Political news

• EU Withdrawal Bill: Tory Rebels Behave Like 'Grand Old Duke Of York' After Last Minute Climbdown

  21-11-2017 23:46
  Tory Remainer rebels were compared to the “Grand Old Duke of York” after backing down from an EU Withdrawal Bill revolt on human rights at the very last minute.Conservative MPs led by Dominic Grieve were preparing to join forces with their opponents to inflict defeat on the Government’s Brexit legislation over its potential impact on human rights.Grieve had tabled an amendment calling for the full protection of the EU’s Charter of Fundamental Rights in post-Brexit domesti
  
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• Irish PM should know better over Brexit, says Arlene Foster

  21-11-2017 23:20 via bbc.co.uk
  Arlene Foster warns Leo Varadkar not to "play around" with Northern Ireland over Brexit.
  
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• Steve Bell on the state of the Brexit negotiations – cartoon

  21-11-2017 23:18
  Continue reading...
  
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• Revealed: Hammond’s ‘Fit For The Future’ Budget 2017 Slogan Is By-Word For Cuts Programmes

  21-11-2017 23:15
  Philip Hammond is facing ridicule over his latest Budget - even before he’s delivered it - as it emerged his ‘Fit For The Future’ slogan is a widely-used synonym for austerity and cuts programmes.The Treasury revealed on Tuesday night that the Chancellor would make the phrase the key line in his financial update for MPs, declaring he wanted “an outward looking, free-trading nation, a force for good in the world, a country fit for the future.”In a bid to reassure vot
  
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• Hammond hemmed in as enemies circle ahead of Budget

  21-11-2017 23:00
  With limited room for manoeuvre, Eurosceptic MPs are likely to seize on any mis-steps
  
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• Budget seen as 'make or break' for Philip Hammond

  21-11-2017 23:00
  Another error similar to botched attempt to raise national insurance in March could damage chancellor’s reputation beyond repairPhilip Hammond is preparing to deliver a budget to parliament that will “make or break” his political career, according to senior allies, who warned that one mistake could mark the end of his tenure at the Treasury.The chancellor is already under intense pressure from Brexit-supporting Tories as he prepares to prioritise investment in housing, teacher
  
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• Budget 2017: More Than £200m For Maths, Science And Teacher Training

  21-11-2017 23:00
  Underperforming schools will be handed a multi-million pound boost by the Chancellor to drive up teaching standards.Eyeing the country’s competitiveness post-Brexit, Philip Hammond will announce £42m for teacher training and £177m to bolster maths and science provision as part of his Budget on Wednesday.Funding for 300,000 homes-a-year, driverless cars, reducing the student debt burden, lifting the public sector pay cap and changes to Universal Credit is also expected
  
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• Budget 2017: Hammond to 'seize opportunities' from Brexit

  21-11-2017 23:00 via bbc.co.uk
  Chancellor Philip Hammond will vow to tackle deep-seated economic challenges "head on".
  
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• Ministers back down over human rights to avoid Tory rebellion - as it happened

  21-11-2017 22:38
  Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including David Davis’s speech at a Brexit conference, Boris Johnson taking questions in the Commons and the EU withdrawal bill debateAfternoon summary 9.38pm GMTWe’re wrapping up the politics live blog for today. To sum up: ministers have sought to see off a potential rebellion by Conservative MPs that could have brought a first defeat over the EU withdrawal bill by partially backing down on the future status
  
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• Government backs down over EU human rights to avoid risk of defeat

  21-11-2017 22:35
  Tories agree to work with rebel MP Dominic Grieve over keeping rights under EU law after BrexitMinisters have sought to see off a potential rebellion by Conservative MPs that could have brought a first defeat over the EU withdrawal bill by partially backing down on the future status of EU human rights measures in UK law.Following another day of debate about the bill, which seeks to transpose EU statute into UK law post-Brexit, the government faced possible defeat over amendments intended to main
  
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• Electoral Commission documents reveal more details on Vote Leave donations

  21-11-2017 22:22
  Election watchdog reopens investigation into Vote Leave’s payments to a fashion student who then spent large sums with social media marketing firmFresh detail has emerged from the investigation into whether Vote Leave breached a £7m spending limit during the referendum campaign by donating £625,000 to a fashion student. The Electoral Commission has noted, in documents seen by the Guardian, that Darren Grimes, who was 23 at the time, was apparently able to coordinate large sums
  
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• EU and UK aim to strike Brexit divorce deal within 3 weeks

  21-11-2017 22:10
  Negotiators pencil in week of December 4 as May’s moves on Brussels bill spur momentum
  
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• Robert Mugabe Resigns: Activist's Tears Of Joy Underline Zimbabwe's Jubilation

  21-11-2017 21:23
  A Zimbabwe activist breaking down in tears of joy after Robert Mugabe’s resignation has embodied the celebrations across the country that have welcomed the end of his 37-year rule.Thousands of people have poured onto the streets of Harare to celebrate the 93-year-old quitting by letter on Tuesday. Mugabe has been in power since independence from the UK in 1980 and transformed a prosperous nation into an economic basket case.As footage showed cars beeping and people dancing as they waved fl
  
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• Donald Trump's Turkey Pardon Joke Was Erm.. Different From The Usual Presidential Style

  21-11-2017 20:25
  One of the more surreal yet presumably easier official duties of the President of the United States is the annual Thanksgiving Turkey Pardon.A single lucky bird is spared the slaughterhouse and instead lives out the rest of its days in “Gobbler’s Rest”, a retirement home packed full with whatever it is that elderly turkeys require on a day-to-day basis.This year’s turkeys are the delightfully-named Drumstick and Wishbone (only Drumstick was officially pardoned but both ge
  
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• The Guardian view on the Brexit talks: finding the right price to pay | Editorial

  21-11-2017 20:23
  After weeks of unreality, the cabinet has started to face the facts over the EU divorce bill. But there is a very long way to goThe Downing Street official spokesperson refused to confirm it on the record, but key members of Theresa May’s cabinet agreed on Monday to increase Britain’s “divorce bill” offer to the European Union from the £20bn that the prime minister had signalled in Florence in September. This is a significant milestone. Three cheers for finally pass
  
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• May welcomes Zimbabwe's 'brighter future' after Mugabe

  21-11-2017 20:12 via bbc.co.uk
  UK politicians react to the resignation of President Robert Mugabe after his 37-year rule.
  
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• 'I would have died without Help to Rent'

  21-11-2017 20:02 via bbc.co.uk
  After becoming homeless, Steve says he would probably have died on the streets if he hadn't received support to rent a home.
  
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• Labour Students 'No Platform' Manchester Council Leader Sir Richard Leese Over Assault Allegation

  21-11-2017 20:01
  Labour students have decided to “no platform” the leader of Manchester City Council after they discovered he had received a police caution for assaulting his stepdaughter.Manchester Labour Students said that it had cancelled a planned speaker meeting with Sir Richard Leese next month in protest at the incident that took place in 2010.Leese, one of his party’s longest serving town hall chiefs in England, spent a night in a police cell after being arrested and cautioned for strik
  
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• Ford plans to take Chariot into London commuting battle

  21-11-2017 19:58
  US carmaker details six routes for minibus service in TfL application
  
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• Ford plans to run Chariot minibus service in London

  21-11-2017 19:58
  US carmaker details six routes in TfL application
  
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• Jeremy Hunt accused of 'astonishing failure' after GP numbers fall by 1,190

  21-11-2017 19:56
  NHS figures show drop of 1,193 family doctors in past year, despite pledge to increase numbers by 5,000 by 2020 The number of GPs in England has fallen sharply in the past year, despite a government pledge to increase the supply of family doctors by 5,000. The total number of full-time equivalent GPs working in England dropped by 1,193 in the year to September, figures from NHS Digital show.Continue reading...
  
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• UK confident Irish border will not stop progress of Brexit talks

  21-11-2017 19:51
  But view of many in EU27 is that Britain leaving single market and customs union makes hard border inevitable – which Ireland will not acceptDowning Street still believes the Irish border problem can be resolved by December, despite Dublin’s threat to veto Brexit trade talks over the issue regardless of Theresa May’s £40bn divorce offer.Ireland fired a warning shot on Tuesday by suggesting May’s enhanced financial offer to the EU was not enough on its own to secure
  
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• Sinn Féin concerned by 'security force amnesty' plan

  21-11-2017 19:48 via bbc.co.uk
  Gerry Adams concerned at move over Troubles' prosecutions, but government says it is just for consultation.
  
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• Universal Credit Failings Exposed By Hundreds Of Pages Of Evidence

  21-11-2017 19:45
  The wide-ranging impacts of a controversial benefit reform have been laid bare in hundreds of pages of evidence sent to a parliamentary inquiry, which expose how the overhaul is even hurting organisations attempting to help people affected by it.The chairman of the cross-party Work and Pensions Committee of MPs is urging the Government to re-think its rollout of Universal Credit (UC) in Wednesday’s Budget after receiving a “mountain” of damning submissions.The committee and its
  
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• I could have 'died on the streets'

  21-11-2017 19:39 via bbc.co.uk
  After becoming homeless, Steve says he would probably have died on the streets if he hadn't received support to rent a home.
  
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• Universal Credit Failings Exposed By 'Mountain Of Evidence' Sent To Parliamentary Inquiry

  21-11-2017 19:32
  The wide-ranging impacts of a controversial benefit reform have been laid bare in hundreds of pages of evidence sent to a parliamentary inquiry, which expose how the overhaul is even hurting organisations attempting to help people affected by it.The chairman of the cross-party Work and Pensions Committee of MPs is urging the Government to re-think its rollout of Universal Credit (UC) in Wednesday’s Budget after receiving a “mountain” of damning submissions.The committee and its
  
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• Britain’s diminished role after the Brexit vote | Letters

  21-11-2017 19:30
  Alex Orr, Elaine Bagshaw, Peter Lyth and others look at Britian’s future after BrexitIn recent days the UK’s standing in the world has further diminished as the impacts of Brexit become more tangible. Earlier this week the relocation of two EU agencies currently based in London was announced. The European Medicines Agency will move to Amsterdam, while the European Banking Authority will be lost to Paris, which narrowly pipped Dublin to host this prestigious organisation (London loses
  
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• Celebrity Perv Apology Generator Perfectly Mocks Statements Made By Men Accused Of Sexual Assault

  21-11-2017 19:15
  If you haven’t had your fill of the “apologies” made by famous men accused of sexual assault and harassment, there is now a website dedicated to generating them.The genius ‘Celebrity Perv Apology Generator’ creates random answers based on the depressing trend of the “non-apology”, where men deflect attention away from the allegation or say they don’t remember what happened.The generator was created by journalist Dana Schwartz, who told HuffPos
  
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• Rule of law in UK at risk after Brexit, says former supreme court president

  21-11-2017 19:13
  Top legal figures point to ‘very real problem’ of UK judges facing political pressure when interpreting ECJ decisionsThe legal implications of leaving the EU have not been thought through, could overwhelm the supreme court and endanger the independence of the British judiciary, four senior retired judges have warned.
  Giving evidence to a parliamentary select committee, Lord Thomas, Lord Neuberger, Lord Hope and Sir Konrad Schiemann signalled reservations about the difficulties of pre
  
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• UK military chief ‘sympathetic’ to cut in F-35 fighter jet order

  21-11-2017 19:03
  Deputy chief of UK defence staff says move would reflect ‘reality of world we are living in’
  
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• Expect A Budget That Pays Lip Service To The Marvellous Opportunities Of Brexit - The Reality Is An Unfolding Economic Calamity

  21-11-2017 19:02
  When the Chancellor gets up to deliver his Budget statement it will be too much to expect consistency between his view of the impact on the economy of Brexit now and what it was before the referendum. It is now party line for Conservative politicians to pay lip service to the marvellous opportunities that Brexit offers in stark contradiction to their view before the referendum.In this respect at least, the establishment of the independent Office for Budget Responsibility has been a blessing for
  
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• Will We See A Budget That Rebalances The Books Between Young And Old?

  21-11-2017 18:59
  If anyone has ever fancied being Chancellor for a day, they probably wouldn’t pick Wednesday. Could you make a real difference, with potential spending so constrained and the testing politics of minority Government? Add to this the challenge of getting Britain match-fit for Brexit, at a time of poor productivity growth, and you can see why some of the more controversial issues - like intergenerational fairness - might not get a look in.The trouble is, it’s only by tackling the toughe
  
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• I'm The First African To Fly Around The World Solo

  21-11-2017 18:56
   “I just don’t want to be remembered as the man who flew around the world solo, I would rather want to be remembered as the guy who overcame all odds.”Dreams do come true…I often heard the saying that one’s dream can only come true if one is a dreamer. Well I was a dreamer and on 29th March 2017, my dream did come true and I became the first African and 9th British pilot to fly solo around the world in an aircraft half the size of an average family car since 1
  
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• Royal Ramblings Meets Jay Lethal

  21-11-2017 18:53
  Ring of Honor is closing out 2017 in characteristically emphatic style. With its Survival of the Fittest tournament complete, the company has its ‘Final Battle’ on 15 December in New York before finishing with a TV taping in Philadelphia the following day. Of course, one of the RoH and indeed wrestling industry doyens is Jay Lethal. Having been tested by Punishment Martinez at Survival of the Fittest, he’ll be looking to dominate current IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Marty S
  
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• 'Raped: My Story': Channel 5 Documentary Looks Rape In The Eye

  21-11-2017 18:47
  So begins Channel 5’s new documentary, Raped: My Story. Many have heard these statistics before, but they are never any less saddening: an estimated 85,000 women and 12,000 men are raped in England and Wales annually; only 15% report the crime to the police; 3.2% of rapes result in a guilty conviction.Raped: My Story, airing Wednesday 22nd November at 9pm on Channel 5, explores the stories behind these statistics, recounting the experiences of 10 survivors who choose to forgo anonymity and
  
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• Male Postnatal Depression - A Dad's Story

  21-11-2017 18:44
  I didn’t see it coming. Maybe it was the fact that it’s rarely discussed. Or the fact that when it is, it’s about the mothers. But when my daughter was born, after years of waiting, I didn’t feel a thing.Maybe it was the visiting that kick-started it. Having people come in and take your baby off you, even if it’s out of a place of kindness, probably didn’t help. But I didn’t even notice at the time, with everything going on, I didn’t get chance to
  
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• Tories yet to fulfil Right to Buy election pledge

  21-11-2017 18:40
  Promise to housing association tenants one of seven 2015 policies yet to be implemented
  
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• Conservatives fall short on 7 housing pledges as Budget looms

  21-11-2017 18:40
  Failure on previous policies set to embarrass chancellor as he focuses on housing
  
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• Theresa May 'determined' over Stormont impasse

  21-11-2017 18:36 via bbc.co.uk
  Theresa May says she is "determined" to resolve the impasse at Stormont after holding meetings with Sinn Fein and the DUP at Downing Street.
  
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• 'EU citizen application as easy as driving licence renewal'

  21-11-2017 18:31 via bbc.co.uk
  Applying for settled status in the UK could be as easy as renewing a driving licence, minister says.
  
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• The UK’s Very Own Dieselgate? Time To Reverse Decisions Ministers Knew Would Harm Our Health

  21-11-2017 18:21
  You’d think the government would be doing everything it could to dig us out of the diesel mess. Diesel vehicles are a major source of the illegal levels of pollution in our towns and cities – pollution that can trigger heart and asthma attacks and increases the risk of people ending up in hospital or dying as a result. Air pollution has been linked to premature births and can cause children to grow up with smaller lungs, leading to lifelong health problems. And now a growing body of
  
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• UK pharmaceutical sector prepares for hard Brexit as regulator exits

  21-11-2017 18:18
  Departure of European Medicines Agency focuses minds on challenges ahead
  
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• 'New law set to restrict drone use near airports'

  21-11-2017 18:13 via bbc.co.uk
  New laws to control drone use are expected next year after 50 near misses, a minister says.
  
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• Going To A Same-Sex School Doesn't Protect You From Sexual Harassment

  21-11-2017 18:03
  Today, Charlotte Avery, a headmistress of an all girls’ school, suggested that girls who attend same-sex schools are better equipped to deal with sexual harassment.As someone who went to a girls’ school for the majority of their education, I just can’t see where she’s coming from.Saying, “I think that there isn’t any sense of it being normalised, because they don’t see it, because it is simply not there” just makes no sense, whatsoever.Yes, within
  
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• 'I'm A Celebrity': Kezia Dugdale Not Facing Suspension From Scottish Labour Over Appearance, Party Confirms

  21-11-2017 18:00
  Kezia Dugdale will not be suspended from the Scottish Labour Party over her decision to appear on ‘I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!’, the party has confirmed.The former Scottish Labour leader faced a backlash from some political figures after signing up for the ITV reality show, having taken taking time out from her role as a Member of the Scottish Parliament for the Lothian Region to participate.However, the party has now issued a statement insisting she will not be
  
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• Budget 2017: Charities And Think Tanks Give Their Wishlist For Philip Hammond

  21-11-2017 17:59
  Charities, think tanks and other organisations have called for Philip Hammond to address issues ranging from Universal Credit to mental health funding in this Autumn’s budget.The Chancellor is walking a political tightrope between those who are pressuring him to end austerity and those who believe the job of getting the UK’s finances back on track is not yet finished.Some have speculated that Hammond will favour a “safety-first” Budget, with many suspecting there will be
  
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• Ben Affleck’s ‘Batman’ Comments Spark Speculation Over Who Should Take Over The Role

  21-11-2017 17:32
  Fans are speculating over who could take over as Batman, following comments from Ben Affleck that appear to hint his time in the Batmobile might be over.The actor began taking steps away from the franchise earlier this year, when he announced he would no longer be writing and directing the upcoming film as initially planned.With director and producer Matt Reeves now in the driving seat, Ben appears to have distanced himself further, telling USA today: “You don’t do it [play him] fore
  
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