Today’s political headlines includes Labour winning the Peterborough by-election, Queen could be put in a terrible conflict over suspending Parliament, Hammond and May in row over money and Johnson more likely to win back Brexit Party supporters.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
Labour wins Peterborough by-election Queen could be put in \u2018a terrible conflict\u2019 over suspending Parliament Hammond and May in row over May\u2019s \u00a310bn leaving announcements Polling shows Johnson most likely to win back Brexit Party supporters Javid in \u2018veiled\u2019 attack on Johnson over \u2018exploiting division\u2019 Hancock promises business rates cut for small retailers DWP extends benefits assessment contracts Badenoch backs Gove
\n<\/strong>As the BBC\u00a0reports<\/a>, Labour\u2019s Lisa Forbes has won the Peterborough by-election, seeing off the Brexit Party\u2019s Mike Greene by 683 votes. She claimed that the electorate had \u2018rejected the politics of division\u2019, embracing the \u2018politics of hope\u2019, but Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage said that his party\u2019s result was \u2018very significant. Labour MPs Margaret Hodge and Jess Phillips have raised concerns about Forbes after it emerged that she\u2019d liked a social media post claiming that Theresa May had a \u2018Zionist slave masters agenda\u2019.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>The Times<\/em>\u00a0says<\/a>\u00a0Hannah White of the Institute for Government has warned that suspending Parliament in order to enable a no-deal Brexit would put her in \u2018a terrible conflict\u2019, suggesting the palace might delay the process long enough to allow Parliament to prevent itself from being prorogued. Tory leadership candidate Dominic Raab, has refused to rule it out, but rivals including Matt Hancock and Rory Stewart have criticised this stance, with Stewart claiming that such a move would be \u2018unlawful, undemocratic and unachievable\u2019.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>The\u00a0Financial Times<\/em>\u00a0says<\/a>\u00a0that Theresa May and Chancellor Philip Hammond are arguing over a number of spending announcements she wants to make before her departure as Prime Minister, including increasing education spending. The Treasury is apparently concerned that May\u2019s plans might cost over \u00a310bn, and Hammond doesn\u2019t want to spend his \u2018war chest\u2019 until a no-deal Brexit is ruled out, in case it is needed as a \u2018cushion\u2019.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>The Daily Telegraph<\/em>\u00a0says<\/a>\u00a0that private polling of the Conservatives\u2019 48 most marginal seats by CTF Partners has found that Boris Johnson is the leadership candidate who is most likely to regain supporters lost since Theresa May became party leader. 59% Brexit Party and UKIP backers said that they were more likely to back the Tories under Johnson\u2019s leadership, with just 31% saying that his nearest rival, Michael Gove, would have the same effect.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>The Times<\/em>\u00a0says<\/a>\u00a0that Sajid Javid has made \u2018a thinly veiled attack\u2019 on Boris Johnson, telling an event that the worst thing you can do to \u2018get votes is to appeal to division, to exacerbate division, to get angry people to vote for you\u2019, adding that he believes that some of his rivals would \u2018try to win a general election\u2019 through \u2018exploiting division\u2019. He said that to deliver Brexit, people\u2019s \u2018underlying frustrations\u2019 that led them to vote for it need to be dealt with.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>Interviewed<\/a>\u00a0by\u00a0The Daily Telegraph<\/em>, Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock has promised to axe small retailers\u2019 business rates at a cost of \u00a31.5bn and set the new digital services tax at a higher level in order to fund this, arguing that this would help to \u2018level the playing field\u2019 and \u2018save the high street\u2019.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>The\u00a0Daily Mirror<\/em>\u00a0reveals<\/a>\u00a0that the Government has extended its contracts with Atos and Maximus to test people\u2019s eligibility for benefits without going out to tender, giving them an extra \u00a3630m. Labour\u2019s Shadow Minister for Disabled People, Marsha De Cordova said the decision was \u2018scandalous\u2019 and criticised the firms\u2019 assessments for \u2018appalling inaccuracies\u2019.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>The Sun<\/em>\u00a0says<\/a>\u00a0that Conservative vice chair and \u2018rising star\u2019 Kemi Badenoch has resigned from her post in order to support Michael Gove\u2019s campaign for the Tory leadership. Writing in the paper, she says that she is a \u2018realist\u2019 and is \u2018suspicious of anyone proposing simple answers\u2019 to Brexit, and praises Gove\u2019s education reforms.<\/p>\n