Today’s political headlines include May telling MPs to hold their nerve, Tories would get majority if a general election was held today, NSPCC calls for a new duty of care and Treasury Committee rejects Hammond’s claims.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
May to tell MPs to hold their nerve Tories would get majority if a general election was held today NSPCC calls for new duty of care on social media firms Treasury Committee rejects Hammond\u2019s \u2018deal dividend\u2019 claims Journalism review suggests restrictions on BBC, Facebook and Google Rudd admits link between Universal Credit and foodbank use May to resign this summer Labour releases antisemitism statistics
\n<\/strong>The BBC\u00a0says<\/a>\u00a0that Theresa May will today tell MPs that \u2018we now all need to hold our nerve\u2019 because the Brexit negotiations are at a \u2018crucial stage\u2019 and that \u2018a deal that this House can support\u2019 is still possible.\u00a0The Daily Telegraph<\/em>\u00a0adds<\/a>\u00a0that May is expected to use her statement today to rule out membership of a customs union with the EU.\u00a0The Sun\u00a0<\/em>claims<\/a>\u00a0that pro-EU ministers will today demand that May gives parliamentary time at the end of this month to debate a bill to extend the Article 50 talks unless progress had been made, because her promise of another vote on February 27 is not felt to be sufficient.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>The Times<\/em>\u00a0says<\/a>\u00a0that according to YouGov\u2019s modelling which correctly predicted a hung parliament in 2017, the Conservatives would win a slim majority if a general election was held today, gaining four seats to give them a total of 321, while Labour would lose twelve, falling to 250\/ The Liberal Democrats and the SNP would also gain four seats each.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>The Daily Telegraph<\/em>\u00a0reports<\/a>\u00a0that the NSPCC is to publish plans to introduce a statutory duty of care for social media firms overseen by a regulator able to issue unlimited fines if they fail to protect children from online harms. There would be a new criminal offence, based on corporate manslaughter laws, with executives held personally liable for any breaches.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>The Guardian<\/em>\u00a0carries details<\/a>\u00a0of a report by the Commons Treasury Committee which rejects Chancellor Philip Hammond\u2019s claim of a dividend from Theresa May\u2019s proposed Brexit deal, saying that this suggestion lacks credibility. Data published yesterday showed that GDP grew by just 0.2% in the last three months of 2018, with a decline of 0.4% in December.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>The Daily Telegraph<\/em>\u00a0reports<\/a>\u00a0the findings of a review on safeguarding quality journalism by Dame Frances Cairncross, commissioned by Theresa May. She suggests restrictions on the BBC, Facebook and Google and the creation of an institute of public interest news, which would funnel finance into the news industry. Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Secretary Jeremy Wright will now examine the recommendations.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>The\u00a0Daily Mirror<\/em>\u00a0says<\/a>\u00a0that Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd admitted yesterday that there was a link between the rollout of Universal Credit and increases in foodbank uses, although she claimed that the situation was improving. Her predecessor, Esther McVey, had suggested the rise was due to Labour not having let jobcentres refer people to foodbanks, while minister Alok Sharma had claimed there wasn\u2019t a \u2018single reason\u2019 for the increase.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>According<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0The Sun<\/em>, Theresa May has dropped hints to Cabinet ministers including Liam Fox and Greg Clark that she plans to resign in the summer so that she can influence her party\u2019s choice of successor, with a new leader being picked at the party\u2019s conference in October. The paper suggests that this \u2018will widely be seen as a plan to stop Boris Johnson.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>The Guardian<\/em>\u00a0reports<\/a>\u00a0that Labour has released details of the scale of antisemitism allegations received by the party, which has investigated 673 complaints since last April and expelled 12 members. The statistics have been questioned by MPs such as Margaret Hodge who said that there had \u2018been a breakdown in trust\u2019. They plan to use a meeting next week to demand to know why 146 of those investigated were only given a \u2018preliminary warning\u2019.<\/p>\n