Political news

• Britain’s plans for ‘no-deal’ Brexit have ground to a halt

  27-05-2018 20:41 via ft.com
  Lack of preparation weakens May’s threat to walk out of talks
  
  Read more

• Hitachi board ‘finely balanced’ over future of Wylfa plant

  27-05-2018 20:30 via ft.com
  Japanese conglomerate holds key vote on £15bn Welsh project
  
  Read more

• ‘T-level’ qualifications put on hold after fears of hasty rollout

  27-05-2018 19:57 via ft.com
  Ministers agree to put back full implementation of programme until 2022
  
  Read more

• MPs agree to slow roll-out of new ‘T-level’ qualifications

  27-05-2018 19:57 via ft.com
  Full implementation will take place after 2022
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• The Gove-Davidson axis is a Tory dream ticket. But does it have legs? | Matthew d’Ancona

  27-05-2018 19:08
  A scheme may be afoot to get the Scottish Tory leader into Westminster. But show me a leadership pact that has ever been a successIt is close to an iron rule of politics that leadership pacts and succession plans never succeed. Anthony Eden grew so frustrated waiting for Churchill to make way that his health suffered grievously. The briefly fashionable idea that Michael Heseltine would replace John Major, paving the way for Michael Portillo to take over, never came to pass. And as for the suppos
  
  Read more

• Theresa May says abortion referendum a matter for Stormont

  27-05-2018 18:36 via ft.com
  Downing St signals assembly should decide law after landslide Irish vote
  
  Read more

• Winifred Wheable-Archer obituary

  27-05-2018 18:13
  My great-aunt, Winifred Wheable-Archer, who has died aged 98, led a life dedicated to the Labour movement. She worked in local government in Nottingham, Salford and Leeds, and was a Labour member of Kirklees metropolitan district council for five years from 1982.Even during her retirement, Win’s commitment to the Labour party and active civic life did not waver. She was vice-chair of the National Council for Carers of the Elderly and on the National Board of Sanctuary Housing. Win was a st
  
  Read more

• Priti Patel calls for investigation into remain campaign spending

  27-05-2018 18:10
  Tory MP wants watchdog to examine Britain Stronger in Europe’s referendum spendingThe former cabinet minister Priti Patel has called for the election watchdog to investigate spending by the remain campaign in the EU referendum.The Brexit-backing Tory MP questioned the impartiality of the Electoral Commission and said it should either investigate Britain Stronger in Europe or end its inquiry into the Vote Leave campaign. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• The Guardian view on the Irish referendum: now for the North

  27-05-2018 18:02
  The overwhelming victory for repeal shows an appetite for change which should be recognised in Northern Ireland tooThe implications of the Irish referendum vote will be felt around the world. The most immediate effect must be in Northern Ireland: five Conservative women who have all been ministers for women and equality are urging Theresa May to override the DUP and significantly relax abortion laws there. They are right to do so, although she is resisting. The province’s absurdly strict l
  
  Read more

• The Guardian view on Corbynomics: more creativity please | Editorial

  27-05-2018 18:00
  The Labour party should be congratulated for its progressive economic ideas. But as Tory MPs prepare to drop austerity and start spending, the opposition needs to be bolderThe Labour party has long attempted to remodel society under the banner of equality. In that sense, the party’s current leadership is no different from earlier incarnations. Jeremy Corbyn and his shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, offered a bold manifesto at last year’s election, one which made it clear that they a
  
  Read more

• MPs call for Theresa May to permit poll on abortion in Northern Ireland

  27-05-2018 17:56
  PM believes it would be wrong for Westminster to legislate on matter in devolved administration Theresa May was facing growing demands to allow a referendum on relaxing the abortion laws in Northern Ireland on Sunday after signalling that she will not risk alienating her DUP allies by letting MPs settle the matter with a parliamentary vote.Conservative MPs and the Royal College of Midwives were among those calling for a referendum, which would give voters in Northern Ireland the chance to follow
  
  Read more

• 'I kept reading about Labour politicians that died early,' says Tom Watson – video

  27-05-2018 16:58
  The deputy of the Labour party has offered a personal perspective on UK attempts to tackle obesity. Speaking on ITV's Peston On Sunday, Tom Watson, who has lost more than six stone, explained he thought it was 'a nutritional issue that retailers, manufacturers, public health officials and politicians have got to take seriously'Tom Watson: weight struggle made me realise scale of obesity crisis Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Plans to cut MP numbers back on table

  27-05-2018 16:37 via ft.com
  DUP drops opposition after latest boundary proposals remove risk to its seats
  
  Read more

• Theresa May says abortion referendum is a matter for Stormont

  27-05-2018 16:11 via ft.com
  No 10 signals Northern Ireland assembly should decide on legislation after landside Irish vote
  
  Read more

• David Miliband on reacting to a global emergency and political comebacks

  27-05-2018 16:00 via ft.com
  The IRC head tackles an unprecedented migration crisis, and a Brexit campaign
  
  Read more

• Jacob Rees-Mogg: 'Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed' – video

  27-05-2018 14:53
  The leading Conservative Brexiter has called on Theresa May to revive her no-deal threat with the EU if Brussels, he said, persisted in taking an uncompromising approach to Britain leaving. Speaking on The Andrew Marr Show, Jacob Rees-Mogg expressed concerned the UK was losing out in talks, suggesting the government should offer an ultimatum Jacob Rees-Mogg urges May to revive her no-deal threat to Brussels Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Tom Watson: weight struggle made me realise scale of obesity crisis

  27-05-2018 14:02
  Deputy Labour leader says he was moved to act after reading about politicians dying earlyTom Watson, the deputy Labour leader, has said that his weight loss has led him to realise Britain must do more to tackle obesity.Watson, 51, who has lost more than six stone on a nutritional regime that involves putting butter in his coffee, said he was motivated to take better care of his health after reading about Labour politicians who died early. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Jacob Rees-Mogg urges May to revive her no-deal threat to Brussels

  27-05-2018 13:27
  Brexiter claims UK has strong negotiating position and should consider ultimatumJacob Rees-Mogg has urged Theresa May to revive her threat to leave the EU without a deal if Brussels continues to take an uncompromising approach in the Brexit negotiations.Rees-Mogg, the chair of the European Research Group, which represents about 60 of the most pro-Brexit Conservative MPs, used an interview on Sunday on BBC One’s The Andrew Marr Show to claim that the UK could be more intransigent because it
  
  Read more

• Jacob Rees-Mogg: PM 'crucial' to delivering Brexit

  27-05-2018 13:08 via bbc.co.uk
  Jacob Rees-Mogg tells the BBC's Andrew Marr press speculation he wants to replace Theresa May as prime minister is "ridiculous".
  
  Read more

• Tune into Love Island and watch wannabes lose all self-restraint | Barbara Ellen

  27-05-2018 12:59
  Reality TV is fast approaching a new lowHow much are (mainly working-class) people increasingly required to give of themselves (bodies, lives, privacy, reputations) to get on television? And is there still adequate support – in terms of fairness and accountability – from the production people or is TV moving too fast to keep track, meaning a line has been crossed?I ask, because ITV2’s Love Island returns imminently and, with it, more carping from the likes of me. More complaint
  
  Read more

• Brexit: I don't wish to be PM, says Jacob Rees-Mogg

  27-05-2018 12:07 via bbc.co.uk
  But the leading Tory Brexiteer urges Theresa May to take a tougher line in Brexit negotiations.
  
  Read more

• Cabinet Office orders inquiry into pension repayment demands

  27-05-2018 10:33 via ft.com
  Retired civil servants may have been wrongly told to hand back overpayments
  
  Read more

• It will cost serious money to give the NHS a decent birthday present | Andrew Rawnsley

  27-05-2018 09:00
  Theresa May knows the health service needs more cash, but her colleagues can’t agree about how muchThe NHS will be 70 in July and Theresa May would prefer that this birthday is a happy one celebrated with cake, not a miserable occasion that makes her government look bad. That means finding money; a serious amount of money.A funding crisis is brewing. Many would contend that it is already upon us. More than half of trusts are thought to have finished the last financial year in deficit. Hosp
  
  Read more

• Two years after the Brexit vote, Project Fear may be coming true

  27-05-2018 08:00
  Mark Carney’s recent warning about a Leave-affected economy is being ignored. That is unfortunate, because it’s importantOne of the features of the Brexit vote is that it shows economics doesn’t matter very much. At least not to the 52% who voted to leave the European Union, and who the pollsters tell us still largely feel as they did on 23 June 2016.That seems strange when the debate about Scottish independence focused for much of the time on the possible economic ga
  
  Read more

• Eurotunnel warns on Tory plans for post-Brexit customs

  27-05-2018 08:00
  Operator of Channel link says costly delays appear inevitableEurotunnel has issued a stark warning that UK businesses and consumers will face serious economic costs if the government adopts either of the post-Brexit customs models being considered by Theresa May’s government.The intervention by the Channel tunnel operator, coupled with a claim by the company that the necessary technology to prevent delays at the borders may not be ready until several years after Brexit, will add to growing
  
  Read more

• STV is making a profit. So why take the axe to its excellent current affairs output? | Kevin McKenna

  27-05-2018 07:54
  The new CEO, Simon Pitts, has announced that 59 jobs are to go, most of them in news – and all of the STV2 channelScotland was treated to a rare but timely reminder last week of how industrial relations were conducted in the Victorian era. Perhaps we have become so accustomed to the benefits of workplace rights, trade union protection, the living wage and a degree of job security that we have grown soft. Our employment expectations have become so unreasonably high that there are risks to o
  
  Read more

• Tory Brexit teeters on the brink – cartoon

  27-05-2018 07:00
  Weighed down by economic forecasts and the Irish border question, what are the chances of this pig flying? Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• If Keir Starmer’s six tests mean anything he must oppose Brexit | Alastair Campbell

  27-05-2018 07:00
  Labour’s spokesman is taking us for fools. A party that stands up for working people cannot allow them to be hit hardest of allIt cannot be easy being Keir Starmer. A cerebral, rational lawyer with a forensic mind who entered politics just as populism was infecting it badly. A man used to executive authority, built more for government than opposition. With a place at the top table as shadow Brexit secretary but viewed on that issue, and much else, with considerable suspicion by true Corbyn
  
  Read more

• I had an abortion and I will keep fighting for this right for all | Jess Phillips

  27-05-2018 07:00
  Ireland has voted but the wider attack on women’s reproductive rights goes on – we must be vigilantOne thing might be pulled out of what I am writing, the most pedestrian thing, the most common. But it will still be the thing that is talked about even if I am simply one in every four women. My abortion was nothing special. I cannot remember the date it happened. I never wonder. It was my third pregnancy and I have gone on to have another since then.Still, I wrote a book abo
  
  Read more

• Jeremy Thorpe: The true story of A Very English Scandal

  27-05-2018 02:32 via bbc.co.uk
  A look at the downfall of Jeremy Thorpe, played by Hugh Grant in BBC drama A Very English Scandal.
  
  Read more

• England could have new national parks in Gove review

  27-05-2018 02:20 via bbc.co.uk
  Environment Secretary Michael Gove launches a review of the country's protected landscapes.
  
  Read more

• Business groups write to PM urging Heathrow expansion

  27-05-2018 01:12 via bbc.co.uk
  Business groups write to the prime minister urging the government not to waver on Heathrow expansion.
  
  Read more

• Unite steps in to save Labour’s struggling ‘Glastonbury’

  27-05-2018 01:04
  Labour Live Festival at White Hart Lane in north London has had poor ticket salesLabour’s biggest union backer is giving away a thousand tickets to an event billed as Jeremy Corbyn’s very own Glastonbury, amid serious fears that it will lead to major losses for the party.Unite announced to members that it was giving away the tickets and even offered free travel to the event in London for those who need it. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• RBS closures decision criticised by MPs

  27-05-2018 01:02 via bbc.co.uk
  A report says RBS has failed to appreciate the impact of its decision to close dozens of branches in Scotland.
  
  Read more

Follow @political_UKnws on Twitter!