Political news

• Labour pledges to boost Bank of England role with productivity target

  19-06-2018 23:00 via ft.com
  UK opposition plans to expand central bank remit via 3% output growth target
  
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• Upskirting ban 'also protects men in kilts'

  19-06-2018 22:34 via bbc.co.uk
  The government confirms "kilt upskirting" will be covered as it prepares to introduce a ban.
  
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• Pregnant pause on baby leave proxy vote vexes MPs

  19-06-2018 20:39
  Formal change yet to happen, despite Commons’ vote in favour of parental leave systemAmong the many issues to be considered by MPs before Wednesday’s crucial vote on the EU withdrawal bill is one particular complexity faced by a handful of them: the implications of late pregnancy.With no formal parental leave system in place in the Commons, the precise numbers on the key amendment vote could be swayed by the fact that three MPs who would vote against the government are heavily pregna
  
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• No 10 and rebels stand firm in row over Brexit 'meaningful vote'

  19-06-2018 20:37
  Both sides say they will not back down in latest Commons clash on EU withdrawal billTheresa May faces a nail-biting parliamentary clash with Conservative rebels on Wednesday as the government seeks to defeat an attempt to give MPs a “meaningful vote” before Britain could leave the EU without a deal.The EU withdrawal bill, the government’s flagship piece of Brexit legislation, returns to the House of Commons on Wednesday against a backdrop of increasing anxiety about the risk of
  
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• Brexit 'meaningful vote': how the row has unfolded

  19-06-2018 20:13
  After two Lords defeats for the government, the battle returns to the CommonsA much-debated and much-amended section of the EU withdrawal bill returns to the Commons on Wednesday for a potentially crucial vote. Amendment 19 seeks to give parliament a final say on a Brexit deal – but how much say has varied wildly between its various incarnations. This is its progress so far: Continue reading...
  
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• Medicinal cannabis use to be reviewed by government

  19-06-2018 19:59 via bbc.co.uk
  Families of epileptic children welcomed the move, which does not change rules on recreational use.
  
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• The Guardian view on the Mackintosh fire: how to rebuild is Scotland’s choice | Editorial

  19-06-2018 19:54
  The Glasgow School of Art was a masterpiece, but promises to build a reproduction are prematureThe gutting by fire of Glasgow School of Art’s Mackintosh building is a huge loss to Scotland and the world. The highly distinctive structure, completed in 1909, was Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s masterpiece. It is also the home of one of the UK’s most important art schools and a place beloved by students, many of whom have spoken in recent days of their shock and sadness. Neither the f
  
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• Hammond 'ordered NHS chief to back health funding plan'

  19-06-2018 19:51
  Chancellor’s £20bn budget boost conditional on support from Simon Stevens – sourcesPhilip Hammond only agreed to the NHS’s £20bn budget boost on condition that the service’s outspoken chief executive backed the deal, sources close to the deal have disclosed.The chancellor made it clear in tense eleventh-hour negotiations that Simon Stevens had to publicly welcome the funding deal or he would not give NHS England as much money as Theresa May announced.Continue
  
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• Tory benches empty for Failing Grayling defence - maybe the trains were late | John Crace

  19-06-2018 19:42
  Transport secretary was a bag of nerves as the opposition read out the charge sheet against him ahead of no confidence voteAlmost inevitably the start of the debate was delayed. For once, though, no blame could be attached to the transport secretary, Chris Grayling. Rather the fault lay with the prime minister, who had managed to remember she had promised to allow the medicinal use of cannabis just a day after she had remembered promising the exact opposite. Whatever drugs Theresa May is taking,
  
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• EU prepares call to speed up plans for no-deal Brexit

  19-06-2018 18:57 via ft.com
  Stark finding drawn up for European summit as May faces decisive Commons vote
  
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• Rank disrespect for our democracy | Letters

  19-06-2018 18:53
  The House of Lords represents another world to most of the public, writes Darren Hughes of the Electoral Reform Society, shame on Christopher Chope, writes Tamsin Dunwoody, the daughter of the longest-ever serving woman MP, Gwyneth DunwoodyAnyone who believes our politicians should be representative of the entire UK will have been astonished by the list of applicants seeking to fill a vacant seat in the House of Lords. There are 19 candidates for 31 voters in this hereditary peer “byelecti
  
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• MoD awards Capita new contract despite handing it highest risk rating

  19-06-2018 18:43 via ft.com
  Outsourcers still under scrutiny after collapse of Carillion, defence ministry’s biggest supplier
  
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• Labour Live and the future of Corbynism – Politics Weekly podcast

  19-06-2018 18:38
  Heather Stewart is joined by Laura Parker, Dab Sabbagh and Matt Zarb-Cousin to discuss how Corbynism can maintain the energy among its supporters displayed during the last election. Plus: is there a better way to organise the welfare state? Hilary Cottam discusses her book Radical HelpAt last year’s Glastonbury festival Jeremy Corbyn’s name was chanted by thousands of music fans. Now almost exactly a year on, Corbyn appeared at his party’s own music festival, Labour Live. It pr
  
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• Meaningful vote for parliament is key to stopping ‘no deal’ Brexit

  19-06-2018 18:33 via ft.com
  MPs and peers should have the power to step in if negotiations fail
  
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• Home secretary announces review into medicinal cannabis use

  19-06-2018 18:18
  Sajid Javid says it is not the first step towards legalisation of recreational consumptionThousands of sufferers of drug-resistant conditions have been offered hope after the home secretary launched a review into medicinal uses of cannabis following public pressure from the families of two sick children.But Sajid Javid ruled out legalising the drug for recreational use following interventions by the former Tory leader William Hague and policing officials. Continue reading...
  
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• Chris Grayling survives no confidence vote in House of Commons - Politics live

  19-06-2018 17:51
  Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happenMichel Barnier’s speech on security cooperation after Brexit - SummaryLunchtime summaryAfternoon summary 4.40pm BST I am afraid the breach of faith and trust is so great that the secretary of state’s credibility will never recover. There comes a point where the publicly accountable politician in charge of the railways should step up and shoulder the blame. It seems to me, and I suspect to many rail users, that w
  
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• Labour Brexit donor John Mills broke TV influence rules

  19-06-2018 17:40 via bbc.co.uk
  John Mills - founder of the Labour Leave campaign - is threatened with being stripped of his broadcast licence.
  
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• UK 'can't keep European Arrest Warrant after Brexit'

  19-06-2018 17:35 via bbc.co.uk
  The EU's Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier says the UK "red lines" mean it has to leave the scheme.
  
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• Enough Brexit fairytales. In the real world spending must increase | Phil McDuff

  19-06-2018 15:47
  Leaving the EU won’t result in a bonanza for public services but neither will it plunge them into renewed austerityTheresa May has spent the weekend trying to convince people that there is such a thing as a “Brexit dividend” with the dead-eyed look of a minimum-wage sales assistant trying to get you to sign up for the extended warranty. It’s obvious nonsense even she doesn’t believe in, but her job depends on going through the motions, so go through them she will.Ma
  
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• Alfie Dingley to get medicinal cannabis - Sajid Javid

  19-06-2018 15:42 via bbc.co.uk
  Home Secretary Sajid Javid says Alfie Dingley can have the medicinal cannabis he needs.
  
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• Barnier talks tough on security

  19-06-2018 14:46 via ft.com
  Speech makes hard reading for UK politicians who hope things will stay the same
  
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• Andy McDonald, whose son died after an epileptic seizure, urges government action

  19-06-2018 14:37 via bbc.co.uk
  Labour's shadow transport secretary, Andy McDonald, whose son died after an epileptic seizure, makes an emotional appeal to government to help families.
  
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• Hague's call to legalise cannabis rejected by government

  19-06-2018 14:12 via bbc.co.uk
  But the home secretary tells MPs there will be a review of cannabis-based medicines in the UK.
  
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• London reliant on EU for 28% of building workers as Brexit looms

  19-06-2018 14:09 via ft.com
  Curbs on migration threaten UK government’s goals on housebuilding and infrastructure
  
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• Paul Williams MP: ‘We need to transfer power from hospitals to GPs’ | Denis Campbell

  19-06-2018 14:00
  The NHS must radically shift money and focus from treatment to keeping people well, says the Labour politician and doctorBeing a GP is like having a window on the world,” says Dr Paul Williams. “People come through the door and talk about intimate things to do with their families, their relationships, their experience of public services – of the jobcentre and of assessments for disability benefits, as well as the NHS. It gives me all kinds of insights.” Related: The NHS i
  
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• Brexit: No 10 will not accept 'meaningful vote' amendment

  19-06-2018 13:41
  Final showdown with Tory rebels likely after No 10 says it cannot accept peers’ version
  The government “cannot accept” a Lords amendment giving parliament a “meaningful vote” on a Brexit deal, and will re-table its rejected version, Downing Street has said, setting up a final showdown with Tory rebels on the issue this week.Theresa May put off a likely Commons defeat last week by promising rebels a compromise on the issue in the EU withdrawal bill. However, the even
  
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• Brexit row: GCHQ chief stresses UK's role in foiling European terror plots

  19-06-2018 13:35
  Jeremy Fleming’s comments can be seen as riposte to EU threats to end UK access to security databasesBritain supplied key information to help break up terrorist operations in four European countries in the last year, one of its intelligence chiefs revealed on Monday, as the UK upped the ante in the growing row over post-Brexit security.The director of the surveillance agency GCHQ, Jeremy Fleming, speaking on a visit to Nato headquarters, also stressed other European countries had benefited
  
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• Delay to green paper caps dismal 48 hours for social care | David Brindle

  19-06-2018 13:10
  Jeremy Hunt says long-awaited policy document on care and support for older people will not be published until the autumn When Jeremy Hunt finally admitted to MPs on Monday evening that the green paper on older people’s social care would not now appear before their summer recess, as he had promised, reaction in the care sector was more weary resignation than righteous anger. Disappointment comes with the territory these days.The much-anticipated green paper on social care for older people
  
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• Why won’t ministers come clean about the impact of cuts on disabled people? | Frances Ryan

  19-06-2018 13:00
  Being hit by the bedroom tax is bad enough, but losing your sickness benefits too is even harderBack in 2014, armed with only a laptop and phone, disabled campaigners started a hunt for the truth. As policies including the bedroom tax, the abolition of disability living allowance, and the rollout of controversial out-of-work sickness benefits hit, War on Welfare (Wow) called on the coalition government to carry out a cumulative impact assessment of the wave of disability cuts to measure the
  
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• May’s imaginary NHS dividend is farcical – Brexit has broken the Tories | Gaby Hinsliff

  19-06-2018 12:56
  We are witnessing the absurd spectacle of fiscally responsible Tories having to back up financially reckless Brexiters who overpromisedThere’s no more money. That was the essence of the lecture the cabinet got on Monday, eight years after Labour’s Liam Byrne left a note for the incoming Conservative government saying much the same thing: the cupboard is bare, so forget it. This time the chancellor, Philip Hammond, was presumably firing a warning shot over cabinet ministers tempted to
  
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• Europe and North America need to stay united – now more than ever | Jens Stoltenberg

  19-06-2018 11:06
  Political differences are putting Nato under strain, but all parties must realise that the transatlantic union makes us safer
  • Transatlantic relationship at risk, says Nato chief “I believe that in the North Atlantic treaty lies the best, if not the only hope of peace.” Not my words, but the words of Lord Hastings Ismay, former military assistant to Winston Churchill and the very first secretary general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato).In the same 1952 broadcast
  
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• What the bloody hell is going on with the meaningful vote?

  19-06-2018 10:16
  
  A towering constitutional battle, a fight on how a country functions: government versus parliament.
  
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• Tory rebels not trying to collapse government over Brexit, says MP

  19-06-2018 10:16
  Dominic Grieve says ‘meaningful vote’ may prevent crisis of no-deal exit from EUConservative rebels are not trying to “collapse the government” but a “meaningful vote” before leaving the EU may help to avoid a crisis moment, the leading pro-European backbencher Dominic Grieve has said. Related: May double-crossed Grieve over Brexit – this is a constitutional crisis | Andrew AdonisContinue reading...
  
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• Brexit weekly briefing: will May be outplayed in parliamentary ping pong?

  19-06-2018 08:01
  The prime minister increasingly appears hostage to both sides of a bitterly divided Conservative partyWelcome to the Guardian’s weekly Brexit briefing. If you would like to receive it as a weekly email, please sign up here. You can also catch up with our Brexit Means … podcast right here.
  Also: producing the Guardian’s independent, in-depth journalism takes time and money. We do it because we believe our perspective matters and it may be your perspective, too. If you value our
  
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• Question Time has become a daft pantomime of point-scoring: kill it off

  19-06-2018 07:00
  David Dimbleby is to step down and there are lots of good possible presenters – but the show is unwatchable without a fundamental rethinkWho will replace Dimbleby on Question Time? The nation frets. Who can do this demanding job of pointing to a man in a jumper and then apologising because it is a woman. Well, possibly a woman. Samira Ahmed, Emily Maitlis, Emma Barnett. There are loads of great women broadcasters around at the moment. Related: Who will succeed Dimbleby as Question Time hos
  
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• As the Brexit shambles shows, May needs to learn how to do diplomacy | Rafael Behr

  19-06-2018 07:00
  Anyone who valued this vital art wouldn’t have made Boris Johnson foreign secretaryOne reason to imagine that Theresa May has hidden depths is that the thought of the country’s future depending on the visible portion of her ability is so alarming. These are unsettled times, so there is comfort in the idea of a prime minister with a plan – any plan. There is a psychological incentive to suppose that May thinks beyond the end of the day; that her strategy for Brexit is more sophi
  
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• Pharma chiefs warn Brexit threatens UK life sciences dominance

  19-06-2018 05:00 via ft.com
  Pfizer head says Britain needs to cement position or risk erosion of critical industry
  
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• Pharma chiefs warn: Brexit threatens UK dominance of life sciences

  19-06-2018 05:00 via ft.com
  Pfizer head says Britain needs to cement position or risk erosion of critical industry
  
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• Levy scheme turns executives into apprentices

  19-06-2018 05:00 via ft.com
  Cranfield leads way with MBA programme kickstarted by compulsory charge
  
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• Britain’s flawed medicines regime urgently needs reform

  19-06-2018 05:00 via ft.com
  A clear and commitment to encourage both the discovery of innovative drugs will be transformational
  
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