Political news

• UK wage growth expected to increase but to remain modest

  01-01-2018 23:00
  Relationship between pay rises and employment levels breaking down, economists suggest
  
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• 'McMafia' Review: The Questions We're Asking After Episode One Of James Norton's New BBC Drama

  01-01-2018 23:00
  After a week of period dramas, Christmas films and feel-good TV, the BBC switched things up on New Year’s Day with the arrival of new gangster drama ‘McMafia’.James Norton takes the lead in the big-budget eight-parter, playing Alex Godman - a young man raised by Russian exiles with a mafia history, but who has spent his life trying to escape the shadow of that criminal past. However, we saw him forced to re-enter the gangster world in a bid to protect his family and avenge
  
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• Gloomy growth projections cloud hopes for UK economy

  01-01-2018 23:00
  UK to remain a relative laggard among developed countries next year with growth of 1.5%
  
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• Economists divided over prospects of UK interest rate rise

  01-01-2018 23:00
  FT’s annual survey of economists shows concern on high inflation and weak growth
  
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• Liverpool Car Park Fire: Six Dogs Rescued From Devastating Blaze

  01-01-2018 22:01
  Six dogs were rescued from the multi-storey car park where a raging fire destroyed 1,400 vehicles in Liverpool.Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service (MFRS) saved two dogs from cars on the second floor, and on Monday morning four more dogs were made safe from vehicles on the seventh floor.Firefighters and members of the public also helped ensure 80 horses being stabled on the ground floor of the car park were led to safety.The neighbouring the Liverpool Echo Arena had been hosting an international h
  
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• Nicola Jennings on Theresa May's new year hangover – cartoon

  01-01-2018 20:52
  Continue reading...
  
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• Boris Johnson ‘will resist’ any move in new year cabinet reshuffle

  01-01-2018 18:31
  Foreign secretary’s friends say he is happy where he is
  
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• Over 11,000 homes have stood empty for at least 10 years, data shows

  01-01-2018 16:19
  Lib Dem research finds just one in 13 councils in England and Wales used powers to take over properties lying empty despite housing crisis and rising homelessness
  More than 11,000 homes across the country have been lying empty for longer than a decade despite the housing crisis and rising homelessness, according to new research by the Liberal Democrats.The data was collected through freedom of information requests to about 275 councils, which showed 60,000 properties had been empty for two years
  
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• Lorde Accused Of 'Jew-Hatred' By Celebrity Rabbi In Full-Page Washington Post Ad

  01-01-2018 15:47
  A celebrity rabbi has taken out a full-page ad in the Washington Post to brand Lorde a “bigot” spreading “Jew-hatred” after she cancelled a gig in Israel scheduled for June.The 21-year-old New Zealand pop star is accused of joining “a global antisemitic boycott” against the Middle Eastern country after bowing to pressure from pro-Palestinian activists.The ad was paid for by World Values Network, a US-based group that promotes Judaism and defends Israel in
  
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• London's New Year's Eve Fireworks Show Was Definitely The Best

  01-01-2018 14:39
  For just over ten minutes last night the country collectively forgot about politics and any other woes, and rang in 2018.In the capital, tens of thousands of people gathered along the Thames to witness what was undoubtedly the best fireworks show anywhere on the planet.OK, we may be biased but it was incredible.The show in London featured a soundtrack dominated by women to mark the centenary of women being granted the vote.More than 10,000 fireworks lit up the capital’s sky during that sol
  
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• 'Dancing On Ice' Star Max Evans Doubts Jason Gardiner's Credentials As A Judge

  01-01-2018 13:27
  ‘Dancing On Ice’ contestant Max Evans has admitted he’s not sure whether infamous judge Jason Gardiner is actually qualified to pass comment on contestants’ abilities.Throughout ITV’s first run of ‘Dancing On Ice’, the show became famous for Jason’s sharp put-downs, and ahead of his return to the panel, he’s promised he’ll be his usual honest self.However, it doesn’t as though former rugby pro Max will be losing sleep over what Ja
  
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• British politics deserves a breather

  01-01-2018 13:09
  Politicians might use this interval to wonder where a decade of retreat has got them
  
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• Britain’s political class deserves a breather

  01-01-2018 13:09
  Politicians might use this interval to wonder where a decade of retreat has got them
  
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• Young people see Labour as Scotland's radicals, new leader says

  01-01-2018 12:59
  Richard Leonard also hits out at SNP linking of second independence vote to Brexit and defends voting for article 50 in first newspaper interview since his electionYoung people now see Labour as the radicals in Scotland, according to the party’s new leader, Richard Leonard.In his first UK newspaper interview since his convincing victory in November’s leadership election, Leonard also said treating Scotland differently as Nicola Sturgeon demanded because it voted to remain in the EU w
  
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• Will Cousins Among Family Killed In Sydney Seaplane Crash

  01-01-2018 12:35
  A prominent anti-Brexit campaigner has been named as one of those killed when a seaplane crashed in Sydney, Australia, on New Year’s Eve.Will Cousins, just 25-years-old, was Head of Press for the Open Britain group.He died alongside his father Richard, 58, brother Edward, 23, and Richard’s fiancée, Emma Bowden, 48, and her daughter Heather Bowden, 11.Roland Rudd, Chairman of Open Britain, said: “All of us at Open Britain are devastated by the tragic loss of Will and
  
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• Meet The Wild Swimmers Who Brave The Cold Water All Year Round

  01-01-2018 12:27
  This January we’re launching Gym Buddies, an online fitness community to help make lasting changes towards a healthier lifestyle.Whatever your fitness level - complete beginner or seasoned pro looking for a new challenge - we’ve got something for you. For daily fitness motivation straight to your inbox, sign up to our newsletter here.If you’ve spent most of the Christmas period cocooned on the sofa drinking tea, the very sight of the hoards of wild swimmers desce
  
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• Kim Jong-Un Celebrates New Year By Revealing 'Nuclear Button' On His Desk

  01-01-2018 11:53
  Kim Jong-Un ushered in 2018 by warning the United States that he has a “nuclear button” on his desk ready for use if North Korea is threatened, but offered an olive branch to South Korea, saying he was “open to dialogue” with Seoul.After a year dominated by fiery rhetoric and escalating tensions over North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, Kim used his televised New Year’s Day speech to declare North Korea “a peace-loving and responsible nuclear power&rdq
  
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• 'Kiri' Writer Jack Thorne Reveals Plans For Grenfell Drama On Channel 4

  01-01-2018 11:47
  Screenwriter Jack Thorne has revealed his intention to pen a drama about the Grenfell Tower disaster.Jack, who penned 2016’s ‘National Treasure’ and the upcoming drama ‘Kiri’, has said he hopes to make a show about the tragedy on Channel 4, telling the Daily Star: “I think we’re all responsible and we’ve got to work out a way to come to terms with it.”He explained: “Grenfell is something we should be working out how to dramatise.“
  
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• 'Friends' Is Now Streaming On Netflix In The UK, Putting 2018 Off To A Great Start

  01-01-2018 10:53
  If you’re anything like us, then New Year’s Day is good for one thing and one thing only: curling up in your duvet and wishing you’d put your best foot forward for the rest of the year.Well, if that sounds anything like you - or even if it doesn’t, and you just fancy a few nostalgic chuckles to kick off 2018 - then Netflix has got you covered.Yes, all 10 series of ‘Friends’ are now available on the UK streaming service.Last week, UK Netflix dropped a hint that
  
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• BBC's McMafia Isn't Simply A Fast And Furious TV Show - The Themes Are All Too Real

  01-01-2018 10:43
  The presents have been opened, the turkeys have been roasted and the Boxing Day Sales are well underway – Christmas 2017 is over. And tonight, full of good intentions for the year ahead, the nation will sit down to watch a new drama about the murky world of organised crime.McMafia, which starts this evening, is the new multi-million pound series by the BBC, based on the book of the same name by Misha Glenny, who is an Advisor to Global Witness. The show focuses on corruption as the common
  
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• This Will Be The Year The Brexit Conundrum Finally Brings May And Her Tories Down

  01-01-2018 10:40
  2018 will be the year when finally the Brexit conundrum brings May and her Tories down. The differences within their party on what the exit deal must contain are so deep, they are simply irreconcilable. No amount of Tory soft soap can disguise that it’s impossible to cobble something together which keeps both Gove and Hammond happy, never mind the extreme Brexiteers on their backbenches who relish a mutiny.From the Tory Brexit ashes, Labour’s phoenix will rise. Jeremy Corbyn will tak
  
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• A Letter To The Teacher That Saved My Life

  01-01-2018 10:29
  Dear Mr Powell,You may not remember me, but about 26 years ago you probably saved my life.Back then I was a bespectacled, awkward 14-year-old. Whilst most of my peers were sneaking crafty cigarettes behind the bike sheds, playing sports and chasing girls, I was what you might call a “quiet one”.Back then was when depression was finally starting to impact on my life in a meaningful, destructive way.I didn’t mix well with others, preferring to spend most of my free time on my own
  
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• Theresa May considers Brexit role for Boris Johnson in cabinet reshuffle

  01-01-2018 10:14
  PM believed to be working on new year changes to refresh senior team and attempt to reassert her authorityTheresa May is preparing a new year reshuffle that could see a number of cabinet figures losing their positions in an attempt to refresh the Conservative front bench. The prime minister is said to be considering offering the foreign secretary, Boris Johnson a move to a Brexit delivery role based in another department, but he is likely to resist such a move.Continue reading...
  
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• Ministers Cannot Name A Single Country That Asked UK For A Post-Brexit Trade Deal

  01-01-2018 10:14
  Ministers steering the UK towards Brexit cannot point to a single country that has expressed an interest in striking a free trade deal. With the second set of negotiations set to accelerate in 2018, International Trade Secretary Liam Fox will be stepping up efforts to find trade deals the UK can sign after Brexit in 2019. But when challenged by Labour MP Stella Creasy over which foreign governments were queuing up to trade with the UK, his department floundered. Greg Hands, Trade
  
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• Mariah Carey Laments Lack Of 'Hot Tea' During New Year's Performance A Year On From 'Lip Sync' Blunder

  01-01-2018 10:03
  Mariah Carey made a triumphant return to the ‘New Year’s Rockin’ Eve’ stage on Sunday night, a year on from her infamous lip sync debacle, making only the briefest of pauses to request some hot tea.The pop diva was one of the stars on the line-up for ‘Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve With Ryan Seacrest’, performing live from Times Square to help see in 2018 in style.However, with temperatures in New York hitting below freezing over the cou
  
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• Richard Cousins, Son Will And Emma Bowden Among Five Brits Killed In Sydney Seaplane Crash

  01-01-2018 09:48
  A high-profile British businessman died in a seaplane crash on New Year’s Eve alongside his fiancee, his two sons William, 25, and Edward, 23 and her 11-year-old daughter.Richard Cousins, 58, was CEO of FTSE 100 company Compass Group – the world’s largest catering company – and was killed alongside Emma Bowden, 48, and her daughter Heather Bowden.William was a prominent anti-Brexit campaigner and Head of Press for Open Britain.All of us at Open Britain are devastated by t
  
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• Richard Cousins And Emma Bowden Among Five Brits Killed In Sydney Seaplane Crash

  01-01-2018 09:48
  A high-profile British businessman died in a seaplane crash on New Year’s Eve alongside his fiancee, his two sons William, 25, and Edward, 23 and her 11-year-old daughter.Richard Cousins, 58, was CEO of FTSE 100 company Compass Group – the world’s largest catering company – and died alongside Emma Bowden, 48, and her daughter Heather Bowden.Police said the group were on holiday in Australia from the UK, and were on a return flight to Sydney’s Rose Bay, close to Sydn
  
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• President Obama's Photographer On Why The Still Image Remains Vital In The Age Of Video

  01-01-2018 08:00
  “It doesn’t really matter how hard it was to get a certain photograph, what matters is how people react,” Pete Souza says.The veteran photojournalist who covered Barack Obama as Chief White House photographer has collected three hundred of his most iconic images in a new book, Obama: An Intimate Portrait.And in the age of video, Souza is a fierce advocate of the power of the still image. “With a still photograph the visual is still the most important component,&
  
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• Children Living Inside War-Torn Syria Share New Year Messages Of Hope

  01-01-2018 01:02
  Children from inside war-torn Syria have shared their hopes and dreams for 2018 with HuffPost UK. The youngsters are all living in the Areesheh makeshift camp in north-east Syria, where more than 25,000 internally displaced people, half estimated to be children, have sought shelter. Many have fled the violence in Deir-ez- Zor and Raqqa with little more than the clothes on their backs. Some had to endure a dangerous journey through minefields through daily attacks, siege and lack o
  
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