Political news

• Georgia 'Toff' Toffolo Wins 'I'm A Celebrity' 2017, Beating Jamie Lomas And Iain Lee In Final

  10-12-2017 23:56
  Georgia ‘Toff’ Toffolo has been crowned the latest winner of ‘I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!’.The ‘Made In Chelsea’ star beat former ‘Hollyoaks’ star Jamie Lomas and presenter Iain Lee to the title of Queen Of The Jungle during Sunday (10 December) night’s final.Jamie was declared the runner up, after Iain finished in third place earlier in the evening.After hosts Ant and Dec announced Georgia had won the 17th series of the ITV
  
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• Robots can set us free and reverse decline, says Labour's Tom Watson

  10-12-2017 23:32
  Party’s deputy leader says people should not fear the ‘march of the robots’ and automation need not mean lost jobsLabour’s Tom Watson will call on society to “embrace an android” as he argues that the rise of automation in the workplace need not cause mass unemployment and should instead be welcomed.
  The party’s deputy leader will make the comments at the launch of the final report of the Future of Work Commission, which has concluded that people should
  
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• Ireland Angered By David Davis Claim Brexit Deal Is Not Legally Binding

  10-12-2017 22:52
  London and Dublin have clashed over whether the Brexit agreement intended to trigger trade talks is legally binding or not.The Irish government responded strongly, stating the deal was “binding” and it would hold the UK “to account” on it.The document on legacy issues like the Irish border was hammered out in order to allow the remaining EU27 states to approve Brexit talks shifting to a phase two trade negotiation at a summit this week where Dublin wields a veto.Irish Tao
  
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• David Davis clashes with Ireland over Brexit deal

  10-12-2017 22:26
  Brexit secretary describes deal as a ‘statement of intent’, leading Irish government to insist it will hold UK to phase one agreementDavid Davis has clashed with the Irish government after claiming that the Brexit divorce agreement between Britain and the EU was a “statement of intent” rather than something legally enforceable.
  The Brexit secretary’s comments came after it was reported that Downing Street advisers had told cabinet ministers who campaigned to leave t
  
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• These Dogs Are Having A Cracking Time In The Snow

  10-12-2017 21:56
  It’s been a miserable day for many across the UK as a major snowfall has caused travel disruption and power cuts as much of the country has been covered in white.But it’s a different story for these dogs ...Thames Barrier Park, London.Brecon Beacons National Park, Wales.Taco on the the Campsie Fells, near Glasgow.Ella, an Irish Doodle, at Stormont, Belfast.Wanstead in London. A youngster takes her terrier for a toboggan ride in Welsh Frankton, England.Mam Tor in the Peak Distric
  
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• Leading London NHS trust chairman quits amid funding crunch

  10-12-2017 21:04
  Head of King’s College Hospital and former civil service chief raises temperature on health cash
  
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• 'Strictly Come Dancing': Mollie King Voted Off In Semi-Final Results Show After Gemma Atkinson Dance-Off

  10-12-2017 20:56
  Mollie King narrowly missed out on a place in the ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ final after being voted off on Sunday (10 December) night. The Saturdays singer and her partner AJ Pritchard became the 11th couple to be eliminated after facing Gemma Atkinson and Aljaž Škorjanec in the dance-off. Both couples found themselves in the bottom two following Saturday’s semi-final, which saw all of the remaining five pairs perform two dances. Mollie and AJ chose to
  
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• BAE Systems announces £5bn deal to supply Typhoon jets to Qatar

  10-12-2017 20:45
  Deal will help secure thousands of jobs at Warton in Lancashire and includes support and training for Qatari air forceBAE Systems has announced a £5bn contract to supply Typhoon aircraft to the Qatari air force.The deal, which will help secure UK jobs, includes a support and training package. The contract is subject to financing conditions and is expected to be fulfilled no later than mid 2018. Continue reading...
  
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• Chemicals and drugs groups call on Gove to stick to EU regime

  10-12-2017 20:28
  Sector warning as Eurosceptics step up campaign to break away from bloc’s regulations
  
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• Chemical and pharma groups call on Gove to stick to EU regime

  10-12-2017 20:28
  Sector warning as Eurosceptics step up campaign to break away from bloc’s regulations
  
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• Bob Kerslake Quits As NHS Trust Boss In Latest Blast At Government Over Underfunding

  10-12-2017 20:18
  The former head of the civil service has quit a senior job in the NHS as the Government is failing to understand the scale of under-funding in the health service.Bob Kerslake, civil service boss until 2015, has resigned as the chair of the board at King’s College hospital in London, which is one of the NHS’s busiest hospital trusts and treated victims of the Westminster Bridge and London Bridge terror attacks, and the Grenfell Tower fire.Writing in the the Guardian, Lord Kerslak
  
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• Boris Johnson fails to access inner layers of Iran's 'Russian doll' | Patrick Wintour

  10-12-2017 20:00
  Foreign secretary did not get to speak to key decision-makers in Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe case: the revolutionary courtsNot long before travelling to Tehran for two days of talks, Boris Johnson described Iran as resembling “one of those Russian dolls”, in the sense that there is a state within the outer democratic Iranian state, primarily run by the Revolutionary Guards.
  At one level, the bulk of his high-stakes talks were with the outer state of the president, Hassan Rouhani, and t
  
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• The British Government's Approach To Brexit Is Slovenly, Chaotic And Delusional

  10-12-2017 19:54
  The rallying cry of the Brexiteers prior to the European Union membership referendum was “take back control”. This slogan resonated with those who felt ignored, not listened to and struggling to pay for the necessities of life. They wanted to deliver a slap in the face to the country’s elite who were urging them to vote remain. The Leave campaigners managed to convince enough people that being in the EU is the reason for their misery.With that, plus the promise of £350 mi
  
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• As A Male Feminist I've Not Called Out Misogyny As Much As I Should Have

  10-12-2017 19:52
  People like to assume that sexism ended with the right to vote for women, that the waves of 20th century feminism put an end to that. That’s usually a neat trick played by those wanting to maintain the status quo, a tactic used for denying racism too.As a guy, it’s strange to talk about feminism in the sense that it’s not your movement to direct. My energy can only go in supporting fantastic women activists and writers who push for gender equality. I like to think that I’
  
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• Why I Made A TV Show To Make Viewers Remember Missing Refugee Children

  10-12-2017 19:51
  TV show The Tunnelhas never shied away from the socio-political state of Europe so almost two years ago, when I took over as showrunner for series three, I knew it would be impossible to ignore Europe’s biggest issue: the refugee crisis.Following the devastating images of Alan Kurdi, the three-year-old Syrian boy found drowned on a Turkish Beach trying to flee Syria, the media upped their reporting of the crisis. We were bombarded by images of the Calais camps, riddled with disease an
  
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• Chancellor faces attempt by MPs to vote down budget

  10-12-2017 19:06
  Labour objects to finance bill over tax cut to banks and Stella Creasy demands data on how measures affect womenPhilip Hammond will face attempts to vote down his budget at the first hurdle on Monday on the grounds that tax cuts for big banks must be stopped and all policies should be subject to a gender audit to show how it affects women.Labour will object to the finance bill at second reading mainly on the grounds that cuts to the bank levy costing £4.7bn should be reversed to finance ch
  
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• NHS trust boss resigns in protest over underfunding of health services

  10-12-2017 19:00
  Bob Kerslake quits as chair of King’s College hospital board, claiming NHS funding ‘desperately’ needs rethink amid unrealistic demands for savings• I’m quitting as a hospital boss: dire NHS funding problems give me no choiceThe boss of one of the NHS’s biggest trusts has resigned in protest at what he claims is such serious government underfunding that hospitals cannot perform their key role properly.Related: I’m quitting as a hospital boss: dire NHS fun
  
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• ‘Ripple of freedom’ for Zaghari-Ratcliffe after Johnson’s Iran visit

  10-12-2017 18:55
  Husband of imprisoned woman welcomes cancellation of court hearing
  
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• Husband senses ‘ripple of freedom’ for jailed Briton

  10-12-2017 18:55
  Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s court hearing postponed following Johnson’s Iran visit
  
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• Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe's Husband Hails 'First Ripple Of Freedom' After Iran Court Appearance Postponed

  10-12-2017 18:12
  The husband of imprisoned Briton Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has hailed the “first ripple of freedom” after his wife’s court appearance in Iran was postponed following a visit to the country by Boris Johnson.Richard Ratcliffe also revealed Nazanin could “see some light” at the end of the tunnel as her spell in one of Iran’s most brutal prisons reaches almost two years.The charity worker has been held on charges of spying and spreading propaganda t
  
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• Labour considers moving Bank of England to Birmingham

  10-12-2017 17:44
  Relocation would be part of attempt to create regional economic policy hub
  
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• Angela Rayner Hits Out At £11,100 Tuition Fees For Two-Year Degrees

  10-12-2017 17:25
  Angela Rayner has poured scorn on Government plans to introduce £11,100-a-year tuition fees for more “accelerated” two-year degrees.The Shadow Education Secretary said there was “no concrete evidence” the new shorter courses benefited students and dismissed the shake-up as “another plan to raise tuition fees”.Ministers have announced students on the two-year intensive degrees will have to pay fees up to £11,100-a-year but insisted the cha
  
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• Angela Rayner Hits Out At £11,100 Tuition Fees For Fast-Track Degrees

  10-12-2017 17:25
  Angela Rayner has poured scorn on Government plans to introduce £11,100-a-year tuition fees for more “accelerated” two-year degrees. The Shadow Education Secretary said there was “no concrete evidence” the new shorter courses benefited students and dismissed the shake-up as “another plan to raise tuition fees”. Ministers have announced students on the two-year intensive degrees will have to pay fees up to £11,100-a-year but insi
  
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• Johnson's talks on jailed Briton in Iran 'worthwhile'

  10-12-2017 16:22 via bbc.co.uk
  The foreign secretary says progress has been made over jailed British-Iranian mother's release.
  
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• Sunday Shows Round-up: David Davis, Keir Starmer And Trump's Jerusalem Move

  10-12-2017 14:56
  With the first phase of the Brexit deal squared off and Donald Trump making a controversial intervention in the Middle East, it has been another busy week in politics.So, we will cut to the chase and bring you HuffPost UK’s Sunday shows round-up.The Andrew Marr ShowFirst up on the flagship BBC show was the SNP’s Westminster leader Ian Blackford who wasted no time in calling for Labour to give its full support to staying in the single market and customs union.Marr pointed out that vot
  
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• Theresa May wants to sneak back into the single market by stealth

  10-12-2017 14:46
  The Brussels agreement represents a powerful reminder that Britain is leaving the EU
  
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• Theresa May wants to sneak back into Europe’s single market

  10-12-2017 14:46
  The Brussels agreement represents a powerful reminder that Britain is leaving the EU
  
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• Max Clifford Dead, Disgraced Former Celebrity Publicist Dies Aged 74

  10-12-2017 13:55
  Disgraced former celebrity publicist Max Clifford, 74, has died in hospital after collapsing at Littlehey Prison in Cambridgeshire, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Justice has said.It comes after Clifford’s daughter, Louise, 46, told the Mail on Sunday that he first collapsed in his cell on Thursday when he was trying to clean it.“It was just too much,” she said.“Next day he collapsed again and was unconscious for several minutes – though he doesn’t know how
  
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• Are Momentum trying to oust Labour councillors?

  10-12-2017 13:32 via bbc.co.uk
  Sources close to Momentum argue they are simply helping to reflect the new make up of the Labour party.
  
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• Williamson-Hammond feud shakes an already tense cabinet

  10-12-2017 13:14
  Friction between defence secretary and chancellor breaks into open over MoD budget
  
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• David Davis: 'No deal means we won't be paying the money'

  10-12-2017 13:09 via bbc.co.uk
  The Brexit secretary says if the UK fails to get a trade deal with the EU, it won't pay its divorce bill.
  
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• Tom Chaplin Compares Writing A Classic Christmas Song Is 'Like Breaking Into Fort Knox'

  10-12-2017 12:49
  As the title might suggest, Keane frontman Tom Chaplin is trying something a little different with his second solo album, ‘Twelve Tales Of Christmas’.But creating a festive record capable of entering the history books isn’t easy and as Tom points out, timing the release correctly involves sitting down to write the tracks in the spring.“It was quite weird to be sat in the middle of the English countryside in my studio, in the garden, with everything fully in bloom, wr
  
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• David Davis: First-Hurdle Brexit Deal Struck By Theresa May Not Legally Binding

  10-12-2017 12:23
  "No deal means we won't be paying money" to EU - @DavidDavisMP tells #marrpic.twitter.com/Q2XtRYJz21— The Andrew Marr Show (@MarrShow) December 10, 2017David Davis has said the deal struck by Theresa May to open up trade talks is not binding but rather a “statement of intent”.The Brexit Secretary said it was not “legally enforceable” and if the UK failed to strike a trade deal then it could still refuse to pay its divorce bill - believed to be between £35bn an
  
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• Boris Johnson Ends Iran Visit Without Announcement Over Jailed British Mother

  10-12-2017 12:16
  Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has ended a “worthwhile visit” to Iran without an announcement over the case of imprisoned Briton Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.During nearly an hour of talks with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, a spokesman for the Foreign Office said they “both spoke forthrightly” and “agreed on the need to make progress in all areas”.“After meeting Dr [Ali Akbar] Salehi, head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Association, the Foreign Secretar
  
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• 'Strictly Come Dancing': Mollie King And AJ Pritchard's Rumoured Romance Becomes Subject Of ClaudianWinkleman Skit

  10-12-2017 12:05
  Strictly Come Dancing’s Mollie King and AJ Pritchard have got the whole nation asking ‘Are they? Aren’t they?’ as rumours of a secret relationship continue to swirl - something which Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman couldn’t help but joke about on Saturday’s (9 December) show. The presenting duo branded Mollie and AJ’s so-called secret romance “the elephant in the room” as they shared a laugh on the BBC ballroom competition.Introducing th
  
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• Keir Starmer Admits Labour Would Follow EU Regulations Even If UK Did Not Get A Vote

  10-12-2017 11:13
  Shadow Brexit Secretary @Keir_Starmer says Labour have been clear that it wants to retain 'benefits' of being inside the single market #marr pic.twitter.com/TVYXx8T3Yf — The Andrew Marr Show (@MarrShow) December 10, 2017
  The UK should accept EU regulations even if the UK does not get a vote, Labour has said.Shadow Brexit Secretary Sir Keir Starmer also said Brexit does not automatically herald the end of free movement of people, agreeing his party prefers “easy movement”.He has
  
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• 'Strictly Come Dancing': Katya And Neil Jones Speak Out On Kevin And Karen Clifton Split Rumours

  10-12-2017 11:01
  ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ professionals Neil and Katya Jones have spoken out about rumours co-stars Kevin and Karen Clifton have split.The couple have been dogged by reports their marriage in on the rocks in recent weeks, but their fellow dancers have admitted they are shocked by the claims as they always look loved up behind the scenes.Speaking to the Daily Star, Neil said: “I’ve been so shocked by what I’ve seen. Whenever I see Kevin and Karen at the studio the
  
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• 'Strictly Come Dancing': Alexandra Burke Puts Tough Week Behind Her To Bag Perfect 40 Score

  10-12-2017 10:15
  Alexandra Burke may have had a tough week, but it ended with the best night of her ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ journey on Saturday (9 December). The former ‘X Factor’ winner scored a perfect 40 for one of her routines on the live show, marking only the second time maximum points have been awarded this series. Alexandra and her partner Gorka Marquez impressed the judges so much with their Salsa to ‘Finally’ by CeCe Peniston that they all got their &r
  
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• Met Office UK Weather Forecast: Warnings Issued As Heavy Snow Causes Travel Disruption

  10-12-2017 10:14
  Snow is expected to continue to cause disruption to a large swathe of the UK on Sunday, with the heaviest falls due this morning.Around five to 10 cm is predicted across central parts of the UK, with 15-20 cm in places.An amber warning of snow came into force at 4am, affecting Wales, the Midlands and parts of northern and eastern England.[Send your snow pictures with your location to [email protected]]The Met Office added: “A spell of heavy snow is likely over parts of Wales, the
  
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• Loneliness In Britain Has Escalated From Personal Misfortune Into A Social Epidemic

  10-12-2017 10:12
  Imagine Britain in the grip of a chronic illness that was causing widespread misery, costing the country millions in lost days at work, and doing more harm to those affected than smoking fifteen cigarettes a day or being obese. There would be calls for immediate action.That is exactly the impact that loneliness is having. The evidence suggests that loneliness increases the risk of premature death by about a third, as the NHS will be highlighting later this week. But because it is so often hidden
  
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• Britain’s Final EU Withdrawal Bill Could Cost £100bn, Says Ex-Brexit Minister

  10-12-2017 09:47
  Britain’s final EU withdrawal bill could be as high as £100 billion, a former Brexit minister has suggested.David Jones, one of the few Tory Brexiteers to publicly criticise the deal Prime Minister Theresa May reached with the European Commission in order to trigger trade talks, said the UK could end up paying a “monstrous” exit settlement two-and-a-half times the £39 billion figure floated by the Government.The intervention came amid reports that prominent Leave ca
  
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• Equality Watchdog To Launch Grenfell Tower Probe Amid Public Inquiry Worries

  10-12-2017 09:28
  Britain’s official equality watchdog is to launch its own review of the Grenfell Tower fire amid misgivings about the scope of a forthcoming public inquiry.The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said it intended to interview survivors and those affected by the disaster to assess whether authorities failed in their human rights obligations.Whether the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC), which owned the west London block, fell short in its duty to protect life, prevent i
  
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• House Of Commons Doorkeeper Lifts Lid On What It's Really Like To Work In Parliament

  10-12-2017 09:04
  Every day Sarah Binstead-Chapman gets the bus to work.When she arrives, she has a cup of tea and some breakfast and changes into her uniform.She likes to polish her shoes every morning, to make sure they look their best, and her white shirt is always ironed. When a key part of your work outfit is an item of the Crown Jewels, the rest of your get-up has to be pretty pristine. Because Sarah’s job isn’t an ordinary 9-5.  She is a House of Commons doorkeeper, responsible f
  
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• What do you think of the Brexit deal so far? We asked 10 experts

  10-12-2017 07:04
  After the deal in Brussels, we posed two questions: 1. What kind of Brexit do you want to see in 2019? 2. Do you think events of the last week have made this more or less likely?Former EU trade commissionerContinue reading...
  
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• Following Theresa May’s great escape, Brexiters plan their final battle for Britain

  10-12-2017 07:00
  As the smoke clears on the prime minister’s 11th-hour EU deal, it is becoming apparent that there are still more questions than answers ‘They can smell a rat. But they are keeping quiet for now because they are not yet sure which rat it is they can smell.” At the end of a week that began with humiliation for Theresa May but ended with much of the British press hailing her as a hero, this was how one UK diplomat summed up the muted reactions of Brexit-supporting MPs to the deal
  
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• Money managers nervous over prospect of PM Corbyn

  10-12-2017 06:01
  Some investors have already shifted millions out of the UK as Labour gains in polls
  
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• Business split on prospect of prime minister Corbyn

  10-12-2017 06:01
  Some rich investors have shifted money out of UK already; others are more relaxed
  
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