Politics

Jeremy Corbyn has called for Labour defectors to submit themselves to by elections after they quit the party to start a rival group. Chuka Umunna, Luciana Berger, Chris Leslie, Angela Smith, Mike Gape, Gavin Shuker and Anne Coffey announced they were resigning today and will sit in Parliament as the Independent Group. Leslie said Labour has been “hijacked by the machine politics of the left”, while Mike Grapes called the party "racist and antisemitic". But Corbyn reminded the group that Labour policies "inspired millions...

Britain is facing the sort of political chasm not seen since the start of the 20th century in the run-up to Brexit D-Day. Seven Labour MPs today quit the party to sit as an independent group in the House of Commons. Chuka Umunna, Luciana Berger, Chris Leslie, Angela Smith, Mike Gape, Gavin Shuker and Anne Coffey founded a new party in a bid to move away from Corbynist politics, but warned the Tories they are not immune from this kind of...

Seven Labour MPs have quit the party and will sit as an independent group in the House of Commons. The MPs who have left Labour are Chuka Umunna, Luciana Berger, Chris Leslie, Angela Smith, Mike Gape, Gavin Shuker and Anne Coffey. Luciana Berger told a press conference to announce the split that she “cannot remain in a party that I have done to the sickening conclusion is institutionally antisemitic. “We will sit in parliament as a new independent group of...

In the biggest split in the Labour party since the 1980s, when the breakaway SDP was formed, it is expected that a number if MPs are set to leave Labour today, There have been rumours swirling for sometime, and momentum for the plan appeared to be increasing last week. It is thought about four or five MPs are willing to make the jump. It is rumoured that Chuka Umunna Chris Leslie, Luciana Berger, Gavin Shuker, Angela Smith and Mike Gapes...

Theresa May today took a swipe at "disruptive" school pupils after they walked out on strike over a lack of action on tackling climate change. A spokeswoman for the Prime Minister said the disruption caused by the climate change walkout will "increase teachers' workloads and waste lesson time that teachers have carefully prepared for". In contrast, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn backed the walkout, tweeting: "Climate change is the greatest threat that we all face but it is the school kids of today...

RBS has warned of the harm of Brexit on the UK economy, even after posting some huge profit figures. Brexit threatens RBS’s ability to clear more than £44.08 billion pounds per day in cross-border payments, if they are not granted licences to clear fees via its Frankfurt operations. The bank reported profits of £1.62bn for 2018, more than double the £752m it achieved the previous year. RBS was bailed out by the government in 2008 as the financial crisis hit...

Theresa May received a dose of her own medicine last night after suffering yet another defeat at the hands of a hostile parliament. With a threatening Home Office tweet sent out on her watch making the rounds on Twitter the former Home Secretary went into hiding as her motion urging MPs to back attempts to strike a new withdrawal agreement with the EU was beaten by 303 votes to 258. Many hard-line Brexiteers abstained from the vote, which highlighted the...

A Romanian airline has cancelled flights due to Brexit uncertainty. Blue Air made the decision to halt their flights from Liverpool’s John Lennon Airport. Many passengers were left fuming after they were not able to board their scheduled flights to Alicante and Rome. Blue Air flights between Luton and Turin are also expected to be affected. The airline will continue to fly to Romania and UK, but from the UK to any other nation in trouble if the UK exits...

Almost all councils in England are set to ramp up council tax with services also due to be slashed in many areas, according to research conducted by the Local Government Information Unit (LGiU). Three-quarters of local authorities are set to increase tax by more than 2.5 per cent from April, with essential services cut on top. The Local Government Association (LGA) said councils had "little choice" but to take action, with eight in ten councils saying the current funding system is "unsustainable"....