Political news

• Sturgeon challenges May over Brexit 'plan B' in meeting

  07-08-2018 20:05 via bbc.co.uk
  Mrs May faced questions from the Scottish first minister about her Brexit plans while in Edinburgh.
  
  Read more

• Boris Johnson refuses to apologise for burka ‘letter box’ remark

  07-08-2018 19:50 via ft.com
  Theresa May agrees with calls for former foreign secretary to say sorry
  
  Read more

• Boris comments 'will inflame Islamophobia'

  07-08-2018 18:14 via bbc.co.uk
  Conservative Muslim Forum Chair Lord Seikh says the bad taste joke "will harm community relations"
  
  Read more

• Sexting MP Andrew Griffiths faces fresh calls to step down

  07-08-2018 17:39 via bbc.co.uk
  Andrew Griffiths resigned his ministerial role after sending 2,000 lewd messages to two women.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Labour trying to purge Corbyn antisemitism critics, says Hodge

  07-08-2018 16:45
  Margaret Hodge urges party to drop its disciplinary action against colleague Ian AustinMargaret Hodge has accused Labour of trying to purge Jeremy Corbyn’s parliamentary critics as the party faces further criticism over its handling of antisemitism.The former minister’s comments came as a party investigation into the Dudley North MP Ian Austin was labelled “a farce and a disgrace” by his solicitors. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Scottish ministers under fire as exam results decline again

  07-08-2018 15:26
  Pass rates for Highers fall for third year running as Nationals drop two percentage pointsScottish ministers have been accused of complacency after the latest school exam results showed a continuing decline in grades.The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) disclosed on Tuesday that A-to-C pass rates for Highers, the main qualification for university entry, had fallen for the third year running, dropping by 0.2% year on year. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Burqa scandal: It's time to call Boris Johnson out

  07-08-2018 15:09
  
  This is not a gaffe and we need to stop excusing him. Johnson's track record shows he knows exactly what he's doing.
  
  Read more

• Tory chief tells Boris Johnson to apologise for burqa remarks

  07-08-2018 15:01
  Former minister asked to say sorry for comparing veiled Muslims to bank robbersBoris Johnson has been told by Conservative party chiefs to apologise for his claim that Muslim women in burqas resemble letter boxes and bank robbers.The Tory chairman, Brandon Lewis, said he had asked the former foreign secretary to say sorry for his controversial remarks in an attempt to draw a line under the Islamophobia row. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• John McDonnell: revive Anti-Nazi League to oppose far right

  07-08-2018 14:40
  Shadow chancellor calls for UK movement to be reformed amid rise in racist incidentsThe shadow chancellor has called for the relaunch of the Anti-Nazi League in response to a string of far-right and racist incidents, including pro-Tommy Robinson demonstrations and Boris Johnson’s burqa comments.John McDonnell asked if “it’s time for an Anti-Nazi League-type cultural and political campaign to resist” because “we can no longer ignore the rise of far-right politics in
  
  Read more

• Let’s lay off Tom Watson and unite as a government in waiting | Matt Zarb-Cousin

  07-08-2018 14:37
  May’s cobbled-together government could fall at any time – so both sides of Labour must put an end to their divisionsIn the days following the 2017 general election, where Labour denied the Conservatives a majority, defying expectations of practically every mainstream pundit, Jeremy Corbyn called for the party to remain in “permanent campaign mode” and “on a general election footing”. It seemed that Theresa May’s precariously cobbled-together government
  
  Read more

• Gerry Adams to publish 'peace process cookery book'

  07-08-2018 14:36 via bbc.co.uk
  The book will contain recipes with "some of the best-kept secrets" of the NI peace process, he says.
  
  Read more

• Don’t despair – climate change catastrophe can still be averted | Simon Lewis

  07-08-2018 14:11
  The future looks fiery and dangerous, according to new reports. But political will and grassroots engagement can change thisThis is the summer when, for many, climate change got real. The future looks fiery and dangerous. Hot on the heels of Trump, fake news and the parlous state of the Brexit negotiations, despair is in the air. Now a new scientific report makes the case that even fairly modest future carbon dioxide emissions could set off a cascade of catastrophe, with melting permafrost relea
  
  Read more

• Labour antisemitism row: inquiry into Ian Austin labelled 'farce and disgrace'

  07-08-2018 13:56
  MP’s lawyers’ remarks come after disciplinary action dropped against Margaret HodgeLabour’s disciplinary inquiry into a second MP who criticised the party’s code on antisemitism has been labelled “a farce and a disgrace” by his solicitors.Lawyers for Ian Austin, the member for Dudley North, have claimed in letters that their client has not been given specific allegations by the party, which has “failed to observe the most rudimentary principles of natura
  
  Read more

• NFU issues stark warning UK would run out of food without imports

  07-08-2018 13:23 via ft.com
  Farmers group warns UK not self-sufficient in food ahead of possible Brexit disruption
  
  Read more

• Drug addiction is a tragedy. But we could stop so many people dying | Karen Tyrell

  07-08-2018 13:15
  We know exactly what works to prevent drug-related deaths – and yet the numbers are still rising
  I was a drug worker in a London prison when I met Stuart, a guitar-playing Scot with a kind smile and a firm conviction that his life was over. When I met him he was dependent on heroin. His family had disowned him and he was in prison. He was scared, exhausted, and desperate. Over the next few months, with support, he started to make progress. We formed a strong bond. He got in touch with his
  
  Read more

• Anti-Semitism: MP Ian Austin brands Labour probe into him 'a farce'

  07-08-2018 13:07 via bbc.co.uk
  MP Ian Austin accuses Labour of trying to silence his "legitimate" criticism of Jeremy Corbyn.
  
  Read more

• International investigators to return to UK in Salisbury poisoning case

  07-08-2018 12:47 via ft.com
  More samples are to be taken as the UK weighs another diplomatic push against Russia
  
  Read more

• Leave. EU parts ways with Mishcon de Reya amid legal challenge

  07-08-2018 12:19
  London law firm no longer representing Arron Banks’ pro-Brexit group in appeal against finding it broke electoral law The elite London law firm Mishcon de Reya and Arron Banks’ pro-Brexit Leave.EU campaign have parted ways in the midst of Leave.EU’s legal challenge to a ruling it broke electoral law, the Guardian has learned.Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Iran sanctions: 'US have not got this right' says MP

  07-08-2018 11:38 via bbc.co.uk
  Donald Trump has reimposed economic sanctions on Iran overnight.
  
  Read more

• Conservative Party 'not tackling' Islamophobia

  07-08-2018 11:28 via bbc.co.uk
  Founder of Tell Mama says there's more "receptiveness" to anti-Semitism than Islamophobia.
  
  Read more

• UK sees slowdown in life expectancy gains

  07-08-2018 11:24 via ft.com
  Of all major developed economies UK saw second slowest improvement in life expectancy
  
  Read more

• Slowdown in life expectancy gains raises questions on pension age

  07-08-2018 11:24 via ft.com
  Only the US experienced a bigger drop among developed economies
  
  Read more

• Anti-Semitism: Labour drops Hodge probe despite refusal to apologise

  07-08-2018 10:58 via bbc.co.uk
  Labour was investigating claims MP Dame Margaret Hodge called Jeremy Corbyn an "anti-Semite".
  
  Read more

• Virgin Care must be kept away from the NHS | Molly Scott Cato

  07-08-2018 10:46
  Privatisation has been a disaster for public services. The NHS should be in public hands, not run by corporations like Branson’sRichard Branson’s Virgin Care has hoovered up £2bn worth of NHS contracts over the past five years. This should get the pulse rate of rightwing ideologues racing, and they will no doubt gleefully point to Virgin’s rhetoric about how these contracts have “saved the NHS and local authorities millions”. They will also undoubtedly tr
  
  Read more

• Eviction nation: The hidden reality of court possession hearings

  07-08-2018 09:58
  
  A day in the life of a duty solicitor as they face Britain's inadequate and under-regulated property system
  
  Read more

• New passport checks for families are a sexist, backward step | Hannah Peaker

  07-08-2018 09:30
  Mothers who have a different surname to their child will be penalised by the system – especially after BrexitI’ve never put much store in a surname. My siblings always had different names, because we have different dads, and it made no difference to how much we loved or annoyed each other. As we got older it seemed to matter even less: one has taken her husband’s name and another has double-barrelled with his wife (Scottish first, then English). But as my partner and I start th
  
  Read more

• Ukip suspends three members over socialist bookshop attack

  07-08-2018 09:23
  Party chair says investigation will be held following incident at Bookmarks in LondonUkip has suspended three party members after an attack on a socialist bookshop in central London on Saturday.A statement from the party’s chair, Tony McIntyre, said Elizabeth Jones, Luke Nash-Jones and Martin Costello had been suspended pending an investigation into the incident at Bookmarks bookshop in Bloomsbury. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• British army unit will tackle threat from female suicide bombers

  07-08-2018 08:00
  New team will operate in east Africa supporting victims of coercion and sexual violenceThe defence secretary, Gavin Williamson, has announced that Britain’s first specialist army training team is being set up to help tackle sexual violence and the use of female suicide bombers in some of the world’s most dangerous countries.The expert unit will be deployed in the coming weeks to east Africa where the Islamist terror group Al-Shabaab has launched brutal attacks on the civilian populat
  
  Read more

• The striking Ministry of Justice cleaners know their worth – all power to them | Dawn Foster

  07-08-2018 07:00
  The migrant workers on strike for the London living wage aren’t asking for a lot, but they are risking everythingToday, many people will reach their offices in the Ministry of Justice, private hospital group HCA Healthcare UK and Kensington and Chelsea council and likely find an unfamiliar scene: the bins will have remained unemptied, surfaces uncleaned and workspaces just as they were left yesterday. Across five sites in London, cleaners are striking for three days. Currently, the mostly
  
  Read more

• Brexit: Police commissioners concern over 'no deal'

  07-08-2018 05:49 via bbc.co.uk
  Concern over loss of of access to EU agencies and powers raised in a letter to home secretary.
  
  Read more

• Subsidies for ‘mini’ nuclear power plant backed by review

  07-08-2018 05:00 via ft.com
  Nascent industry should have same help as offshore wind, expert report says
  
  Read more

• Pensions surplus brings payout hope for thousands of retirees

  07-08-2018 05:00 via ft.com
  ‘War chest’ estimated to be worth billions of pounds, says Pension Protection Fund
  
  Read more

• Home Office under fire after court ruling on exam cheating cases

  07-08-2018 05:00 via ft.com
  Immigrants forced to challenge accusations from abroad via video link
  
  Read more

• Home Office defies court ruling over exam cheating appeals

  07-08-2018 05:00 via ft.com
  Immigrants forced to challenge accusations from abroad via video link
  
  Read more

• Forecast pensions surplus brings payout hope for thousands of retirees

  07-08-2018 05:00 via ft.com
  ‘War chest’ estimated to be worth billions of pounds, says Pension Protection Fund
  
  Read more

• Call for subsidies to boost ‘mini’ nuclear power sector

  07-08-2018 05:00 via ft.com
  Nascent industry should have same help as offshore wind, report says
  
  Read more

• Theresa May in Scotland for talks with Nicola Sturgeon

  07-08-2018 01:58 via bbc.co.uk
  Mrs May will face questions from the Scottish first minister about her Brexit plans while in Edinburgh.
  
  Read more

• UKIP members suspended after socialist bookshop protest

  07-08-2018 01:55 via bbc.co.uk
  The party suspends three members after reports of a protest at a left-wing bookshop.
  
  Read more

• UK would run out of food a year from now with no-deal Brexit, NFU warns

  07-08-2018 01:01
  Farmers’ union says supplies would only last until August of each year if Britain had to be self-sufficientBritain would run out of food on this date next year if it cannot continue to easily import from the EU and elsewhere after Brexit, the National Farmers’ Union has warned.
  Minette Batters, the NFU president, urged the government to put food security at the top of the political agenda after the prospect of a no-deal Brexit was talked up this week.Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Sturgeon warns May against making a no-deal Brexit more likely

  07-08-2018 01:01
  Scotland’s first minister says ‘scare tactics’ should not be used as a negotiating ploy with the EUNicola Sturgeon has accused Theresa May of making a “deeply damaging” no-deal Brexit more likely by repeatedly raising the prospect as a negotiating tactic before what is likely to be a tense summit between the two leaders.The Scottish first minister complained that there had been “no visible progress” in the divorce talks since the Chequers plan was unveil
  
  Read more

• GPs urge £2.5bn extra cash injection from NHS England

  07-08-2018 01:01
  Doctors demand that government ‘invests properly’ to ensure safe care for patientsFamily doctors are demanding an emergency cash injection of £2.5bn to help struggling surgeries cope with demand and offer patients appointments within a reasonable time.Leaders of the profession want NHS bosses to plough some of the extra £20bn health funding pledged by Theresa May into improving the services offered by England’s 7,150 GP practices.Continue reading...
  
  Read more

Follow @political_UKnws on Twitter!