Today’s political headlines includes knife crime to be treated like a disease, Ministers warn of resignations over soft Brexit, Grayling says next Prime Minister needs experience and Corbyn says he’s ready for an election.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
Knife crime to be treated like a disease Ministers warn of resignations over soft Brexit Grayling says next Prime Minister needs experience Corbyn says he\u2019s ready for an election Customs union may win indicative votes SNP close to backing single market plan Chief Whip says Government should have been clearer about \u2018softer Brexit\u2019 Windrush compensation to be announced
\n<\/strong>The\u00a0Daily Mail\u00a0<\/em>reports<\/a>\u00a0that Theresa May and Home Secretary Sajid Javid are to announce a new \u2018public health\u2019 approach to knife crime at a youth crime summit today. Schools, hospitals and social services will be given a legal duty to report knife wounds so that children can be referred to violence reduction units. Writing in the paper, they vow to \u2018treat the threat which knives pose to our society like a disease.\u2019<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>The Times\u00a0<\/em>says<\/a>\u00a0that ministers, including Chris Grayling and Penny Mordaunt, have warned Theresa May that they might resign if she agrees to a \u2018soft\u2019 Brexit this week. However, yesterday Justice Secretary David Gauke said that Conservative MPs needed to recognise that they didn\u2019t have the votes for their favoured Brexit. The paper adds that some ministers have suggested that May should attempt a \u2018fudge\u2019 by agreeing a \u2018customs partnership\u2019 with the EU \u2013 a proposal previously rejected by both the Cabinet and the EU.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>Interviewed<\/a>\u00a0by\u00a0The Daily Telegraph<\/em>, Transport Secretary Chris Grayling has suggested that the next Prime Minister should be an experienced Brexiteer because \u2018the next two or three years are going to be very tough\u2019. He added that they may not be the same person who the party would want as a leader in the 2027 general election, so it would then be time to turn to one of the \u2018really good generation of younger politicians in their 40s\u2019.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>Speaking<\/a>\u00a0to the\u00a0Daily Mirror<\/em>, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn says that his party is \u2018ready for a general election\u2019 and to deliver its \u2018alternative Brexit plan\u2019, though he added that it \u2018must be about the future of our country, not just Brexit\u2019. He said that he took \u2018nothing for granted\u2019 but an election \u2018would be the chance to change politics in a fundamental way.\u2019<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>The Times\u00a0<\/em>suggests<\/a>\u00a0that a customs union with the EU could emerge as the victor from today\u2019s indicative votes on Brexit options after Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry hinted yesterday that the party would be unable to back the \u2018Common Market 2.0\u2019 plan as it would continue freedom of movement.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>According<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0The Sun<\/em>, the Tory rebels backing the Norway-style \u2018Common Market 2.0\u2019 proposal are close to securing the support of the SNP for their plan. The SNP abstained on the proposal last week, but their support today could potentially give it more votes than the rival customs union plan.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>Chief Whip Julian Smith\u00a0told<\/a>\u00a0the BBC that the Government \u2018should have just been clearer\u2019 that the general election result in 2017 \u2018inevitably\u2019 led to a softer Brexit. Interviewed for a new documentary, he said that the Cabinet\u2019s behaviour was the \u2018worst example of ill-discipline in Cabinet in British political history\u2019.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>In an\u00a0exclusive<\/a>,\u00a0The Sun\u00a0<\/em>says that Home Secretary Sajid Javid is now ready to announce details of the compensation scheme for victims of the Windrush scandal. The Chancellor has agreed to give the Home Office \u00a3100m for the scheme, which may be launched this week, with officials suggesting that at least 15,000 people may be entitled to compensation.<\/p>\n