Category Archives: Politics

Green MEPs held after anti-nuclear protest at Belgian military base

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UK’s Molly Scott Cato among those held after action over stockpiling of US nuclear bombs

Three Green MEPs – including one from the UK – have been arrested after breaking into a Belgian military airbase to protest against its stockpiling of American B61 nuclear bombs.

The MEPs – Molly Scott Cato, Michèle Rivasi and Tilly Metz – unfurled a banner on a runway for F-16 fighter jets at the Kleine Brogel base in the east of the country calling for a nuclear-free Europe, before being taken into custody.

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Eighth Labour MP quits party to join breakaway Independent Group

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Joan Ryan says party has become ‘infected with scourge of anti-Jewish racism’

Joan Ryan has become the eighth Labour MP to resign and join the breakaway Independent Group, claiming Jeremy Corbyn’s party has become, “infected with the scourge of anti-Jewish racism”.

Ryan, the MP for Enfield North, said she had been a member for four decades – but could no longer remain as a Labour MP.

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MPs fear May could exploit Labour split to call early election

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Despite the Tories’ plan for a 2022 vote, cross-party concern remains over a snap poll

Labour and Conservative parliamentarians are anxious that the new breakaway group formed by Luciana Berger and Chuka Umunna has increased the chances of Theresa May calling an early election.

On the Labour side, MPs and peers were worried that the prime minister would be tempted to exploit a split in the opposition if more of their number defected to the new political group.

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Honda’s decision is a vote of no confidence in Britain’s future

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There is a sense that while the Swindon plant’s days were numbered, Brexit tipped the balance

Honda claims Brexit had nothing to do with the decision to shutter its Swindon plant, but almost nobody seems to be buying it.

The consensus among industry pundits is that it suits Honda to avoid dipping its toe into the toxic pool of Brexit.

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Brexit backstop: Theresa May to put new proposals to EU

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PM heads to Brussels as Philip Hammond declares ‘Malthouse compromise’ unviable

Theresa May will present the EU with new legal proposals to solve the Irish backstop issue on Wednesday, which Downing Street hopes will be enough to convince Eurosceptics to back her Brexit deal.

The chancellor, Philip Hammond, confirmed late on Tuesday that the government no longer intended to pursue alternative arrangements for the backstop in the withdrawal agreement, which had been championed by cross-factional MPs including Eurosceptic Steve Baker and soft Brexiter Nicky Morgan.

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Watson tells Corbyn he must change direction to stop Labour splitting

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Deputy leader urges shadow cabinet reshuffle, saying he no longer recognises his own party

Labour’s deputy leader, Tom Watson, has told Jeremy Corbyn that he must change direction or face a worsening Labour split after seven MPs quit to form a new movement in the party’s biggest schism in nearly 40 years.

Watson’s emotional intervention came as a number of Labour MPs were poised to follow the founders of the new Independent Group – and after reports on Monday night that some Conservatives were also ready to defect.

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Cabinet ministers tell May: stop using no-deal threat to negotiate

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MPs tell PM to rule option out, as Brexit secretary and attorney general hold talks with EU

Four cabinet ministers have demanded the prime minister stop using the threat of a no-deal Brexit as a negotiating tactic, telling Theresa May that businesses and manufacturers now needed to be given certainty.

The demand was made in a meeting with the prime minister on Monday by the justice secretary, David Gauke, the work and pensions secretary, Amber Rudd, the business secretary, Greg Clark, and the Scottish secretary, David Mundell.

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Labour split: seven MPs resign from the party – Politics live

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MPs will sit as independent group after resigning in protest at Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, the party’s Brexit stance, and its handling of antisemitism

Today’s launch of “the Independent Group” – a group of seven former Labour MPs who will now sit as a separate entity in parliament – has run up against some technical difficulties. The group’s website doesn’t seem to have been working since this morning and now people are pointing out that Chuka Umunna’s website is down too.

What an overwhelming show of support already. Thank you. Challenging our website though - please bear with us while we bring it back up.

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Japan almost cancelled Brexit talks due to ‘high-handed’ letter – report

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Trade talks will go ahead despite reported dismay at language used by Liam Fox and Jeremy Hunt

Japanese officials have reportedly accused Jeremy Hunt and Liam Fox of taking a “high-handed” approach towards a post-Brexit free trade deal, and briefly considered cancelling bilateral talks due to take place this week.

The Financial Times cited unnamed officials in Tokyo who reacted with dismay to a letter sent on 8 February in which Hunt, the foreign secretary, and Fox, the international trade secretary, insisted that “time is of the essence” in securing a trade deal with Japan, the world’s third-biggest economy.

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Facebook needs regulation to combat fake news, say MPs

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Damian Collins warns of ‘deepfake films’ showing doctored footage of politicians

Online disinformation is only going to get more sophisticated, the chair of the committee investigating disinformation and fake news, Damian Collins, has warned.

Related: Facebook labelled 'digital gangsters' by report on fake news

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Brexit: May risks fresh confrontation with ERG over backstop

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Eurosceptics react angrily to culture secretary’s suggestion backstop may not be removed

Theresa May is facing a fresh showdown with Eurosceptic Conservative MPs after a cabinet minister suggested she may put her Brexit deal to parliament again without having secured a change to the withdrawal text.

Before talks between May and EU leaders, the culture secretary, Jeremy Wright, said the prime minister’s aim was to solve the Northern Ireland backstop issue but the “mechanism” of the change did not matter.

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Theresa May issues fresh plea to Tory MPs to unite over Brexit

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PM makes appeal in letter for unity and announces further talks with EU president

Theresa May has issued a fresh plea to Conservative MPs to unite and deliver on Brexit, urging her party to “move beyond what divides us” and sacrifice “personal preferences”.

The prime minister’s rallying cry follows another tumultuous week in Westminster that saw tensions in the Tory party reach boiling point, with one of her ministers accusing his Eurosceptic colleagues of “treachery”.

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Williamson accused of ‘gunboat diplomacy’ over China warship threat

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Philip Hammond’s planned trip to Beijing reportedly scuppered by defence secretary’s remarks

Philip Hammond is not going to China this weekend for trade talks, following reports that Beijing scuppered advanced preparations for a meeting after the defence secretary, Gavin Williamson, threatened to deploy a warship in the Pacific.

The UK chancellor was expected to meet the Chinese vice premier, Hu Chunhua, but Treasury sources said the trip was never confirmed. It is believed that there is an internal row brewing between the Treasury and the defence department over Williamson’s remarks, which the former chancellor George Osborne described as a throwback to an era of “gunboat diplomacy”.

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David Gauke expresses ‘grave concerns’ about no-deal Brexit

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Justice secretary says leaving EU without deal would have ‘very adverse effect’

The justice secretary has said he has grave concerns about the prospect of leaving the European Union without a deal, saying it would have a “very adverse effect” on the UK’s economy, security and union with Northern Ireland.

David Gauke said the government was planning for the contingency of no deal, but suggested he would support extending article 50 if a deal between the UK and EU was not reached, since a no-deal Brexit was not in the national interest. He added that he expected the government to act responsibly if the current deadlock prevailed.

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UK’s Saudi weapons sales unlawful, Lords committee finds

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Report finds UK arms ‘highly likely to be cause of significant civilian casualties in Yemen’

The UK is on “the wrong side of the law” by sanctioning arms exports to Saudi Arabia for the war in Yemen and should suspend some of the export licences, an all-party Lords committee has said.

The report by the international relations select committee says ministers are not making independent checks to see if arms supplied by the UK are being used in breach of the law, but is instead relying on inadequate investigations by the Saudis, its allies in the war.

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Porsche asks UK buyers to commit to 10% no-deal Brexit surcharge

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Company says move is a precaution in case WTO tariffs apply to EU-UK trade

Porsche is asking British customers to sign a contract committing them to pay a surcharge of up to 10% of their vehicles’ purchase price if there is a no-deal Brexit.

Cars made in Europe could attract tariffs of 10% if imported to the UK under the terms of the World Trade Organization, the default trading relationship if the UK and the EU are unable to agree a transition period before 29 March.

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Labour and Tory MPs in talks over setting up new centrist party

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Discussions could lead to new party consisting of six or more Labour MPs plus some Tories

Intense discussions are taking place at Westminster that could lead to the emergence of a new centrist party consisting of six or more disaffected anti-Brexit Labour MPs along with the involvement of some Conservatives and the backing of the Liberal Democrats.

Labour MPs reported that some of those involved had lobbied backbench colleagues they thought were sympathetic as to how they could “make the shift” away from a tribal loyalty to the party.

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The Breadmaker: on the frontline of Venezuela’s bakery wars – video

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In the midst of Venezuela’s spiralling economic crisis, Natalia and fellow members of a Chavista collective have stepped in to take over production at a local bakery, La Minka. Authorities had suspended operations when the owners were accused of overpricing their loaves and hoarding flour. In March 2017, with the tacit support of the government, the collective began selling affordable bread. This is the story of their fight to safeguard the bakery’s future and keep the Chavista dream alive

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Theresa May defeated on Brexit again as ERG Tories abstain

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PM defeated by 303 votes to 258, plunging hopes of uniting her party around renegotiated deal into chaos

Theresa May has suffered an embarrassing defeat at the hands of hardline Eurosceptics, plunging her hopes of uniting the Conservatives around a renegotiated Brexit deal into chaos.

The prime minister failed to win support for her EU strategy after the European Research Group (ERG), led by Jacob Rees-Mogg, abstained on a government motion because it appeared to rule out a no-deal Brexit.

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Brexit: blow to May’s authority as MPs reject her motion by 303 votes to 258 – Politics live

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Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including the latest Commons debate and votes on what should happen next with Brexit

Anna Soubry, the Conservative pro-European, described the result as a “body blow” to Theresa May. Soubry said:

The prime minister has been dealt yet another body blow. This is really serious stuff.

What is happening is a profound lack of leadership from the very top of government.

We have a Conservative party - the party of business, of economic competence and prosperity - gambling with the real lives of my constituents, their futures, their jobs, their children and grandchildren.

This is outrageous and, from the Conservative Party in particular, it is not acceptable any longer.

How MPs voted on the government motion.

For (258)

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