Political news

• May Under Fire For ‘Rolling Out The Red Carpet’ For Saudi Crown Prince UK Visit

  06-03-2018 23:38
  Theresa May has come under attack for “rolling out the red carpet” for Saudi Arabia after it emerged that its Crown Prince will be honoured with engagements with the Royal Family and ministers on his trip to the UK this week.Defence minister Prince Mohammed bin Salman will have lunch with the Queen on Wednesday, and dinner with the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge as Britain seeks to build closer economic security and defence ties.No.10 said that May will also express her &l
  
  Read more

• Philip Hammond: Financial Services Can Be Part Of Brexit Free Trade Agreement

  06-03-2018 23:30
  Financial services can and should be part of a trade agreement between the UK and the EU, Philip Hammond will argue in a major Brexit speech on Wednesday.The chancellor will use his keynote intervention in London to set out why it “makes sense” for Britain and the European Union to continue to work together on financial services, and that the sector should be part of a formal Free Trade Agreement (FTA).He will say: “It is time to address the sceptics who say a trade deal includ
  
  Read more

• EU Accuses Theresa May Of 'Double Cherry Picking' In Leaked Brexit Report

  06-03-2018 23:30
  EU officials have accused Theresa May of “double cherry picking” and failing to offer proper ways forward on Brexit, according to a leaked document. The internal report, seen by HuffPost UK, describes the PM’s Mansion House speech last week as “a change in tone, but not in substance” and claims it did more to bridge the gaps between warring factions of the Conservative Party than tackle key negotiating points.Sent to all 27 EU member states, the eight
  
  Read more

• Brussels and Paris to rebuff May’s Brexit hopes for City

  06-03-2018 23:30 via ft.com
  Blow to financial services as Tusk rules out preserving single market access
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Brexit deal: Hammond says financial services will not be frozen out

  06-03-2018 23:30 via theguardian.com
  Chancellor disputes French minister’s claim that trade deal cannot include financial sectorPhilip Hammond will insist on Wednesday that Britain can overcome EU opposition and include financial services in a post-Brexit free trade deal.The chancellor is expected to use a speech in the City to challenge the idea – voiced strongly by France’s finance minister on Tuesday – that financial services have never been included in trade deals because of their complexity and the risk
  
  Read more

• Harriet Harman hails the rise of 'Tory feminist' MPs

  06-03-2018 21:42 via theguardian.com
  New breed of Conservatives could help advance women’s issues, says veteran Labour MPHarriet Harman has claimed that the arrival in parliament of a fresh generation of “Tory feminist” MPs alongside men with modern attitudes has the power to boost the women’s rights movement.The Labour MP, who has been parliament’s leading feminist advocate for decades, said the changing nature of female Conservative politicians from the “doughty tweedy matrons” of the pas
  
  Read more

• Momentum ‘On Course’ To Have More Members Than The Tory Party

  06-03-2018 21:25
  Grassroots Labour group Momentum is on course to have more members than the entire Tory party within two years, its leaders have told HuffPost.Latest figures show the organisation, which powered Jeremy Corbyn to two landslide leadership victories, now has 36,000 members and is gaining new entrants at a rate of between a thousand and 1,500 a month.With some estimates suggesting the Conservatives having dwindled to around 70,000 members nationwide, Momentum will be bigger than the Government&rsquo
  
  Read more

• UK fears Kremlin involvement in Russian spy case

  06-03-2018 21:23 via ft.com
  Sergei Skripal and daughter Yulia remain in critical condition in Salisbury
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• The GKN debate reflects loss of trust in markets

  06-03-2018 20:48 via ft.com
  Free enterprise depends on a public mandate. It is not guaranteed
  
  Read more

• Strain increases on UK-Russia relations

  06-03-2018 20:33 via ft.com
  London and Moscow clash over Sergei Skripal mystery
  
  Read more

• Spy case puts further strain on UK-Russia ties

  06-03-2018 20:33 via ft.com
  Souring relations compromise business interests involving hefty investment flows each way
  
  Read more

• Steve Bell on Boris Johnson's comments about Russia – cartoon

  06-03-2018 20:25 via theguardian.com
  Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• May 'double cherry-picking' on Brexit, says leaked EU report

  06-03-2018 20:24 via theguardian.com
  Exclusive: Brussels analysis dismisses proposed model on trade as unworkableThe EU has dismissed Theresa May’s Brexit speech as being more about Conservative party management than putting forward sensible solutions on trade, according to an internal document leaked to the Guardian.The Brussels analysis of the prime minister’s address, issued to representatives of all 27 member states, described her intervention as “a change in tone, but not in substance”, warning that all
  
  Read more

• Bank of England to set up public panels to advise on the economy

  06-03-2018 20:11 via ft.com
  Andy Haldane says groups will be ‘new set of often-quieter voices to listen to’
  
  Read more

• Bank of England to draw on public understanding of economy

  06-03-2018 20:11 via ft.com
  Initiative aims to give ‘often quieter voices’ a platform on regional panels
  
  Read more

• Leicester Explosion: Seventh Man Arrested On Suspicion Of Manslaughter

  06-03-2018 19:55
  A seventh man has been arrested in connection with an explosion in Leicester that left five people dead. A man in his thirties from the East Midlands has been arrested this afternoon (Tuesday) on suspicion of manslaughter, Leicestershire Police said. He remains in custody and is being questioned by detectives.  Three members of the same family died when a Polish supermarket and a two-storey flat above it on Hinkley Road were destroyed in an explosion on February 25.Shane Rago
  
  Read more

• Duchess Of Cambridge Visits Primary School Putting Emotional Health Top Of The Curriculum

  06-03-2018 19:45
  The Duchess of Cambridge has visited an Oxford primary school to learn about the work of Family Links, a charity which supports the emotional health of children and their parents. Kate, who is seven months pregnant with her third child, was greeted at the gates of Pegasus Primary School by dozens of pupils waving flags.The 36-year-old royal met with parents, children and representatives from the Family Links programme, which integrates emotional health support into children’s educatio
  
  Read more

• David Cameron faces lobbying ban in new commercial roles

  06-03-2018 19:33 via bbc.co.uk
  Watchdog restricts former PM's dealings with ministers in life sciences and Chinese trade jobs.
  
  Read more

• IKEA Has Launched A New Sustainable Wellness And Yoga Collection

  06-03-2018 19:07
  Swedish furniture giant IKEA is due to release a limited edition sustainable home collection, with a focus on wellness and providing a relaxing escape from modern life.The HJÄRTELIG range is all about taking us away from our daily stresses when we get home, helping us immerse ourselves in tranquility and nature.It will include IKEA’s first ever yoga mat and blocks, as well as scented candles, bedding and plant pots. These items, where possible, will be made from sustainable natur
  
  Read more

• Nicola Sturgeon calls on Mark McDonald to resign as MSP

  06-03-2018 19:05 via theguardian.com
  Ex-minister quits SNP after inquiry substantiated claims of inappropriate behaviourNicola Sturgeon has urged her former childcare minister Mark McDonald to stand down as an MSP after he resigned from her party over inappropriate behaviour but refused to quit Holyrood.McDonald announced on Tuesday he had left the Scottish National party after three women accused him of unwanted and inappropriate behaviour, but he insisted he would stay on as independent MSP for Aberdeen Donside. Continue reading.
  
  Read more

• Jimmy Kimmel Fires Back At Donald Trump Over Oscars Tweet

  06-03-2018 19:00
  Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel has fired back at President Donald Trump, following the POTUS’s comments about this year’s ceremony.Because we’re in a position where the President slagging off the Academy Awards isn’t even a surprise anymore, Trump finally had his say on this year’s Oscars (two days later they happened...) on Tuesday (6 March).Referring to the ceremony’s low viewing figures, Trump tweeted: “Lowest rated Oscars in HISTORY.”He continued: &l
  
  Read more

• Brexit: carmakers step up warnings on impact of uncertainty

  06-03-2018 18:53 via theguardian.com
  Vauxhall owner suggests Astra plant’s future in doubt, as other chiefs say investment decisions held upCar manufacturers have stepped up warnings about the impact of Brexit on one of the UK’s key industries, led by suggestions from the owner of Vauxhall that the future of its Astra plant was in doubt.Jaguar Land Rover also said it could not plan to make electric cars in Britain until the terms of its departure from the EU were clear, as a series of industry executives called for clar
  
  Read more

• David Davis says Commons vote on withdrawal agreement won't be able to stop Brexit - Politics live

  06-03-2018 18:42 via theguardian.com
  Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including Brexit secretary David Davis giving evidence to the Commons European scrutiny committeeMay and Corbyn’s Brexit speeches fail to enthuse voters, poll suggestsDavid Davis’s evidence to European scrutiny committee - SummaryAfternoon summary 5.42pm GMT It really would save a lot of time and hassle if Boris preceded every Commons appearance, media interview and memo by saying: 'Please take none of this se
  
  Read more

• Sir Mo Farah Accuses Munich Airport Staff Of 'Racial Harassment'

  06-03-2018 18:38
  Sir Mo Farah has claimed to be the victim of “racial harassment” at Munich airport while travelling to his training camp in Ethiopia.The 34-year-old runner posted a video to social media in which a security guard at the German airport appears to repeatedly push him. “Sad to see racial harassment in this day and age. 2018...!!!! #airport #germany,” the four-time Olympic gold medalist tweeted alongside the clip this afternoon.  Sad to see racial harassment in
  
  Read more

• Lady Bird Should Never Have Left The Oscars Empty-Handed

  06-03-2018 18:31
  So that’s all, folks. Awards season is over. Time to pack up your predictions, your outrage and your penchant for pausing on the best (and worst) losing faces until next year.Many say that the Oscars get less and less surprising every year, but one of the biggest shockers of the season has got to be the fact that Greta Gerwig’s hilarious, bittersweet and so-damn-relatable Lady Bird went home empty-handed.What’s not to love? It’s funny, it’s frank, it’s painful
  
  Read more

• It’s Time The UK Started Showing Some Backbone In Its Relationship With Saudi Arabia

  06-03-2018 18:28
  Mohammad bin Salman is in the UK this week, making his first foreign trip as Saudi Arabia’s much-talked-about heir apparent.He has a busy first day to kick things off: a meeting with Theresa May in Downing Street in the afternoon, followed by dinner with the Queen at Windsor Castle in the evening. For a wealthy prince said to have recently bought the world’s most expensive home (Chateau Louis XIV in Louveciennes, near Versailles in France, asking price $300million) Windsor Castle may
  
  Read more

• David Willetts’ generational moan is a bit rich | Brief letters

  06-03-2018 18:26 via theguardian.com
  Generational injustice | Michele Hanson | Memory | Tabloid format | Meghan MarkleIsn’t it a bit rich for David Willetts (Report, 5 March) to bemoan the increasing tax burden on future generations when, as universities minister, he raised student debt level to £50,000?
  Martin Freedman
  London• I never got round to emailing Michele Hanson (Obituary, 6 March) to tell her how much I liked her writing, so before it’s too late will you let the lovely Nancy Banks-Smith know how mu
  
  Read more

• How I'm Teaching My Daughter About Gender Equality - One Card At A Time

  06-03-2018 18:20
  It was a forgettable October morning. Overcast. Drizzling. And I’m at home desperately trying to keep my delightfully energetic daughter entertained. Seeing as we’d already exhausted Lego, Pet Patrol, and coloured in every surface of the kitchen, she asked if I could teach her a card game. She’s only just turned five, so I opted to skip the poker tutorial, bypass the blackjack basics, and go for something a little less challenging instead. A game of high card. What could be tri
  
  Read more

• Energy Drinks Are Ruining Our Children's Education

  06-03-2018 18:16
  I think most parents would say that the world their children live in now is tougher than the one they grew up in.  Social media, increased peer pressure and longer, more challenging exams mean today’s students need to focus hard in school to achieve what they want for their future.As a teacher, I’m fortunate to work in an organisation that puts excellent teaching at the core of what we do.  But even with the best support, the most talented teacher will need to be firing on
  
  Read more

• Greg James Reflects On His Sport Relief Challenge: 'I Don't Recognise The Person That Did It'

  06-03-2018 17:57
  This time last week, Greg James had an unwinnable battle on his hands. While most of us were facing weather-related issues as the “Beast from the East” hit the UK, the Radio 1 DJ was attempting to climb the Three Peaks and cycle the distance between them for Sport Relief. As listeners of his Radio 1 show will know, Greg was forced to call it all off on day four and after a well-earned weekend of “rest and doing nothing”, he’s busy digesting everything that happ
  
  Read more

• Oliviers 2018: 'Hamilton' Dominates With Record-Breaking Nominations

  06-03-2018 17:52
  In news that will come as a surprise to precisely zero theatre fans, ‘Hamilton’ has set a new record for the Olivier Awards, becoming the most nominated show in its 43 years.The rap musical, written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, centres around a reimagined version of the life of US Founding Father Alexander Hamilton.Following its monster success on Broadway, a West End production opened to rave reviews at the tail end of last year, and it’s now received an impressive 13 nominations at
  
  Read more

• Volvo’s Polestar 1 Hybrid Muscle Car Looks Stunning

  06-03-2018 17:43
  When you think of the word ‘muscle car’ it’s likely that the gas-guzzling icons such as the old Ford Mustang and the Chevrolet Camaro will immediately spring to mind.While iconic, they are not environmentally friendly cars, they never have been. Buying and owning one comes with the acceptance that you are sacrificing some part of the ozone layer for your own pleasure.Volvo however thinks it has a solution to this moral problem and it’s called the Polestar 1.Designed and b
  
  Read more

• Melrose's £7bn bid for GKN poses threat to UK security, MPs told

  06-03-2018 17:41 via theguardian.com
  Melrose bosses say they will not sell parts of business to China or Russia after warning from unionA proposed £7bn hostile takeover of the UK engineering company GKN by the turnaround specialist Melrose poses a threat to Britain’s national security and must be stopped by the government, MPs have been told.Union leaders said Melrose’s strategy of buying companies and holding on to them for just three to five years was incompatible with GKN, which supplies parts and technology to
  
  Read more

• Five Signs There Could Be Trouble Ahead For A US-UK Post- Brexit Trade Deal

  06-03-2018 17:13
  The spotlight is trained once again on the possibility of a UK-USA trade deal post-Brexit, after Theresa May revealed her “deep concern” about plans to impose tariffs on steel and aluminium imports to the United States.In a phone call with Donald Trump on Sunday afternoon, the prime minister reacted to a series of tweets sent by the president attacking “very stupid” trade deals.Trump has said he plans to slap a 25% tariff on steel imports and 10% on aluminium next week.Th
  
  Read more

• Fostering Has Completely Changed My Life

  06-03-2018 17:07
  My partner Ross and I have looked after 11 children since starting fostering in 2014 and currently care for two teenagers. If you’d told me I would meet the man of my dreams and have a family a few years ago I would not have believed you. Fostering has completely, absolutely changed my life.We met on the internet 13 years ago. Ross was going on five dates a week hoping to bag a man and I was Mr Tuesday, he never got to Wednesday! I knew from the minute we met we were meant to be and we&rsq
  
  Read more

• Why We Are Walking To The End Of The Earth For Prematurity

  06-03-2018 17:02
  This April, we won’t be going away with the family for the Easter holidays or throwing ourselves into our many commitments.   We are setting all of those pressing priorities aside to join a very special expedition, braving the extreme cold and desolate emptiness of a frozen ocean, to walk to the North Pole. We will be walking eight hours daily across constantly moving sea ice, navigating through cracks in the ice opening into the ocean as well as ridges and rubble created by
  
  Read more

• Brexit Or Breaks-it? Will Leaving The EU Cause The NHS To Collapse?

  06-03-2018 16:54
  When Bevan launched the NHS in 1948, he had a vision that bound healthcare and equality. Uniting our citizens, the NHS is iconic to our nation, but as it approaches its 70th birthday, it is sad to think its demise may not be too far off. As it is, the NHS faces huge pressures which put it on the brink of collapsing – could Brexit be the tipping point? Leaving the EU will impact staffing, funding and research to name a few, and unless negotiations are made with utmost vigilance, the NHS wil
  
  Read more

• I’m a Sinn Féin MP. This is why I won’t go to Westminster, even over Brexit | Paul Maskey

  06-03-2018 16:50 via theguardian.com
  Irish republicans have been urged to sit in the British parliament, but that’s not what I was elected for. It should have no part in governing the people of IrelandFor 100 years now, Irish republicans have refused to validate British sovereignty over the island of Ireland by sitting in the parliament of Westminster. As an abstentionist Sinn Féin MP, I can provide an Irish republican perspective on this issue.To the British public, it may seem strange to stand for election to an inst
  
  Read more

• Spectre of Russian interference in UK returns with Skripal spy case

  06-03-2018 16:27 via ft.com
  It will be hard for Britain to brush the ex-agent’s possible poisoning under the carpet
  
  Read more

• Guy Verhofstadt: MEPs need 100% certainty on citizens' rights

  06-03-2018 16:14 via bbc.co.uk
  The European Parliament's Brexit chief wants to avoid a "bureaucratic nightmare" for EU citizens.
  
  Read more

• Free Movement Will Not Stop The Changes To The Border That People Really Want

  06-03-2018 16:01
  The history of humanity is the history of human migration. To ask whether migration is a good or bad thing is as absurd as asking whether we should have stayed as hunter-gatherers, living in nomadic tribes, or whether the development of agriculture was a positive move. Migration is a fact of life.Every continent and country is shaped by the movement of people across its contours: people in search of resources, land, religious freedom, political asylum and the opportunity for a better life. Europ
  
  Read more

• UK to respond ‘robustly’ if Russia poisoned MI6 double agent

  06-03-2018 15:54 via ft.com
  Sergei Skripal and daughter Yulia remain in critical condition in Salisbury
  
  Read more

• There Are Lessons To Be Learnt From Anthony Joshua's Comments

  06-03-2018 15:52
  A post shared by Anthony Joshua (@anthony_joshua) on Jan 17, 2018 at 2:04am PSTBoxer Anthony Joshua faced massive backlash last weekend after comments he made in an interview back in March 2017 regarding how he disciplines his son compared to how he disciplines his niece resurfaced and went viral.Many felt his comments were ‘sexist’ as he described how he was stricter with his niece who needed to ‘learn family morals’ and that she would one day ‘be someone’s w
  
  Read more

• Local elections: Photo ID needed at some polling stations

  06-03-2018 15:49 via bbc.co.uk
  In some parts of England for local elections in May, voters in several pilot areas will be asked to provide photo ID.
  
  Read more

• 'Flippy' The Burger-Flipping Robot Starts Work In California

  06-03-2018 15:28
  Head over to Caliburger in Pasadena, US and you’ll now be able to enjoy a delicious cheeseburger cooked entirely by a robot rather affectionately named ‘Flippy’.Rather than being a publicity stunt or a gimmick ‘Flippy’ has started full-time employment this week and will begin a 24/7 shift during which it will make up to 150 freshly cooked burgers every hour.This isn’t a one-off either, the company that owns Caliburger has signed an agreement with the robotics
  
  Read more

• Brain prize winner calls Brexit a 'disaster' for the NHS and science

  06-03-2018 15:22 via theguardian.com
  Pioneering dementia scientist Prof John Hardy to donate prize money to anti-Brexit groupA predicted exodus of European doctors, nurses and care workers following Brexit will be disastrous for Alzheimer’s patients and their families, according to a pioneering dementia scientist who was on Tuesday named as a joint recipient of the world’s most prestigious prize in neuroscience.Speaking at a press conference in London ahead of the announcement of the winners of the 2018 Brain prize, Pro
  
  Read more

• So, Theresa May, renters are human beings too? It doesn’t feel like it | Penny Anderson

  06-03-2018 15:05 via theguardian.com
  The private rented sector is a harrowing, insecure place. If only the prime minister had asked us tenants how to fix itWe know she was sincere, because she had earlier donned the sacred hi-vis vest of truth. According to Theresa May, I am still a person even though I am a renter. Arguably the most condescending pronouncement of her reign so far was delivered against an unfortunate brick-wall backdrop, creating an open goal for the obvious metaphor generation (suggesting she was bricking it or ha
  
  Read more

• France To Fix Legal Age Of Consent At 15 After Rape Acquittals Outrage

  06-03-2018 15:03
  France will fix the legal age of consent at 15, meaning sex with anyone younger is automatically considered rape.Although the age of consent is currently set at 15, prosecutors have to prove in court that it was non-consensual in order to secure a rape conviction.The reform on Tuesday comes following two recent cases where men avoided rape charges despite having sex with 11-year-old girls.Last year, a 30-year-old man was acquitted of rape after a court decided that an 11-year-old he ha
  
  Read more

• UK prison reforms target role of organised crime

  06-03-2018 15:01 via ft.com
  Criminal justice groups call for shift of focus from drugs to crowding
  
  Read more

• Prison reforms target role of organised crime

  06-03-2018 15:01 via ft.com
  Criminal justice groups call for shift of focus from drugs to crowding
  
  Read more

Follow @political_UKnws on Twitter!