Category Archives: Politics

Failing to elect Long-Bailey risks return to 2015, union chief tells Labour

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PCS union chief Mark Serwotka says party must not lose ‘radical anti-establishment, socialist message’

A key ally of Jeremy Corbyn has said failing to elect Rebecca Long-Bailey to be the Labour party’s next leader risks turning the clock back to 2015 and the leadership of Ed Miliband.

Mark Serwotka, head of the civil servants’ union PCS, said that the other candidates – Keir Starmer, Lisa Nandy and Emily Thornberry – would either struggle to maintain the radical policies of Jeremy Corbyn or have failed to realise that prevarication over the party’s Brexit policy was a key reason for the devastating 2019 defeat.

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German MPs taken aback by Johnson’s hardline trade rhetoric

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In London for LSE symposium, politicians express confusion at Britain’s post-Brexit stance

A flood of senior German politicians visiting the UK this week have been left confused and unnerved by the hardline rhetoric set out by Boris Johnson on trade talks, prompting warnings that the risk of a breakdown, or a no-deal Brexit, is as high as it has ever been.

Germany takes on the EU presidency in the second half of this year, and will have a crucial role in helping the European commission to steer the talks on a future UK-EU trading relationship to a successful conclusion by the end of the transition period in December.

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Government to be challenged in court over Prevent reviewer

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Legal action from Rights Watch (UK) comes amid spate of terror attacks in London

The government’s failure to appoint an independent reviewer of its Prevent strategy and assess the controversial de-radicalisation programme’s effectiveness is to be challenged in court.

The decision by Rights Watch (UK) to initiate legal action against the Home Office comes amid terror attacks in London that raise questions about whether young men can be successfully directed away from terrorist violence.

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Police uncovering ‘epidemic of child abuse’ in 1970s and 80s

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PM told to say sorry for remark about ‘spaffing’ money up wall as 4,024 claims lead to guilty verdicts

Police say they are uncovering a hidden “epidemic” of paedophile abuse in the 1970s and 1980s, with thousands of allegations leading to convictions against people who abused their power to attack children.

New figures seen by the Guardian show that 4,024 allegations led to guilty verdicts at court after police investigations since 2014 into decades-old child sex offences.

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PMQs: Boris Johnson faces Jeremy Corbyn – live news

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Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn at PMQs

The SDLP’s Colum Eastwood asks about the involvement of the IRA in the murder of Paul Quinn in 2007. It was claimed Quinn was a criminal, he says. That was a lie, he says.

Johnson says the government will implement the Stormont House agreement so as to provide justice for victims.

The SNP’s Owen Thompson asks when the report into Russian interference in UK elections will be published.

Johnson says it will be published when the intelligence and security committee is reconstituted. He says conspiracy theorists will be disappointed by its conclusions.

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Sentencing: minister rejects European human rights convention warning

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Matt Hancock’s comments come as UK seeks tougher sentencing for terrorists

A senior government minister has raised further questions over Britain’s relationship with the European convention on human rights (ECHR) as Boris Johnson scrambles to push through tougher sentencing for terrorists.

Legal experts have suggested the government’s intended plan to extend the time terrorists serve in prison could be in breach of the ECHR, to which Britain has been signed up for decades.

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‘No more deal or no deal’: Brexit language diktat for Foreign Office staff

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Downing Street issues series of dos and don’ts on language department staff must use

Foreign Office staff have been banned from using certain words and phrases in discussing Brexit – including “implementation period”, “no deal”, “special partnership” and even Brexit itself unless in certain narrow circumstances.

The directive underlines the degree to which Downing Street is determined that everyone in the department follows its ideological lead in using language that frames Britain’s departure from the European Union as a clean break.

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Coronavirus crisis: Raab urges Britons to leave China

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UK citizens should leave ‘if they can’ to reduce risk of exposure to virus, says foreign secretary

All 30,000 British nationals in China have been urged to leave the country “if they can” because of the coronavirus outbreak, in a surprise move that prompted criticism that the UK government has left its citizens to fend for themselves.

In a further sign of mounting international concern about the spread of the coronavirus, the Foreign Office also recommended a ban on Britons travelling to China.

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Sinn Féin steps up criticism of Irish rivals after shock poll lead

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Party leader says voters want change as poll puts it in top position for general election

Sinn Féin has stepped up its criticism of Ireland’s political establishment as polls show the party poised for a historic breakthrough in Saturday’s general election.

Mary Lou McDonald, Sinn Féin’s leader, said on Tuesday that Irish people wanted a change from Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, centrist rivals that have dominated Irish politics for a century.

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Is UK overreacting to coronavirus crisis by telling citizens to leave China?

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Decision leaves tens of thousands weighing up huge choice without knowing why they should leave

The British government’s surprise announcement telling Britons to leave China “if they can” comes amid mounting international concern about the spread of coronavirus.

But the advice came with no detailed guidance about why the UK’s position had changed – making it unclear whether this was a political stance, or a position based on new medical guidance that British authorities have not shared publicly.

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Political journalists boycott No 10 briefing after reporter ban

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Journalists in Downing Street walk out after Johnson aide tries to exclude some reporters

Political journalists boycotted a Downing Street briefing on Monday after one of Boris Johnson’s aides banned selected reporters from attending.

The confrontation took place inside No 10 after Lee Cain, Johnson’s most senior communications adviser, tried to exclude reporters from the Mirror, the i, HuffPost, PoliticsHome, the Independent and others from an official government briefing.

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Brexit: Barnier publishes EU’s draft negotiating guidelines for trade talks with UK – live news

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Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments, including Johnson’s speech on EU trade talks, and Barnier publishing EU’s draft negotiating guidelines

The Times’ Steven Swinford has flagged up what the EU document says about fishing, which will probably be an early flashpoint in the talks.

Here's the EU's demand for access to Britain's fishing waters in black and white

'The objective on fisheries should be to uphold Union fishing activities.

'It should aim to avoid economic dislocation for Union fishermen that have traditionally fished in UK waters' pic.twitter.com/qbu4g6HKg0

Barnier says he wants to negotiate in a spirit of mutual respect and professionalism.

He is now introducing senior members of his team.

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Minister denies prison cuts made terrorism suspects hard to track

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Rishi Sunak defends policies amid backlash over early release of Streatham attacker

The chief secretary to the Treasury has rejected the idea that cuts to prison and probation services have made it harder to rehabilitate or monitor terrorism suspects after a man who left prison days ago was shot dead by police after he stabbed two people in London.

Rishi Sunak declined to reveal the measures that Boris Johnson or the home secretary, Priti Patel, would announce on Monday after the attack by Sudesh Amman on Streatham High Road.

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Tusk: EU would be enthusiastic if Scotland applied to rejoin

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Former European council president’s remarks will boost SNP’s campaign for second independence referendum

Donald Tusk, the former president of the European council, has said there would be widespread enthusiasm in the EU if Scotland applied to rejoin after independence.

In remarks that will boost Nicola Sturgeon’s campaign for a second referendum, Tusk told the BBC he had great sympathy with the desire of many Scots to rejoin the EU after Brexit.

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Rachel Maddow on her critics: ‘Your hatred makes me stronger. Come on! Give me more!’

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The MSNBC host’s show has become a safety blanket for many US progressives. She discusses her demonisation by the right, tackling the president’s lies – and coming out at 17

Rachel Maddow, the US TV host, has a message for her critics: “Bring it. Your hatred makes me stronger. Come on. Give me more. Give me more. I love it!”

That is just as well, given the way she has polarised viewers in the past few years. Maddow, 46, has presented her primetime show on MSNBC, a 24-hour cable news channel, on weeknights since 2008. If most cable news and social media is fast food, she tries to rustle up a three-course meal: sensible, sober, sometimes painfully detailed and replete with oblique references to half-forgotten politicians of yesteryear. Since Donald Trump’s rise in 2016, however, The Rachel Maddow Show has become a nightly safety blanket for many progressives who identify with the “resistance”.

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Police called in after poster tells residents of flats to speak English

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‘Happy Brexit Day’ sign in Norwich block said foreign tongues would not be tolerated

A poster telling residents of a block of flats “we do not tolerate” people speaking languages other than English in the building has been reported to police.

The typewritten poster, bearing the title “Happy Brexit Day”, was reportedly found stuck to fire doors in Winchester Tower in Norwich on Friday morning. The discovery came hours before the UK officially left the European Union at 11pm later that day.

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HS2 decision may be made next week after PM holds final talks

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Transport secretary tells MPs they ‘won’t have to wait long’ amid continuing opposition

Speculation that a decision on HS2 will be made early next week is mounting as the prime minister and key figures are understood to have held final talks on the controversial project.

The chancellor, Sajid Javid, who has publicly swung behind the scheme, and the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, are believed to have met Boris Johnson as the high-speed line continues to divide opinion among backbenchers.

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UK goods to face extra checks at borders under PM’s Brexit plans

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Non-alignment with EU will mean ‘extra processes’ and not frictionless trade

British firms will face extra paperwork and checks on goods at cross-channel borders under Boris Johnson’s proposals for post-Brexit trade.

The prime minister is set to tell the EU that he is willing to accept additional checks and friction at border crossings so he can prioritise promises made on sovereignty after Britain leaves the EU.

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Sajid Javid set to back HS2 at crunch meeting – politics live

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The chancellor is set to support the controversial rail project at a meeting with Boris Johnson and the transport secretary, Grant Shapps

That was a display from Dominic Raab and Mike Pompeo of US-UK unity ahead of Brexit, with disagreements over Huawei, Iran and the Harry Dunn depicted as blips that could be overcome.

Instead, the US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, reiterated that the UK would be “at the front of the line” when it comes to a trade deal, with both parties concurring that this was achievable before November’s presidential election in November.

There is a follow up question on Harry Dunn from CBS.

Raab says he had a “good conversation with Mike” about it.

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