Political news

• Tory MP blocks legislation to make upskirting illegal

  15-06-2018 23:17 via ft.com
  Bill aims to criminalise the illicit taking of photos under a person’s clothes
  
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• Carl Sargeant: Claim more women made allegations

  15-06-2018 21:48 via bbc.co.uk
  Carl Sargeant was found dead at his home in Connah's Quay, Flintshire, in November.
  
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• New rules spark confusion over Turkish visa holders’ fate

  15-06-2018 21:04 via ft.com
  Regulations make no reference to people already in the UK
  
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• Doubts cast on ‘Brexit dividend’ for National Health Service

  15-06-2018 20:21 via ft.com
  Ex-Treasury officials warn cash boost would require higher taxes or borrowing
  
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• The law must change on upskirting. One Tory MP won’t stop us | Wera Hobhouse

  15-06-2018 20:15
  I launched a bill to protect women from this degrading act. Christopher Chope will not deny them the right to feel safeUpskirting is a depraved violation of privacy. It is outrageous that a single Tory MP has been able to derail a much needed and universally supported change in the law. But that is exactly what has happened. Related: Tory MP Christopher Chope blocks progress of upskirting billContinue reading...
  
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• Martin Rowson on politics and the World Cup – cartoon

  15-06-2018 19:48
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• Conservative rebels prepare to 'battle for the soul of Brexit'

  15-06-2018 19:47
  MPs seeking ‘meaningful’ say on deal with EU refuse to back down as key vote loomsTory rebels are refusing to back down as they attempt to secure a “meaningful” vote on how the government should respond if there is no agreed Brexit deal, despite Downing Street insisting there were no new concessions to be made.MPs are set to decide the shape of Brexit next week, in what is coming to be seen as one of the most important votes so far on the EU withdrawal bill. Continue read
  
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• Lord Howie of Troon obituary

  15-06-2018 19:18
  Labour MP and peer who fought for enhanced status for his profession of engineeringThe former Labour peer Lord Howie of Troon, who has died aged 94, spent nearly half a century in parliament arguing the need for an enhanced public status for his own profession of engineering. It was the subject of his maiden speech as an MP in 1963 and a topic to which he frequently returned in witty and well-informed contributions in the Lords.“Were it not for engineers, the artists, philosophers and men
  
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• Boris Becker claims diplomatic immunity in bankruptcy proceedings

  15-06-2018 19:01 via ft.com
  Former tennis champion appointed attaché to the Central African Republic
  
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• Seni's law: Commons setback for mental health unit reforms

  15-06-2018 18:50 via bbc.co.uk
  A bid to curb the use of excessive force in mental health units is "talked out" in the Commons.
  
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• Brexit rebel Dominic Grieve says May's compromise 'a slap in face'

  15-06-2018 18:30 via bbc.co.uk
  Conservative rebels reject a bid by the government to avoid a showdown over the EU Withdrawal Bill.
  
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• A bruising week in a difficult year for Theresa May | Anne Perkins

  15-06-2018 18:22
  The PM went from chaos at the G7 to confusion over Brexit, via an apology for GrenfellWhen Theresa May landed at Heathrow at 7am last Sunday, one of the most critical weeks since she became prime minister almost exactly two years ago had just begun. The arcane nature of the wrangling over the precise way parliament can have a meaningful vote on a Brexit deal without actually binding the government’s hands can be misleading. It may look like a obscure trial by textual analysis. But it is be
  
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• Government faces growing pressure over Heathrow third runway

  15-06-2018 18:18
  Government faces criticism from its own advisors over failure to mention emissions targets as campaigners enter second week of hunger strikeThe government is coming under growing pressure from environmentalists and its own advisers over its support for a new runway at Heathrow.The Committee on Climate Change [CCC] has expressed its “surprise” that there was no mention of the government’s legal obligations to reduce greenhouse gases when it announced it was backing Heathrow expa
  
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• The Guardian view on the NHS cash boost: pay for it with deficit spending | Editorial

  15-06-2018 18:09
  The public knows that the health service needs more money. Theresa May’s offer is a start – but unlikely to be enoughFinally the penny has dropped in No 10. The prime minister, Theresa May, has recognised that the English health service does not have the resources it requires to provide high-quality patient care, and has told the Treasury to “find the money” the NHS desperately needs. Mrs May seems to be offering to increase the budget of the English NHS by about 3% a yea
  
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• The Guardian view on a no-deal Brexit: a fatal delusion | Editorial

  15-06-2018 18:09
  It is essential that reasonable, moderate Tory MPs support Dominic Grieve’s insurance policy against the calamity of ‘no deal’Dominic Grieve is not a man much inclined to rebellion or grandstanding. That is why the Conservative former attorney general was amenable to compromise with the government in this week’s dispute over parliament’s “meaningful vote” on Brexit terms. Mr Grieve and his fellow Tory rebels agreed not to inflict a humilia
  
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• UK visa of Russian oligarch who met Arron Banks under review

  15-06-2018 17:59
  Siman Povarenkin one of 700 whose tier one visas are being reviewed after spy poisoningThe oligarch who met Arron Banks to discuss a lucrative gold deal is one of 700 wealthy Russians whose “tier one” visas are being reviewed after the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal.Siman Povarenkin is entitled to residency in the UK, and eventual citizenship, through his wife Irina’s visa. She moved to Britain in 2013 with their two children after investing at least £2m. Povarenki
  
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• Game on?

  15-06-2018 17:32 via bbc.co.uk
  Aled ap Dafydd predicts a three-way battle for Plaid Cymru's top job this summer.
  
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• Tories chairman Brandon Lewis vows to 'stamp out' Islamophobia

  15-06-2018 17:27 via bbc.co.uk
  Party chairman Brandon Lewis promises "diversity training" but critics are demanding a full inquiry.
  
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• Tory MP Christopher Chope blocks progress of upskirting bill

  15-06-2018 17:19
  Christchurch MP is sole objector to proposal to make it a crime to take photos up skirts
  A bill to make upskirting a specific criminal offence punishable by up to two years in prison has been blocked in the House of Commons after a single Conservative MP objected to it.The voyeurism (offences) bill on upskirting – the taking of surreptitious, sexually intrusive images – was put forward by the Liberal Democrat MP Wera Hobhouse after a campaign by Gina Martin. Police have declined to p
  
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• High noon for Theresa May as parliament bids for Brexit say

  15-06-2018 17:04 via ft.com
  The UK prime minister’s skill in postponing a battle with MPs has reached its limit
  
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• Government staff 'asked to give Sargeant evidence to civil servants'

  15-06-2018 16:53 via bbc.co.uk
  Welsh Government staff were asked to share Carl Sargeant inquiry evidence with civil servants first.
  
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• Govia Thameslink chief executive Charles Horton resigns

  15-06-2018 16:50 via bbc.co.uk
  Charles Horton is to step down following major disruption for rail passengers.
  
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• Brexit is a sideshow for Germany

  15-06-2018 15:41 via ft.com
  UK problems are trivial compared with strained ties between the US and its allies
  
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• No date set for betting machine stakes cut, government admits

  15-06-2018 15:14 via bbc.co.uk
  New rules to reduce the maximum bet on "crack cocaine" gambling machines could take two years to come in, reports say.
  
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• Independent Scotland would face 'extended austerity' under SNP

  15-06-2018 15:05
  Growth commission’s strategy would lead to extra decade of cuts and restraint, says IFSAn independent Scotland would face an extra 10 years of austerity if it implemented plans outlined by a Scottish National party report, the Institute for Fiscal Studies has warned.
  The IFS, a highly regarded economics research institute, said proposals from the SNP’s growth commission published in May would leave Scotland’s weak public finances facing continued cost-cutting and restraint. Con
  
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• Fail: Marking the TaxPayer Alliance's sloppy research on teacher salaries

  15-06-2018 14:32
  
  Right wing pressure group makes a series of economic howlers and then accidentally undermines its own political mission statement
  
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• Social care funding crisis leaves the NHS in limbo

  15-06-2018 14:11
  The health service can’t plan its next decade with confidence until the entire care system has a comprehensive dealFour themes dominated this year’s gathering of the health service clan at the NHS Confederation’s annual conference in Manchester: priorities for the new money, avoiding another winter crisis, re-energising the redesign of clinical services, and finding, keeping and training the staff to do it all.The health and social care secretary, Jeremy Hunt, indicated the sha
  
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• UK’s squeezed middle faces growing risk of poverty

  15-06-2018 13:56 via ft.com
  OECD research shows widening divide between the lower and upper middle classes
  
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• Squeezed middle faces growing risk of poverty

  15-06-2018 13:56 via ft.com
  OECD research shows widening divide between the lower and upper middle classes
  
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• Labour Live: can the troubled festival recapture 2017's Corbynmania?

  15-06-2018 13:53
  Ticket prices have been slashed and there have been problems with the beer, but the party still has its star performerIt was intended to build on that 2017 Glastonbury moment, when tens of thousands of people chanted “Oh Jeremy Corbyn” in an outburst of post-election euphoria. But with Labour Live – the party’s attempt at running a music and politics festival, one year on from the Glastonbury love-in – organisers will just be hoping a few thousand people turn up and
  
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• Govia Thameslink CEO quits over ‘hugely frustrating’ timetable disruptions

  15-06-2018 13:21 via ft.com
  Horton’s division runs the Thameslink, Great Northern, Southern and Gatwick Express services
  
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• EU withdrawal bill: the key battles and what to expect next

  15-06-2018 13:20
  May avoided defeat but a Tory MP quit, the SNP walked out and Labour MPs rebelledWhen the EU withdrawal bill was first presented to parliament the Brexit secretary, David Davis, said it would enable the UK to leave the EU “in the smoothest and most orderly way possible”.Nine months later and the bill seemed mainly to bring confusion and acrimony to parliament this week. The following is a recap of what happened – and what will come next. Continue reading...
  
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• Tougher Maths GCSE is calculated to multiply stress and failure

  15-06-2018 13:02 via ft.com
  Revamped exams for 15-year-olds are retrograde and will hurt less able students
  
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• Average-sized English homes too pricey for average earners

  15-06-2018 13:00 via ft.com
  No region in England and Wales is affordable for workers on median salary
  
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• Universal Credit 'could cost more than current benefits system'

  15-06-2018 12:20 via bbc.co.uk
  Some claimants have waited eight months for payment - but there's no way back, says audit report.
  
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• Week in Review: No.10 uses delay-and-smear tactics to avoid Brexit defeat

  15-06-2018 11:59
  
  Time is in Brussel's benefit when it is negotiating abroad, but it is to its own benefit when negotiating domestically.
  
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• ‘We’re doomed!’: Royal Mail’s Brexit trolls get stamp of approval | John Crace

  15-06-2018 11:57
  Also this week, Jilly Cooper’s homesick pooch and a freebie for Tony Blair in HMP BelmarshIt’s in the nature of my obsessive personality to collect things. Everything from Panini stickers to rare books. I have even collected things I wasn’t sure even still existed. After years of collecting all British stamps, I decided to specialise in panes of stamps taken from booklets issued in the reigns of King Edward VII, George V, Edward VIII and George VI. And soon ran into problems, b
  
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• Labour blasts government for delays to fixed-odds betting terminal curbs

  15-06-2018 11:50
  Tom Watson says two-year delay to cutting maximum bet from £100 to £2 is ‘pathetic’Labour has accused the government of being “fundamentally weak” after ministers bowed to pressure from bookmakers and agreed to a two-year delay before slashing the maximum stake on controversial fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs).The maximum stake on the machines will still be cut from £100 to £2 but the change will not take effect until 2020, under the terms of a
  
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• A Lib Dem bounce in Lewisham should not shift Labour’s Brexit stance | Owen Jones

  15-06-2018 11:50
  The byelection shows the party must tread a careful Brexit tightrope to succeed – or let the Jacob Rees-Moggified Tories winLabour’s resounding victory in Lewisham East is destined to be interpreted thus: because the Liberal Democrats surged from a paltry 4.4% to nearly a quarter of the vote, while Labour’s share fell from two-thirds to just over 50%, Labour should pivot to a firmly anti-Brexit stance.For those of us who don’t like Brexit but particularly fear an ideologi
  
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• Labour's Janet Daby wins Lewisham East in by-election

  15-06-2018 10:12 via bbc.co.uk
  Party's majority is cut as Lib Dems push Tories into third place in pro-EU constituency.
  
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• Politics Live - readers' edition: Friday 15 June

  15-06-2018 09:13
  A forum where readers can discuss today’s politics and share links to breaking news and to the most interesting politics stories, blogs and tweets on the web8.13am BST I’m not writing my usual blog today but here, as an alternative, is the Politics Live readers’ edition. It is a place for you to discuss today’s politics, and to share links to breaking news and to the most interesting stories and blogs on the web.
  Feel free to express your views robustly, but please treat
  
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• Labour holds Lewisham East as Liberal Democrats surge

  15-06-2018 07:04 via ft.com
  Winner says result reflects opposition to ‘hard Brexit’ as Tories finish third
  
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• Lewisham East byelection winner to oppose 'extreme Brexit'

  15-06-2018 06:44
  Labour’s Janet Daby vows to work for close EU ties as Lib Dems surge in pro-remain seat
  Labour’s Janet Daby has won the Lewisham East byelection and immediately promised to oppose a hard Brexit, after the party’s margin of victory was cut by a resurgent Liberal Democrats in the heavily pro-remain seat.Daby took just over 50% of the vote in the south-east London constituency, ahead of the Lib Dems’ Lucy Salek, who won 25% of the vote – a 20 percentage point rise in t
  
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• Labour accused of ‘hiding’ sexual assault inquiry findings

  15-06-2018 05:00 via ft.com
  National Executive Committee studying QC’s conclusions
  
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• UK auditor slams cost and rollout of universal credit benefit

  15-06-2018 01:15 via ft.com
  New benefitssystem ‘has not delivered value for money’, NAO report says
  
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• Universal credit savaged by public spending watchdog

  15-06-2018 01:01
  NAO says core claims about flagship welfare programme are based on unproven assumptionsThe government’s ambitious change to the benefits system, universal credit, fails to deliver promised financial savings or employment benefits and leaves thousands of vulnerable claimants in hardship, according to the public spending watchdog.The National Audit Office effectively demolishes ministerial claims for universal credit, concluding that the much-delayed flagship welfare programme may end up cos
  
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