Political news

• What the cabinet has agreed at Chequers Brexit meeting

  06-07-2018 22:00
  Theresa May and her cabinet have reached agreement on how to approach final Brexit talksPM secures approval from cabinet to negotiate soft Brexit
  After a long day of talks at Chequers, the cabinet has agreed what Theresa May hailed as a “collective position for the future of our negotiations” on Brexit. It might yet be modified amid Brussels objections or MPs’ concerns but below is the plan as agreed, as set out in a government statement: Continue reading...
  
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• Theresa May secures approval from cabinet to negotiate soft Brexit

  06-07-2018 22:00
  PM proposes creation of ‘UK-EU free trade area’ and matching food standardsWhat the cabinet has agreed
  Theresa May has secured approval to negotiate a soft Brexit deal with the European Union, signing up her fractious cabinet at a Chequers away day to what had been a controversial plan to match EU standards on food and goods.The prime minister released a statement following the critical afternoon session of the long-awaited summit, in which she confirmed she had won over the cabinet
  
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• Theresa May gains backing for ‘soft Brexit’ plan

  06-07-2018 22:00 via ft.com
  PM faces down Eurosceptic counter-attack at crunch Chequers cabinet
  
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• Reading the room: Theresa May's Brexit showdown

  06-07-2018 22:00
  As PM gathers her cabinet at Chequers, what clues can be gleaned from the body language?Robbie Gibb (1), Theresa May’s director of communications, talks to Michael Gove (2) in the corner of the room. Like Gove, Gibb is a Brexiter and a former journalist, brought in from the BBC to oversee communications in Downing Street after the election.Related: Brexit means beef fillet: how May's day at Chequers played outContinue reading...
  
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• May: Cabinet agrees 'collective position' on Brexit

  06-07-2018 22:00 via bbc.co.uk
  The prime minister proposes a new UK-EU free trade area which will "maintain high standards".
  
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• Brexit means beef fillet: how May's day at Chequers played out

  06-07-2018 22:00
  Very British dishes help ministers digest the direction of future UK-EU relations
  Theresa May secures approval from cabinet to negotiate soft Brexit
  Cabinet ministers’ phones are routinely locked away when they arrive at Downing Street for weekly cabinet meetings, to prevent the potential for espionage by hostile states.As ministers gathered at Chequers at the end of a heated summer week of leaked letters, biting texts and secret huddles in the Foreign Office , the policy had another use:
  
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• New movement aims to cajole UK wealthy to donate more to charity

  06-07-2018 21:32 via ft.com
  Philanthropists join forces to raise often paltry level of giving even as wealth increases
  
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• Trump to visit Windsor and Chequers on UK trip

  06-07-2018 20:16 via bbc.co.uk
  The US president will stay overnight in London but will spend much of his time outside the capital.
  
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• The case for reforming the rules of copyright

  06-07-2018 19:18 via ft.com
  The EU should hold the line on plans to rewrite internet regulations
  
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• EU says it won't let UK damage single market as cabinet debates May's Brexit plan at Chequers - Politics live

  06-07-2018 19:12
  Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including Theresa May chairing a key cabinet meeting at Chequers to decide the UK’s Brexit strategyLunchtime summaryAfternoon summary 6.11pm BST No10 source at Chequers says discussions have been “positive”, and no suggestion of any resignations (so far). Much of the document is now agreed. So have the Brexiters climbed down, or has the PM fudged? 6.03pm BST My colleague Marina Hyde has written about the
  
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• Donald Trump to avoid London for much of UK visit

  06-07-2018 18:59 via ft.com
  Protesters plan ‘carnival of resistance’ with inflatable 6m-tall baby balloon of president
  
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• The Chequers summit: more like Jeremy Kyle meets Real Housewives of the Cabinet | Marina Hyde

  06-07-2018 18:39
  Europe has been a toxic family row for the Tories. The only song Brexiters can all sing together is It Wasn’t MeWith the news ’copters hovering over the Chequers summit like a Kardashian wedding, the prime minister’s guests began rolling up. Try saying them like they’re the England squad announcement. Boris Johnson! Chris Grayling! Andreaaaaa Leadsommmmm! Liz Truss! Michael Gove! Gavin Williamson, bruv! Esther McVeeeeey … ! To watch these country house arrivals was
  
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• Martin Rowson on May's Chequers summit – cartoon

  06-07-2018 18:36
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• Britain’s retailers are too quick to blame business rates

  06-07-2018 18:08 via ft.com
  Shopkeepers railing against the levy should look a bit closer to home
  
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• The Guardian view on the cabinet Brexiters: vacuous, dreary and incapable of responsibility | Editorial

  06-07-2018 17:57
  The Chequers cabinet summit underlines the limits of the leaver position. Their revolution is a performance not a serious political projectThe outcome of today’s Chequers cabinet summit on Brexit policy was not yet known at the time of writing. Yet the 11th-hour proceedings, and everything that has led up to them since well before the 2016 referendum, underscore a huge and continuing political truth. That truth is not affected by the Chequers outcome – and it is not sufficiently ofte
  
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• Ken Clarke calls for public inquiry into UK role in rendition

  06-07-2018 17:36 via ft.com
  Former justice secretary regrets halting investigation into mistreatment of terror suspects
  
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• Donald Trump to almost entirely avoid London during UK visit

  06-07-2018 17:00
  Meetings with Theresa May and the Queen to be held away from protests in capital
  Donald Trump will almost entirely avoid London during his four-day visit to the UK next week, Downing Street has said, unveiling an itinerary that is likely to prompt accusations he is trying to avoid planned protests against him.While the US president is conducting his meetings, the first lady, Melania Trump, will have an agenda of her own, in the company of her opposite number, Philip May. Continue reading...
  
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• Michel Barnier: 'Realistic' Brexit plan needed

  06-07-2018 16:44 via bbc.co.uk
  EU's Brexit negotiator says there can be no "unravelling" of the single market as UK ministers meet.
  
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• Michel Barnier: EU willing to compromise if UK softens red lines

  06-07-2018 15:13
  Brexit negotiator offers olive branch as Theresa May’s cabinet meets at ChequersThe EU is prepared to change its Brexit position if Theresa May softens her negotiating red lines, Michel Barnier has said.The offer from the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator could be seen as a strategic olive branch coming just as the prime minister tries to strike a deal between the warring sides of her cabinet at Chequers. Continue reading...
  
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• Edward Lucas on European security as US support for Nato wavers

  06-07-2018 15:13 via bbc.co.uk
  Columnist Edward Lucas looks at Europe's military reliance on the US, and how Europe may have to cope alone.
  
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• Airbus chief says ministers have 'no clue' on Brexit

  06-07-2018 14:57 via bbc.co.uk
  Tom Enders says government has "no idea" on how to take the UK out of the EU without "severe harm".
  
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• ‘It’s make your mind up time on Brexit . . . and no swimming’

  06-07-2018 14:53 via ft.com
  How Theresa May (probably) greeted her ministers at Chequers
  
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• Chequers: crunch summit could serve up several Brexit scenarios

  06-07-2018 14:45
  The outcome of the full cabinet meeting may not be known until late in the eveningThe outcome of the crunch summit of the full cabinet at Chequers to finally agree the Brexit white paper may not be known until late in the evening. Following are several possible outcomes that could be served up after the working dinner. Continue reading...
  
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• MPs pass mental health restraint bill after filibuster fears

  06-07-2018 14:41
  Parents of man who died had criticised Tory MP who previously blocked measureA private member’s bill to ensure that police who are called to restrain patients at mental hospitals wear body cameras has passed through the Commons.There had been fears that the bill – supported by the parents of a 21-year-old man who died after he was subject to a period of excessive and prolonged restraint – could be blocked by a Conservative filibuster, but it completed its third reading in about
  
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• We must investigate UK complicity in rendition of terror suspects

  06-07-2018 14:14 via ft.com
  My decision to halt a previous inquiry was wrong. We need a judge to uncover the truth
  
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• Britain needs to get fit. But warnings and advice alone aren’t enough | Mike Kelly

  06-07-2018 13:53
  It’s taken an integrated strategy to reduce smoking. We need a similar policy to change the way we look at fitnessThis week Public Health England told us that along with doing aerobic exercise we should be doing muscle and bone strengthening and balance activities. It recommends ball games, racket sports, dancing, Nordic walking and various forms of resistance training. The benefits of physical activity include reduced risks from certain cancers and heart disease, better mobility, better s
  
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• UK PMs' official country residence in Buckinghamshire

  06-07-2018 13:34 via bbc.co.uk
  There has been a lot of talk Chequers - the official country residence of the prime minister.
  
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• Week in Review: Wherever Brexiters look, they see dead ends

  06-07-2018 13:28
  
  They talked and talked and talked and at the end of it nothing had changed
  
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• Johnson met Cameron for private meeting before Chequers summit

  06-07-2018 12:43
  Foreign secretary and ex-PM agree May’s Brexit plans are ‘the worst of all worlds’Boris Johnson met David Cameron for a private meeting before the Chequers summit, where they both discussed the controversial customs arrangements Theresa May put before ministers.The foreign secretary met the ex-prime minister on Thursday evening, after a caucus of seven cabinet members met at the Foreign Office to discuss their concerns about plans for regulatory alignment with the EU post Brexi
  
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• Believe, commit, grunt. It's a long walk home from Chequers | John Crace

  06-07-2018 12:29
  Staying in is the new going out, Eric Dier and MPs showed me this week. Ministers take note A few weeks ago, Christopher Chope managed to effectively kill off a private member’s bill to make upskirting illegal by registering his objections in the House of Commons. Worried that everyone might think he was a bit pervy, the Tory MP for Christchurch was quick to put the record straight. No one could be more against people taking photos of women’s pants than him – apart from 649 oth
  
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• UK fishing fleets unlikely to gain from Brexit despite Gove's claims, say experts

  06-07-2018 12:02
  New government white paper states that Britain is planing no major changes to catch quotasBritish fishing fleets will face a tough struggle to wring a substantial advantage from Brexit, despite the prime minister’s promises, owing to key concessions in the government’s fishing proposals and the difficulty of persuading other EU member states to give up their current rights in British and shared waters, the Guardian has found.Michael Gove, the environment secretary, published a white
  
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• Airbus CEO says UK government has ‘no clue’ how to handle Brexit

  06-07-2018 11:26 via ft.com
  Tom Enders said leaving the EU will cause harm, whatever form it takes
  
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• If the Tories want young people engaging with democracy, let them vote at 16 | Cat Smith

  06-07-2018 11:00
  Under-18s want a political education – not empty events such as National Democracy WeekFor those who don’t know, this week is National Democracy Week – the inaugural celebration designed by the Cabinet Office to embrace our democracy and encourage democratic participation. It’s also the year we marked the 100th anniversary of some women winning the right to vote – another reason to reflect on and celebrate our democratic progress. Yet there is still so much more to
  
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• Unless the Tories pick a Remainer for London mayor, they'll be slaughtered

  06-07-2018 10:51
  
  If Rosindell is Conservatives' best London mayoral candidate, they might as well not bother
  
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• Theresa May battles to see off revolt ahead of Friday's Brexit summit

  06-07-2018 10:03
  Pro-Brexit ministers link up before summit as leaks on trade policy raise Tory tensions Theresa May is battling to see off a revolt as her cabinet gathers for a critical Chequers summit, after Boris Johnson convened a meeting of pro-Brexit ministers to discuss their options amid an atmosphere of tension and recrimination.The government was forced to deny “selective leaks” that appeared to suggest that the UK could struggle to strike a trade deal with the US in the future. Continue re
  
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• Don’t sneer at Jeremy Corbyn: for millions, buses really do matter | Owen Jones

  06-07-2018 09:52
  Despite scorn from the Westminster bubble, the Labour leader was right to highlight Britain’s rip-off fares and slashed services this weekA sneer can often reveal far more about the sneerer than the object of their derision. This week, the leader of the opposition used the platform of prime minister’s questions to highlight the long-standing crisis of Britain’s bus services. What with there being 4.65bn bus journeys a year – two and half times more than train journeys &nd
  
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• This is why May's third-way Brexit compromise doesn't work

  06-07-2018 09:51
  
  May's third-way compromise policy on post-Brexit relationship with the EU is insane
  
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• Public service announcement: slow down when driving at Hoppy Hour! | First Dog on the Moon

  06-07-2018 09:07
  In Tasmania, there are marsupials everywhere! Unfortunately, most of them are stupidSign up here to get an email whenever First Dog cartoons are publishedGet all your needs met at the First Dog shop if what you need is First Dog merchandise and prints Continue reading...
  
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• UK’s Theresa May prepares to face down Eurosceptic ministers

  06-07-2018 08:48 via ft.com
  Prime minister seeks to force through ‘soft Brexit’ strategy at Chequers showdown
  
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• May prepares to face down Eurosceptic ministers

  06-07-2018 08:48 via ft.com
  Prime minister seeking to force through ‘soft Brexit’ strategy at Chequers showdown
  
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• Moscow using UK as dumping ground for poison, says Sajid Javid

  06-07-2018 07:16
  Home secretary says Russia must explain what has gone on after latest novichok poisoningsBritain will consult its allies about a possible response to Russia over the latest poisonings in Wiltshire as it emerged that the couple taken critically ill had handled an item contaminated with the nerve agent novichok.
  The home secretary, Sajid Javid, accused Moscow of using the UK as a “dumping ground” for poison and urged Russia to explain “exactly what has gone on”. Continue re
  
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• MPs join criticism of Labour's anti-Semitism code

  06-07-2018 01:26 via bbc.co.uk
  Critics say it doesn't meet the international working definition - but the party insists it does.
  
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• UK Treasury rejects calls from retailers for business rates reform

  06-07-2018 01:01 via ft.com
  Philip Hammond tells MPs corporation tax is higher priority
  
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