Political news

• Brexit: Theresa May meets Leo Varadkar for Brexit talks

  08-02-2019 23:48 via bbc.co.uk
  The talks over dinner focused on Brexit and "ongoing political impasse in Northern Ireland".
  
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• Brexit supporters form social club to escape hostility

  08-02-2019 23:00 via ft.com
  Leavers of Britain attracts thousands of members in Remain-voting cities
  
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• No-confidence vote in Labour MP Luciana Berger pulled

  08-02-2019 20:49 via bbc.co.uk
  The move against Luciana Berger by her local Labour Party ignited a bitter row.
  
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• Martin Rowson on the Tory party and Brexit – cartoon

  08-02-2019 20:00
  Continue reading...
  
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• Tory MP blocks bill to protect girls against FGM

  08-02-2019 19:47 via ft.com
  Legislation aimed at giving judges power to issue interim care orders
  
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• New ‘Brexit Party’ backed by Nigel Farage launches

  08-02-2019 19:42 via ft.com
  Bid to attract hardline Conservative activists unhappy with May’s deal
  
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• MP Christopher Chope under fire for blocking anti-FGM bill

  08-02-2019 19:36 via bbc.co.uk
  Christopher Chope's intervention is described as "appalling" by fellow Conservative Zac Goldsmith.
  
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• Norfolk Police hires 'guards' on zero hours contracts

  08-02-2019 18:48 via bbc.co.uk
  Norfolk Police, which axed its PCSOs, says civilians would be paid to work at "low risk" crime scenes.
  
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• Week in Review: We are all talking about nothing as the clock ticks down to oblivion

  08-02-2019 18:29
  
  Theresa May has gone to Brussels with no plan and no idea how she'd deliver it if she did.
  
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• Brexit: 'Very real' chance of Irish unity poll if no deal

  08-02-2019 18:15 via bbc.co.uk
  Several cabinet ministers tell the BBC that a no-deal Brexit could lead to an Irish unification referendum.
  
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• Next options for Brexit talks

  08-02-2019 17:49 via ft.com
  Alex Barker asks whether the EU27 are likely to change their position
  
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• Overreaction to Tusk's comments shows how thin-skinned nationalists are

  08-02-2019 17:40
  
  After years of attacking the EU in lurid terms, Brexiters apparently can't handle it coming back.
  
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• Brexit: Labour plan can get majority, says John McDonnell

  08-02-2019 17:05 via bbc.co.uk
  John McDonnell says only Labour's "very British compromise" can get MPs' backing and avoid no-deal Brexit.
  
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• Finn's Law: Stabbed police dog bill passed by MPs

  08-02-2019 15:35 via bbc.co.uk
  The bill to protect police dogs was inspired after Finn was stabbed while on duty.
  
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• No-deal Brexit risks rise as UK-Japan talks stall

  08-02-2019 15:01 via ft.com
  Tokyo confident it can secure better terms from the UK than it did in discussions with EU
  
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• How Brexit is killing domestic policy

  08-02-2019 14:45 via ft.com
  Ministers and officials have limited capacity to consider anything else  
  
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• Brexit: Michael Walker on Labour's EU referendum policy

  08-02-2019 14:36 via bbc.co.uk
  Remainers have struggled to get Leavers to back their campaign for a new EU referendum and there is not enough support for a fresh vote, says Michael Walker.
  
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• McDonnell criticised for seeking ‘loyalty pledge’ from Jewish MP

  08-02-2019 14:35 via ft.com
  Shadow chancellor denies bid to deselect Labour’s Luciana Berger is linked to anti-Semitism
  
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• Second referendum necessary if no Brexit agreement, says John McDonnell - Politics live

  08-02-2019 14:26
  Shadow chancellor says Theresa May must accept Labour’s five demands to win parliamentary vote or ‘we have to go back to the people’Exclusive: Brexit ‘no-deal’ crisis command centre starts hiring civiliansMcDonnell asks Berger to confront Labour breakaway rumours 12.59pm GMT12.39pm GMT A cross-party group of 13 MEPs and 11MPs has complained to the BBC director-general, Tony Hall, claiming that Fiona Bruce misled viewers on last week’s* Question Time by saying
  
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• Whatever Luciana Berger’s politics, Labour members must stand with her against antisemitism | Owen Jones

  08-02-2019 14:19
  Local activists have the right to an MP who reflects their values. But they must also denounce vile abuse without reservationSome things in politics are far from being clear-cut. Here’s something that is. Luciana Berger, Labour’s MP for Liverpool Wavertree, is the victim of antisemitic abuse and harassment. She has suffered this for years. In October 2014, a neo-Nazi was jailed for sending her an antisemitic tweet. Another online troll was jailed for spewing racist bile at her two ye
  
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• Rent controls are not the answer to the UK housing crisis

  08-02-2019 13:44 via ft.com
  Private tenancies need to be more secure but Generation Rent may be here to stay
  
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• What would you do if you were financially independent?

  08-02-2019 13:24 via bbc.co.uk
  Could you live frugally so that you could be financially independent by your 40s?
  
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• Renegotiating May's Brexit deal is 'dead end street'

  08-02-2019 13:09 via bbc.co.uk
  Dutch MEP Sophie in ‘t Veld tells Newsnight the PM should stop "beating the drum" on getting a new agreement with the EU.
  
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• Ross Thomson: Tory MP says bar behaviour claims 'completely false'

  08-02-2019 13:00 via bbc.co.uk
  Ross Thomson denied allegations about an incident in a bar, but has referred himself to his party's disciplinary committee.
  
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• UK and Irish attorney generals to meet for Brexit talks

  08-02-2019 12:48
  Geoffrey Cox will discuss backstop arrangement with Séamus Woulfe in Belfast The attorney general, Geoffrey Cox, is to meet his Irish counterpart, Séamus Woulfe,for talks on Friday afternoon before a meeting between Theresa May and the taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, to discuss the Brexit impasse on the Irish border.The Irish prime minister will be in Belfast on Friday afternoon for meetings with the five parties that used to sit in the now-defunct devolved government. Continue reading...
  
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• UK trawlers ignoring ban on discarding edible fish at sea

  08-02-2019 12:32
  Lords say government failing to act as industry blames non-compliance on ‘flawed design’Public backing for a ban on discarding edible fish at sea has been thwarted by the reluctance of the fishing industry and the government to put an end to the wasteful practice, the House of Lords has found.Discards were officially banned in January, after a five-year phase-in period, but the practice appears to have continued, with the government failing to take action, said a Lords EU energy and
  
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• Last local paper shuts so elderly ring MP for news

  08-02-2019 12:15 via bbc.co.uk
  Old people are so cut off after local paper closures, an MP says, they call his office for news updates.
  
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• A special place in hell ... and an unwanted place on Earth | John Crace

  08-02-2019 12:08
  Donald Tusk’s frustration may have good grounds, unlike anti-natalist Raphael Samuel No one seems quite sure whether Raphael Samuel, the anti-natalist from Mumbai who plans to sue his parents for having been born without his consent, is for real or not. My natural cynicism inclines me to believe Raph is a bit of a wind-up merchant, but there are still plenty of people who are taking him seriously. The logic certainly appears somewhat fragile. Unless Raph believes that everyone but him mana
  
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• BofA names head of EU broker-dealer in Brexit-planning ‘milestone’

  08-02-2019 11:58 via ft.com
  Bank moves some key staff to Paris ahead of UK’s EU exit
  
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• Lecturer invites Rees-Mogg to 'naked debate'

  08-02-2019 11:47 via bbc.co.uk
  Dr Victoria Bateman campaigns against Brexit by writing messages on her naked body.
  
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• Businesses desperately need clarity over Brexit

  08-02-2019 11:18 via ft.com
  May’s government has failed to provide certainty for employers
  
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• Think the backstop issue is insoluble? My Brexit plan will please everyone | Roland Alter

  08-02-2019 11:03
  This process is as complex as the first moon landing. But there’s a way to address the fears of all the major playersWhat would prompt an academic from Germany to come up with a plan to try to end the current stalemate on the backstop – the mechanism designed to avoid a hard border in Ireland after Brexit? The answer has three parts: experience in negotiations gained during my time with a multinational company, an academic interest in Brexit since 2016 including a study in which I co
  
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• McDonnell asks Berger to confront Labour breakaway rumours

  08-02-2019 10:53
  MP is not facing deselection threat because of antisemitism stance, says shadow chancellorThe shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, has entered the row over the outspoken Labour leadership critic Luciana Berger by saying all she has to do is denounce breakaway stories and the deselection threat against her will go away.McDonnell said it was his understanding the Liverpool Wavertree MP faced a confidence vote not because she stood up to antisemitism in the party, but because she has been associated
  
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• End uncertainty over no-deal Brexit, says ex-civil service chief

  08-02-2019 09:30
  Bob Kerslake calls for fresh referendum on Britain’s membership of the EUBob Kerslake, a former head of the civil service, has urged the government to rule out a no-deal Brexit, saying ministers had the power to do so and thereby end the uncertainty that is gripping business and local government services.He said councils and the police were being forced to divert their time towards making preparations for how to handle potential public disorder. Continue reading...
  
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• Key figure in Tory Brexit talks owns firm giving advice on EU exit

  08-02-2019 08:00
  Shanker Singham’s Competere offers advice on opportunities arising from BrexitA leading member of a rightwing thinktank who took part in high-level Brexit compromise talks between Tory MPs and the government this week has a political consultancy which does not disclose its clients.Shanker Singham owns a private firm, Competere, which has been advertised as offering clients advice on the opportunities arising from Brexit. He is also a senior adviser on Brexit to a lobbying firm, Grayling. C
  
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• Why is the tax on a London mansion a tiny fraction of that in New York? | Simon Jenkins

  08-02-2019 07:00
  While libraries and parks close and services for the vulnerable crumble, billionaires pay a pittance in council tax
  Three of the most expensive homes in the world have been sold recently, and to one man. He is the American hedge-fund billionaire Ken Griffin. One will overlook Buckingham Palace at Hyde Park Corner and will cost £100m. Another is a new townhouse across the park at Carlton House Terrace, costing £95m. The third is a penthouse atop a “pencil block” at New Yor
  
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• The rise of Sajid Javid

  08-02-2019 06:01 via ft.com
  He defied the odds to become home secretary and is a contender for the Tory leadership. Could he reach the top?
  
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• Pinn’s illustration of the week: A special place in hell

  08-02-2019 06:00 via ft.com
  Donald Tusk’s hard Brexit inferno
  
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• Parole reforms hit by overworked probation service

  08-02-2019 05:00 via ft.com
  Campaigners focus on flaws in system after ‘black cab rapist’ case
  
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• Moving from free trade to WTO terms alarms exporters

  08-02-2019 05:00 via ft.com
  Companies with markets outside EU fear prices of goods will more than double
  
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• Lack of trade defences for no-deal Brexit alarms MPs

  08-02-2019 01:02 via ft.com
  Hold-ups to new regulator and laws open risk of dumping and unfair subsidies
  
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• Manchester needs more devolved powers, says study

  08-02-2019 01:01 via ft.com
  Conurbation of 2.8m has ‘world class strengths’ but too many low-skilled jobs
  
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• Housing policy needs shake-up, says watchdog

  08-02-2019 01:01 via ft.com
  Report censures failures of central and local government as well as developers
  
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• Half of councils expected to miss housebuilding targets

  08-02-2019 01:01
  National Audit Office report concludes planning system in England is ‘not working well’Targets for new homes are likely to be missed by half of England’s local authorities, according to a damning assessment of the government’s housing strategy, while increasingly profitable building companies are getting away with paying less for infrastructure and more than half of councils have failed to draw up adequate plans to solve the housing crisis.The National Audit Office (NAO)
  
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• Government housing delivery plan 'flawed'

  08-02-2019 01:00 via bbc.co.uk
  The public spending watchdog says the government's housing planning system is underperforming.
  
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