Political news

• Tony Blair Institute confirms Saudi donations

  05-09-2018 21:28 via ft.com
  Non-profit founded by former PM lists donors in first set of accounts
  
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• Police trace steps of novichok suspects back to Moscow

  05-09-2018 20:32 via ft.com
  Spies in Skripal case may have been identified but are unlikely to face justice
  
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• Barnier told private meeting Chequers plans are dead, MPs told – as it happened

  05-09-2018 20:07
  Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments, including Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn at PMQsPMQs verdict: Jeremy Corbyn dances rings round May on Brexit
  Highlights from Met Police’s statement about novichok investigationHighlights from Theresa May’s statement to MPs about novichok caseDominic Raab and Olly Robbins’ evidence to MPs - Summary 5.54pm BST Here are the main points from the evidence given by Dominic Raab, the Brexit secretary, and Olly Robbins, the pri
  
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• Steve Bell on Labour's attempt to rebuild trust over antisemitism – cartoon

  05-09-2018 19:45
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• The Guardian view on Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour: it must be an anti-racist party | Editorial

  05-09-2018 19:29
  The party needs to be tough on antisemitism and stand up for Palestinian rights. Labour’s leader must provide a protective space for bothThey were 10 words that shook Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour party. This week the party’s ruling body accepted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism and the accompanying examples in full, including that it can be considered antisemitic to claim the “existence of a state of Israel is a racist endeavour
  
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• The Guardian view on reforming capitalism: from controversy to consensus | Editorial

  05-09-2018 19:28
  The claim that Britain’s economic model is systemically unjust was recently deemed radical and extreme. Now it is indisputableEd Miliband is not often cited among the big winners in British politics. His five-year term as Labour leader ended in a humiliating election defeat. But that does not necessarily invalidate arguments he tried to make about injustice built into the UK economy, the systematic depression of wages and a short-term profiteering culture that spread insecurity a
  
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• Universities alone cannot fix the UK’s skills gap

  05-09-2018 19:16 via ft.com
  Britain’s long-term approach to education demands some radical new thinking
  
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• Starmer: Labour would vote down Canada-style Brexit deal

  05-09-2018 19:04
  Shadow Brexit secretary says proposal backed by EU’s chief negotiator ‘cannot form basis’ of agreementThe shadow Brexit secretary, Keir Starmer, has said during a visit to Brussels that Labour would vote against a proposed EU-UK free trade deal that is now being backed by Michel Barnier and David Davis, leaving such an arrangement with scant hope of being passed by parliament.He also described as “reckless” efforts to pretend that Theresa May’s Chequers propos
  
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• Viagogo's refusal to talk to MPs over secondary ticketing 'disrespectful'

  05-09-2018 18:52
  Ticket resale firm cites legal reasons for non-attendance at parliamentary committee The ticket resale company Viagogo has been accused by MPs of gross discourtesy and evasion after refusing to attend a parliamentary committee for a second time.Members of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee were due to grill Viagogo on business practices that have made it the subject of political and regulatory scrutiny in recent years. Continue reading...
  
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• Calorie labelling on menus too ‘burdensome’

  05-09-2018 18:17 via ft.com
  Minister says anti-obesity measure could cause higher food prices and job losses
  
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• Our Green party will be bold and brave in both ideas and actions | Jonathan Bartley and Sîan Berry

  05-09-2018 18:00
  Britain is not a broken country, but it needs help from a party with fresh ideas• Jonathan Bartley and Sîan Berry are co-leaders of the Green party
  After a long summer, children are back at school, the festival season is ending and the World Cup is a distant memory. For us, as the newly elected co-leaders of the Green party, we’re about to enter the most exciting period of our political lifetimes.We’re ready to mobilise a fiercer Green resistance than ever before. In counc
  
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• Frank Field has resigned from Labour, says general secretary

  05-09-2018 17:18
  Party rules Birkenhead MP can no longer be a member as he has resigned the whipFrank Field has in effect resigned from the Labour party, according to a report delivered by its general secretary.Jennie Formby told the party’s disputes panel on Tuesday that the MP for Birkenhead could no longer be a member because he has resigned the party whip. Continue reading...
  
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• UK faces tough diplomatic task to challenge Russia after Skripal charges

  05-09-2018 17:09
  Britain is taking a risk calling for sanctions just as it leaves EU – and the Kremlin knows itThe UK’s foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, faces a daunting diplomatic challenge to persuade wary fellow EU member states to impose further sanctions against Russia, despite the evidence that two Russian passport holders believed to be working for the country’s military intelligence agencyattempted to murder the double agent Sergei Skripal on British soil.By coincidence, the EU announced
  
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• The UK parliament's blockchain APPG continues, sans Shapps

  05-09-2018 16:54 via ftalphaville.ft.com
  It was as if nothing had changed, except for a couple of hundred fewer people.
  
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• Rail franchise review faces limited options

  05-09-2018 16:08 via ft.com
  Nationalisation is as unlikely as big investment, but there is appetite for reform
  
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• Minister rebukes Toby Young: universities are not 'leftwing madrassas'

  05-09-2018 15:54
  Sam Gyimah calls on vice-chancellors to continue to embrace ideological diversityBritish universities are “not leftwing madrassas”, the higher education minister Sam Gyimah said in riposte to Toby Young, during a speech to vice-chancellors that was markedly gentler than the government’s recent rhetoric. Related: How Toby Young got where he isn’t today | Stewart LeeContinue reading...
  
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• The IHRA definition of antisemitism: where UK parties stand

  05-09-2018 15:41
  Labour has been attacked for its stance on racism, but have other parties gone further?Labour faced widespread criticism for its delay in adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism, but where do the other main parties stand?In July the Conservative party claimed it had adopted the definition in full, but at the time its code of conduct made no mention of antisemitism. The code stated that discrimination on the basis of “religion or belief” co
  
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• UK plan to become exporting superpower will be stifled by Brexit | Ngaire Woods

  05-09-2018 15:39
  Government’s ambitious strategy does not provide any clarity for British firmsThe British government has launched its plan to turn the United Kingdom into an “exporting superpower”. It is an ambitious, if not entirely fanciful, goal.Given the escalating trade war between the US and China, countries around the world are rushing to consolidate their trade relations and preserve existing supply chains. Not so the UK, which is in the final stages of negotiations to withdraw from th
  
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• Labour’s antisemitism code must signal a new phase of unity for the party | Michael Segalov

  05-09-2018 15:31
  The NEC’s commonsense policy can both assuage the concerns of Jewish and Palestinian groups, and allow for criticism of IsraelThe sweltering heat hasn’t been the only thing making Labour members and Jewish people feel uncomfortable this summer. The media’s “silly season” has been anything but, as Labour’s antisemitism debate has dragged on. And many of those who have engaged in it will still not be feeling happy this morning. The party’s national executi
  
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• Salisbury attackers were Russian military intelligence, says May

  05-09-2018 15:23
  Prime minister tells parliament novichok attack was clearly authorised by Moscow• Novichok poisoning: latest news and reaction - liveTwo Russian nationals named and charged over the novichok poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury have been identified as officers from Russia’s military intelligence, Theresa May has said, saying the attack was clearly authorised by Moscow.Updating the Commons after police and prosecutors said the attack appeared to have been carried out by m
  
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• Jewish concern over Corbyn is not all about Israel. It’s about antisemitism | Jonathan Freedland

  05-09-2018 14:53
  The IHRA row focused on the Middle East conflict. But that’s not the heart of the matterThere was a brief moment when it looked as if Labour’s long summer of pain over antisemitism might soon be over. It lasted perhaps a minute or two, as word emerged on Tuesday afternoon that the party had finally adopted the full text of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance: both its definition of antisemitism and all its illustrative examples. But the prospect of an end to this sorry s
  
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• Labour and a second referendum

  05-09-2018 14:36 via ft.com
  Pressure is mounting on Jeremy Corbyn to reconsider a People’s Vote
  
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• UK blames Russian intelligence agents for Skripal attack

  05-09-2018 14:25 via ft.com
  May points finger at GRU as police charge two suspects for use of chemical weapon
  
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• PMQs verdict: Jeremy Corbyn dances rings round May on Brexit

  05-09-2018 14:00
  The Labour leader made it look easy as he brushed off the PM’s barbs about antisemitismTheresa May started and finished her first PMQs appearance of the new season with references to Labour’s antisemitism row, while Jeremy Corbyn spent all of his questions on Brexit. Continue reading...
  
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• Miner ENRC wins appeal in key legal privilege case

  05-09-2018 12:33 via ft.com
  Ruling protects advice it was given by a law firm during internal probe
  
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• UK charges Russian nationals over Skripal attack

  05-09-2018 12:17 via ft.com
  Suspects accused of conspiracy to murder former double agent and his daughter
  
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• Hodge urges Corbyn to rebuild trust after Labour antisemitism row

  05-09-2018 11:36
  Backbencher says attempt to clarify the IHRA definition would have ‘deeply offended Jewish community’The backbench Labour MP Margaret Hodge has called for Jeremy Corbyn to “start rebuilding trust” and act to heal the wounds caused by the party’s long-running antisemitism row. Related: Labour adopts IHRA antisemitism definition in fullContinue reading...
  
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• The 'faceless bureaucrats' of Brussels stood up for our rights while England's defenders of liberty hung us out to dry

  05-09-2018 11:05
  
  EU citizens found support from supposed bureaucrats in Brussels and but were hung out to dry by those proclaiming their love for liberty
  
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• Death of the Gods: How the internet undermined the powerful

  05-09-2018 10:40
  
  The story of how one 70-years-old woman you on a trade deal and what it says about power in the internet age
  
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• TUC boss: failure to tackle root causes of Brexit fuels far right

  05-09-2018 10:24
  Politicians must avoid creating conditions in which populism thrives, says Frances O’GradyFrances O’Grady, the TUC’s general secretary, has delivered a stark warning that Britain’s politicians risk fuelling the far right by failing to tackle the root causes of the anger that helped to drive the Brexit vote.Speaking to the Guardian as union members prepare to gather for their annual congress in Manchester this weekend, with Brexit high on the agenda, O’Grady said mor
  
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• Corbyn casts doubt on his ability to lead Britain 

  05-09-2018 10:19 via ft.com
  The opposition leader’s failure on anti-Semitism exposes wider flaws
  
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• Andy Burnham backs second Brexit vote – but warns of social unrest

  05-09-2018 09:25
  Greater Manchester mayor calls for second referendum because chances of no deal now so highAndy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, has given qualified backing to a second referendum on Brexit while warning it risks sparking unrest on the streets of the city.Speaking before a speech in Westminster, Burnham called for the Brexit process to be postponed because the chances of crashing out of the European Union without a deal were so high. Continue reading...
  
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• Mervyn King lambasts ‘incompetent’ Brexit preparations

  05-09-2018 08:57 via ft.com
  Former Bank of England governor says talk of stockpiling food and medicines ‘beggars belief’
  
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• Brexit: Mervyn King blasts 'incompetence' of preparations

  05-09-2018 07:15
  Former Bank of England governor says it ‘beggars belief’ the government is having to talk about stockpiling medicines and foodThe former Bank of England governor Mervyn King has blasted the government over Brexit, saying it has been left without a credible bargaining position. In damning comments to the BBC, Lord King said it “beggars belief” that Britain, one of the world’s leading economies, had found itself in a situation where the country was being told to take
  
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• Pay glitch leaves armed forces waiting for bonus

  05-09-2018 05:00 via ft.com
  MoD races to implement software upgrade to deal with pay award
  
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• Union call for Brexit vote adds pressure on Corbyn to follow suit

  05-09-2018 01:30
  GMB general secretary Tim Roache says UK public has a right to vote on final dealOne of Britain’s biggest unions has called for a vote on the final Brexit deal in a move that will increase pressure upon Jeremy Corbyn to adopt a similar line.Tim Roache, the general secretary of GMB, said the British public had a right to a public vote upon a final deal following consultation with members across the UK. Continue reading...
  
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• Raab pledges not to ‘roll over’ on Chequers plan

  05-09-2018 01:02 via ft.com
  Brexit secretary confident but poll shows waning public faith in good deal
  
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