Category Archives: Politics

Scotland won’t be independent within EU, says Farage

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Brexit party leader dismisses Nicola Sturgeon’s campaign for independence within EU

Nigel Farage has called on “genuine Scottish nationalists” to vote for his Brexit party in next week’s EU elections, as he described Nicola Sturgeon’s campaign for an independent Scotland within Europe as “the most dishonest political discourse anywhere in the world”.

As anti-racist protesters chanted outside the venue, Farage told cheering supporters at a rally in Edinburgh: “If you’re genuinely a nationalist lend your vote to the Brexit party, let’s get out of the EU and then have an honest debate about independence.”

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May and Corbyn blame each other as Brexit talks collapse

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Tories and Labour point to each other’s internal divisions after negotiations fail

The government and Labour have sought to blame each other after cross-party talks to find a compromise Brexit plan collapsed, leaving any remaining hopes of an imminent solution to the impasse in tatters.

While both sides insisted the discussions had taken place in good faith, Theresa May said a sticking point had been Labour splits over a second referendum.

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Iran tells Middle East militias: prepare for proxy war

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Exclusive: Top military leader delivers message at Baghdad meeting as tensions rise

Iran’s most prominent military leader has recently met Iraqi militias in Baghdad and told them to “prepare for proxy war”, the Guardian has learned.

Two senior intelligence sources said that Qassem Suleimani, leader of Iran’s powerful Quds force, summoned the militias under Tehran’s influence three weeks ago, amid a heightened state of tension in the region. The move to mobilise Iran’s regional allies is understood to have triggered fears in the US that Washington’s interests in the Middle East are facing a pressing threat. The UK raised its threat levels for British troops in Iraq on Thursday.

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May averts Tory mutiny by agreeing to set her exit date after Brexit bill vote

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1922 Committee agrees to let PM wait until after vote on withdrawal agreement bill in early June

Theresa May has agreed to set a timetable for her departure as prime minister in the first week of June, leading MPs to believe she will trigger a leadership contest before the summer.

Sir Graham Brady, the chair of the 1922 Committee of backbenchers, said she would agree a timetable for the election of a new leader after her Brexit legislation returned to parliament for a final attempt in the week of 3 June.

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Jean-Claude Juncker: I regret not challenging ‘£350m a week’ claims

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EU commission president says he should have spoken out on Vote Leave’s Brexit campaign

Jean-Claude Juncker has said he regrets failing to rebut claims made in the run-up to the Brexit referendum about the hundreds of millions of pounds the UK would save each week if it left the EU.

In an interview in which the European commission president also criticised the Austrian chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, over his recent Brussels-bashing, Juncker said he could not understand why he had failed to speak out.

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Merkel: Europe must unite to stand up to China, Russia and US

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German chancellor also shares views on Brexit and climate crisis in interview

Europe must reposition itself to stand up to the challenges posed by its three big global rivals, China, Russia and the US, Angela Merkel has said before her final European election as German chancellor.

Facing challenges that range from Russian interference in elections to China’s economic clout and the US’s monopoly over digital services, Europe needs to get better at putting up a united front, Merkel said in a wide-ranging interview shared with the Guardian.

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May vows to put Brexit deal to MPs in early June

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Prime minister hopes to forestall leadership challenge as talks with Labour continue despite lack of progress

Theresa May has pledged to give MPs another opportunity to vote on Brexit early next month, with or without Labour’s backing, after Jeremy Corbyn raised concerns about her ability to deliver on a cross-party deal.

The prime minister called a meeting with the Labour leader on Tuesday night to take stock of the Brexit negotiations, as the government sought to inject fresh urgency into the process. The pair held an hour-long meeting alongside the two parties’ chief whips.

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UK politicians accused of racist rhetoric against Travellers

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MPs and councillors have branded group illiterate and violent over past two years

Politicians have been accused of using racist rhetoric against Travellers to help push through sweeping bans against unauthorised encampments.

In a range of documents and speeches, Travellers have been branded illiterate, violent and lawless by MPs and councillors over the last two years, as a deepening housing crisis has led to an increase in roadside encampments.

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Brexit talks with Labour are blind alley, senior Tories tell May

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Prime minister under pressure from 14 senior party figures to abandon cross-party pact

Theresa May’s Brexit talks with Labour have been criticised as a “blind alley” as she came under intense pressure from 14 senior party figures to abandon the idea of a cross-party pact.

The former defence secretary Michael Fallon said the talks should be stopped, after he joined 12 other former cabinet ministers and Sir Graham Brady, the chair of the 1922 Committee, in warning No 10 against any deal that involved a customs union.

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Senior Tories press May to abandon Brexit deal talks with Labour

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PM told that any deal involving customs union would be ‘bad politics and bad policy’

Theresa May is under intense pressure to abandon cross-party Brexit talks, after a group of senior Conservative figures, including leadership contenders Boris Johnson and Dominic Raab, issued a strongly worded warning against any deal that involved a customs union.

May’s cabinet, and Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet, are both due to take stock of the talks on Tuesday, with neither side optimistic about the prospects for an agreement that could secure a majority in parliament.

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Keir Starmer: Brexit deal unlikely to pass without confirmatory poll

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Exclusive: shadow Brexit secretary also warns Labour risks losing its remain voters

Keir Starmer has expressed doubts that any cross-party Brexit deal lacking a confirmatory referendum could pass parliament, warning up to 150 Labour MPs would reject an agreement that did not include one.

The shadow Brexit secretary said he feared the party risked losing its remain voters after worse than expected losses in the local elections, but he warned Labour remainers tempted to vote for the Liberal Democrats or Change UK that only Jeremy Corbyn’s party could deliver a fresh referendum.

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Poll surge for Nigel Farage sparks panic among the Tories and Labour

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Support for the Conservatives at the European elections slumps to 11%, less than a third of what the Brexit party is polling

Senior Tory and Labour politicians have issued frantic calls to their voters to back them in next week’s European elections after a new poll showed support for Nigel Farage’s Brexit party had soared to a level higher than for the two main parties put together.

Related: ‘Labour should be pushing for a second referendum - I may vote Green’

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Thousands march in Cardiff calling for Welsh independence

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Demonstrators say Brexit and austerity have increased support for leaving the UK

Thousands have demonstrated in Cardiff to call for an independent Wales in what organisers said was the first such march in Welsh history.

Some protesters said they had been lifelong supporters of independence, while others said they were converted by Brexit and austerity. A recent poll for ITV Wales showed that 12% of people support self-government.

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Jess Phillips calls on social media sites to end hate speech profits

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Labour MP also calls for political candidates to be banned from discussing raping politicians

The Labour MP Jess Phillips has called for social media companies to stop hate preachers from profiting, calling for political candidates to be banned from discussing raping politicians.

YouTube stripped the Ukip candidate Carl Benjamin’s account from its ability to earn money on Friday, after he joked about raping Phillips.

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We lost faith in joint efforts to halt wars. Result? Ask Syria…

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Once the great powers worked together. Now nationalist strongmen dominate the agenda

Suggestions that the war in Syria is winding down must sound like a sick joke to the people of Ras al-Ain. Their village, in north-western Idlib province, was targeted in an air raid last week. Five residents were killed, including three children, and at least 20 others were injured.

A local man, Hussein al-Sheikh, described to Al Jazeera reporter Farah Najjar how a building collapsed as the children ran for cover: “I was standing near the front door watching the kids play. Suddenly we heard another explosion... It was a difficult scene to watch. I can’t express what I saw.”

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Mette Frederiksen: the anti-migrant left leader who’s set to sweep to power in Denmark

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Social Democrats leader has dragged her party sharply to the right, say critics

She marked her return on Facebook, with a video straight out of a Quentin Tarantino film, buttoning her jacket, arranging her hair and slipping on stiletto heels to heavy metal music. “I’m ready again,” she declared to camera. “Let’s get this bus rolling.”

Mette Frederiksen, leader of Denmark’s opposition Social Democrats, was in hospital with food poisoning when the prime minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, called a general election last week, and was two days late joining the campaign.

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May must reveal her departure date next week, Brady says

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1922 Committee chair wants to find out PM’s resignation timetable at their meeting

Theresa May should set a date next week for her departure, the chair of the Tory backbench 1922 Committee has said.

Sir Graham Brady said it would be strange if a scheduled meeting with the prime minister and the group’s leaders next week did not result in a clear understanding of her departure timetable.

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‘Climate emergency’ edict in UK to shape decision on Heathrow expansion review

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Britain’s net zero by 2050 goal may have impact on whether existing policies are reassessed

Britain’s move to “net zero” carbon and the declaration of a climate emergency in parliament will be “given careful consideration” in deciding whether to grant a review of Heathrow airport’s expansion, the government has said.

The new approach falls well short of any commitment to review Heathrow’s expansion, but means the decision on whether to grant campaigners’ request for a review will include the net zero target and the climate emergency among its criteria.

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Second Brexit referendum would be doing SNP’s work, Boris Johnson claims

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Ex-minister hits out at campaigners pushing for a fresh vote

Boris Johnson has accused supporters of a second Brexit referendum of “doing the work of the Scottish National party” by making a second Scottish independence vote more likely and threatening the union.

In a speech in Aberdeen on Friday, the former foreign secretary and perennial Conservative leadership hopeful sought to turn the tables on remainers who argue that Brexit would increase the risk of a second independence referendum.

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Donald Tusk: chance of Brexit being cancelled could be 30%

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EU chief says good reason to believe leave vote could be reversed in second referendum

The chances of the UK staying in the EU are as high as 30% as the country would be likely to reject Brexit in a second referendum, the president of the European council, Donald Tusk, has said.

The bloc’s most senior official claimed the British public had only truly debated Brexit after the 2016 referendum and there was significant reason to believe the leave vote could be reversed.

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