Political news

• Northern Ireland 'may become part of EU customs territory'

  27-02-2018 23:46 via bbc.co.uk
  The proposal is part of a draft legal text to be adopted by the European Commission, RTE reports.
  
  Read more

• Young Tories Promised Boozy Nights With MPs If They Help Campaign

  27-02-2018 23:42
  Young Tory activists are being promised boozy nights with MPs in exchange for campaigning for the party, HuffPost UK has learned.In an email seen by HuffPost UK, Conservative Central Headquarters (CCHQ) wants MPs to host drinks receptions and arrange trips to Parliament for young members who campaign and help with “local work”.The suggestion of MP-organised booze-ups comes after police were called to one get-together of young Tory members when a fight broke out between two activists
  
  Read more

• Theresa May 'will refuse Brexit deal that threatens UK integrity'

  27-02-2018 23:31 via theguardian.com
  No 10 draws line in sand after Boris Johnson hints at return of hard border in Ireland
  Theresa May was preparing to warn the EU that she would not sign up to “anything that threatens the constitutional integrity of the UK” as Boris Johnson was accused of hinting that a hard border could be reintroduced in Ireland.A senior government source told of the prime minister’s intentions after reports that a legal document, to be finalised on Tuesday by the European commission, would in
  
  Read more

• Philip Hammond's Own Council Warns It Is Facing 'Cash Crisis'

  27-02-2018 22:55
  Philip Hammond’s own local council has warned it is facing a cash crisis thanks to government cuts.Cllr David Hodge, Conservative leader of Surrey Council - which includes the chancellor’s Runnymede and Weighbridge constituency - told a full council meeting earlier this month their government funding had been slashed by £200 million since 2010.“We’re facing the most difficult financial crisis in our history,” a local news site reported.“The government ca
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Boris Johnson in storm over Brexit and Northern Ireland

  27-02-2018 22:50 via ft.com
  Foreign secretary plays down issue in leaked letter and radio interview
  
  Read more

• Michel Barnier expresses frustration with David Davis over Brexit talks

  27-02-2018 22:30 via ft.com
  Transition issues pile up as EU negotiator bemoans absence of opposite number
  
  Read more

• Max Mosley Confronted By Channel 4 News's Cathy Newman Over 'Racist Leaflet' During Extraordinary Interview

  27-02-2018 22:23
  Ex-Formula One boss Max Mosley has denied he is racist during an extraordinary live interview over a leaflet, which allegedly branded “coloured” immigrants a health risk, issued by an election campaign he was involved with.Mosley, who is the son of British wartime fascist Sir Oswald Mosley, went on Channel 4 News to defend himself after the programme said it had found a 1961 election leaflet that suggested immigrants were bringing disease to the UK and threatening jobs.The pamphlet s
  
  Read more

• Labour MPs Warn Corbyn Of Party Resignations If Ken Livingstone Suspension Lifted

  27-02-2018 21:44
  Labour MPs are warning Jeremy Corbyn they could quit their seats if Ken Livingstone’s suspension from the party is lifted, HuffPost has learned.A string of backbenchers raised the issue at the weekly meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) on Monday, predicting “departures” of MPs and many members if allegations of anti-semitism were not fully investigated.It emerged this weekend that no internal inquiry had yet started into remarks by Livingstone suggesting Hitler was
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Russian ambassador summoned over Syria

  27-02-2018 21:27 via bbc.co.uk
  The Foreign Office urges Moscow to ensure the Assad regime observes a truce in Eastern Ghouta.
  
  Read more

• Steve Bell on Boris Johnson and the Irish border – cartoon

  27-02-2018 20:50 via theguardian.com
  Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Boris Johnson Relaxed At Prospect Of Hard Border In Ireland, Leaked Letter Reveals

  27-02-2018 20:44
  Boris Johnson appears relaxed about the prospect of a hard border in Ireland after Brexit, according to a leaked letter.In the document, seen by Sky News, the foreign secretary tells Theresa May “it is wrong to see the task as maintaining ‘no border’” on the island after March 2019 and that the government’s role will be to “stop this border becoming significantly harder”.Johnson, who on Tuesday compared the border between Northern Ireland and the Re
  
  Read more

• Scots and Welsh set up Brexit legislative stand-off with Westminster

  27-02-2018 20:43 via ft.com
  Edinburgh and Cardiff prepare emergency laws on devolved powers
  
  Read more

• Northamptonshire adult care services 'on verge of being unsafe'

  27-02-2018 19:49 via theguardian.com
  Cash-strapped council says up to 2,000 cases involving older and disabled people are unassignedCare services for older and disabled adults are on the verge of being unsafe in Northamptonshire, the crisis-ridden county council has said, with as many as 2,000 cases unassigned because of major budget cuts.The Tory-run council, which declared it was close to effective bankruptcy earlier this month, was given the prognosis by senior officials as it sought to agree a additional £10m cuts program
  
  Read more

• The Guardian view on public transport: end austerity, trust the state | Editorial

  27-02-2018 19:39 via theguardian.com
  A council bankruptcy exposes how the Treasury hijacked devolution as a way of palming off responsibility to local councils for making cuts, while keeping the power to make policy. That has to changeNorthamptonshire county council’s bankruptcy was made in Downing Street. Up and down the country there are increasing numbers of local examples of the ruinous effects of austerity. Each is unhappy in its own way but, when aggregated together, they reveal how an entire social infrastructure is be
  
  Read more

• Amber Rudd's warning over fighting against IS

  27-02-2018 19:19 via bbc.co.uk
  The home secretary is asked in Parliament about a former soldier charged under anti-terror laws.
  
  Read more

• Today's Report On The Mental Health Act Exposes A Broken System

  27-02-2018 18:39
  This morning the Care Quality commission published their annual report, ‘Monitoring the Mental Health Act 2016/7’. The report finds, once again, that too many patients who are detained under the Mental Health Act continue to experience care that does not fully protect their rights or ensure their wellbeing. Even worse, the report finds that, compared to previous years’ reports, the situation is not improving. Detentions made under the Mental Health Act continue to rise. The rat
  
  Read more

• Police Condemn 'Dangerous' Devon Group That's Photographing Homeless People To Expose 'Professional Beggars'

  27-02-2018 18:36
  Police in Devon have condemned a group that claims to be photographing homeless people and threatening to expose those who are “professional beggars”.The campaign sets out to photograph rough sleepers in Torquay and threatens to publish their photos if they do not leave, saying only two of the 17 people photographed in the town were genuinely homeless.One of the organisers posted a photo of a rough sleeper to Facebook, calling them ”#Fakehomeless” and claiming they had ma
  
  Read more

• 'It's still pie in the sky': Remain voters on Corbyn and Brexit

  27-02-2018 18:13 via theguardian.com
  We asked our readers what they make of the current state of the Brexit negotiations
  Boris Johnson’s Brexit position may be famously pro cake and pro eating it, but Guardian reading remain voters fear Labour’s own position may also be too heavily dependent on magical thinking. Related: The Guardian view on Labour’s custom union plan: realistic and smart | EditorialContinue reading...
  
  Read more

• Looks We Love: Statement Hair Slides

  27-02-2018 18:04
  We Love...Hair slides that make an impact, as seen on Alexa Chung across London Fashion Week. Chung wore a pearl Simone Rocha set. A post shared by Alexa (@alexachung) on Feb 18, 2018 at 2:32am PSTWhy It WorksThe simplicity of these hair clips gives a ’90s throwback feel without looking like a ‘Fresh Prince of Bel Air’ living reference. It’s a hassle free trend that keeps your hair out of your face and negates the need for any other accessory. It’s a trend
  
  Read more

• Toby Young's OfS appointment was questionable – minister

  27-02-2018 17:53 via theguardian.com
  But Sam Gyimah defends No 10’s role in blocking union candidates for Office for StudentsThe government has admitted there were “question marks” over the botched appointment of Toby Young to the board of the higher education regulator, but defended Downing Street’s blocking of candidates linked to student unions.Facing criticism in parliament over a report into nominations for the Office for Students by the public appointments watchdog, the higher education minister, Sam G
  
  Read more

• Cambridge Analytica boss denies working on Brexit campaign

  27-02-2018 17:51 via theguardian.com
  Arron Banks ‘wrong’ to claim data firm provided services to Leave.EU, Alexander Nix tells fake news inquiryThe chief executive of the big data marketing firm Cambridge Analytica has denied claims by a prominent Brexiter that his company worked on a pro-leave campaign during a tense hearing in front of a House of Commons committee.Alexander Nix told the digital, culture, media and sport committee inquiry into fake news that Cambridge Analytica had never worked on the Brexit referendum
  
  Read more

• Violence Against Women Is Everywhere And It Needs To Stop

  27-02-2018 17:46
  I have spent more than 15 years of travelling around the many diverse parts of the world. I have visited jungles in Nicaragua, small villages in Madagascar and slums in Senegal. I have been to rural villages in Afghanistan, the beautiful architectural cities of Europe and tiny islands in the Indian Ocean. I have spent time with Yezidis in Northern Iraq, travelled through the remote countryside of Tajikistan and visited small villages in China. Regardless of whether I am in a bustling city in Arg
  
  Read more

• Peter Hain tables Brexit amendment to ensure frictionless Irish border

  27-02-2018 17:46 via theguardian.com
  Former Northern Ireland secretary says he fears government has no planThe former Northern Ireland secretary Peter Hain has tabled an amendment to the Brexit bill to force the government to guarantee in law a frictionless Irish border, saying he fears Theresa May’s administration “has no real solution” to the problem. Lord Hain said when asked why he tabled the amendment: “I’ve become increasingly concerned, as former secretary of state for Northern Ireland, that the
  
  Read more

• Let's Get Inventive With Our Mental Health Policy

  27-02-2018 17:45
  It has become all too common in recent times for a politician to single out mental health as something that needs to be prioritised and funded properly so as to get an easy applause on Question Time. However, while increased funding helps, it is about time that we get inventive with mental health policy, so that we aren’t sitting here in 10 years’ time regurgitating the same ‘we must prioritise mental health’ line.Firstly, we need to address the incredible lack
  
  Read more

• Housing Secretary Fails To Spend £72m Affordable Homes Cash Despite UK-Wide Crisis

  27-02-2018 17:44
  Housing Secretary Sajid Javid was forced to “surrender” £72m in affordable homes cash as it was deemed “no longer required” this year.  Javid has admitted a total of £817m of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s (MHCLG) budget is being sent back to the Treasury as his department had failed to spend the cash. In an “explanatory memo”, Javid, who had housing added to his communities and local gove
  
  Read more

• Trans model Munroe Bergdorf to advise Labour on LGBT issues

  27-02-2018 17:40 via theguardian.com
  Conservatives say controversial comments on race made last year make her unsuitable for the postThe transgender model Munroe Bergdorf has been appointed as an LGBT adviser to the Labour party in a move that has been criticised by the Conservatives because of her previous controversial comments. Bergdorf said on social media she was “absolutely delighted” to be part of a panel to support the shadow equalities minister, Dawn Butler. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• The Answer To Oxfam’s Safeguarding Problems Is Not Enhanced DBS Checks

  27-02-2018 17:26
  Of all the things in the press recently about Oxfam, comments by the charity’s former head of safeguarding stood out. Helen Evans, who was head of safeguarding from 2012 to 2015, said that “children were being left alone with adults who hadn’t been criminal record checked”. This has led to questions being asked of Oxfam and other charity shops as to whether they do criminal record checks on their volunteers.Oxfam have said that “all 900 shop and deputy shop managers
  
  Read more

• Nifty Gadgets To Make Travelling For Work A Little Less Stressful

  27-02-2018 17:18
  You’re ready for your next business trip. You’ve got the tech you need: phone, laptop, Kindle, adapters for every global region and enough cables to connect a small city. You rely on your tech for both work and downtime but you don’t want to have to worry about it.A recent survey by Crowne Plaza® Hotels & Resorts showed that around a quarter of business travellers consider staying in touch with family and friends back home a top priority, using their downtime to communi
  
  Read more

• Grenfell Tower Fire: Nearly 100 Blocks Of Flats Have Failed Safety Checks Since Disaster

  27-02-2018 17:18
  Nearly 100 towers and multi-storey apartment blocks in England and Wales have failed fire safety checks since the Grenfell Tower blaze, HuffPost UK can reveal, as experts call on the Government to reform systemic failures in fire safety laws.In the wake of the disaster, inspectors have discovered residential buildings which have never had a mandatory fire risk assessment, contain limited escape routes and feature poorly-maintained safety equipment.In total, 99 purpose-built blocks of four s
  
  Read more

• Unite’s Jennie Formby Declares Candidacy For Labour General Secretary

  27-02-2018 17:12
  Veteran trade unionist Jennie Formby has formally declared she wants to become Labour’s next General Secretary, highlighting her strong allegiance to Jeremy Corbyn and his bid to bring “socialist change” to Britain.Amid growing calls for a woman to be appointed to the post, Unite’s former political director also stressed her long record in fighting for “gender equality” in the workplace.Formby’s swift move to apply for the vacancy left by Iain McNicol no
  
  Read more

• McDonald's And Nando's Aren't Serving You Standard McCain Oven Chips

  27-02-2018 17:08
  Before you stock up on McCain Oven Chips, we have some bad news: you can’t recreate your favourite fast food fries simply by bunging the supermarket-bought chips in the oven.This weekend Nando’s hit headlines when an employee revealed the chain dishes up frozen McCain chips to customers. Some publications were quick to point out other fast food chains, including McDonald’s, use McCain as a key potato supplier. But what many headlines failed to mention was that the McC
  
  Read more

• Brexit: Liam Fox warning of customs union 'sellout'

  27-02-2018 17:02 via bbc.co.uk
  The UK must not give up "control" of its trade policy to the EU after Brexit, Liam Fox says.
  
  Read more

• Madonna, Step Away From The ‘Songwriting Camps’

  27-02-2018 16:49
  In February 2015, Madonna fell on her arse. You saw it. I saw it. It was splashed over every magazine, newspaper and gossip site for days afterwards. Everyone had an opinion on it, whether you were laughing it up, dying of embarrassment or just feeling downhearted to see a woman once heralded as the saviour of pop music dragged to the floor live on television. Suffice to say, it was a moment the whole world was talking about.Four years earlier, in a slightly brighter moment for Madonna, she had
  
  Read more

• MWC 2018 Round-Up: From Nokia's Banana Phone To The Samsung Galaxy S9

  27-02-2018 16:47
  Mobile World Congress 2018 (or MWC) is always guaranteed to provide you with some of the coolest (and weirdest) gadgets of the year.2018 was of course no exception with Samsung unveiling its Galaxy S9 smartphone. Yet in addition to being the home of the flagship smartphone this year’s MWC produced some truly weird products, most notable of which was Nokia’s ‘banana’ phone.To help cut through all the dry press releases we’ve rounded up the most exciting (and bizarre)
  
  Read more

• ‘Coronation Street’ Pre-Watershed Heroin Scene Sparks Ofcom Complaints

  27-02-2018 16:47
  The latest instalment of ‘Coronation Street’ sparked more than 80 complaints to Ofcom, from viewers who were unhappy with Billy Mayhew’s descent into heroin addiction. The episode, which aired on Monday (26 February), saw Billy take the drug for the first time, with his brother Lee, after weeks of abusing methadone. And while the pair were not shown taking the heroin, one scene saw them slumped against the pews in church after doing so:Oh Billy, what have you done? #Corrie
  
  Read more

• Together we can stop children’s mental health services being cut | Louise Irvine and Tony O’Sullivan

  27-02-2018 16:29 via theguardian.com
  Councillors in a London borough backed down when the community confronted them. As local elections approach, it’s time to step up the pressureThere is growing concern about the rising rates of mental illness in children and young people, for whom suicide is one of the leading causes of death. One in 10 children between the ages of five and 16 has a clinically diagnosable mental problem, and many go into adulthood with serious unresolved problems. Indeed 50% of mental health problems in adu
  
  Read more

• Disneyland Paris Is Undergoing A Huge Expansion And It Sounds Magical

  27-02-2018 16:15
  Dig out your passport because Disneyland Paris is about to undergo a huge expansion based on your favourite films. The Walt Disney Studios Park will be home to three new areas based on Marvel, ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Frozen’. So far developers have been fairly tight-lipped about what the areas will include, although we do know a new hotel - called Disney’s Hotel New York: The Art of Marvel - is on the horizon, which will nod to the worlds of ‘Iron Man&
  
  Read more

• Liam Fox and Boris Johnson show Brexiters are losing the argument

  27-02-2018 16:08 via ft.com
  Those in favour of leaving the EU are failing to address the UK’s serious situation
  
  Read more

• SpaceX Starlink: Elon Musk's Plan To Cover The Globe In Superfast Internet

  27-02-2018 15:54
  Not content with revolutionising electric cars, space travel, renewable energy in the home or high-speed transportation Elon Musk has another big plan to change the world.Called Starlink, it’s an ambitious plan to cover the entire globe with superfast internet using a vast network of satellites, the first two of which were placed in orbit this week.First envisioned by Musk back in 2015, Starlink has managed to move from paper to the launch pad in less than three years.As of June 2017,
  
  Read more

• A 'latte levy' isn't nearly enough – Starbucks must do more | Ellie Mae O’Hagan

  27-02-2018 15:45 via theguardian.com
  Charging for disposable cups and paying a little more tax do nothing to reduce the harm caused by business as usualI suppose we should welcome the news that Starbucks is planning to introduce a “latte levy” – in other words, a charge for customers using a disposable cup. In our heady era of high consumption, anything that encourages a bit of sustainability can’t be bad. And yet, doesn’t it all just feel a bit … inadequate? Related: Starbucks trials 5p takeawa
  
  Read more

• Beast From The East Claims First Victims As Snow Causes Fatal Car Crashes

  27-02-2018 15:38
  Four people have died in car crashes amidst heavy snow across Britain.Three were killed in a crash in Lincolnshire and another man died after a collision in Cambridgeshire on Tuesday morning.The Met Office said several centimetres of snow had fallen in some parts overnight, with between 3cm and 4cm in Newcastle and Northumberland.Motorists have been warned to take extra care on the roads and drive in a manner suited to the snowy conditions.Three people have sadly died following a collision
  
  Read more

• Record Number Make Recovery From Mental Ill Health Due To NHS Talking Therapies

  27-02-2018 15:26
  A record number of people made a recovery from mental ill health after receiving NHS talking therapy last year, with almost half of people completing a course of treatment for depression or anxiety recovering, a new report has revealed.The annual report on Improving Access to Psychological Therapies services (IAPT) defined recovery as when a person begins therapy as a “clinical case”, meaning their symptoms of mental ill health are severe, but symptoms are no longer classed
  
  Read more

• Liam Fox says former top civil servant stuck in past for fearing hard Brexit

  27-02-2018 15:24 via theguardian.com
  Martin Donnelly said divergence from EU was like swapping three-course meal for packet of crispsLiam Fox has criticised a former chief civil servant for “sticking to the patterns of the past” by saying the UK would be damaged for diverging from the EU after Brexit. The international trade secretary cast the civil servant, Sir Martin Donnelly, as a cautious bureaucrat who had spent too long in Brussels.Answering questions following a speech on Brexit in London, Fox dismissed the words
  
  Read more

• Could Theresa May lose the customs union vote?

  27-02-2018 15:22 via ft.com
  Key questions concerning what might happen if Tory Remainers join forces with Labour  
  
  Read more

• UK's Plans For Irish Border Don't Exist Anywhere Else In The World, Warns Ex-WTO Chief

  27-02-2018 15:15
  There will need to be a physical border with Ireland after Brexit if the UK leaves the customs union, the former head of the World Trade Organisation has confirmed.Speaking to MPs, Pascal Lamy dismissed the idea the UK could operate an invisible border on the island of Ireland while also having different trade tariffs with the EU.He shot down the Government’s plan for a “virtual border”, saying such a customs arrangement does not exist anywhere in the world.Lamy, who served as
  
  Read more

• Duchess Of Cambridge Reunited With Midwife Who Assisted At Princess Charlotte's Birth

  27-02-2018 15:09
  The Duchess of Cambridge shared a joyous reunion with a midwife who assisted during the birth of Princess Charlotte.Kate embraced Professor Jacqueline Dunkley-Bent after spotting her among the guests during a visit to the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) in north-west London today [Tuesday 27 February].Professor Dunkley-Bent was photographed in uniform outside St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, London, following the birth of Princess Charlotte in 2015. It was re
  
  Read more

• Trans Model Munroe Bergdorf 'Thrilled' To Advise Labour MP On LGBT+ Issues

  27-02-2018 15:07
  Transgender model and campaigner Munroe Bergdorf has been asked to informally advise a Labour shadow minister on LGBT+ issues.Announcing the move on Twitter, Bergdorf said she was “thrilled” to help shadow equalities minister Dawn Butler.The 29-year-old said she wanted to help Labour “form and push through fairer and more effective policy change”. Bergdorf was sacked by L’Oréal last year after amid a backlash over her comments about the&nb
  
  Read more

• Simon Thomas Has Holly Willoughby And Phillip Schofield In Tears With Tragic Story Of Wife's Death On 'This Morning'

  27-02-2018 14:39
  Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield were moved to tears on Tuesday’s (27 February) ‘This Morning’, as former ‘Blue Peter’ presenter Simon Thomas recounted how he shared the news of his wife’s death with his eight-year-old son. In November, Simon’s wife, Gemma, visited her doctors to complain of a headache. After three visits in under a week, and a dash to A&E, Gemma was eventually diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia.Sadly, she died just th
  
  Read more

• A customs union won’t help – there is no such thing as a ‘soft’ Brexit | Vernon Bogdanor

  27-02-2018 14:35 via theguardian.com
  The real choice facing Britain is stark: between a ‘hard’ Brexit and remaining a fully paid-up member of the European UnionThe Labour party now supports Britain remaining in a customs union after Brexit. That is also the view of at least 10 Conservative MPs, such as Anna Soubry and Nicky Morgan, who have put an amendment to this effect in the Commons. Theresa May’s government therefore faces a real danger of being defeated on this issue by a cross-party coalition. It is easy to
  
  Read more

• Corbyn on state aid: Fact-checked

  27-02-2018 14:30
  
  The Labour leader made his opposition to the EU's state aid rules a key point in his argument on Brexit, but how many of them actually stack up?
  
  Read more

Follow @political_UKnws on Twitter!