Today’s political headlines include May’s denial that knife crime is linked to police cuts, schools increasingly reliant on parental donations, Rudd to end repeat assessments for disable pensioners and Brexiteers warn against deal ambush.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
May denies link between knife crime and police cuts Schools increasingly reliant on parental donations Rudd to end repeat assessments for disabled pensioners Brexiteers warn against deal ambush Government delays vote over fears of defeat Cox denies he\u2019s given up on backstop changes Formby criticised over Labour antisemitism Grayling accused of \u2018running scared\u2019
\n<\/strong>The Guardian\u00a0<\/em>says<\/a>\u00a0that a political row has erupted after Theresa May claimed that there was \u2018no direct correlation between certain crimes and police numbers\u2019, after a recent spate of stabbings. However, Mark Burns-Williamson of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners warned that cuts to police and youth services had created a \u2018toxic mix\u2019.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>In an\u00a0exclusive<\/a>,\u00a0The Times\u00a0<\/em>reports on schools\u2019 increasing use of contributions from parents to fund salaries, textbooks and equipment, and building repairs. MPs debated school funding yesterday after a petition started by headteachers got over 100,000 signatures. 700 schools responded to a freedom of information request, with over 200 saying that they had requested parental donations in the last year.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>The Daily Telegraph\u00a0<\/em>reports<\/a>\u00a0that Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd is to say that disabled pensioners will no longer have to undergo repeat benefit assessments, in a speech drawing on her own father\u2019s blindness. She will set out an ambition to \u2018significantly improve\u2019 her department\u2019s treatment of disabled people, with the benefits system as their \u2018ally\u2019.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>The Times\u00a0<\/em>claims<\/a>\u00a0that Conservative Brexiteers have warned Theresa May that she cannot ambush the with a legal agreement on the Irish backstop just before next week\u2019s vote on Theresa May\u2019s deal and expect to gain their support. Leaders of the European Research Group warned that they would need \u2018good time\u2019 to conduct \u2018a proper analysis\u2019.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>The\u00a0Financial Times\u00a0<\/em>reports<\/a>\u00a0that the Government chose to delay a vote on a financial services bill it needs to pass before Brexit yesterday after it faced defeat over a cross-party amendment which would have forced the crown dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man to introduce public registers of company ownership.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>The\u00a0Daily Mail\u00a0<\/em>says<\/a>\u00a0that Attorney General Geoffrey Cox is returning to Brussels for further Brexit negotiations today and has rejected claims yesterday that he had abandoned his previous negotiating objectives, claiming that was a case of \u2018misunderstood fag ends dressed up as facts\u2019. He said that reports that he had given up plans to time-limit or secure a unilateral exit from the Irish backstop were mostly inaccurate.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>The Guardian\u00a0<\/em>says<\/a>\u00a0that Jennie Formby, Labour\u2019s General Secretary, has come under further criticism for her handling of antisemitism in the party following a meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party yesterday. MP Louise Ellman said that she was \u2018angry\u2019 with Formby\u2019s responses.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>The\u00a0Daily Mirror\u00a0<\/em>reports<\/a>\u00a0that Labour has accused Transport Secretary Chris Grayling of running scared aft Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock answered an urgent questions on the payment of \u00a333m to Eurotunnel over no-deal Brexit ferry contracts instead of him. Downing Street justified the decision on the grounds that the contracts were for the transport of \u2018crucial medicines\u2019.<\/p>\n