Political news

• Wetherspoons Gets Withering Sunday Times Review And It's Made People Furious

  29-10-2017 23:23
  It’s arguably Britain’s favourite pub chain. But a newly-opened branch of Wetherspoons has prompted a brutal review by a Sunday Times restaurant critic that has opened up a fierce debate about food snobbery and class.Food writer Marina O’Loughlin admitted she used the pub behemoth as a  “shorthand for all that’s bad about ‘British’ food and chain catering” despite never having eaten at one. So, in tandem with a self-confessed ’
  
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• 'Strictly Come Dancing' Results: Simon Rimer Leaves The Competition After Halloween Week

  29-10-2017 21:00
  The inevitable finally happened during Sunday’s (29 October) ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ results show, when Simon Rimmer left the competition.The Dance Off regular once again found himself in the bottom two and perhaps surprisingly, the ‘Sunday Brunch’ star and his partner Karen Clifton were up against Mollie King and AJ Pritchard.Once both couples had danced again, the judges all decided to save The Saturdays star, with Craig Revel Horwood, Darcey Bussell and Bruno Ton
  
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• Prisoners On Day Release 'Will Be Allowed To Return Home To Vote' - Reports

  29-10-2017 20:45
  Theresa May is to risk incurring the wrath of Conservative MPs by granting voting rights to some prisoners, it has been reported.Prisoners sentenced to less than a year in jail and who are let out on day release will allowed to return home to vote after Justice Secretary David Lidington decided to end the existing total ban, according to The Sunday Times.The move follows a 12-year wrangle between the UK and the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg which has repeatedly ruled the blanket b
  
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• Prisoners On Day Release 'Will Be Allowed To Return Home To Vote'

  29-10-2017 20:45
  Theresa May is to risk incurring the wrath of Conservative MPs by granting voting rights to some prisoners, it has been reported.Prisoners sentenced to less than a year in jail and who are let out on day release will allowed to return home to vote after Justice Secretary David Lidington decided to end the existing total ban, according to The Sunday Times.The move follows a 12-year wrangle between the UK and the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg which has repeatedly ruled the blanket b
  
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• I Will Not Be Shamed Into Covering Up My Psoriasis

  29-10-2017 20:43
  Like half of the UK population, I have suffered from skin conditions throughout my life.
  My eczema would present in patches across my body and as a result I suffered at the hands of bullies being called names from 'leper' to 'lizard' and people wouldn't sit near me for fear of catching it. It had a huge impact on my self-esteem and the resulting anxiety only served to make my symptoms worse.
  I remember one day when I was at Thorpe Park and a child pointed at me and said loudly to his mum "what a
  
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• Mark Garnier investigated by Cabinet Office over sex toy errand

  29-10-2017 19:09 via bbc.co.uk
  Mark Garnier faces a Cabinet Office investigation as the PM vows action on MPs' behaviour.
  
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• Theresa May Bemoans 'Toothless' Process To Discipline MPs After Sexual Harassment Allegations

  29-10-2017 19:08
  Theresa May has called for a new system to complain about the behaviour of MPs after allegations of a sexual harassment culture in Parliament emerged in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein abuse scandal.The Prime Minister has written to Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, to bemoan that the current disciplinary procedure does not “have the required teeth”. She points out that contractually an MP does not have to follow the judgement passed down by the Independent Parliame
  
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• May urges reform of procedures to tackle Commons abuse

  29-10-2017 19:01 via bbc.co.uk
  Theresa May calls for tougher procedures to deal with MPs accused of harassment.
  
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• Cabinet Office to investigate after minister admits asking assistant to buy sex toys

  29-10-2017 18:55 via theguardian.com
  PM asks Speaker to strengthen disciplinary procedures as sexual harassment as Tory MP Mark Garnier admits assistant’s claimsThe Cabinet Office is to investigate whether Mark Garnier broke the ministerial code after he admitted asking his former assistant to buy sex toys.Garnier, a minister in the Department for International Trade under Liam Fox, was the most senior of several politicians named in reports on Sunday, as allegations of sexual harassment swirl around Westminster after the Har
  
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• Pressure mounts on May to tackle sexual harassment

  29-10-2017 18:30 via ft.com
  Trade minister Mark Garnier the latest to face allegations over behaviour as scandal widens
  
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• UK's pre-summit push to 'divide and rule EU27' impeded Brexit talks

  29-10-2017 17:54 via theguardian.com
  Exclusive Senior sources say plan to boost PM with better outcome shelved over concerns about rewarding divisive tacticsThe British government’s attempt to lobby individual EU leaders in the run-up to the recent crunch EU summit, where member states were to judge the progress of the negotiations, actively damaged Theresa May’s hopes of a better outcome, the Guardian has learned.A secret plan had been drawn up under which the EU leaders would have made the surprise and highly symbolic
  
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• The Brexit debate is too important to be conducted in the dark

  29-10-2017 16:38 via ft.com
  The Treasury should release its impact assessments on the economy
  
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• Police Record Average Of More Than 150 Internet-Fuelled Crimes Daily

  29-10-2017 16:22
  More than 150 internet-fuelled crimes are recorded by police every day on average as a mounting number of investigations centre on cyber space.Official figures show forces in England and Wales registered at least some online element in more than 55,000 offences including harassment, blackmail and child sex allegations in the year ending June 2017.The tally suggests web-related crimes are being logged at a rate of one every 10 minutes.Fraud and computer misuse are not included in the statistics,
  
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• Blue Planet 2: An Exclusive Tour Of The Research Vessel That Made It All Happen

  29-10-2017 16:01
  We took an exclusive tour of the research vessel, Alucia, which was used in the making of Blue Planet 2. Peter Fielding, Alucia’s captain, gave HuffPost UK an exciting sneak peek into how the BBC crew used the ship to create the landmark series. 
  
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• Child maintenance bank account loophole to be closed

  29-10-2017 15:55 via bbc.co.uk
  New laws will allow deductions from joint bank accounts, the government says.
  
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• NHS Airbnb-style scheme 'not ruled out' by minister

  29-10-2017 15:34 via bbc.co.uk
  A minister says the idea of patients being discharged to people's spare rooms must be scrutinised.
  
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• Gwytherin Death: Boy, 16, Dies After Suspected Ecstasy-Type Drug Overdose In Wales

  29-10-2017 15:19
  A 16-year-old boy has died after he was believed to have taken ecstasy-type tablets at a Halloween rave.North Wales Police and the Betsi Cadwaldr University Health Board issued a warning after the teenager died from a suspected drugs overdose in the early hours of Sunday morning.The boy, who has not been named, is believed to have taken tablets which were pink and squared shaped with the Rolls Royce symbol on while at the event in Gwytherin, near Abergele, Conwy.Police & Betsi Cadwaladr Univ
  
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• Bim Afolami: Tory MP claims Labour members trying to harass family

  29-10-2017 15:02 via bbc.co.uk
  Bim Afolami says he has been told activists tried to find out where his children went to school.
  
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• Heathrow expansion: is MP opposition growing?

  29-10-2017 14:07 via bbc.co.uk
  The government has reopened the public consultation on plans for a third runway at Heathrow.
  
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• Jeremy Hunt calls for more NHS money ahead of autumn Budget

  29-10-2017 13:59 via ft.com
  UK health secretary says chancellor ‘willing to have a dicussion’ about more funding
  
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• UK trade minister gave secretary money to buy sex toys

  29-10-2017 13:38 via ft.com
  Mark Garnier denies sexual harassment as Westminster placed under scrutiny
  
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• Body of Iraq WMD dossier scientist David Kelly exhumed

  29-10-2017 13:28 via theguardian.com
  Family of weapons expert who killed himself in 2003 asked for his grave to be dug up owing to fears it was being desecratedThe body of Dr David Kelly, the government chemical weapons expert who killed himself in 2003 after being outed as the source of a BBC story, has been exhumed, police have confirmed.The scientist’s family reportedly had his remains cremated after asking for the grave to be dug up because they were upset it was being “desecrated” by conspiracy theorists who
  
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• Nicola Sturgeon To Issue Apology From Scottish Government Over Historical Gay Sex Convictions

  29-10-2017 13:08
  The First Minister will apologise on behalf of the Scottish Government to all men convicted of now-abolished gay sexual offences.Nicola Sturgeon will make the apology at Holyrood on Tuesday November 7 to coincide with the publication of new legislation to provide an automatic pardon to all those affected.The legislation was promised by Sturgeon when she presented her programme for government in September.It will enable people to apply to have such convictions removed from central criminal convic
  
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• Sunday Show Round Up: Sea Changes In Westminster And Saving The NHS

  29-10-2017 12:55
  The Sunday morning news was dominated this week by the allegations of sexual harassment and inappropriate behaviour which have rocked Westminster. Theresa May has promised to take action following reports one of her ministers, Mark Garnier, admitted he had asked his secretary to buy sex toys for him.Claims have been made against several other cabinet ministers and senior MPs, prompting calls for a “sea change” in the inappropriate attitudes which many say have permeated politics
  
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• Theresa May’s £1bn for Northern Ireland on hold as talks falter

  29-10-2017 12:49 via ft.com
  London moves to impose budget as divisions hit hopes of DUP-Sinn Féin accord
  
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• 'Top Secret Heathrow Plans To Protect Queen' Found On Memory Stick In Street

  29-10-2017 12:34
  An investigation has been launched at Heathrow Airport after a memory stick reportedly containing confidential security information was found in the street.The Sunday Mirror says the USB stick - which was not encrypted and had 2.5GB of data - was discovered by a member of the public in Ilbert Street in Queen’s Park, west London, and handed to the paper.It reportedly contained files revealing information such as security measures used to protect the Queen at the airport, the types of ID nee
  
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• Human Rights Lawyer Reports 'Catalogue Of Sexual Harassment' At Holyrood

  29-10-2017 11:35
  A human rights lawyer says women at all levels of the Scottish Parliament have been subjected to sexual harassment.Aamer Anwar made the claims after allegations of inappropriate behaviour emerged about women MPs being harassed at Westminster.He told the Sunday Herald he had spoken to “a number of women” over the last two years about their treatment by men at Holyrood.He said: “It’s a catalogue of sexual harassment, stalking, social media abuse, sexual innuendos, verbal se
  
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• Diane Abbott on Michael Gove's Weinstein 'joke'

  29-10-2017 11:33 via bbc.co.uk
  Making sexual harassment a joke is one of the reasons it isn't being dealt with, says the shadow home secretary.
  
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• ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ Halloween Week Sees Debbie McGee Top The Leaderboard

  29-10-2017 11:29
  Debbie McGee is continuing to go from strength to strength in ‘Strictly Come Dancing’, topping the leaderboard after Saturday (28 October) night’s Halloween special.The TV personality performed a Frankenstein-themed Charleston with her partner Giovanni Pernice, landing a whopping 39 points from the judges: The lifts. Debbie’s wig. The outfit change. Giovanni’s absolutely horrendous hairpiece. It was a ‘Strictly’ masterpiece.Shirley Ballas was so impresse
  
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• Theresa May To Write To John Bercow Over Sexual Harassment Culture In Parliament

  29-10-2017 11:18
  Theresa May will write to Commons Speaker John Bercow to ask for his advice on changing a reported sexual harassment culture in Parliament.Health secretary Jeremy Hunt revealed the PM’s plan of action on the BBC’s Andrew Marr show, following Sunday paper allegations about the inappropriate behaviour of several senior MPs.He said International Trade Minister Mark Garnier is to be investigated by the Cabinet Office after he reportedly admitted he had asked his secretary to buy sex toys
  
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• Anti-Abortion Charity To Get Grant From 'Tampon Tax'

  29-10-2017 10:54
  An anti-abortion group will get £250,000 from the levy on women’s sanitary products - but will not be able to spend the proceeds on its counselling or education services.Dozens of organisations were announced as beneficiaries of a £12 million pot generated from the 5% VAT on tampons and towels, also known as the tampon tax.Among them was Life, a charity set up in 1970 which aims to “create a just society which has the utmost respect for all human life from fertilisation&r
  
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• ‘X Factor’: Simon Cowell Misses The Show As Cheryl Tweedy Returns (But Stays In The Audience)

  29-10-2017 10:42
  As expected, Simon Cowell was absent from Saturday (28 October) night’s ‘X Factor’, after being rushed to hospital following a fall on Friday.While the music mogul returned home the same day, he remained at his London pad while Nicole Scherzinger, Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh took their seats on the panel for the first live show.Addressing Simon’s absence, host Dermot O’Leary said: “He’s doing fine, he’s watching the show at home.“Get
  
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• ‘Coronation Street’: Bruno Langley Leaves The Soap

  29-10-2017 10:01
  Bruno Langley has left ‘Coronation Street’, a spokesperson for the show has confirmed.The actor played Todd Grimshaw in the ITV show and it’s believed that his character is swiftly being written out to accommodate for Bruno’s departure.Earlier this month, the actor was accused of sexual assault and while some reports link to the ongoing police investigation with his departure, a ‘Coronation Street’ source has told HuffPost UK that this is not the case. “
  
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• 'Blue Planet 2': What It's Like Working With Sir David Attenborough

  29-10-2017 09:38
  Blue Planet II is finally gracing our screens with wild colours, exotic creatures of the deep and of course, Sir David Attenborough’s legendary narration. So what was it like to work with the nation’s most beloved broadcaster?We spoke to the series’ producers to find out. Watch the video above to see what they had to say. 
  
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• Tory Minister Mark Garnier 'Asked Secretary To Buy Sex Toys', Reports Claim

  29-10-2017 09:29
  A Government minister has been caught up in the Westminster sexism storm after reportedly admitting asking his secretary to buy sex toys for him and calling her “sugar tits”.The Mail On Sunday said married International Trade Minister Mark Garnier described the incidents as “good-humoured high jinks” and “amusing conversation”. He was said to have strongly denied that they constituted sexual harassment.The report comes after Downing Street warned on Friday tha
  
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• Shania Twain On How Recording 'Now' Helped Her Put Dark Period Behind Her (EXCLUSIVE)

  29-10-2017 08:25
  In a year when pop acts like Katy Perry and Miley Cyrus have had a rather lukewarm response to their latest musical offerings, it’s probably fair to say that Shania Twain’s return to the music scene and subsequent ascent to the top of the album chart on both sides of the Atlantic is one of 2017’s more surprising success stories.And yet, earlier this month she was able to pull off the impressive feat with the release of her fifth studio album, ‘Now’, following an une
  
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• Theresa May’s £1bn held back as Northern Ireland talks falter

  29-10-2017 06:00 via ft.com
  Budget to be imposed from London does not include money promised to DUP
  
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• Theresa May’s £1bn deal suspended as Northern Ireland talks falter

  29-10-2017 06:00 via ft.com
  Budget to be imposed from London does not include money promised to DUP
  
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• CCTV watchdog warns UK police over use of facial recognition

  29-10-2017 06:00 via ft.com
  Surveillance camera commissioner raises concerns over risks to privacy
  
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• Gay men to receive Scottish government apology

  29-10-2017 02:43 via bbc.co.uk
  Nicola Sturgeon will say sorry on behalf of the Scottish government to those convicted under now abolished laws.
  
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• Where are the heroes who will lead the Brexit retreat? | Nick Cohen

  29-10-2017 01:05 via theguardian.com
  We were taken into the referendum on a wave of propaganda and untruths. They must be confronted before we face total disasterIn 1972, Idi Amin ordered the expulsion of Ugandan Asians from his blood-drenched, post-colonial kingdom. In culture, origins and appearance, they were clearly separate from Africans. They were also notably wealthier. Amin legitimised his rule by exploiting both race and class hatred, always a useful strategy for demagogues on the make. “I am going to ask Britain,&rd
  
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• Trump's empty words on the prescription drugs crisis - cartoon

  29-10-2017 01:05 via theguardian.com
  David Simonds on how he condemned the problem without offering to solve it Continue reading...
  
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• Trump, Assange, Bannon, Farage… bound together in an unholy alliance | Carole Cadwalladr

  29-10-2017 01:05 via theguardian.com
  The Wikileaks founder’s astonishing admission should prompt MPs finally to start asking questionsLast Wednesday, 11 months into Donald Trump’s new world order, in the first year of normalisation, a sudden unblurring of lines took place. A shift. A door of perception swung open.Because that was the day that the dramatis personae of two separate Trump-Russia scandals smashed headlong into one another. A high-speed news car crash between Cambridge Analytica and Wikileaks, the two organi
  
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• Patients are suffering while the SNP shamefully dithers | Kevin McKenna

  29-10-2017 01:05 via theguardian.com
  The party is in a state of rigor mortis when it comes to seeking a new approach to solving deep-seated health problemsMy brush with premature death came a couple of years ago at 30,000ft en route to Australia – my heart had finally decided to protest.In those moments, you remember that you are a west of Scotland male and that appearances must thus be upheld: the reputation of Glasgow is on the line here. So you are all wise-cracking stoicism – “I’ll need to put more lime
  
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• Leftie? Yes, and proud to be among those upholding Enlightenment values | Will Hutton

  29-10-2017 01:05 via theguardian.com
  The Mail’s attack on universities is typical of a campaign denigrating those who dare to question BrexitAcademic freedom is the soil in which knowledge flourishes. The freedom to research, to follow where evidence leads, to argue, to be challenged, to exchange ideas freely and to disseminate the results lie at the heart of academic life. Immanuel Kant captured the spirit that animates universities when he said that knowledge was a process in which human beings dared to know.The great advan
  
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• Is this the night of the living dead? No, it’s Britain’s Brexit team | Frankie Boyle

  29-10-2017 01:05 via theguardian.com
  The EU couldn’t have picked a better PM and her crack troops to lead Britain out of EuropeThe Tories are at pains to make sure that Brexit is being done by the book; sadly, that book is Lord of the Flies. If the EU had created Brexit as a deliberate The Producers-style disaster to demonstrate how difficult it was to leave, they’d probably have been tempted to tone down the casting.The key players include Liam Fox, a man who looks like he could finish a steak while looking at footage
  
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• If only it were so easy to forgive Jared O’Mara’s sins | Catherine Bennett

  29-10-2017 01:04 via theguardian.com
  Labour expects his Sheffield constituents to forget his sexist and homophobic past. Why should they?‘By the age of 30,” wrote the psychologist William James, “the character has set like plaster and will never soften again.” If it has yet to be proved, James’s point is something the voters of Sheffield Hallam might want to bear in mind when they come to pick their next MP. For now, unless he resigns, their hopes of effective representation appear to rest with the rec
  
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• Be like Chamberlain and start building homes, Mr Hammond | Andrew Rawnsley

  29-10-2017 01:04 via theguardian.com
  The chancellor must overcome his own caution and the resistance of the Treasury and do something boldNeville Chamberlain is the prime minister no other prime minister wants to be seen with. Don’t compare me to him. Anyone but Chamberlain. That is the little prayer that our leaders whisper to the gods of history. Munich. Hitler. Piece of paper. Peace for our time. Appeasement. The swallowing of Czechoslovakia. The invasion of Poland. The fall of Norway. Ousted. Some revisionists argue that
  
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