Political news

• Unions join business leaders to demand urgency in Brexit talks

  26-06-2018 23:03
  TUC and CBI release rare joint statement as cabinet tensions flare into the open over issueBritish and European trade unions and business organisations have joined forces to demand that “pace and urgency” be injected into the Brexit talks as complaints about the lack of progress made in negotiations intensified ahead of this week’s EU summit.The TUC and the CBI released a rare joint statement with their continental counterparts calling for “measurable progress”, a
  
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• Muslim group accuses Tories of turning blind eye to Islamophobia claims

  26-06-2018 23:00
  Muslim Council of Britain writes again to party chairman calling for internal inquiryThe Muslim Council of Britain has accused the Conservative party of hoping allegations of Islamophobia in its ranks will “magically go away” and complained that the party’s chairman has not responded to its call for an internal inquiry.Three weeks after it first raised the issue, the group wrote again to Brandon Lewis on Tuesday highlighting further allegations of anti-Muslim prejudice within T
  
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• Biggest US trade groups warn Trump of 'serious negative impacts' of tariff plan

  26-06-2018 21:54
  Retail, carmaking and agriculture bodies sign letter as UK chancellor Philip Hammond fears ‘disaster’ for the US economyGroups representing America’s largest retailers, car manufacturers and the agriculture industry warned of the “serious negative economic impacts” of Donald Trump’s trade disputes on Tuesday and declared support for a bill that would rein in his powers.In a letter to US senators signed by 51 trade groups, the US Chamber of Commerce and state a
  
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• Labour proposals 'all-but guarantee left-wing Corbyn successor'

  26-06-2018 21:40
  Reforms briefed to unions would mean fewer MPs needed to nominate candidatesLabour could slash the number of MPs needed to nominate a successor to Jeremy Corbyn, handing new powers to members and trade unions as part of a slew of party reforms briefed to trade unions.Trade union general secretaries were told this week about the changes set to be proposed at the party conference, the Guardian understands. “This virtually guarantees that a left-wing candidate could succeed Corbyn as leader,&
  
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• Steve Bell on Trump and Johnson – cartoon

  26-06-2018 20:54
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• Boris Johnson given cold shoulder by 'fed up' cabinet colleagues

  26-06-2018 20:40
  Cabinet sources say foreign secretary was ignored by senior ministers disappointed with his recent actionsBoris Johnson was given the cold shoulder at cabinet on Tuesday after a controversial few days of outbursts over Brexit and flying to Afghanistan to avoid a crunch vote on Heathrow expansion. Continue reading...
  
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• Downing Street intervenes in row over armed forces pay rise

  26-06-2018 20:15
  No 10 offers compromise to defence secretary amid bitter rift over overall MoD budgetDowning Street has directly intervened in a standoff between the defence secretary, Gavin Williamson, and the chancellor, Philip Hammond, over a pay rise for the armed services, according to Whitehall sources.
  The move comes against the backdrop of an increasingly acrimonious row between Williamson and Hammond over a push for an extra £2bn a year in defence spending on top of the existing £35.3bn bud
  
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• Philip Hammond warns Trump against triggering full trade war

  26-06-2018 20:13
  Chancellor says he hopes it can be averted but says it would be a ‘disaster’ for the US economyPhilip Hammond has warned Donald Trump that triggering a full-blown trade war would spell “disaster” for the US economy. Firing the latest warning shot for Trump as the president ratchets up the pressure on the EU and China by promising higher tariffs on US imports, the chancellor said he still harboured hopes that a full-scale trade war could be averted.Continue reading...
  
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• Heathrow starts engines on long path towards third runway

  26-06-2018 20:10 via ft.com
  Emissions report and judicial review the first hurdles for project to overcome
  
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• Nicola Sturgeon carries out major reshuffle of Scottish cabinet

  26-06-2018 20:09
  Shona Robinson’s exit from health among changes made as education reform bill is shelvedNicola Sturgeon has carried out a comprehensive reshuffle of her cabinet, replacing her longstanding but beleaguered ally Shona Robison, who has resigned as health secretary.
  After announcing a purge of six veteran ministers, including the economy secretary Keith Brown and the equalities secretary Angela Constance, Scotland’s first minister promoted several rising stars in an effort to refresh her
  
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• Afghan holiday catches up with crumpled Boris in Commons

  26-06-2018 19:57
  Jet-lagged foreign secretary fends off dopey MPs’ questions on Trump and footballThere hadn’t even been enough time for him to lie down in protest – at his own schedule, if not the building of a third runway. Just hours after landing at Heathrow on his return from his city break, Boris Johnson found himself facing departmental questions. He’d tried to get out of it by extending his stay in Kabul but the airline’s automated helpline said his return ticket was non-tra
  
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• Brexit ministers need to put facts before ideology | Nils Pratley

  26-06-2018 19:53
  If the government says frictionless trade is vital, companies are entitled to ask how it’s meant to happenIf you want to laugh, or despair, go back and read the “automotive sector deal”, unveiled by the government in January as part of its shiny new industrial strategy. The contrast could not be greater between the document’s happy picture of industry and government working in harmony and today’s reality of falling investment and large employers pleading with minist
  
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• Gavin Williamson on dangerous ground in defence budget row

  26-06-2018 19:52
  Ministers and mandarins will resent implication they do not care about the military as much as defence secretary A senior civil servant, surveying media coverage over the last few days, expressed exasperation with warring cabinet ministers. He was not, for once, referring to the battle over Brexit but to an increasingly bitter stand-off over the future of British defence.
  “It is open season at the moment,” the well-placed civil servant said, referring to a series of stories he assume
  
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• Brexit uncertainty puts thousands of jobs at risk, car industry warns

  26-06-2018 19:50
  Sector needs Britain to remain in customs union ‘as a minimum’, lobby group saysCar manufacturers have warned Theresa May there is “no Brexit dividend” for the industry, with investment in the motor trade and thousands of jobs at risk unless the government rethinks its red lines in negotiations. In the starkest warning yet from a single business sector, the car lobby told the government it needs “as a minimum” to remain in the customs union with a deal that de
  
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• The Guardian view on tidal energy: cost is not the whole story | Editorial

  26-06-2018 19:43
  Ministers’ decision to shelve a pioneering wave power scheme in Swansea Bay is based on evidence – but also ideologyThe UK government’s decision to shelve plans to build the world’s first tidal lagoon off Swansea Bay is a hard blow for Wales. That it comes in the wake of Airbus’s warning that 6,000 jobs at its Broughton factory in Flintshire are being put at risk by continuing uncertainty over Brexit, and on the same day that the Society of Motor Manufacturers and T
  
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• The Guardian view on UK election laws: not up to the job | Editorial

  26-06-2018 19:42
  Britain’s MPs are too digitally illiterate and complacent about much-needed election campaign safeguards in the 21st centuryBritain’s electoral law feels like a relic of a vanished pre-digital world. The last time the law was comprehensively revised was in 1983, in the distant days when things like bots, trolls and astroturfing were still unknown. Even then, many of the offences in electoral law related more to the kind of abuses that Charles Dickens described in the Eatanswill elect
  
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• Clueless Corbyn or a wily player of the Brexit game? | Letters

  26-06-2018 19:05
  Joe McCarthy says Jeremy Corbyn is right to keep his powder dry; Tim Barrow says Labour supporters must ally with others to defeat hard Brexit; Margaret Morris says the party should make use of the wisdom in its socialist societies; and Alison Watson says Labour needs better leadershipJohn Harris says the “best politicians … tell us not just where we all are, but also what our position means and where we need to go next” (Where’s Jeremy Corbyn? Lost in a vision of Labour
  
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• Boris Johnson criticised after telling MPs why he is 'increasingly admiring' of Trump – as it happened

  26-06-2018 18:44
  Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happenLunchtime summaryAfternoon summary 5.31pm BST [The final Brexit deal] must apply to services as well as goods. We need a labour mobility framework which allows UK business and self-employed professionals to provide services across the EU to clients in person.In my experience the business voice puts evidence first before ideology. Brings actual experience of trading whether with Europe or the rest of the world. Not a theoret
  
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• MPs question Bank of England expenses over £390,000 travel bill

  26-06-2018 18:15
  FPC members Donald Kohn and Anil Kashyap criticised for spending ‘staggering’ sumThe Bank of England has been criticised after two of its economic advisers spent almost £400,000 on travel expenses in two-and-a-half years, including more than £11,000 on one flight.Donald Kohn and Anil Kashyap, members of the financial policy committee (FPC), were accused of running up a “staggering” bill by MPs on the Treasury committee when the details emerged during a hearing
  
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• May's plan to stay in single market 'will be blocked by French and Germans'

  26-06-2018 18:11
  Madrid’s foreign minister says there will be no deal for goods access without free movementTheresa May’s plan to protect British industry by keeping the UK in a single market for goods without respecting the free movement of people after Brexit will be rejected by an “angry” France and Germany, despite some sympathy within the EU to Downing Street’s cause, Spain’s foreign minister has said.The new Spanish government would also block such a political fix, Josep
  
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• Company co-founded by Jeremy Hunt broke law

  26-06-2018 18:02
  Restructuring of Hotcourses reduced health secretary’s tax bill by about £100,000A company co-founded by Jeremy Hunt breached company law before carrying out a restructuring designed to reduce the health secretary’s tax bill by about £100,000, it has emerged.Hotcourses, which was at the time majority-owned by Hunt, failed to file crucial documents with Companies House for over three years, when the law says they must be filed within 15 days. Continue reading...
  
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• Conservative MP: We cannot look 'like Corbyn-lite'

  26-06-2018 17:50 via bbc.co.uk
  George Freeman worries the Tories may lose their "reputation for economic competence".
  
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• Brexit to hold back productivity, says MPC member

  26-06-2018 17:47 via ft.com
  Ian McCafferty blames slowing capital investment for weak productivity since 2010
  
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• Boris Johnson criticised after telling MPs why he is 'increasingly admiring' of Trump - Politics live

  26-06-2018 17:23
  Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happenLunchtime summary 4.23pm BST Here is some more on the Scottish government reshuffle, from ITV Border’s Peter MacMahon and from Philip Sim and Andrew Kerr, who both work for the BBC.Big #reshuffle from @NicolaSturgeon Health Secretary & close friend @ShonaRobison + Communities Secretary @AConstanceSNP "stepping down from their posts".@theSNP sources not denying they are being sacked @alasdairallan @aewingmsp + @mau
  
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• Emily Thornberry asks Boris Johnson why he is 'increasingly admiring' of Trump – video

  26-06-2018 17:03
  The shadow foreign secretary, Emily Thornberry, has questioned Boris Johnson's reasons for 'admiring' Trump and asked why the US president should have the honour of visiting the UK in two weeks. The foreign secretary had been asked to justify the comment he made at a private Conservative party dinner Continue reading...
  
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• Boris Johnson challenged over Brexit business 'expletive'

  26-06-2018 16:25 via bbc.co.uk
  Boris Johnson refuses to deny claims of an outburst over businesses expressing Brexit concerns.
  
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• Theresa May promises to listen to business over Brexit

  26-06-2018 16:06 via ft.com
  But UK foreign secretary Boris Johnson fails to deny that he said ‘f*** business’
  
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• Pharma sector failing to tackle superbugs, says O’Neill

  26-06-2018 15:46 via ft.com
  Calls for drug sales levy to help fund new antibiotic reward scheme
  
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• Excluding trans women from single-sex spaces is cruel – and impossible | Carys Afoko

  26-06-2018 15:28
  In upholding the law on single-sex spaces, the government has bowed to a vocal minority trying to exclude those in dire needI felt the familiar twinge of disappointment laced with anger when I saw the government announcement that trans people will not be given the legal right to use single-sex spaces of the sex they identify with. By saying they had “no intention” of changing the current law, ministers are at best sending mixed messages about the Gender Recognition Act. At worst, the
  
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• Disruption ahead?

  26-06-2018 15:07 via bbc.co.uk
  SNP MPs are planning to "frustrate" UK government business at Westminster - but how might they do this?
  
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• Business gives Theresa May the cover she needs

  26-06-2018 14:58 via ft.com
  Interventions give PM valuable ammunition as she makes case for soft Brexit
  
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• Parliamentary pact

  26-06-2018 14:48 via bbc.co.uk
  A need-to-know guide to the confidence-and-supply deal between the DUP and Conservatives, a year on.
  
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• UK poised to overcome Russian objections in chemical weapons vote

  26-06-2018 14:39
  Two-thirds majority required to empower OPCW to identify source of attacks in SyriaThe west appears to have the votes to defeat Russia and force through changes that would give weapons inspectors expanded powers to identify those responsible for using chemical weapons in Syria. The changes are being proposed by a UK-led alliance angry at the way Russia has shielded the regime of the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, from culpability over the repeated use of chemical weapons.Continue reading...
  
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• 'Brexit is scaring businesses to death' – experts debate the data

  26-06-2018 14:12
  Two former members of Bank of England’s interest rate-setting committee discuss the outlook as industry warns of job losses
  •Brexit economy: UK consumers continue to spend despite job fears
  •How has the Brexit vote affected the UK economy? June verdictProfessor of economics at Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, US, and member of the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee from June 2006 to May 2009 Continue reading...
  
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• Heathrow debate

  26-06-2018 13:44 via bbc.co.uk
  Enter your postcode, constituency or MP's name to see whether they voted for or against the airport expansion at Heathrow
  
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• Brexit uncertainty putting thousands of jobs at risk, says car industry

  26-06-2018 13:24
  Sector needs Britain to remain in customs union ‘as a minimum’, says lobby groupCar manufacturers have warned Theresa May there is “no Brexit dividend” for the industry, with investment in the sector and thousands of jobs being put at risk unless the government “rethinks” its red lines in negotiations.Related: BMW will shut UK sites if customs delays clog supply post-BrexitContinue reading...
  
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• Sturgeon reshuffles health, economy and communities secretaries

  26-06-2018 13:22 via ft.com
  Swinney keeps brief despite U-turn on SNP plans for education reform legislation
  
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• Bosses who harm company pensions face £1m fine

  26-06-2018 13:07 via ft.com
  Penalty part of proposals aimed at protecting defined benefit schemes
  
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• UK defence spending is national narcissism. Cut it, don't increase it | David Shariatmadari

  26-06-2018 12:24
  MPs think Britain should spend more on tanks and artillery in order to impress the US. That would be the height of folly “The first duty of government is the protection of the nation.” Those were words of the former chief of the defence staff, Nick Houghton, speaking on the Today programme on Tuesday morning. He was adding his voice to the call by the House of Commons defence committee to vastly increase defence spending. It currently stands at around £40bn per year. MPs &ndash
  
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• Uber agrees to audit in bid to secure new London licence

  26-06-2018 12:21 via ft.com
  Ride-hailing app offers concessions in court appeal
  
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• Why did Nigel Farage tell the world he thought remain had won? | Molly Scott Cato

  26-06-2018 11:28
  A report by Bloomberg raises questions about what the arch-Brexiteer knew and when, although he denies any wrongdoingHave you ever wondered why Nigel Farage and the Brexit merchants are obsessed with George Soros? No doubt his strong support for the EU has something to do with it, but perhaps his sudden rise to wealth through a single, well-timed bet is also part of the fascination. Related: Nigel Farage denies shorting value of sterling on night of Brexit voteContinue reading...
  
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• Labour’s sexual harassment complaints procedure is unfit for purpose | Ava Etemadzadeh

  26-06-2018 11:02
  My allegations against Kelvin Hopkins were so badly handled that I’ve started a petition for an independent process
  • Labour MPs angry over handling of harassment hearing Related: Labour steps up inquiry into complaints against MP Kelvin Hopkins Over the past few months, I have been dealing with the Labour party’s newly introduced sexual harassment complaints procedure. It didn’t exist when I first made a complaint in December 2015. I complained that I was sexually assault
  
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• Sexual harassment claimants 'losing faith in Labour process'

  26-06-2018 11:00
  Ava Etemadzadeh says concerns about neutrality are deterring complainantsA woman who accused a Labour MP of sexual harassment has said she and other complainants are losing faith in the party’s processes to deal with the issue.Ava Etemadzadeh, who claims she was harassed by the now-suspended Labour MP Kelvin Hopkins, said she knew of several people who have told her they were now not willing to make complaints under the current process, but were waiting for an independent parliamentary sys
  
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• UK 'living a lie' on defence capability, says former army chief

  26-06-2018 10:19
  Comments follow warning by MPs that UK must raise spending to maintain US alliance
  The UK is “living a lie” about its defence programme, which is unaffordable within current budgets, the former chief of defence staff has said, after a committee of MPs said Britain must raise spending in order to maintain its relationship with the US.Lord Gen Nick Houghton, who was chief of defence staff until 2016, said the government had to make a tough choice between losing its global standing as a
  
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• Lords made serious improvements to the withdrawal bill - but no-one will sing their praises

  26-06-2018 09:54
  
  The last few weeks have shown that peers still provide an important role in the British political process
  
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• Most of Labour is pro-Corbyn and anti-Brexit – we must be heard | Alena Ivanova

  26-06-2018 09:00
  Time is running out to shape the debate in the party and the public. Momentum’s petition to stop a Tory Brexit is a vital stepFor those of us on the left, London was witness to some bizarre scenes last Saturday. As a hundred thousand people, maybe more, marched against Brexit, the most memorable chant that could be heard echoing across Parliament Square was not about migrants’ rights or the dispossession of Britain’s young people. Instead, it was “where’s Jeremy Cor
  
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• Grayling to face legal action over Heathrow expansion plan

  26-06-2018 08:00
  Four councils back move, claiming proposal will not survive ‘independent, lawful and rational’ scrutiny The transport secretary, Chris Grayling, is facing a fresh headache over Heathrow as a group of councils confirmed they were planning legal action against expansion, just hours after MPs voted overwhelmingly to back a third runway.In an embarrassing blow for Theresa May, Conservative-run Windsor and Maidenhead, the prime minister’s own local council, suggested after Monday ni
  
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• Brexit weekly briefing: Tory rebels retreat and pro-EU rally hits streets

  26-06-2018 08:00
  Big business panics and Airbus threatens to cut jobs as battle over customs union loomsWelcome 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 yours too. If you value our Brexit coverage, please b
  
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• From Heathrow to Brexit, showmen have taken over our politics | Rafael Behr

  26-06-2018 07:00
  Boris Johnson, by avoiding the Commons vote, has confirmed his total lack of principle. But in today’s politics, performance is all that matters• Johnson criticised over decision to miss crunch Heathrow voteCowardice is usually perceived as an absence – the lack of courage. But Boris Johnson manages to make it a substance. The foreign secretary is unprinciple incarnate. A brave politician, confronted with a three-line whip in parliament behind a proposition he has pledged t
  
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• Evicting gang members’ families punishes the innocent | Dawn Foster

  26-06-2018 07:00
  The Tories’ latest plan is more about looking tough than fixing the social issues that drive young people to crimeIt is almost 12 years to the day that a new Conservative party leader proclaimed that a break in Tory tradition and attitudes was needed, and that the country, justice system and political class should understand young hoodie wearers rather than condemn them. David Cameron’s argument, though mocked as “hug a hoodie”, was sound: repeated crackdowns on low-level
  
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