Political news

• Trump: soft Brexit will 'kill' UK's chances of US trade deal

  12-07-2018 23:54
  President criticises host during UK visit saying that May ignored his advice on Brexit negotiationsTheresa May will come under intense pressure to secure a future trade deal with the United States as she sits down with Donald Trump just hours after he warned that her soft Brexit blueprint would “kill” Britain’s chances.
  Against a backdrop of furious protests across the country, the prime minister will on Friday try to persuade the US president that her proposals would create an
  
  Read more

• Reinstated Labour MP Jared O'Mara quits Labour Party

  12-07-2018 23:17 via bbc.co.uk
  Jared O'Mara was suspended while the Labour Party investigated claims of misogyny and homophobia.
  
  Read more

• Jared O'Mara quits Labour, saying he was 'made to feel like a criminal'

  12-07-2018 23:11
  Sheffield Hallam MP had been reinstated by party this month following a suspension over social media postsLabour MP Jared O’Mara, who was suspended after abusive messages he had made on social media resurfaced, has resigned from the party. The Sheffield Hallam MP said in an open letter to his constituents that he had been “made unfairly to feel like a criminal” and felt that Labour had not conducted a fair investigation. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Philip Hammond defends Brexit plan for financial services

  12-07-2018 21:23 via ft.com
  But City leaders decry ‘real blow’ to business and Eurosceptics fear sellout
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• May's white paper a 'bad deal for Britain', claim Tory Brexiters

  12-07-2018 21:23
  PM’s negotiating strategy criticised, as Dominic Raab tells MPs he’s ‘confident a deal is within reach’Theresa May’s EU negotiating strategy came under sustained criticism from Brexiters following the publication of the long-awaited white paper, with the leader of the hardline European Research Group declaring he could not vote for it if it formed the basis of the final deal with Brussels.Jacob Rees Mogg said May’s plans to strike an association agreement, mat
  
  Read more

• Why Tory MPs are fighting over the Brexit White Paper

  12-07-2018 20:55 via bbc.co.uk
  Conservatives Ed Vaizey and Andrew Bridgen trade opposing views on the government's White Paper.
  
  Read more

• Presidents Club trustees criticised by UK charity regulator

  12-07-2018 20:29 via ft.com
  Charity Commission highlights serious failings by the three men
  
  Read more

• The Labour party’s productivity policy is a work in progress

  12-07-2018 20:12 via ft.com
  While Jeremy Corbyn worries me, it is easy to see the case for radical reform
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Business hails Brexit white paper as a 'massive step forward'

  12-07-2018 19:55
  Industry leaders welcome greater clarity but say there are worrying gaps in May’s plansBusiness leaders have said that the government’s Brexit white paper is a “massive step forward” for the UK and have called on the EU to be pragmatic in its response. However, the financial services industry attacked the government, describing the white paper as a “real blow” for the sector. While the document was hailed for its clarity on the UK’s negotiating position,
  
  Read more

• Women pressured to give up babies deserve apology, says MP

  12-07-2018 19:41 via bbc.co.uk
  Labour's Alison McGovern says PM should apologise "on behalf of the nation" over the practice.
  
  Read more

• Steve Bell on Donald Trump's visit to the UK – cartoon

  12-07-2018 19:39
  Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• A plausible vision for the City of London’s future

  12-07-2018 19:33 via ft.com
  UK white paper recognises EU political realities on financial services
  
  Read more

• Brexit white paper’s 98 pages and even more questions

  12-07-2018 19:16 via ft.com
  EU capitals welcome document — but will have major issues with it
  
  Read more

• Why Tony Benn would have changed his mind on the European Union | Letters

  12-07-2018 18:59
  Ian Bretman says the only alternative to the common regulations of the EU is a ‘race to the bottom’. Martyn Thomas says the future belongs to major powers. David Hughes says a people’s vote should be under AV with a range of optionsLaurence Williamson may feel that Tony Benn’s argument against the European Union is vindicated (Letters, 9 July), but I struggle to think of a single law made in Brussels that restricts my rights as an individual citizen (as opposed to enhanci
  
  Read more

• If this is all the government has for its Brexit white paper, we're in trouble

  12-07-2018 18:45
  
  The Brexit white paper is full of muddled thinking, desperation and fantasy. It is alarming that this is all they've got.
  
  Read more

• For May, the ‘special relationship’ means craven compliance | Gary Younge

  12-07-2018 18:42
  Hamstrung by her party, all the prime minister has to offer Trump is obsequiousness – which is exactly how he likes it Related: The Guardian view on the Trump visit: not welcome in Britain | Editorial A US president with no moral authority flies in to meet a British prime minister with no authority whatsoever. Each seeking legitimacy in the presence of the other, they hail their special relationship like two bald men might brandish a comb. Isolated in their trajectories, belligerent in the
  
  Read more

• EU business executives will not require UK visa after Brexit

  12-07-2018 18:41 via ft.com
  EU citizens will not have greater rights than people from other friendly countries
  
  Read more

• Raab toughens stance on Brexit 'divorce bill', says UK may not pay £39bn if trade talks stall – as it happened

  12-07-2018 18:34
  Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including the publication of the government’s Brexit white paperBarnier hints white paper could cross EU red linesWhite paper seeks free movement for skilled workers and studentsDominic Raab’s Today interview on Brexit white paper - SummaryTrump suggests May’s Brexit plan is not what people voted forAfternoon summary 5.31pm BST5.26pm BST The EU will take Theresa May’s proposals seriously and will w
  
  Read more

• MPs urge Theresa May to apologise for ‘pain’ of forced adoption policy

  12-07-2018 18:29
  Debate highlighted former practice of forcing unmarried mothers to give away babiesMPs have urged the prime minister to apologise on behalf of the nation to women who were forced to hand over babies for adoption in the 1950s, 60s and 70s because of social disapproval of unmarried mothers.An estimated half a million babies were adopted in the years preceding legal reforms in the mid-1970s. Many women have since come forward to say they were coerced into handing over their babies by “moral w
  
  Read more

• Brexit white paper won't win over MPs or the EU

  12-07-2018 18:27
  May doesn’t have the majority to push it through at home, and there’s little in it to win backing from abroadThink of the government’s Brexit white paper as a freeze-frame rather than the whole movie. An extremely important frame, certainly, but there are plenty more action shots to come before the Brexit credits can finally roll, if they ever do.The 98-page document does capture the moment when the government finally and formally admitted to the British public that our future
  
  Read more

• UK unveils soft-Brexit plans

  12-07-2018 18:17 via ft.com
  UK white paper sets out proposals for ‘association agreement’ with EU
  
  Read more

• Home Office urged to go further with suspension of hostile environment

  12-07-2018 18:13
  Campaigners and MPs call for full review of policies amid concerns about their impactMPs and campaigners have urged the Home Office to go further with its suspension of hostile environment policies, as it emerged that schools are still required to pass on the addresses of the children of suspected illegal migrants to immigration enforcement teams.
  During an urgent question on the hostile environment policy, MPs from all parties expressed concerns about the ongoing impact on people who are living
  
  Read more

• I, Donald Trump, look forward to not meeting anyone in Britain, England

  12-07-2018 17:56
  ‘British people like me a lot. The police build barriers to stop me getting mobbed’I’d like to start by thanking myself bigly for finding the time to talk to you at this press conference. As many of you will know, the president of the United States of America is a very busy man. Possibly the busiest man in the world. And no president has ever been busier than me. I am the busiest. So I’m sure you’d like to join me in thanking me for making time in my schedule for yo
  
  Read more

• India identifies food safety rules as obstacle to Brexit trade deal

  12-07-2018 17:40 via ft.com
  Documents suggests New Delhi will push for standards to be relaxed when UK leaves EU
  
  Read more

• India identifies food safety rules as obstacle to Brexit deal

  12-07-2018 17:40 via ft.com
  New Delhi will push for standards to be relaxed when UK leaves EU
  
  Read more

• Donald Trump: Brexit is turning out 'a little bit differently'

  12-07-2018 17:27 via bbc.co.uk
  The US president questions whether the UK's current Brexit plan is "what they voted for".
  
  Read more

• Trump visit to UK begins on awkward note

  12-07-2018 16:56 via ft.com
  US president questions whether people voted for Theresa May’s Brexit deal
  
  Read more

• UK's latest Brexit plans likely to cross EU red lines, Barnier hints

  12-07-2018 16:32
  EU chief negotiator gives veiled warning of conflict to come as UK white paper is publishedThe EU has issued a veiled warning that it will not budge on its red lines after Theresa May unveiled her long-awaited Brexit plan. Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, said he would analyse the UK’s proposals with EU member states and the European parliament “in light of guidelines” drawn up by EU leaders. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Murdoch's Fox cleared for Sky takeover bid

  12-07-2018 15:40 via bbc.co.uk
  The culture secretary will allow a deal after Fox made concessions including selling Sky News.
  
  Read more

• The Guardian view on the Trump visit: not welcome in Britain | Editorial

  12-07-2018 15:33
  Theresa May let her country down by inviting a hostile US president to make a needless visit here. We support peaceful protests against his presence and his policiesThe first sitting president of the United States to visit Britain arrived here 100 years ago. President Woodrow Wilson came to Britain in 1918 on his way to the Versailles peace conference following the first world war. He came with the most noble of objectives: to help make peace in war-ravaged Europe and to lead the construction of
  
  Read more

• Eurosceptics lash out at UK government’s Brexit white paper

  12-07-2018 15:21 via ft.com
  Backbench Tory MPs celebrate leak of alternative plan for looser ties between UK and EU
  
  Read more

• Brexit white paper seeks free movement for skilled workers and students

  12-07-2018 15:14
  Document says ‘depth of relationship between peoples of UK and EU’ must be recognisedBusinesses should be able to move “their talented people” from the UK to the European Union – and vice versa – after Brexit, according to the government’s strategy white paper, which was published amid chaotic scenes in the Commons.Related: May’s Brexit plan is here, and it’s a dead duck already | Polly ToynbeeContinue reading...
  
  Read more

• 'Unprecedented unpredictability': UK braces for Trump visit

  12-07-2018 14:32
  No 10 hopes it can find a way to instil some discipline into the Great Disruptor during his visitSandwiched between the psychodrama of his confrontation with his Nato allies, and the amour of his summit with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, there was a chance that Donald Trump, a president who thrives on controversy, might treat his interlude in England and Scotland with indifference. Related: UK on different route to Brexit than people expected, Trump saysContinue reading...
  
  Read more

• The critical role of Michael Gove

  12-07-2018 13:54 via ft.com
  The environment secretary has tied his colours to Theresa May’s mast — for now
  
  Read more

• London businesses offer study space to students as libraries close

  12-07-2018 13:54 via ft.com
  King’s Cross homework club boosts youngsters living in cramped conditions
  
  Read more

• May reveals Ukraine-style Brexit white paper

  12-07-2018 13:50 via ft.com
  The 120-page document is likely to meet resistance from Eurosceptics and from EU
  
  Read more

• Theresa May unveils plans for softer Brexit

  12-07-2018 13:49 via ft.com
  UK white paper sets out proposals for ‘association agreement’ similar to that agreed with Ukraine
  
  Read more

• What's in the Brexit white paper?

  12-07-2018 13:48
  The long-awaited document setting out the UK’s plan outlines five key objectivesThe government has published its long-awaited Brexit white paper, the longest and most detailed explanation yet of its proposals for the UK’s future relationship with the EU. The 104-page document lays out many of the same plans detailed after the cabinet’s meeting at Chequers last week, but goes into much more detail. Here are the key elements: Related: Brexit white paper seeks free movement for sk
  
  Read more

• 'Hostile environment' checks paused after Windrush scandal

  12-07-2018 13:20 via bbc.co.uk
  Labour says the government should go further and review all of its immigration policies.
  
  Read more

• May’s Brexit plan is here, and it’s a dead duck already | Polly Toynbee

  12-07-2018 12:41
  Never has there been a white paper of such profound potential importance and simultaneous absolute insignificanceToday, the government publishes its Brexit plan, two long years too late. The Chequers plan in this white paper should be a Magna Carta to lay out the country’s economic future and the destiny of Britain’s place in the world. In practice this poor specimen is dead on arrival. Never has there been a white paper of such profound potential importance and simultaneous absolute
  
  Read more

• Gender neutral titles for Lords ruled out

  12-07-2018 12:25 via bbc.co.uk
  New peers will still have to be lords or baronesses - despite planned reforms to transgender rights.
  
  Read more

• Dominic Raab tells 'carping' critics of May's Brexit plan to back off

  12-07-2018 12:08
  White paper won’t include detailed immigration policy – but there must be ‘controls’ on numbersThe new Brexit secretary, Dominic Raab, has urged critics of the Chequers plan to stop “carping” and come up with a credible alternative.In an interview on the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme Raab insisted that May’s plan, which led to David Davis, Boris Johnson and various other senior Tory party politicians resigning in protest, was a “credible&rdqu
  
  Read more

• Labour’s antisemitism code is the gold standard for political parties | Jon Lansman

  12-07-2018 11:09
  The new code makes clear that discrimination against Jewish people is unacceptable while allowing for legitimate criticism of IsraelLast week, the Labour party introduced a code of conduct on antisemitism, stronger than anything of its kind adopted by any political party in this country. This follows our adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) full definition of antisemitism in 2016 and Labour’s annual conference voting overwhelmingly last year to streng
  
  Read more

• Algorithms are taking over – and woe betide anyone they class as a 'deadbeat' | Zoe Williams

  12-07-2018 11:00
  When big data decides if you deserve a loan, or classifies you according to bigoted stereotypes, we lose our freedomThe radical geographer and equality evangelist Danny Dorling tried to explain to me once why an algorithm could be bad for social justice.Imagine if email inboxes became intelligent: your messages would be prioritised on arrival, so if the recipient knew you and often replied to you, you’d go to the top; I said that was fine. That’s how it works already. If they knew yo
  
  Read more

• If Esther McVey’s getting away with it, things must be really bad | Frances Ryan

  12-07-2018 10:32
  The Tories’ soap opera enters ever darker territory. But it’s us, not them, who will feel the consequencesThere are times so close to being ridiculous that only a cliche will do, so forgive me: a week really is a long time in politics.On the Wednesday Esther McVey went in front of the work and pensions select committee to answer questions about universal credit, among other areas. Barely a week ago, the secretary of work and pensions was facing calls to resign amid claims she ha
  
  Read more

• War-gaming the Brexit chaos: What the hell happens now?

  12-07-2018 10:00
  
  The moment when dream meets reality is here. So what happens now?
  
  Read more

• Donald Trump’s visit could be just the unifying moment Britain needs | Hadley Freeman

  12-07-2018 10:00
  The World Cup has started to bring England back together. Loathing Trump is something I honestly feel the whole UK can get behind• Donald Trump says he expects to find UK in ‘turmoil’Sorry, Britain. For the past quarter-century you’ve been my home and, while I think of America as my family, I think of you as my best friend. You’re the flatmate whose music I frequently borrow and whose accent I still find utterly adorable. And what do I give you in return? The absolut
  
  Read more

• A no-deal Brexit survival guide: what food to stockpile

  12-07-2018 10:00
  With news that the government is planning to stock up on processed foods in case we crash out, what should ordinary shoppers be looking to bulk buy?The story broke on Tuesday that the government, in anticipation of a no-deal Brexit, has been drawing up plans to stockpile processed foods, in the event that, by 29 March next year, they have still not worked out a way to maintain the free flow of goods – which includes food and medical supplies – between EU producers and UK consumers. B
  
  Read more

• Brexit minister Raab says critics must propose ‘credible solutions’

  12-07-2018 09:49 via ft.com
  Tory MPs warned against any plans for ‘parliamentary riots and sabotage’
  
  Read more

• Don't be fooled - the Chequers plan is still economic suicide

  12-07-2018 09:48
  
  Brexiters have never understood the basic point: this was never a negotiation of equals
  
  Read more

Follow @political_UKnws on Twitter!