Political news

• Question Time tuition fees row: Chi Onwurah v Martin Lewis

  03-05-2018 23:56 via bbc.co.uk
  Personal finance expert Martin Lewis says student finance has been used as a "political football".
  
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• Count begins in West Tyrone by-election

  03-05-2018 23:54 via bbc.co.uk
  A man in his 50s was earlier arrested for allegedly having a gun in a polling station in Greencastle.
  
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• Polls Close In Biggest Test For May And Corbyn Since General Election

  03-05-2018 23:48
  Polls have closed in the biggest round of voting since the general election last year when Jeremy Corbyn’s surge at the polls humiliated Theresa May.Some 150 town halls and just over 4,000 council seats are up for grabs, with more than seven million people are expected to cast their ballots.The polls closing came after anger in some areas after residents reported that they were prevented from voting.Bromley, Gosport, Swindon, Watford and Woking councils have all trialled a scheme to get vo
  
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• Voters turned away in ID trial areas in English local elections – as it happened

  03-05-2018 23:10
  Local elections 2018 results – live updatesThe worst campaign leaflet howlersHave you been affected by the voter ID trial?10.10pm BST The polls are closed and with that goes this blog. Thanks so much for joining us throughout the day, and thank you for all the comments. Please join my colleague Andrew Sparrow, who will be blogging the election results as they come in throughout the night.Related: Local elections 2018: counting starts as polls close – live updates9.47pm BST Journalist
  
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• Local elections 2018: The results to look out for and what they could mean

  03-05-2018 23:01 via bbc.co.uk
  Can Labour carry all before them in London, where will the UKIP vote go and what's a good night for the Tories?
  
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• Election 2018: Final voting in English council polls

  03-05-2018 22:27 via bbc.co.uk
  Elections are being held in 150 English local authorities, as well as six mayoral contests.
  
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• West Tyrone by-election voting continues

  03-05-2018 22:24 via bbc.co.uk
  The by-election follows the resignation of Barry McElduff in January.
  
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• Local election officials wrongly turn away EU citizens in Tower Hamlets

  03-05-2018 22:06
  People marked out as European nationals in London borough initially told they cannot voteEU citizens have been wrongly told they could not vote in England’s local elections, raising fears about future training of public service officials in relation to European nationals’ post-Brexit rights.Romain Sauron, a French national, said he turned up to vote at the Mile End ward in the London borough of Tower Hamlets to find a “G” alongside his name.Continue reading...
  
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• 'Britain's Best Home Cook' Has All The Charm Of 'Bake Off' And Leaves Us Wanting An Extra Helping - HuffPost Verdict

  03-05-2018 22:01
  K E Y   P O I N T SMary Berry takes up her first post-‘Great British Bake Off’ judging role as Head Judge on ‘Britain’s Best Home Cook’.The show has been touted as the BBC’s answer to ‘Bake Off’, having lost the rights to Channel 4 last year. Haute cuisine chef Dan Doherty and former market trader turned TV presenter Chris Bavin join her on the judging panel.Claudia Winkleman serves as presenter, bringing her usual wit and capers to
  
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• Nigel Farage: 'Belgium is not a nation' – video

  03-05-2018 21:44
  Nigel Farage, former Ukip leader, tells the European parliament that ‘Belgium is not a nation, it’s an artificial construct’ in response to a speech championing the European project by the prime minister of Belgium, Charles Michel. In response, Michel told MEPs: ‘Britain took his advice, and look how well that is going’Farage’s Belgium jibe met with World Cup warning for England Continue reading...
  
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• The ups and downs of Sajid Javid

  03-05-2018 21:30 via ft.com
  Timing is everything for the ex-Deutsche man who was this week promoted to UK home secretary
  
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• Gavin Williamson under pressure to back May's customs plan, Brexiters fear

  03-05-2018 21:17
  Whitehall source says defence secretary will be asked to name his price to break deadlockPro-Brexit ministers fear Downing Street will try to pick off the defence secretary, Gavin Williamson, in the coming days – to break the cabinet deadlock and secure a majority for Theresa May’s favoured customs plan.A two-and-a-half-hour meeting of the prime minister’s Brexit subcommittee ended without agreement on Wednesday, after the home secretary, Sajid Javid, sided with hardline Brexit
  
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• Questions over links between Cambridge Analytica and Emerdata

  03-05-2018 21:01 via ft.com
  MPs and ex-staff expect firm to reopen after move to close down
  
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• Jeremy Hunt's rhetoric over breast cancer screening looks overheated

  03-05-2018 20:33
  Health secretary has warned of a possible 270 deaths due to an apparent IT error, but experts say the numbers do not stack upJeremy Hunt has described the failure of the breast screening programme to invite some older women for a mammogram in apocalyptic terms, warning of a possible 270 deaths and causing huge alarm among women and their families. He is blaming the body that has “oversight” of the NHS screening programme – now Public Health England – for what is described
  
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• Anger and confusion as voters turned away during ID trial

  03-05-2018 20:14
  Pilot scheme in England leads to people being unable to vote due to ‘ineligible’ identification
  Local elections 2018 live
  A trial of voter ID has seen people in England turned away from polling booths for the first time for not carrying the necessary documents, with other issues reported including abuse of voting staff and some confusion over what evidence needed to be shown.The local elections saw the scheme tested out in five boroughs in an attempt to crack down on voter impersonat
  
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• A Particularly Virulent Strain Of The Tory 'Power Pose' Has Gone Local

  03-05-2018 19:54
  A disturbing outbreak of Tory power posing is sweeping the nation in the midst of local election polling.Symptoms include an exaggerated spreading of the extremities, a forced smile, with around one in six of those affected being struck with extreme embarrassment. It’s believed Patient Zero was MP for Rochford and Southend East, James Duddridge, who appears to have caught a particularly wide variant from a cup of spiked English Breakfast early yesterday morning.#Southend Conservatives
  
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• Steve Bell on Donald Trump and Stormy Daniels – cartoon

  03-05-2018 19:51
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• 'Call The Midwife' Season 8: Cast Reveal What It's Like Working With Miriam Margolyes

  03-05-2018 19:39
  Members of the ‘Call The Midwife’ cast have teased what fans can expect from Miriam Margolyes, who will appear as a guest star in this year’s Christmas special and the opening episode of series eight. The TV legend will be playing Sister Mildred, who arrives at Nonnatus House with four Chinese orphans, having fled the country. Speaking at the launch of the ‘Call The Midwife’ tour at Chatham’s Historic Dockyard, Stephen McGann (who plays Dr. Turn
  
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• The Guardian view on the Galileo project: we must be partners not rivals | Editorial

  03-05-2018 19:21
  Britain has played a key role in the development of Europe’s satellite navigation system. Brexit should not be an excuse for ending this vital security cooperationThe European Union’s Galileo network of satellites is the latest in a series of global satellite navigation systems providing precision data from space. America has had one since 1978, in the shape of the familiar GPS system. Russia has had one since 1982, and China since 2000. Galileo’s satellites have been circulati
  
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• What options does Theresa May have in Brexit customs battle?

  03-05-2018 18:39 via ft.com
  Three possible scenarios after inner cabinet rejects hybrid scheme
  
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• Farage's Belgium jibe met with World Cup warning for England

  03-05-2018 18:36
  Former PM Guy Verhofstadt hits back after ex-Ukip leader says Belgium is not a nationPolitics and sport is rarely a comfortable mix. And that was the case for Nigel Farage after he belittled Belgium’s claim to be a nation state during a debate with the country’s prime minister, Charles Michel, in the European parliament.Responding to a speech by Michel championing the European project, the former Ukip leader told MEPs: “Belgium is not a nation, it’s an artificial creation
  
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• Tories pay for forgetting Macmillan’s courageous pragmatism

  03-05-2018 18:20 via ft.com
  The former prime minister persuaded his party to abandon imperialism and embrace Europe
  
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• UK backs down over Afghan interpreters' immigration fees

  03-05-2018 18:14
  Interpreters who served with British troops in Helmand had faced deportation unless they each paid £2,389 The UK government has backed down over the fate of more than 150 Afghan interpreters who worked alongside British troops during their hard-fought deployment in Helmand province.The Home Office bowed to pressure after the interpreters sent a letter of protest after being told they would have to pay £2,389 each to apply for indefinite leave to remain. They had been allowed into the
  
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• Brexit Briefing: Theresa May's Customs Plan Is 'Dead'

  03-05-2018 18:12
  You can sign up for this briefing by clicking here, and you’ll receive it straight to your inbox every Thursday afternoon.If you like what you read, make sure you subscribe to our Commons People podcast here for even more analysis about what goes on in Westminster.  1) Just When You Thought There Were No More Metaphors...A camel is a horse designed by committee, so the saying goes, so Heaven knows what the UK’s post-Brexit customs arrangement will look like o
  
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• Royal Wedding Picnic Ideas Inspired By Prince Harry And Meghan Markle

  03-05-2018 18:08
  Members of the public attending the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been advised to bring their own picnics on 19 May.While the Palace has said there will be some “light refreshments and snacks”, it looks like all 2,640 people that have been invited into the grounds of Windsor Castle will need to start stocking up on the scotch eggs.Outside of the castle grounds, it’s estimated there will be tens of thousands of people descending on the relatively small tow
  
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• The Shadow Of Section 28

  03-05-2018 17:59
  Thirty years ago Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988 became law. This short clause - less than 200 words - impacted upon the education of millions of British people. It prevented schools from “promoting” homosexuality or teaching “the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship”.No school or individual was ever prosecuted under the law. The Department for Education emphasised that Section 28 did “not prevent the objective discussion of
  
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• In the NHS breast-screening scandal, first priority must be the women | Philippa Whitford

  03-05-2018 17:58
  Some 300,000 are still alive after missing screenings because of an IT error. Every one should be offered a mammogramOn Wednesday the health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, announced that an estimated 450,000 women in England were not invited to their final breast-screening mammogram, between the ages of 68 and 71, as a result of an IT failure dating back to 2009. The shocking scale of the problem has raised a number of questions; not just how it came about, but also how it took nine years to be identif
  
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• Bercow's behaviour unworthy of role, says ex-Black Rod

  03-05-2018 17:58 via bbc.co.uk
  An ex-senior Parliament official says the Commons Speaker is "unworthy of public office".
  
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• John Bercow: further bullying claims emerge against Speaker

  03-05-2018 17:49
  Commons Speaker is accused of behaviour ‘unworthy’ of his office by former Black RodThe Speaker of the House of Commons has faced fresh allegations of bullying, with parliament’s former Black Rod saying John Bercow’s “intemperate behaviour” is “unworthy of someone in such public office”.David Leakey, who stepped down last year as Black Rod, a ceremonial post in parliament, said he had experienced the outbursts of temper described by other former me
  
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• Let's Talk Miscarriage

  03-05-2018 17:40
  Why don’t we talk more about miscarriage? Why don’t we have these conversations with our friends over lunch or after our spin class? Why don’t we have honest conversations about the grief of pregnancy loss in the office staff room with our male friends and colleagues or with our mothers and sisters on the living room sofa?It doesn’t make sense when so many women have experienced a miscarriage. 1 in 4 of us, to be exact. 1 in 4 of us have experienced when the ecstatic joy
  
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• Hither Green: Mourner At Burglar Henry Vincent's Funeral Arrested

  03-05-2018 17:40
  A mourner at the funeral of Hither Green burglar Henry Vincent has been arrested following tense scenes at the 37-year-old’s tightly policed memorial. Scotland Yard confirmed that a man who had attended the service at St Mary’s Church in Orpington had been arrested on suspicion of assault at around 1.15pm following an incident on the town’s High Street.The man, believed to be in his teens, was later released under investigation. The arrest comes after press were force
  
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• Lord Temple-Morris obituary

  03-05-2018 17:37
  Conservative MP who became so frustrated with his party’s growing Euroscepticism that he crossed the floor to join LabourIt is hard to remember now, but once upon a time, not so long ago, the Conservatives were the pro-European party. None exemplified that spirit more determinedly than Peter Temple-Morris, the former MP for Leominster, in Herefordshire, who has died aged 80. So disillusioned did he become with the party’s increasing Euroscepticism that in 1998, after 19 years in the
  
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• What Makes A Londoner?

  03-05-2018 17:35
  Identity is a complex and shifting subject. We variously identify ourselves by nationality, ethnicity, sexuality, beliefs, habits, professions, residence. Sometimes these overlapping identities are strongest when they feel beleaguered, when we feel that an aspect of our identity is threatened, when we are on the defensive.London is hardly a defensive identity. Rarely have Londoners shared a sense that they might be swallowed by something bigger, except perhaps in times of war. It was often the r
  
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• How The Seasonal Wardrobe Is A Thing Of The Past

  03-05-2018 17:30
  Struggling to keep up with the ever-changing weather climate? You’re not alone.Traditional weather patterns across the globe are becoming more disrupted each year, creating a real challenge for fashion designers and consumers alike. By the end of the century, the temperature of the planet will have increased by six degrees, while erratic climates can bounce between 4°C and 15°C with just a day or two in between.The days of dressing by season are over.As the lines between Spring, Su
  
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• Seven Ways Sajid Javid Can Resolve Our Hostile Immigration Policies

  03-05-2018 17:20
  The appointment of Sajid Javid, the son of an immigrant, as Home Secretary, gives me hope that we can now move towards sensible immigration policies which recognises the benefits that migration brings to this country.For the last eight years, the Government’s immigration policy has been hostile and economically illiterate.We would not be one of the top ten economies in the world – with just one per cent of the world’s population – were it not for the positive effects of i
  
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• Brexit: EU's Juncker urges Belgian citizenship for UK staff

  03-05-2018 17:20 via bbc.co.uk
  The Commission chief wants Belgium to hand citizenship to staff worried about the impact of Brexit.
  
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• Afghan interpreters should be able to stay in UK - defence secretary

  03-05-2018 17:19 via bbc.co.uk
  The defence secretary says he is confident those who served with British troops will be able to remain.
  
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• Sajid Javid is change, but don’t be fooled. He’s not real progress | Gary Younge

  03-05-2018 17:11
  There is too much lazy thinking when it comes to the elevation of minorities. There is nothing in Javid’s record to suggest his promotion will benefit others with similar backgroundsSajid Javid’s father, Abdul, came to Britain from Pakistan with a pound in his pocket and became a bus driver in Rochdale. As a six-year-old, Sajid used to interpret for his mother, Zubaid, who took 10 years to learn English. At one stage Sajid shared a room with his parents in a two-bedroom house where h
  
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• Post-Brexit port checks could disrupt fresh food supplies, say freight bosses

  03-05-2018 17:00
  Safety inspections on foods such as tomatoes and beef seen as bigger issue than customs checks
  Food staples including lettuce, tomatoes and beef could be in short supply or even disappear from supermarket shelves after Brexit because of disruptive checks that will need to be conducted at ports, Eurotunnel and freight industry chiefs have said.
  Scores of continental favourites that currently sail and rail through the French border – including oranges, lemons and avocados from Spain and fres
  
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• Disabled peers complain of being 'dumped' at airports

  03-05-2018 16:51 via bbc.co.uk
  Wheelchair users in the House of Lords say they are "passed from pillar to post" when travelling by plane.
  
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• Turn Up The Volume: Listening To Music With Your Kids Could Strengthen Your Bond

  03-05-2018 16:42
  If you’re a parent whose teenagers spend hours with their headphones firmly in place, you may want to encourage them to unplug, then turn on some music the whole family can enjoy.Now we’re not just telling you to get going on a family rave for nothing, it actually might do wonders for your future relationship with your son or daughter, according to a new study from the University of Arizona. Researchers found that people who shared musical experiences with their parents dur
  
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• Language of Macron, JFK, Clinton, Trump, May, Prescott

  03-05-2018 16:25 via bbc.co.uk
  In the world of international diplomacy things can get sometimes get lost in translation as - Emmanuel Macron discovered.
  
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• Home Office official tells man facing deportation: 'My job is to piss you off'

  03-05-2018 16:19
  Secretly filmed footage shows official telling man: system is ‘working because it’s pissing you off’The Home Office is investigating undercover footage filmed at one of its reporting centres showing an official telling a man facing deportation that his job is to “piss him off” as part of the government’s challenging environment. Related: The Guardian view on May’s immigration regime: unjust, inhumane and incompetent | EditorialContinue reading...
  
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• Gunman At Polling Station In Northern Ireland 'Making Threats' - Reports

  03-05-2018 16:18
  Police rushed to a polling station in Northern Ireland where a man with a handgun was reportedly making threats. People in West Tyrone, Mid Ulster, are voting in a Parliamentary by-election to replace the former Sinn Féin MP, Barry McElduff. But panic broke out around 1pm on Thursday at Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School, in Greencastle, when a man brandishing a weapon turned up and allegedly began acting in a threatening manner. BREAKING: Heavily armed police are now poste
  
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• Adidas Is Standing By Kanye West Despite Petition Over Slavery Comments

  03-05-2018 16:10
  Following calls for Adidas to drop its partnership with Kanye West over his comments that 400 years of black slavery “sounds like a choice”, the brand’s CEO Kasper Rorsted has said he is committed to Yeezy.“It is clear there are some remarks that we don’t support,” Rorsted said, according to Reuters, but added: “We are very committed to the Yeezy brand moving forward.”In an interview with Bloomberg, Rorsted added that the c
  
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• Five key questions for England's local elections

  03-05-2018 16:07
  The role of minor parties and the Windrush effect are among key issues for 3 May pollsCan Labour take the Tories’ crown jewels in London?Sadiq Khan boasted of taking London’s Conservative crown jewels – a bold claim which included the flagship Tory council in Wandsworth, which has not been held by Labour for 40 years. Momentum have held “unseat” days in even more ambitious targets: Westminster, and Kensington and Chelsea.Continue reading...
  
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• Companies face long delays for UK visas of non-EU skilled workers

  03-05-2018 16:02 via ft.com
  Immigration experts warn cap on numbers likely to be hit every month this financial year
  
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• Revealed: UK’s push to strengthen anti-Russia alliance

  03-05-2018 16:00
  Exclusive: ministers will use series of summits to pursue containment strategy and urge rethink of diplomatic dialogueThe UK will use a series of international summits this year to call for a comprehensive strategy to combat Russian disinformation and urge a rethink over traditional diplomatic dialogue with Moscow, following the Kremlin’s aggressive campaign of denials over the use of chemical weapons in the UK and Syria.British diplomats plan to use four major summits this year – th
  
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• Fury As Voters Without ID 'Turned Away' From Local Election Polling Stations

  03-05-2018 15:53
  Voters without identification have reportedly been turned away from polling stations as part of a controversial trial scheme to prevent fraud. People in Woking, Gosport, Bromley, Watford and Slough were told to bring along proof of who they are if they wanted to vote in their local council elections on Thursday.The new measures are part of a pilot scheme being run by the Cabinet Office, which may be rolled out nationally if it is deemed successful. Ordinarily, people can turn up at the
  
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• British Council Employee Aras Amiri Detained In Iran During Family Visit

  03-05-2018 15:45
  A woman who works for the British Council has been detained in Iran, amid growing concerns over people with UK links being arrested there.Aras Amiri, 32, has lived in London for a decade and is a postgraduate student at the University of Kingston.On Wednesday, her cousin Mohsen Omrani posted on Facebook that she was arrested in the street in Tehran in March during a trip to visit her grandmother in hospital.She had visited the country before without having any problems, Omrani said.The arrest fo
  
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