Political news

• Brexit: David Davis 'can live' with shorter EU transition

  14-03-2018 23:59 via bbc.co.uk
  The Brexit secretary says his main priority is to secure an agreement on the transition period.
  
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• Sofia Solidarity Centre: Court Evicts Dozens Of Rough Sleepers From London Building Despite Safety Fears

  14-03-2018 23:50
  Rough sleepers who have taken refuge in a disused central London building for the past two weeks face an uncertain future after a court approved their immediate eviction. Activists established the makeshift shelter in the four-storey Sofia House on Great Portland Street on March 1 as the so-called Beast from the East hit the UK. Dubbed the Sofia Solidarity Centre (SCC), the centre saw up to 200 rough sleepers arrive each night to sleep, as as freezing conditions blanketed the city in s
  
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• 'Sofia Solidarity Centre': Court Evicts Dozens Of Rough Sleepers From London Building Despite 'Death' Fears

  14-03-2018 23:50
  Rough sleepers who have taken refuge in a disused central London building for the past two weeks face uncertain futures after a court approved their immediate eviction. Activists from Street Kitchen set-up a make-shift shelter in the four-story Sofia House on Great Portland Street on March 1, aptly dubbing it the ‘Sofia Solidarity Centre’ (SCC), and over the following days claimed up to 200 rough sleepers a night called it “home”, as freezing conditions blankete
  
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• US believes Russia responsible for nerve agent attack in Britain

  14-03-2018 23:43 via ft.com
  London expels 23 Russian diplomats in retaliation for poisoning of former spy Skripal
  
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• Russian Ambassador Says 'Sherlock Holmes Is Needed' In Extraordinary Spy Poisoning Denial At United Nations

  14-03-2018 22:33
  Russia has likened the British government to the “hapless” police inspector in the Sherlock Holmes books as it made an extraordinary denial of involvement in the poisoning of ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the UK.Addressing the United Nations Security Council after Theresa May announced Russian diplomats are to be thrown out of the UK following the attempted murder, the Russian permanent representative to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, insisted on “material proof&rdq
  
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• UK accused of falling short with its response to Russia

  14-03-2018 21:09 via ft.com
  Critics of Putin say Moscow is likely to view riposte to nerve agent attack as weak
  
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• Salisbury Nerve Agent Attack: Have The Russian Spy Expulsions Given Theresa May Her ‘Falklands Moment'?

  14-03-2018 20:07
  Ever since her disastrous snap election of 2017, Theresa May has seen a succession of critics rub salt into her self-inflicted wounds.Cannon to the Left of her, cannon to the Right of her, she has been under attack over her handling of everything from the Grenfell Tower disaster to Brexit.Her party conference coughing fit led to mutterings of a Tory plot to depose her, while the warring Leave and Remain elements in her party continue an uneasy truce. Only yesterday, the Chancellor’s e
  
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• UK 'Tit-For-Tat' Row With Russia Will Escalate Within Days, Reveals Cabinet Source

  14-03-2018 19:39
  The UK’s “tit for tat” row with Russia is set to escalate, a senior Cabinet source has warned as neither country “wants to be the first not to retaliate”.Speaking just hours after Theresa May announced 23 Russian diplomats would be expelled from the UK, the source predicted tensions would rise further in the next few days.The source predicted Vladimir Putin would sling out UK diplomats from Russia on Friday, to give himself a popularity boost ahead of the country&rs
  
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• Answering Moscow’s implausible deniability

  14-03-2018 19:37 via ft.com
  An isolated Britain should muster old allies if Putin is to be deterred
  
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• Brexit paperwork

  14-03-2018 19:10 via bbc.co.uk
  Officials have been locked in epically-long meetings, revising the first draft of the withdrawal treaty.
  
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• Theresa May gives copper-bottomed promise on pennies

  14-03-2018 19:05 via ft.com
  Prime minister allays fears that end is nigh for small change
  
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• Brexit deal 'can be done' - Sturgeon

  14-03-2018 18:56 via bbc.co.uk
  First minister says differences with UK government are "not insignificant, but neither are they insurmountable".
  
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• Jeremy Corbyn’s stance on Russia leaves his own MPs ‘fuming’

  14-03-2018 18:51 via ft.com
  Labour leader questioned government’s decision to blame Moscow for nerve agent attack
  
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• Corbyn’s stance on Russian scandal leaves his own MPs ‘fuming’

  14-03-2018 18:51 via ft.com
  Labour leader questioned government’s decision to blame Russia for nerve agent attack
  
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• Russian spy: Jeremy Corbyn aide queries proof of Russian guilt

  14-03-2018 18:40 via bbc.co.uk
  The Labour leader's spokesman says Russia was likely to behind a nerve agent attack but there is no definitive proof.
  
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• Downing Street drops penny-pinching plan

  14-03-2018 18:29 via bbc.co.uk
  Talk of scrapping 1p and 2p coins has been dismissed by the prime minister's spokesman.
  
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• British accusations stir Russian defiance against the west

  14-03-2018 18:23 via ft.com
  Kremlin uses stand-off to galvanise nation ahead of presidential vote
  
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• We Must Protect Our Rights From Automated Decisions

  14-03-2018 18:12
  Imagine a future where algorithms or even supercharged artificial intelligence (AI) make decisions in multiple aspects of your life: your job, your education, your welfare, and even your health.In this future, the police use algorithms and AI systems to predict where crime will be committed and automated alerts trigger police to despatch vehicles. Police vehicles are fitted with automated number plate and face recognition cameras that identify people on watch lists. Police can ‘stop and sc
  
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• Pitting Generations Against One Another Will Not Solve The Housing Crisis

  14-03-2018 18:08
  Last week chair of the Resolution Foundation and former minister David Willetts called for ‘bold measures’ to address the challenges faced by the younger generation and pointed to ‘the seismic risk to the contract between the generations if we do not act.’He highlighted that the younger generation are spending a record share of their income on housing – many in the private rental market – with few affording to buy, even with the increasing availability of shar
  
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• If Clinicians Feel That A Patient's Suicide Is Inevitable, What Hope Is There For The Patient?

  14-03-2018 18:07
  I run a Suicide Crisis Centre and feel huge sadness that I sometimes encounter clinicians who express their view that a particular patient’s suicide is inevitable. This happened again only last week while we were discussing the findings of our research project into deaths by suicide in our region. A clinician who knew “Elsa”, one of the young women who died, said he had felt it was only a matter of time before she ended her life.I have lived experience of suicidal crises and se
  
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• Pennies Saved By Theresa May Just 24 Hours After They Were Threatened

  14-03-2018 17:50
  Pennies have been saved by Downing Street, just 24 hours after the Government threatened to abolish lower value coins.The Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman today confirmed 1p and 2p coins would not be axed, thanks to the outcry to the plan when it was suggested on Tuesday.The Treasury revealed getting rid of the coins – as well as the £50 note – were part of a consultation on the role of cash in the increasingly digitalised economy.Several newspapers feature the threat
  
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• Greg James Resumes Sport Relief ‘Gregathlon’

  14-03-2018 17:45
  Almost a fortnight after being forced to call off his Sport Relief challenge due to worsening weather, Greg James has hit the road again, to finish the final leg of the ‘Gregathlon’. Having trained for months, the Radio 1 host had set off earlier this month to climb the Three Peaks and cycle the distance between them. However, when the “Beast from the East” hit the UK, he was left with no choice but to end the challenge, before having the chance to conquer Ben Nevis.
  
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• Three reasons Theresa May didn't retaliate more on Russia

  14-03-2018 17:44 via ft.com
  Expulsion of 23 diplomats by Britain 'minimum expected'
  
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• Married Durham University Academics Face Deportation In Days 'As Punishment For Doing Their Jobs'

  14-03-2018 17:30
  Two Durham University academics facing deportation to Mexico in a matter of days say they are being forced to leave the UK as punishment “for doing our jobs”. On Saturday, the Home Office gave anthropologist Dr Ernesto Schwartz-Marín and Dr Arely Cruz-Santiago, a human geographer, two weeks to leave the country with their 11-year-old daughter after their appeal to stay was rejected.The couple spent nine months in Mexico between 2014 and 2015 after they were given a grant
  
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• Stephen Hawking’s Theories On Everything (Other Than Physics): Killer Robots, The NHS And Jeremy Corbyn

  14-03-2018 17:27
  Stephen Hawking may well have been one of our most respected scientists of the past 100-years, but he was also deeply passionate about a range of subjects outside of his area of expertise.From warning about the risks associated with artificial intelligence (AI) and weaponised robots, to campaigning for the NHS and battling Brexit, Hawking was not afraid to lend his voice to a cause he felt passionate about.The rise of AI and ‘killer robots’In 2015 at the Zeitgeist conference in Londo
  
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• UK expels 23 Russian diplomats over spy poisoning - Politics live

  14-03-2018 17:15
  Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn at PMQs and May’s Commons statement announcing retaliation against Russia after the Russian spy attackMay’s statement on Russia - Key quotes in full 4.15pm GMT Turning away from Russia for a moment, Downing Street has signalled that the 1p and 2p coins will not be abolished after all, the BBC’s Alex Forsyth reports.In other news No10 signals pennies are safe. The P
  
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• The UK government is right to worry about integration

  14-03-2018 17:13 via ft.com
  For too long, Britain has taken a laissez-faire attitude towards community cohesion
  
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• Mandatory Time Limits To Curb Social Media Are Not The Way Forward

  14-03-2018 17:13
  Over the weekend the Digital Secretary Matt Hancock gave an interview to The Times, in which he announced his fears over children’s use of social media.He outlined in the conversation a whole gamut of ideas to protect children from the perils of social media. Some of which appear in the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) such as age limits, others of which have been touted in the UK’s Digital Charter and the Internet Safety Strategy green paper which are dedicated to making &l
  
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• Why A Cancer Ward Is Actually Filled With Joy

  14-03-2018 16:59
  You may expect a cancer or oncology ward to be a sad place. A place of suffering and tears. Pain and death. A place where people have lost hope and with it their spirit, their vibrancy taken by the many drugs, treatments and procedures.You’d be wrong...I remember at the start of the film ‘Love Actually’, Hugh Grant describes the love you see in an airport; people greeting one another with hugs and kisses and happy stories of fun and laughter. I liken this to an oncology ward.Yo
  
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• Calum Scott Responds To 'Dancing On My Own' Cover Criticism

  14-03-2018 16:52
  Calum Scott has responded to the critics of his cover of ‘Dancing On My Own’.In 2016, Calum had a number two hit with his cover of Robyn’s original song, having previously made it through to the ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ finals after performing his version of the track at his audition.However, as the single grew more and more successful, eventually charting higher than the Robyn original, some took issue with Calum’s slowed-down and acoustic-style cover, pa
  
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• Jeremy Corbyn under fire over response to PM's Russia statement

  14-03-2018 16:50
  Labour leader’s spokesman intensifies row by seeming to compare Salisbury case to IraqJeremy Corbyn came under sustained attack, including from MPs on his own side, over his response to the prime minister’s statement on Russia in which he failed to condemn the Kremlin directly for carrying out the Salisbury attack.The Labour leader called the Salisbury incident “an appalling act of violence”, saying: “Nerve agents are abominable if used in any war. It is utterly rec
  
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• May's modest response to Skripal attack will not deter Russia | Luke Harding

  14-03-2018 16:46
  Expulsion of diplomats is a temporary setback but the PM might have done moreTheresa May had promised a robust response to the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia. But in the end the prime minister’s measures against Russia, unveiled to the House of Commons on Wednesday, were modest – at “the very low end of acceptability”, as one former Foreign Office adviser put it.True, the UK is expelling 23 Russian diplomats from London. All of them are professional s
  
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• Jeremy Corbyn Refuses To Blame Putin For Salisbury Nerve Agent Attack As Spokesman Cites Iraq WMD 'History'

  14-03-2018 16:25
  Jeremy Corbyn has refused to link Russia directly to the Salisbury nerve agent attack as his spokesman pointed out previous “problematic” intelligence blunders on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction (WMD).The Labour leader sparked angry reactions from Tory MPs as he insisted that the UK should follow the evidence and share samples of the Soviet-era poisons with Russia to prove its case.Amid angry scenes in the Commons, Corbyn described Tory jeers as “pathetic” and even atta
  
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• The Funniest Slow Fashion Memes Poking Fun At Fast Fashion

  14-03-2018 16:19
  An Instagram account has garnered attention for it’s sustainably themed mocking of the fast fashion industry. The Slow Fashion Memes account posts witticisms on the perils of shopping the high street instead of opting for more sustainable modes of retail therapy. The account has been growing in popularity despite the fact that many people have a weak spot for fast fashion. While the industry may be useful for our bank accounts (and momentarily quench our insatiable thirst for the late
  
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• I’m a party political member but should I be focusing on other kinds of politics?

  14-03-2018 16:15
  In this series Poppy Noor discusses an issue concerning how we can build happy, well-run communities. But what do you think? Send us your thoughts and responsesAlthough I’m a longstanding member of a political party I haven’t done much campaigning in the past and feel I’d like to make more of a contribution to local and national politics. But meetings at my local party’s women’s group are lacklustre – poorly attended, with slow-paced, unimaginative discussion.
  
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• Jeremy Corbyn quotes Stephen Hawking as he challenges Theresa May over NHS – video

  14-03-2018 16:13
  Jeremy Corbyn has recalled Stephen Hawking’s comments on NHS funding while speaking at prime minister’s questions. The Labour leader quoted the scientist, who died in the early hours of Wednesday morning, as saying: ‘I believe in universal health care and I’m not afraid to say so.’ Corbyn also highlighted the lack of care for Albert Thompson, who has lived in the UK for 44 years and who has been ordered to pay £54,000 in medical bills Continue reading...
  
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• This Is What It’s Like To Be A Passenger In A Driverless Taxi

  14-03-2018 16:05
  While we’ve heard a lot about self-driving taxis very few of us have actually seen one actually working, until now.Over at SXSW in the US, Google’s self-driving car company Waymo has been operating a completely driverless taxi service and to prove it they’ve actually put together some footage of some of the journeys.As you can see from the video there is no-one in the driving seat and aside from the Waymo employee that’s obliged to be there the only other occupants are th
  
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• 'Brexiteers bleating, offering no solutions': your best comments today

  14-03-2018 15:53
  We look at some of the stories provoking conversation today, including warnings to post-Brexit holidaymakers and reaction to the Salisbury spy poisonings Warnings of post-Brexit holiday disruption, political reaction to the Salisbury spy poisonings, and George Monbiot’s piece on feeling happy despite his prostrate cancer diagnosis have dominated discussion among our readers today. To join in the conversation you can click on the links in the comments below to expand and add your thoughts.
  
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• Stephen Hawking's Black Hole Theory Explained For Non-Physicists

  14-03-2018 15:36
  Professor Stephen Hawking had a rather ambitious aim in life - to explain everything and find a theory that would predict the universe in the past and forever in the future, otherwise know as ‘the theory of everything’.In July 2002, after decades of some of the most famous theoretical experiments in science, he admitted it could probably not be achieved.But what he did do, amongst other things, was contribute massively to our understanding of black holes, one of the coolest yet
  
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• Our Bill Will Protect Tenants Who Flee Their Homes To Escape Domestic Abuse

  14-03-2018 15:29
  Throughout my career, I have sought to tackle burning injustices in society.Domestic abuse has a devastating impact on the victims, their family and society as a whole.This government is determined to do everything we can to support survivors.I am proud that our Secure Tenancies Bill has passed its final hurdle in the House of Lords, and I take great pride in seeing my name attached to such a purposeful piece of legislation.Last year, 5,086 social housing tenants fled their homes to escape domes
  
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• Is Cycling To Work Really As Easy As It Sounds?

  14-03-2018 15:21
  Now the mornings are lighter, the weather is warmer and spring feels less than an arm stretch away, I’m wondering whether to rethink my decision about not cycling to work. I used to wake up, leave the house, and arrive at work while it was still dark outside. Now, I see daylight the moment I open my eyes and mornings seem better. Much better. I tried to cycle to work once. I tried one and a half times, in fact. Neither of those times I actually needed to be at work - both attempt
  
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• UK to expel 23 Russian diplomats in retaliation over Skripal attack

  14-03-2018 15:08 via ft.com
  May criticises ‘complete disdain’ by Moscow for investigation into use of nerve agent
  
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• Brexit and the ‘NHS dividend’

  14-03-2018 15:06 via ft.com
  There are at least 4 threats to the future of the UK health system  
  
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• 'They have just one week to leave': May expels 23 Russian diplomats – video

  14-03-2018 15:03
  The prime minister outlines sanctions in the wake of the Salisbury spy attack, saying 23 Russian diplomats will be expelled after Russia treated the situation with 'sarcasm, contempt and defiance'UK expels 23 Russian diplomats over spy poisoning - Politics live Continue reading...
  
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• Tax rises of £40bn 'needed by mid-2020s' to cut deficit

  14-03-2018 14:44 via bbc.co.uk
  The government will need to collect more tax to keep spending constant, warns the IFS.
  
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• PMQs verdict: Corbyn hits May's achilles heel with NHS zinger

  14-03-2018 14:42
  After opening with Albert Thompson case, Corbyn finishes off with Stephen Hawking quoteThis week’s PMQs focused on the NHS, with Jeremy Corbyn emphasising Stephen Hawking’s passionate support for the health service to challenge Theresa May on the government’s NHS record. After condemning vile messages sent to Muslim MPs and the rise in Islamophobia, the Labour leader paid tribute to Hawking, saying he helped our understanding of the universe. The physicist was also a passionate
  
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• Britain to expel 23 Russian diplomats in retaliation over Skripal attack

  14-03-2018 14:42 via ft.com
  May criticises ‘complete disdain’ by Moscow for investigation into use of nerve agent
  
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• People in the UK should learn English. But without free classes, they can’t | Amina Lone

  14-03-2018 14:40
  A proposed deadline for universal English learning can’t work if the government keeps on cutting funding for classesI rarely find myself disagreeing with Louise Casey. She is one of few in the government who consistently and bravely speaks out about social and cultural issues in an honest and straightforward manner. Many of her recommendations on integration and cohesion, especially on supporting women and the often forgotten white working-class communities, not only need to be made but sh
  
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• Theresa May statement on UK-Russian political relations

  14-03-2018 14:34 via bbc.co.uk
  Theresa May says the UK is expelling 23 Russian diplomats after it received no reply from Moscow on how a Russian-made nerve agent was used to poison a former spy.
  
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• John Humphrys Slammed For Asking If Stephen Hawking Was 'Cut A Bit Of Slack' By Scientists Because He Was Disabled

  14-03-2018 14:29
  John Humphrys has been accused of “crassness” and “profound ignorance” after he asked whether Stephen Hawking was “cut a bit of slack” by other scientists “because he was so desperately disabled”. The question - which triggered a barrage of angry responses on social media - was asked by the Today programme presenter during an interview with physicist Brian Cox in the wake of Hawking’s death earlier today. During the interview, which
  
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