Today’s political headlines includes Gove battling to save his leadership bid after cocaine revelations, Johnson to cut income tax for three million, Rudd backs Hunt for leader and Corbyn defending Lisa Forbes.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
Gove battles to save campaign after cocaine revelations<\/span> Johnson to cut income tax for three million<\/span> Rudd backs Hunt for leader as he endorses cutting abortion time limit<\/span> New Labour MP \u2018not a racist\u2019, Corbyn says<\/span> Concerns raised about \u2018secretive\u2019 Home Office visa algorithm<\/span> Corbyn considers reshuffling Thornberry over second referendum support<\/span> Godsiff to be rebuked over support for anti-LGBT education campaigners<\/span> Hancock vows to raise National Living Wage while Javid promises schools investment<\/span>
\n<\/strong>The Times<\/em>\u00a0reports<\/a>\u00a0Michael Gove is in a battle to \u2018save his campaign\u2019 after he was accused of hypocrisy over his past use of cocaine. He has insisted that \u2018people should be given the chance to redeem themselves and to change\u2019, but leadership rival Sajid Javid said that drug-users \u2018should be thinking about the impact they\u2019re having on others\u2019. As Education Secretary he introduced rules saying that teachers should be permanently banned if convicted of using Class A drugs, while as a journalist he condemned drug-using \u2018middle-class professionals\u2019.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>The Daily Telegraph<\/em>\u00a0says<\/a>\u00a0that Boris Johnson would cut three million people\u2019s income tax if he becomes Prime Minister, increasing the 40p rate threshold to \u00a380,000 from \u00a350,000. This will cost \u00a39.6bn a year, which he intends to fund from the \u00a326.6bn \u2018fiscal headroom\u2019 set aside by the Treasury for no-deal Brexit preparations. He claims that this will \u2018stimulate\u2019 the economy, allowing \u2018for much greater economic growth\u2019.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>The Times<\/em>\u00a0says<\/a>\u00a0that Amber Rudd is backing Jeremy Hunt\u2019s campaign for the Tory leadership, claiming he would be a \u2018serious leader\u2019, adding the UK needs \u2018a skilled negotiator and deal-maker, not an instruction for more optimism\u2019.\u00a0The Guardian<\/em>\u00a0adds<\/a>\u00a0Hunt has been criticised after he argued in favour of halving the legal time limit for abortions from 24 to 12 weeks.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>The Guardian<\/em>\u00a0says<\/a>\u00a0Jeremy Corbyn has defended Lisa Forbes, elected for the party in last week\u2019s Peterborough by-election, as \u2018not a racist in any way\u2019. The Jewish Labour Movement has called for Forbes to have the whip suspended over antisemitic posts on social media, including liking a Facebook post claiming Theresa May had a \u2018Zionist slave masters agenda\u2019 and endorsing a post which claimed that the CIA and Mossad had created Islamic extremists.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>According<\/a>\u00a0to the\u00a0Financial Times<\/em>, the Home Office has been criticised for its use of a \u2018secretive algorithm\u2019 to process visa applications, grading them prior to forwarding them to caseworkers. It has refused to provide details about the factors the algorithm uses to makes decisions, leading Christina Blacklaws, President of the Law Society, to warn that it \u2018may well disadvantage certain groups of people\u2019 on grounds such as age or country of origin.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>The Guardian<\/em>\u00a0claims<\/a>\u00a0Jeremy Corbyn is considering reshuffling his frontbench and moving Emily Thornberry from Shadow Foreign Secretary as punishment for calling for the party to back a second Brexit referendum. Some of Corbyn\u2019s allies are also backing a new contest for Deputy Leader, so that Tom Watson can be replaced after his calls for a referendum.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>The\u00a0Daily Mirror<\/em>\u00a0says<\/a>\u00a0Labour MP Roger Godsiff is to be rebuked by the party\u2019s chief whip Nick Brown after he told campaigners protesting against the teaching of LGBT relationships at primary schools in Birmingham that they were \u2018right\u2019 and had a \u2018just cause\u2019. A party spokesperson said that it \u2018has long supported and campaigned for LGBT inclusive education\u2019.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>The Sun<\/em>\u00a0says<\/a>\u00a0that Matt Hancock is to promise to make the next decade the \u2018soaring twenties\u2019 and increase the National Living Wage to \u00a310.21 by 2022, giving millions an extra \u00a33500 a year. The paper also\u00a0reports<\/a>\u00a0that Sajid Javid has promised to end austerity if he becomes Prime Minister, and give \u2018a multi-year, multibillion-pound boost\u2019 to schools spending.<\/p>\n