned By Grenfell Inferno Could Get 'Insulting' £300k Compensation

  18-10-2017 18:53
  
  A six-year-old girl who lost her parents and siblings in the Grenfell Tower fire could get as little as £300,000, lawyers have said. 
  The estimate came to light as part of a comprehensive new analysis by Reuters, which suggests the total compensation bill for Grenfell survivors could reach just £4m. 
  Families involved in the tragic blaze - which claimed the lives of an estimated 80 people - have branded UK compensation law “insulting”. 
  The six-year-old gir
  
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• Damages For Grenfell Fire Victims May Total Just 'Insulting' £4 Million

  18-10-2017 18:53
  
  The bill for compensating families of those who died in the Grenfell Tower fire may be as low as £4 million, according to several lawyers and a Reuters analysis of how damages laws apply in England.
  Families involved in the tragic blaze - which claimed the lives of an estimated 80 people - have branded UK compensation law “insulting”.
  While similar disasters in the United States have led to massive payouts, any compensation for Grenfell would be far lower because English laws
  
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• London council cracks down on ‘super-sized’ properties

  18-10-2017 18:26
  Westminster rejects application for £180m Knightsbridge renovation by Classic FM owner
  
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• Thornberry: Labour will not accept a no-deal Brexit

  18-10-2017 18:24 via bbc.co.uk
  Emily Thornberry says Labour will pressure the government to get a deal on Brexit.
  
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• UKIP's Neil Hamilton named as leader in Wales by Henry Bolton

  18-10-2017 17:27 via bbc.co.uk
  Henry Bolton appoints his team of spokespeople after winning UKIP's latest leadership contest.
  
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• Unemployment drops by 52,000 but pay squeeze continues

  18-10-2017 17:11 via bbc.co.uk
  The number of people out of work falls by 52,000, but earnings fail to keep pace with inflation.
  
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• Labour's Neil Coyle Asks If Universal Credit Roll-Out Has Been As Bad As Reviews Of Iain Duncan Smith's Book

  18-10-2017 17:09
  
  Former work and pensions secretary and Universal Credit cheerleader Iain Duncan Smith ended up on the receiving end of some sharp comments in the Commons.
  Labour MP Neil Coyle delivered a significant burn to the ex-Tory leader during a debate on the roll-out of the embattled benefits programme on Wednesday.
  Referring to a book penned by IDS in 2003, titled The Devil’s Tune, Coyle said: “He seems to be accepting that universal support hasn’t worked for everyone, so does he agree
  
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• PMQs: Ian Blackford asks May about breakfast and Brexit

  18-10-2017 16:19 via bbc.co.uk
  The SNPs Westminster leader is the latest politician to tangle up Brexit and breakfast.
  
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• PMQs: Tory Douglas Ross shown 'red card' by SNP's John McNally

  18-10-2017 16:11 via bbc.co.uk
  An MP asks the PM about one of her backbench MPs who is "doing his other job" in Barcelona.
  
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• PMQs: Speaker Bercow intervenes and intervenes

  18-10-2017 16:05 via bbc.co.uk
  Was the length of PMQs partially down to the number of times the Speaker put MPs in their place?
  
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• PMQs: Corbyn and May on universal credit rollout

  18-10-2017 16:01 via bbc.co.uk
  The PM appears to give a surprising initial answer when asked to pause the national rollout of universal credit.
  
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• 'Rogue' property agents to be targeted, ministers say

  18-10-2017 15:55 via bbc.co.uk
  Plans to protect leaseholders and tenants in England from unfair costs are set out by ministers.
  
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• Government rejects call for vaginal mesh implants ban

  18-10-2017 15:27 via bbc.co.uk
  A group of women who say the implants wrecked their lives had called for a public inquiry and a ban.
  
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• PMQS: Theresa May 'Breaking Her Promises' On Fire Safety After Grenfell

  18-10-2017 15:16
  
  Theresa May was accused of breaking her post-Grenfell tragedy promises on fire safety funding today as a council has been left to foot an £8.4million bill to fit sprinklers in tower blocks.
  In the aftermath of the inferno which left at least 80 people dead, the Prime Minister said the Government was “supporting local authorities” and is “making sure that the resources are there to make sure what is needed to keep people safe is being done.”
  During Prime Minister&rsq
  
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• The case for a longer Brexit transition

  18-10-2017 15:05
  Two years is too short a time to deal with customs matters
  
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• Theresa May defends football referee Tory MP Douglas Ross

  18-10-2017 14:39 via bbc.co.uk
  Douglas Ross is to miss a debate on universal credit because he is officiating in a Champions League match.
  
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• Tory MP Shown Red Card At PMQs After Skipping Universal Credit Debate To Referee Football Match

  18-10-2017 14:37
  
  Tory MP Douglas Ross was shown a red card at PMQs after it emerged he is skipping a vote on Universal Credit to referee a Champions League match in Barcelona. 
  Holding aloft the card, John McNally, SNP MP Falkirk, asked the Prime Minister what message Ross had sent fleeing Westminster “today of all days”, when opposition MPs were bidding to delay the hated welfare reforms. 
  A No.10 spokesman defended Ross’s absence, however, suggesting that the Government would not st
  
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• PMQs: Theresa May Heckled As She Falters Under Universal Credit Grilling From Jeremy Corbyn

  18-10-2017 14:36
  
  Theresa May was heckled by Labour MPs after she gave a faltering answer to a grilling by Jeremy Corbyn on Universal Credit.
  Corbyn asked the PM whether she would cede to calls to pause the roll-out of the benefits overhaul after the government announced it would make a telephone helpline for claimants which currently costs up to 55p per minute free to call. 
  He said: ”Last the I asked the prime minister to scrap the unfair charges on the Universal Credit helpline.  Today she&rsqu
  
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• EU Withdrawal Bill 'won't be debated this month'

  18-10-2017 14:08 via bbc.co.uk
  Labour says the "further delay" shows "the government's Brexit strategy is in paralysis".
  
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• Victory for Corbyn as Gauke announces universal credit helpline to be made free - Politics live

  18-10-2017 13:23 via theguardian.com
  Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn at PMQs and MPs debating the Labour motion saying the universal credit rollout should be suspendedUniversal credit helpline charges to be scrappedAmelia Gentleman on the problems with universal credit 12.20pm BSTCorbyn says George Osborne said earlier this week Gordon Brown did not cause the subprime crisis. Broadly speaking, the Labour government did what as necessary, Osborne said
  
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• Universal credit helpline charges to be scrapped

  18-10-2017 13:10 via theguardian.com
  Work and pensions secretary says all DWP helplines will become free, one week after Jeremy Corbyn asked Theresa May about issueThe universal credit helpline will be made free, along with other Department for Work and Pensions numbers, after Jeremy Corbyn challenged the government last week over the 55p-a-minute charge for people using mobile phones to get help. David Gauke, the work and pensions secretary, told MPs all charges would be abolished by the end of the year at the start of a grilling
  
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• Why Donald Trump's Claim Of Stock Market Success Is Meaningless And Could Backfire Spectacularly

  18-10-2017 13:09
  
  Short of passing any major legislation during his first nine months in office, Donald Trump has been forced to look elsewhere in order to provide evidence of success during his Presidency.
  One area he consistently returns to is the US Stock Market.The U.S. has gained more than 5.2 trillion dollars in Stock Market Value since Election Day! Also, record business enthusiasm.— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 16, 2017It would be really nice if the Fake News Media would report the vir
  
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• Donald Trump Blasted After 'Sarcastically' Telling Army Widow 'He Knew What He Signed Up For'

  18-10-2017 13:08
  
  A US Congresswoman has claimed Donald Trump told the widow of a soldier killed during an ambush in Niger earlier this month that he “must’ve known what he signed up for”.
  Frederica Wilson was in the car with Myeshia Johnson when the President called to offer his condolences over the death of Army Sergeant La David Johnson.
  “Sarcastically he said: ‘But you know he must have known what he signed up for,’” Wilson recounted to NBC6.
  “How coul
  
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• Camila Batmanghelidjh: Cameron government broke funding promise

  18-10-2017 13:03 via bbc.co.uk
  Founder of failed charity says David Cameron's government broke a promise to give it state funding.
  
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• Ivanka Trump Claims She Had A ‘Punk Phase,’ But Folks Online Aren’t Buying It

  18-10-2017 12:48
  
  Ivanka Trump claims she went through a punk phase in the 1990s, but folks online don’t believe it.
  President Donald Trump’s daughter and adviser made the comment in her mother Ivana Trump’s new book, “Raising Trump.” Ivanka also said she was “really into Nirvana” and cried “inconsolably” for 24 hours when the group’s frontman, Kurt Cobain, died in 1994.
  In an excerpt obtained by New York Magazine, Ivanka r
  
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• Brexit strategy 'in paralysis' as EU withdrawal bill delayed

  18-10-2017 12:44 via theguardian.com
  Labour claims bill will be delayed for second time because of huge number of hostile amendmentsThe government has been forced to delay bringing the EU withdrawal bill back to the House of Commons for a second time, as it struggles to respond to hundreds of hostile amendments, Labour sources expect. Related: Victory for Corbyn as Gauke announces universal credit helpline to be made free - Politics liveContinue reading...
  
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• David Gauke Refuses To Guarantee There Will Be No 'Foodbank Surge' As Universal Credit Is Rolled Out

  18-10-2017 12:43
  
  Works and pensions secretary David Gauke said he cannot promise there will not be a “foodbank surge” as a result of benefit claimants being left out of pocket as Universal Credit is rolled out. 
  The minister told MPs he was “loath to guarantee anything” after DWP select committee chairman Frank Field said foodbanks in his constituency were stockpiling 15 tonnes of extra provisions to prepare for the implementation of the controversial policy.
  He told Field, whos
  
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• Northern Ireland power-sharing talks have stalled, says Brokenshire

  18-10-2017 12:39 via theguardian.com
  Northern Ireland secretary says outlook for a deal between the DUP and Sinn Féin is not positive as November deadline loomsThe chances of Northern Ireland’s political parties restoring a power-sharing agreement are “not positive” and talks in the last few days have stalled, the Northern Ireland secretary, James Brokenshire, has said.He told a parliamentary select committee that a breakthrough between the two main parties, the Democratic Unionist party and Sinn Féi
  
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• Tuition fee rise to £9,295 in Wales is scrapped

  18-10-2017 12:36 via bbc.co.uk
  The education secretary also confirms the income level at which loans have to be repaid will rise.
  
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• Tory MP missing universal credit debate for Barcelona game is ‘doing good job’

  18-10-2017 11:53 via theguardian.com
  • Douglas Ross misses Commons vote to officiate at Champions League game
  • Previously criticised as MSP for missing meeting for Real Madrid matchA Conservative MP who will miss a Commons vote on welfare policy on Wednesday night to officiate at a Champions League match is “doing a good job” in his role as both a parliamentarian and a referee, one of his colleagues has insisted.Douglas Ross, the Tory MP for Moray since June, will not take part in a debate and vote on univers
  
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• Tim Loughton: The MP who loves being in hot water

  18-10-2017 11:04 via bbc.co.uk
  Tim Loughton says a long soak is the best way "to relax and compose my thoughts for the day ahead".
  
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• Public bodies are on the frontline of the Brexit countdown: here's how they feel | Jill Rutter

  18-10-2017 10:42 via theguardian.com
  Some UK public body chief executives say Brexit will be a way to gain new powers. But a higher workload is the biggest burden to overcomeAttention finally turned last week to some of the big implementation challenges of Brexit, including whether the Home Office can recruit the staff needed to process more than 3m applications from EU residents for “settled status”, and when the UK government should start spending to cope with the potential exit from the customs union. Related: Home O
  
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• The Waugh Zone Wednesday October 18, 2017

  18-10-2017 10:26
  
  1. CREDITS ROLL
  It’s PMQs day again and Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn will have lots of topics to choose from. The PM may cite fresh unemployment stats (due at 9.30am), if they continue to show the British ‘jobs miracle’. She may also want to attack Corbyn over Young Labour’s recent vote to quit Nato. For his part, Cabinet splits over Brexit or tuition fees may tempt Corbyn. With the PM expected to use the session to confirm backing for a new bill (from Labour’s Ch
  
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• Theresa May is right on Brexit: no deal is better than a bad deal – for the EU | Jens Geier

  18-10-2017 10:18 via theguardian.com
  In the European parliament, we have made it clear that negotiations depend on credibility. The prime minister must start putting the national interest firstBritish politicians and diplomats have been famed down the ages for their negotiating skills. From Robert Walpole to Harold Wilson, British leaders were renowned for knowing how to broker a deal. Today, however, the British government is starting to trash that reputation as it moves from being a deal maker to a deal breaker.As a German I migh
  
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• Amazon and eBay profiting from online VAT fraud, says watchdog

  18-10-2017 09:12 via theguardian.com
  Parliamentary report criticises ‘too cautious’ HMRC and says loss to public purse likely to far exceed £1.5bn estimateAmazon and eBay are profiting from online VAT fraud while HM Revenue and Customs is failing to use its powers to launch a crackdown, according to parliament’s spending watchdog. Related: Amazon and eBay sellers' VAT fraud rife despite crackdownContinue reading...
  
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• Domino's Issues Dire Brexit Warning As It Calls For More British Staff

  18-10-2017 09:10
  
  Domino’s Pizza has called for more young British staff amid fears that Brexit could starve the company of overseas workers.
  The ‘Two-For-Tuesday’ giant wants more team leadership training in the national curriculum to ensure it has a steady stream of home-grown managers once Britain exits the EU.
  Domino’s, which employs around 35,000 staff across 1,000 stores, said around 50% of its managers in metropolitan areas come from outside the UK.
  The move comes as the firm
  
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• Tory MP Douglas Ross Skipping Universal Credit Vote To Be Linesman At Champions League Game

  18-10-2017 08:56
  
  A Tory MP is set to miss a debate and vote on welfare policy because he will be running the line at a Champions League football tie in Barcelona.
  Douglas Ross has been listed as assistant referee at the Camp Nou stadium for Wednesday night’s match against Greek side Olympiacos.
  The game kicks off at 7.45pm UK time – 45 minutes after MPs at Westminster are expected to vote on a Labour motion calling for the controversial rollout of universal credit to be postponed.Know what Gauls me.
  
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• Brexit: cabinet split as Amber Rudd calls no-deal ‘unthinkable’

  18-10-2017 08:31 via theguardian.com
  Rudd dismisses idea of not getting agreement at least covering security, after David Davis says no deal remains an optionA cabinet split has emerged over whether the UK could walk away from the EU without any Brexit deal, as Amber Rudd said it was “unthinkable” but David Davis insisted it must remain an option.
  Rudd, the home secretary, appeared to undermine the government’s position that “no deal is better than a bad deal” on Tuesday as she dismissed the idea of no
  
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