Today’s political headlines include the Dancing Queen promising to end austerity, UK accuses Russia of cyber attacks, the Brexit deal push and Ireland backs British backstop proposals.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
\u2018Dancing Queen\u2019 promises end to austerity<\/span> UK accuses Russia of cyber attacks<\/span> May starts Brexit deal push<\/span> Ireland backs British backstop proposals<\/span> France would prefer no-deal Brexit to compromise<\/span> Tory mayoral candidate under fire for remarks about multiculturalism<\/span> Johnson paid \u00a3275,000 for\u00a0Telegraph\u00a0<\/em>column<\/span> RBS and Nissan warn of Brexit consequences<\/span>
\n<\/strong>The Times<\/em>\u00a0reports that Theresa May used her conference speech to announce the end of austerity, promising to increase public spending post-Brexit. Appearing on stage dancing to ABBA\u2019s\u00a0Dancing Queen<\/em>, the Prime Minister also announced a cap on council borrowing to build new homes,\u00a0promised<\/a>\u00a0quicker diagnoses for cancer patients (citing the story of her goddaughter who died of cancer last year) and, in a\u00a0victory<\/a>\u00a0for\u00a0The Sun<\/em>, confirmed that fuel duty would be frozen.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>The Guardian<\/em>\u00a0reports<\/a>\u00a0that Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt has accused Russia\u2019s intelligence services of a number of \u2018reckless and indiscriminate cyber-attacks\u2019 which were \u2018in flagrant violation of international law\u2019, including the 2016 hacking of the Democratic National Committee headquarters.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>According<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0The Sun<\/em>, Theresa May will today start a ten-day push to get EU leaders to agree a Brexit deal, aiming to get a deal agreed at a summit on 16-17 October, which will be translated into legal text while a framework on future trade is negotiated, before both are formally agreed at a further summit in November.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>The\u00a0Financial Times\u00a0<\/em>says<\/a>\u00a0that Ireland has given its backing to a proposal from Theresa May to break the impasse over the Irish border backstop in the Brexit negotiations. Under the plan, if no other solution is found to the border problem, the whole of the UK would remain in a customs union with the EU (which has already been rejected by chief negotiator Michel Barnier) and agree that Northern Ireland would remain subject to single market regulations.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>The Daily Telegraph<\/em>\u00a0reports<\/a>\u00a0that France\u2019s Europe minister, Natalie Loiseau, has warned that it would prefer the UK to leave the EU without a deal than accept a compromise which undermines the EU\u2019s integrity. The paper adds that it believes that a new British proposal will leave the UK in a de-facto customs union with the EU, with Northern Ireland aligned with single market rules.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>The Guardian\u00a0<\/em>reports<\/a>\u00a0that the Conservative candidate for Mayor of London Shaun Bailey used a pamphlet that he wrote for the Centre for Policy Studies a decade ago to claim that accommodating Muslims and Hindus \u2018robs Britain of its community\u2019 and risked turning it into a \u2018crime-riddled cesspool\u2019.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>The Sun\u00a0<\/em>reports<\/a>\u00a0that Boris Johnson is being paid \u00a3275,000 for his column in\u00a0The Daily Telegraph<\/em>, which is double the salary he received while he was Foreign Secretary and ten times the average salary. According to the Register of Interests, he spends ten hours a month on the column, giving him an hourly rate of \u00a32,300.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>Ross McEwan, the Chief Executive of RBS, has\u00a0told<\/a>\u00a0the BBC that a \u2018bad Brexit\u2019 could lead to a recession and that as a result the bank was becoming more cautious about lending to certain sectors, especially retail and construction.\u00a0The Guardian\u00a0<\/em>reports<\/a>\u00a0that Nissan has warned that an end to \u2018frictionless trade\u2019 with the EU would have \u2018serious implications\u2019.<\/p>\n