{"id":112195,"date":"2018-02-05T09:32:13","date_gmt":"2018-02-05T09:32:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk?p=112195&preview=true&preview_id=112195"},"modified":"2018-02-07T11:52:39","modified_gmt":"2018-02-07T11:52:39","slug":"todays-political-headlines-5-february-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/blog\/todays-political-headlines-5-february-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"Today\u2019s Political Headlines – 5 February 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today’s Political Headlines include Downing Street ruling out being part of a customs union, Westminster’s Freemasons’ lodges, the UK’s potentially painful trade concessions to South Korea and the warning against a bonfire of regulations.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Downing Street rules out customs union
\n<\/strong><\/span>Downing Street has confirmed that the UK is to leave the customs union after Brexit, the BBC reports<\/a>, quoting a source who said, \u2018to put this to rest, we are categorically leaving\u2019. Political correspondent Eleanor Garnier says that a bespoke deal could still involve some sort of customs arrangement. The Times adds<\/a> that the Brexit \u2018war cabinet\u2019 is preparing a compromise with \u2018a time-limited extension to elements of the existing customs union\u2019.<\/p>\n

Westminster Freemasons\u2019 lodges revealed
\n<\/strong><\/span>The Guardian<\/em> leads with the revelation<\/a> that there are two lodges of Freemasons operating secretly at Westminster, one for politicians and one for journalists. The paper reports that the identities of the members are unknown, while\u00a0the United Grand Lodge of England has insisted that there is no contradiction between being a Freemason and a journalist.<\/p>\n

\u2018Painful concessions\u2019 needed to agree South Korean deal
\n<\/strong><\/span>According<\/a> to The Daily Telegraph<\/em>, the UK may have to make \u2018painful trade concessions\u2019 to South Korea, in order to ensure continuity during the Brexit transition period. A \u2018senior trade lobbyist\u2019 told the paper that \u2018worries are mounting\u2019 about whether it will be possible to replicate existing trade deals.<\/p>\n

Bank of England deputy governor warns against ‘bonfire of regulations’<\/span>
\n<\/strong>In an interview<\/a> with the Financial Times<\/em>, Sam Woods, deputy governor of the Bank of England, warned against a \u2018bonfire of regulations\u2019 after Brexit. He pledged to \u2018maintain standards of resilience in the financial sector at least as high as those we have today\u2019.<\/p>\n

Former civil service chief says Brexiteers are \u2018selling snake oil\u2019
\n<\/strong><\/span>Appearing on Peston on Sunday, Lord O\u2019Donnell, the former head of the civil service, accused Brexiteers of \u2018selling snake oil\u2019, The Daily Telegraph<\/em> says<\/a>. He said that allegations by Jacob Rees-Mogg that the civil service were \u2018fiddling the figures\u2019 with regard to Brexit were \u2018completely crazy\u2019.<\/p>\n

Hospitals cancel urgent operations
\n<\/strong><\/span>In an exclusive<\/a>, The Guardian<\/em> claims that hospitals have cancelled urgent operations for patients with cancer, heart disease and other life-threatening diseases, despite having been ordered not to do so. According to the paper, doctors\u2019 leaders and the Patients Association have warned that people could die as a result.<\/p>\n

Justice Secretary to review divorce laws
\n<\/strong><\/span>The Justice Secretary, David Gauke, has agreed to review divorce laws, The Times<\/em> says<\/a>. This follows a campaign by the newspaper for reforms, including no-fault divorce. He told the paper that he \u2018will study the evidence for change\u2019 but would not \u2018rush to a conclusion\u2019.<\/p>\n

Lib Dems\u2019 expert panel recommends dedicated NHS tax
\n<\/strong><\/span>A panel of health experts, convened by the Liberal Democrats, has recommended a new ring-fenced tax to fund the NHS, the BBC reports<\/a>. The panel also recommends that the NHS should receive an extra \u00a34bn on top of inflation in the next financial year and a cap on the amount paid for social care by individuals.<\/p>\n

Do you want Vuelio Political services?\u00a0Find out more about our bespoke services here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today’s Political Headlines include Downing Street ruling out being part of a customs union, Westminster’s Freemasons’ lodges, the UK’s potentially painful trade concessions to South Korea and the warning against a bonfire of regulations. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":412,"featured_media":111830,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7367,3694,7271],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112195"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/412"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112195"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112195\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":112302,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112195\/revisions\/112302"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}