Political news

• May loses a vote against herself in a crazed night of parliamentary drama

  13-03-2019 22:45
  
  Scenes unlike any other point in modern Commons history as Theresa May's government seems to fall apart completely.
  
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• Parliament Votes To Reject No-Deal Brexit In Defeat To Theresa May

  13-03-2019 20:41
  
  MPs are expected to vote on Thursday to delay Brexit.
  
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• Spring statement: fossil fuel heating ban for new homes, as Brexit war chest swells - live

  13-03-2019 18:35
  Chancellor reveals growth and borrowing forecasts, plus money for period poverty, knife crime prevention, and affordable housingBan on fossil-fuel heatingGrowth for 2019 down, but Brexit war chest up to £26bnHammond: No-deal uncertainty has to stop
  Spring statement 2019: the chancellor’s key points at a glanceHow much does the EU cost you?Politics Live: MPs to vote on no-deal today 5.35pm GMT This char shows how the UK’s government’s borrowing requirements have fallen, gi
  
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• Brexit: MPs debate ruling out no-deal exit from EU – Politics live

  13-03-2019 18:34
  MPs will hold fresh vote on Wednesday evening after Theresa May’s withdrawal proposal was defeatedWhat are the amendments to the motion to prevent no-deal Brexit?How did each MP vote on May’s Brexit deal?Civil service stressed and floundering amid Brexit paralysis 5.34pm GMT The Labour MP Yvette Cooper is speaking now. Heidi Allen, the Independent Group MP, asks Cooper if she will move the Spelman amendment herself in the light of the fact that Caroline Spelman won’t move it. (
  
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• Hammond sidelined by Brexit as he holds out for 'deal dividend' | Larry Elliott

  13-03-2019 18:33
  Sandwiched between Brexit votes, the chancellor’s spring statement was pretty low keyOne of Philip Hammond’s early decisions was to make his spring statement play second fiddle to the Treasury’s main event of the year, the autumn budget.Even the chancellor could not have expected his half-yearly update on the state of the economy to be as low key as it actually turned out to be though. For the time being, all that really matters in UK politics is Brexit. There has been little o
  
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• Hypnotised by cake and unicorns, the Brexit perfectionists have blown it | Oliver Norgrove

  13-03-2019 17:30
  Two clear chances to leave the EU have been squandered in dogged pursuit of an immaculate Brexit
  • Oliver Norgrove worked on the Vote Leave campaignThe result of yesterday’s meaningful vote in the House of Commons, much like the first in January, was emblematic of a very striking Brexit reality: that the principle barrier to leaving the EU comes from the very people most desperate to see it happen.The Tory right have had two clear chances to push Brexit over the line, two clear chance
  
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• Did no one tell Philip Hammond that austerity is raging outside? | Aditya Chakrabortty

  13-03-2019 16:10
  Public services are in tatters, interest rates are negligible, and yet in his spring statement the chancellor gives us ‘reviews’ instead of policiesListen to Philip Hammond and it’s easy to get lulled into a false sense that he is an adult making sober, cautious decisions. Not blessed with the (ahem) charisma of a Boris Johnson, he is happily less given to spouting headline-grabbing rubbish. While his colleagues have spent the past two and a half years promising voters the moon
  
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• The only thing holding the Brexit-riven Tories together now is Corbyn | Katy Balls

  13-03-2019 15:33
  May’s uneasy truce has failed. As fault lines widen between MPs, a general election is no longer unthinkableThe scene in the division lobby on Tuesday night was a far cry from the merry scenes of a month ago when a mix of Brexiteers, pro-remain MPs and “stop banging on about Europe” Tories came together to back an amendment calling for changes to the backstop. The hope had been that the unlikely coalition that came together that night would hold firm and vote for May’s re
  
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• UK will cut most tariffs to zero in event of no-deal Brexit

  13-03-2019 15:13
  Tariffs to vanish from 87% of imports, excluding some meat, dairy and underwear productsTariffs will be cut to zero on 87% of imports to the UK as part of a temporary no-deal plan, but prices of some imports including meat, shoes, underpants and cars will go up.In an attempt to prevent a £9bn price shock to business and consumers while “supporting farmers and producers who have been protected through high EU tariffs”, the government on Wednesday set out its long-awaited pricing
  
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• Jeremy Corbyn, are you really with your foot soldiers on a second vote? | Tess Finch-Lees

  13-03-2019 15:00
  Brexit is the child of far-right zealotryand Tory incompetence. The referendum didn’t uphold democracy. It debased it
  ‘I pray to God I get a chance to put things right before I die.” These were the heart-rending words of a woman named Judith who told me she voted to leave the EU because of the £350m promised to the NHS. “It was all lies. And now my granddaughter, a nurse, won’t speak to me.”Theresa May’s second historic defeat in the Commons last n
  
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• With Theresa’s ‘turd’ deal flushed away, pray for an EU invasion | Marina Hyde

  13-03-2019 13:30
  We need competency, and quick. Not this bunch of MPs who are finding out in real time the consequences of their actions“It … sends a message … to the whole world,” croaked Theresa May to the Commons on Tuesday night, “about the sort of country … the United Kingdom will be … in the years and decades ahead.”Fairly sure the world has got the message by now. They are “up to speed” and “across the detail” of the sort of count
  
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• European media greet May's defeat with Groundhog Day fatigue

  13-03-2019 13:11
  PM’s hoarseness symbolises the UK being left voiceless by Brexit, says France’s Le MondeAll of today’s latest Brexit news - live updatesEuropean capitals are braced for a chaotic Brexit after MPs again voted down Theresa May’s withdrawal agreement, as resigned commentators talked wearily of Groundhog Day, but warned the prime minister’s deal was not dead yet.Germany’s foreign minister, Heiko Maas, said the EU had made “far-reaching additional offers and
  
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• Parliament is betraying voters, but a clean Brexit is the best option | John Redwood

  13-03-2019 12:30
  Britain should offer the EU a trade agreement similar to those with Japan and Canada, and leave on 29 March
  • John Redwood is the Conservative MP for WokinghamParliament is failing to respect the wishes of the majority in the referendum. Labour and Conservative MPs promised to implement the leave vote to get elected in 2017. The Conservative manifesto said no deal was better than a bad deal, and confirmed we would be leaving the customs union and the single market at the same time. The Labo
  
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• National breakdown: A glimpse of the vicious chaos of no-deal

  13-03-2019 12:22
  
  The full humiliation and horror of no-deal is now out, in black and white.
  
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• May and Corbyn will never back a second referendum – but MPs must | Anna Soubry

  13-03-2019 12:15
  It is parliament’s duty to stop both main party leaders colluding to deny voters a final say on Brexit
  • Former Conservative MP Anna Soubry is now a member of the Independent GroupIt’s become the norm in these most extraordinary of political times: the prime minister suffers another humiliating defeat after two years of negotiations on the most important decision in decades, and no one in the House of Commons shouts: “Resign!”Although there is little, if any, sympath
  
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• Civil service stressed and floundering amid Brexit paralysis

  13-03-2019 12:09
  Tensions high in Whitehall over plans for border, traffic and policing in event of no dealFollow all the latest developments liveWith just 16 days until Brexit, evidence is emerging of deep tensions in Whitehall as the civil service battles to plan for a no-deal scenario.Civil servants say they have been frustrated by political paralysis, gripped by inter-departmental rows and shorn of key staff while trying to implement the biggest change to the state’s machinery since the second world wa
  
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• Boris Johnson under fire over remarks about child abuse inquiries

  13-03-2019 11:47
  Labour criticises suggestion that investigating ‘historic’ offences is a waste of moneyBoris Johnson has declared money spent on non-recent child abuse investigations as “spaffed up a wall”, prompting immediate criticism from Labour for making reckless and inappropriate comments.The current favourite to succeed Theresa May as Conservative leader was arguing that police time and resources were being wasted on crimes committed years ago as he was questioned on an LBC radio
  
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• Britain’s reality right now: we have no functioning government | Jonathan Freedland

  13-03-2019 11:42
  The Tory party is so divided and consumed by a mismanaged Brexit, it has no energy for anything elseIt’s been true for a while that the Conservative party has become fundamentally ungovernable, its warring factions so far apart it’s all but impossible to have them marching in the same direction, at least when it comes to Europe. It’s a condition that afflicted the Tories under Theresa May’s predecessors, spelling doom for David Cameron, John Major and Margaret Thatcher. B
  
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• Angela Merkel 'said it would be easy to get EU to extend article 50'

  13-03-2019 08:00
  German leader told summit Berlin will not block Brexit delay, diplomatic sources claimAngela Merkel has said that securing EU leaders’ agreement on a Brexit delay up until the end of June will be “easy”, according to senior diplomatic sources.Attitudes in some of the EU’s capitals towards a possible extension of article 50 have recently hardened, with diplomats complaining that London had been “lazy” and taken a positive decision for granted. Continue reading.
  
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• Chance of no-deal Brexit has 'significantly increased', says EU – as it happened

  13-03-2019 01:37
  Statement from Donald Tusk’s spokesman comes after Theresa May’s Brexit deal suffers second heavy defeatFull story: MPs defeat May’s Brexit deal by 149 votesHow did your MP vote on May’s Brexit deal?Follow the latest Brexit developments live 12.24am GMT We’re going to close down this live blog now, so here’s a summary of the day’s events: Related: MPs ignore May’s pleas and defeat her Brexit deal by 149 votes12.01am GMT The UK is moving closer to c
  
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• Chancellor to make fresh attempt to curb power of tech giants

  13-03-2019 01:01
  Philip Hammond to promise action on plan to tackle Google, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft and AppleWhat to expect from Hammond’s spring statementA fresh bid to curb the market power of US tech giants will be signalled by Philip Hammond on Wednesday when he welcomes the findings of an independent review calling for government action to ensure companies including Google, Facebook and Apple face stiffer competition.The chancellor will use his annual spring statement to promise action after a rev
  
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