Politics
Conservatives abandon Northern Powerhouse as spending gets ploughed into the south
Conservative promises to build a Northern Powerhouse lay in tatters today after new research found spending in the north of England has fallen by £6.3 billion while the south-east and south-west of England have seen an increase of £3.2 billion since 2009-10. Analysis of official figures by thinktank IPPR North showed that the north of England continued to see bigger cuts in public spending than any other region. Spending per head in London has increased by twice as much as spending...
Government’s full Brexit legal advice doesn’t look good for Theresa May
When MPs voted to find ministers in contempt of parliament for not complying with a vote to show MPs the full Brexit legal advice yesterday the faces on the Conservative Party front benches said it all. Today the government released their full advice - see below - and it makes grim reading, with Theresa May facing awkward questions over the next five days when she should be shoring up enough support for her Brexit deal to pass through a parliament. ...
For the first time in history MPs vote government in contempt of parliament over hiding full Brexit advice
BREAKING NEWS: There were extraordinary scenes in the House of Commons as for the first time in history MPs voted to find the Government in contempt of Parliament over its refusal to release its full legal advice on Brexit. The Government is now set to publish the full text. Theresa May's attempts to hide the full legal advice on her Brexit deal despite MPs voting that they should see it avote on the deal were scuppered. "The government is wilfully...
Theresa May’s Brexit deal in line for crushing defeat of over 190 MPs
A new tool gauging the voting sentiment of UK MPs shows Theresa May's Brexit deal is in line to be defeated in parliament by a margin of over 190 MPs. The Prime Minister will take her deal to MPs this week with a meaningful vote expected to happen on 11 December. But according to the Guardian's tool she's currently in line for a crushing defeat. Some 416 MPs are expected to vote against the deal as things stand compared to 223 who...
Child poverty statistics declared an “outrage and a scandal”
New statistics that show a third of children are living in poverty have been declared an "outrage and a scandal" by Labour MP David Lammy. A report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation revealed half a million more people are “trapped” in poverty than five years ago, with 14 million people living in poverty across the whole of the UK. Over half of those classed as in poverty are working age adults, alongside 4.1 million are children and 1.9 million are...
Tory MPs face backlash for Foodbank publicity stunt
Conservative politicians in Scotland have faced a backlash today after a Foodbank publicity stunt backfired. MPs including Ross Thomson, John Lamount, Kirstene Hair and Luke Graham appeared to use scripted copy to boast about donations they made to an annual food collection organised by supermarkets in conjunction with Trussell Trust. Stephen Paton, online content editor at The National, tweeted: "If you want to give the impression you've spontaneously donated to a food bank, probably best not to mostly copy and...
Stephen Fry compares Leave campaign to Nazi propaganda in Brexit video separating facts from fear
Stephen Fry has waded into the Brexit debate comparing elements of the Leave campaign to Nazi propaganda in a video that separates "facts from fear". The renowned comedian and activist has produced the 11-minute film as Theresa May takes her deal with Brussels to the country in a bid to sell the terms on which the UK will leave the union. Campaigners on both sides of the debate have been critical of the deal that has been tabled, with a common...
EU warns no renegotiation: Only options are Theresa May’s Brexit deal, no deal Brexit or no Brexit.
Ahead of a vote on Theresa May’s deal with the EU which has been attacked by all sides of parliament, the EU has confirmed that at this stage the only option MPs have is the deal on offer, Brexit with no deal or no Brexit. Donald Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker held a joint press conference at the G20 summit in Buenos Aires. Addressing the world’s press, Donald Tusk insisted that the EU member states were “prepared for any scenario.” “A...
Health Secretary Matt Hancock accused of breaking ethics rules
Matt Hancock has come under fire for praising a private app in a newspaper article. The Labour Party want the Health Sec to face an “urgent investigation” after he seemed to endorse, Babylon, a GP app. The piece appeared in the Evening Standard, edited by George Osborne, where he praised the app, even telling the paper he had it on his own mobile device, reports the Huffington Post. The article was printed "in association with" Babylon, which matches patients to...