Archive for: Political Services

A round-up of the latest political headlines, including the Brexit divorce bill, a new rail strategy, a 50-year citizen threatened with deportation and David Davis accused of contempt. 

Britain settles EU divorce bill
In an exclusive, The Daily Telegraph revealed that the UK has agreed to a financial settlement with the EU. Two sources told the paper that terms were agreed last week following back-channel discussions led by Oliver Robbins, the UK’s chief negotiator. The final figure will be between €45bn and €55bn, with a gross settlement (before deductions) of €100bn. This leaves just two major obstacles before the meeting of the European Council on December 14-15: the role of the European Court of Justice in governing citizens’ rights and the Irish border. May will deliver an offer covering all three areas on December 4.

Government unveils new rail strategy
The Times has spoken to Transport Secretary Chris Grayling, who unveils his new rail strategy today. Headline measures include re-opening some lines closed in the 1960s Beeching cuts to unlock housing development, grow business or relieve overcrowding. Other reforms include breaking up large franchises, joining-up Network Rail and train operators to co-ordinate disruption and engineering work, setting a deadline for the introduction of smart card and contactless payments, and creating a new independent rail ombudsman.

Woman threatened with deportation, despite living in the UK for 50 years
The Guardian tells the story of 61-year-old Paulette Wilson, who was detained at Yarl’s Wood detention centre and then nearly deported, despite having lived in the UK since she was ten. The paper says that migrants’ rights charities are ‘increasingly’ coming across similar cases, where people have no documents proving their right to live in the UK because they moved before there was a legal need to apply for leave to remain.

Davis accused of contempt over Brexit impact papers
The Financial Times reports on Brexit Secretary David Davis’s decision not to hand over unredacted versions of the Government’s Brexit impact analyses to Parliament. Labour’s Shadow Brexit Secretary, Keir Starmer said ‘Whether he is in contempt of parliament is a matter we will come to at a later date but he is treating parliament with contempt. This is not a game.’ Commons Speaker John Bercow has told Davis to explain himself to MPs.

Damian Green to stand in at Prime Minister’s Questions
First Secretary of State Damian Green is to stand in at today’s Prime Minister’s Questions, The Daily Telegraph says. Theresa May is visiting the Middle East to champion women’s rights, but said that Damián Green, currently under investigation following allegations into his behaviour towards women, would do a ‘good job’.

Universal Credit hotline to close over Christmas
The Mirror reports on a letter to Theresa May written by Frank Field, chairman of the Commons Work and Pension Committee. He highlights the fact that the Universal Credit hotline will be open fully for just two out of ten days this Christmas, and told the paper that he was ‘fighting against hunger’.

MPs attack NHS over data loss
The Daily Mail has details of a report by the Public Accounts Committee on the NHS’s response to the loss of almost 900,000 medical documents by a private firm. 18 months after the scandal was revealed, the NHS still can’t say if any patients were harmed. Meg Hillier, the committee’s chair, said ‘we are far from confident health officials are on top of the issues.’

Tulip Siddiq makes ‘threatening’ remark to journalist
The Telegraph reports that Tulip Siddiq told a Channel 4 journalist to be ‘very careful’ and told a pregnant producer ‘Hope you have a great birth, because child labour is hard.’ The journalists were questioning her about human rights in Bangladesh, where her aunt is prime minister.

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A round-up of the latest political headlines, including Hammond eases off austerity, a Budget that tries to fix the housing market and gloomy fiscal outlook.

Budget: ‘Hammond eases off austerity’
According to The Times, Philip Hammond used yesterday’s Budget as a ‘£25 billion giveaway’. The paper points out that the sums, including spending on housing, Brexit, and the NHS, only add up because of ‘accounting changes, stealth business taxes, optimistic estimates on tackling tax evasion and new sales of state-owned Royal Bank of Scotland shares’.

Budget: Hammond tries to fix the housing market
The Financial Times choses to focus on Hammond’s efforts to fix the housing market. He unveiled a £44bn package of investment, loans and guarantees, and aims to reach 300,000 homes being built in each year by the middle of the next decade. Other measures include cuts to stamp duty for first-time buyers. According to the paper, allies of Theresa May described Hammond as having done a ‘good job in difficult circumstances’.

Budget: Gloomy fiscal outlook
The Guardian alleges that Hammond’s new measures are an attempt to ‘mask Britain’s gloomy fiscal outlook’. The paper choses to highlight forecasts by the Office for Budget Responsibility which cut the UK’s growth rates in the years up to 2022 by a quarter, with unemployment growing. Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell said it was ‘a nothing-has-changed budget from an out-of-touch government with no idea of the reality of people’s lives and no plan to improve them’.

Budget: Tory Eurosceptics urge Hammond to spend Brexit cash
The Daily Telegraph reports that Conservative Eurosceptics are urging Philip Hammond to spend some of the £3 billion he set aside for Brexit preparations in the Budget immediately. Half the money is not planned to be spent until next year, whilst the rest will only be released in 2019-20 (after the UK has left the EU). David Jones MP argued that ‘We need to show the EU that preparations are being made and also need to give reassurance to business.’

Poll shows Tories four points ahead
The Daily Mail carries news of a new poll which shows that the Conservatives are four points ahead of Labour. The poll, carried out before the Budget, puts the Tories on 42% and labour on 38%. The paper places this in the context of the sex harassment scandal and the loss of two Cabinet ministers, suggesting that ‘Brits not stuck in the Westminster bubble have not paid much attention to these Tory travails.’

Remove abortion jail risk, medical professionals say
The Times has details of a campaign by the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Health, whose council is expected to vote in favour of decriminalising abortion following a survey of the group’s members. It warns that the country is ‘reaching a crisis point in abortion provision’, with legal restrictions putting trainees off and inhibiting care.

Damian Green inquiry to finish ‘within days’
The Cabinet Office’s inquiry into allegations against First Secretary of State Damian Green is to finish ‘within days’, The Guardian says. This comes after a series of interviews over the claims that Green harassed a young Conservative activist and downloaded pornography to a work computer. Green denies both allegations

New rules on broadband advertisingMirror
The Daily Mail announces new rules on broadband advertising, drawn up by the Committee on Advertising Practice. Under current rules, firms can advertise speeds that only 10% of households can achieve. Under the new rules, advertised speeds must be attainable by 50% of customers at peak times. Digital Minister Matt Hancock said ‘We have been fighting for this for some time now, and it’s a great victory for consumers.’

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A round-up of the latest political headlines from the UK’s media, including Priti Patel’s resignation, a Brexit ‘crisis’, the sexual harassment scandal and Corbyn’s call for sprinklers. 

Priti Patel resigns amid unauthorised meetings scandal
Yesterday evening Priti Patel resigned as International Development Secretary, having been summoned back to London by Theresa May following further revelations about her authorised meetings with Israeli officials. The BBC explains the scandal, whilst The Times says that friends of Patel believe that the story was leaked by the Foreign Office to kill off an attempt by her to change Government policy towards Israel. The Daily Telegraph reports that allies of Patel claim that she is ‘livid’ and ‘could do some pretty hard damage’ to the Government from the backbenches.

EU leaders fear Government instability could lead to Brexit crisis
The Times says that ‘fears are growing in Brussels’ that instability in the British Government could lead to a new Prime Minister or new elections, resulting in a Labour victory. Brussels is therefore planning for a disorderly ‘no deal’ exit or even for the UK to decide to stay in the EU. The Financial Times reports that the UK will offer more clarity on budget commitments if the EU simultaneously outlines a transition deal, but that the EU will only do this the UK makes ‘sufficient process’ on financial issues, quoting a diplomat who described this as a ‘chicken and egg’ dilemma.

Sexual harassment scandal: bar manager speaks out and Welsh First Minister criticised
Alice Bailey, a former bar manager at Parliament’s Sports & Social Bar spoke to The Sun about her experiences of harassment by MPs whilst working at the bar. When she asked bosses about reporting one incident, in which an MP followed her onto her bus home, she was told that she would not be believed. Meanwhile, the Daily Mail reports calls for Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones to resign as a result of his handling of allegations against Carl Sargeant, who was found dead earlier this week having been sacked from his cabinet post.

NHS Chief Executive warns of soaring waiting lists
The Guardian reports that Simon Stevens, Chief Executive of NHS England, has called for NHS England to be given at least £4 billion more in 2018-19, and for the Government to emulate German, French and Swedish levels of health spending. He warned that waiting lists could reach 5 million if action wasn’t taken.

Corbyn calls for high rises to be fitted with sprinklers
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is to call for £1 billion to be set aside in the budget in order to fit all social housing blocks with sprinklers, starting with those over 30m (ten storeys), to prevent a repetition of the fire at Grenfell Tower, The Mirror says.

Gove backs ban of neonicotinoids
The Guardian reveals that Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary Michael Gove is to back a proposed ban of neonicotinoids across the European Union. In an article for the paper, Gove writes that ‘the risks neonicotinoids pose to our environment, particularly to the bees and other pollinators which play such a key part in our £100bn food industry, is greater than previously understood’.

Iranian prisoner’s husband asks to accompany Boris on Iranian visit
The husband of the Iranian prisoner Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has told The Sun that he will ask if he can accompany Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson when he visits Iran. Richard Ratcliffe told the paper that he had not seen his wife for 18 months and that Johnson had repeatedly turned down requests to meet. The Foreign Office told the paper that Johnson would meet Ratcliffe and try to arrange a family reunion.

Leading US General warns against cuts to the UK’s armed forces
Lieutenant-General Ben Hodges, who commands the US Army in Europe, has told the BBC that if the British armed forces ‘got any smaller’, the UK’s position as a US ally and leading NATO member would be at risk, and the country would struggle to meet is global commitments.

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