UK Politics

[Dong Zhou]

-EU "removes" punishment clause from draft which can count as a UK win, will be reworded

-UK government accuses Russia of being behind NotPetya ransomware attack, Russia denies it

-Stormont talks collapse with DUP saying there is no prospect of agreement, Sinn Feinn says DUP seemed to have agreed to one then pulled out. Bradley says talks will continue, not sure any N.Ireland party agrees

-Boris says of Brexit "That is surely not some reactionary Farageist concept,", Farage says his immigration policies are popular

-Gerry Adams attempts to have conviction for escaping prison overturned have failed

-Welsh government looking at Scotland's laws banning wild animals in circus

-Commons Work and Pensions Committee says constant failings have led to lack of trust in Pip and ESA system while they say regulators failed to protect Tata Steel workers from vultures over their pensions

-Sun claims that Corbyn met with Soviet spy and warned of a British intelligence clampdown a smear, Labour calls it a smear, says he did meet with Czech diplomat but didn't disclose confidential information. Gavin Willamson about the only figure to be pushing on this

-Ruth Davidson defends international aid target

-Goldsmith on MP's giving up single use plastic for lent

-Plaid warns it's members they could be punished if they are abusive on social media

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-Bush on Labour's party political broadcast strategy and Labour views on bad polling and preparing for local elections

-Andrew McQuillan on collapse of Stormont talks

-Anne Perkins says mayors could be key to post-Brexit UK

-Simon Lambert would welcome a interest rate rise

-Helen Lewis despairs at the state of our politics

-Owen Jones wants Labour to be far more ambitious on taxes

[Sun Fin]

Just because a charity has been proven to not be perfect doesn't mean we should stop giving, it just means we need to reform the system.

There are some that just disagree with the 0.7% aid target and some that have wider issues (bias, the holier then thou attitude so and so forth) with the sector and wouldn't mind it being hit. I wouldn't stop the 0.7 target, might not wish for Oxfam to get government funding till it reforms and takes full responsibility

Morduant has basically used the money threat to force Oxfam to conform and accept the reforms she demands.

I understand that some people want the 0.7% commitment to be reduced, I don't .

I do, however, share the other concerns and would like to see the foreign aid charity sector reformed to be a better use of our money. But we should use the 0.7% as an inducement to make them want to reform - like Moduant is doing at the moment. That said I'm worried that we might see an attack on charities that have a Christian ethos even if they are efficient with their use of money.

[Dong Zhou]

I understand that some people want the 0.7% commitment to be reduced, I don't .

I do, however, share the other concerns and would like to see the foreign aid charity sector reformed to be a better use of our money. But we should use the 0.7% as an inducement to make them want to reform - like Moduant is doing at the moment. That said I'm worried that we might see an attack on charities that have a Christian ethos even if they are efficient with their use of money.

I don't want it reduced either and I think May is aware doing so would play into the fears of the social liberals+lead to backlash abroad

I'm not seeing an attack on Christian ethos charities, more Oxfam and the wider aid sector (one is a little surprised Haiti isn't being sued for not being suitably grateful )

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-Corbyn denies the youthquake is a myth

-Sarah Champion claims May is taking less interest in child abuse as she doesn't have children whereas Cameron did....

-May to meet Merkel to discuss Brexit

-Justice Committee says prison inspectors need more funding

-Sinn Feinn says there was a draft agreement last week while Foster having to deny she lost control of her party and says she opposes language act

-Leak inquiry into if Welsh government leaked the new Sergeant would be sacked has cleared Welsh government

-Russia claims the blame for NotPetya ransomware attack being laid on them is Russiaphobic

-Morgan has written to 33 finical firms that haven't signed gender diversity pledge

-January retail sales up 0.1% which was rather less then expected 0.5% over December, over last January up 1.6% rather then 2.4%. Food sales down but sports equipment up

-Courts order UKIP to pay £670,000 legal bill after three Labour MP's (Sir Barron, Healey and Champion) successfully sue UKIP MEP Jane Collins for libel, Collins has refused to pay up and while initially that isn't UKIP's problem, that the party deliberately delayed the case for electoral advantage has made them responsible for legal costs during that delaying period. Collins still owes money to the three MP's.

-Ex-Assembly Deputy Presiding Officer David Melding has spoken of debilitating panic attacks

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-Bush on shifting power in N.Ireland led to talks collapse and argue stories like the Sun Soviet spy one is wrong way to attack Corbyn

-Eaton on Brexit trade delusion

-Mark Davenport on the collapse of Stormont talks

-Owen Jones wants radical reform of housing market. I think he dislikes neo-liberalism, he is very very subtle about it in the article but I just get the hint

-Sean O'Grady argues millennials have lost perspective and don't realize the good things in their life

-Owen Meredith says Tories must welcome international students to be a global Britain

[Sun Fin]

I'm not seeing an attack on Christian ethos charities, more Oxfam and the wider aid sector (one is a little surprised Haiti isn't being sued for not being suitably grateful )

Sorry, I didn't intend to imply that was happening yet. But if it becomes a general charity witch hunt I can imagine that is something that might be used to attack some charities.

[Dong Zhou]

-May says to EU that if they allow ideology to get involved with Brexit then it risks damaging people's security

-Oxfam to stop bidding for government funding till it regains trust and meets the required standards, Morduant warns they have a long way to go

-Bradley says she will consider all routes on N.Ireland

-The spy Corbyn is alleged to have met says Corbyn knew he was a spy and Corbyn divulged information but Czech records don't have Corbyn down as a collaborator while Labour denies the spy's claims.

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-MEP David Campbell Bannermann argues EFTA is wrong route for UK

-Heidi Alexander wants Labour to talk to it's members about Brexit

-Farage says Bolton is UKIP's best hope but admits it may be too late to save the party

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-Tony Yates argues Brexit is fundamentally a mess and not a reflecting on May's abilities

-Gabby Hinsliff on guilt tax

-James Graham is concerned at loss of civility and gentle language

-Forsyth (sun) on EU pragamists need help on trade from May, Boris speech, reaction to polls, Merkel

[Dong Zhou]

-UKIP sack Henry Bolton after 63% of UKIP voters go for no confidence. Bolton warns UKIP will be out of action for months and fears infighting will follow. Even if UKIP can actually afford a leadership contest and whatever problems Bolton brought, UKIP's leadership struggles are facial, yet another change that will surely last 5 minutes and one has to wonder how they can survive.

-D'Arcy's Week Ahead

-Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee warns farer subsides to continue and warns of food price rises if a deal isn't secured, Treasury Select Committee says there is no justification for high interest rates on student loans

-Labour's National Policy Forum has to cancel chair vote, officially lack of notice for vote (Corbyn's team argue sevens days is needed) but accusations the fav to win Ann Black wasn't Corbynite enough so Corbyn's team stopped the vote. I'll be honest, not sure how one can have a fair vote with less then seven days notice

-May wants security deal should be in effect by next year, will respect ECJ when UK are in EU agencies

-You know what Oxfam need right now? The chief executive saying it's critics are anti-aid agenda and belong the story out of all proportion (because Haiti children are unimportant and cover ups are just a minor issue?) while anything Oxfam does is being twisted. Meanwhile Brendan Cox has stopped down from charity posts due to allegations about him

-Patel gets on foreign affairs committee

-Verhofstadt wants association deal with UK including free trade, transition is necessary

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-Philip Inman warns Labour should be worried by the elderly voters attitudes

-Rentoul believes May is outwitting Brexiteers in cabinet

-Kevin McKenna on Scottish nationalists sense Brexit opportunity still

[Dong Zhou]

-Hinds want more variety in tuition fee prices and suggests prices based on value to society of the course

-Verhofstadt says single market is best solution to UK but red lines of UK rule that out, second is customs union but again UK has ruled that out and thinks associate membership may also be opposed, no bespoke deal.

-UK government gets Church of England to agree that spires can be used to boost mobile/broadband signal

-Ruth Davidson says Oxfam scandal and the arrogant response has made defending aid harder

-Accusations of bullying of Katrina Murray, the chair of Labour's policy forum, when the Corbyn's team decided internal election was going to be called off.

-May says we need to change outdated views on the value of technical education, tuition fees are not reflecting course quality and value, we should be concerned at Vice Chancellors sitting on pay committee's

-Work and Pensions and Business committees both question corporate governance of Carillion with annual reports worthless, says investors abandoned ship

-Works and Pensions Committee looking at pension arrangements in Philip Green's companies

-Culture Committee had to search for new place for fake news inquiry as our embassy to US changed mind and refused to host due to fear of angering Trump. Ian Lucas not happy but most of the committee seem to accept why it happened

-Corbyn warns Islam woman get abuse on the streets

-Bernard Jenkin warns if government wishes to cut MP's down to 600, needs to be now rather then autumn but Downing Street has rejected the advice

-Electoral Commission looking at Scottish Lib Dems Hollyrood campaign spending

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-Greening concerned tuition fee review could kick issue into the long grass

-Morgan warns maintenance grants aren't enough to cover the poorer students cost of living so could force them out of university

-Lucy Powell bemoans old school control freaky from Labour

-Lord Hill says time for government to make a genuine Brexit choice

-Paul Flynn opposed Environment Committee's recommendation for farmer subsidies as he fears it funds the rich

-Brokenshire back after lung surgery

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-D'Ancona says Corbyn/Czech story matters whichever side you take

-David Torrance on a stale Scottish independence movement

-Mark Wallace with a (lengthy) argument against Turkey style customs union

-Bush not a fan of government's handling of the politics of higher education

-Peter Thompson opposes lowering voting age

[Dong Zhou]

-Davies Davies says Brexit won't plunge us into "a Mad Max-style world borrowed from dystopian fiction", wants close corporation on standards and regulation with EU to enable frictionless trade (which has caused some surprise given Brexit was meant to be a chance to break free), will be no race to bottom of standards (plenty on left going on record of Brexiteers on workers rights), UK must tackle drone regulation

Apparently quite a lot of Austrian media turned up for speech

-Dfid Committee (which will hold a full inquiry into events in Haiti) to question heads of Oxfam, Dfid department civil servant and Save the Children head. Oxfam chairman apologises for downplaying scandal, says due to stress and not sleeping, Oxfam not found any evidence of the ladies were underage, have been 7,000 cancelled donations and sets out what is changing how things happened. Oxfam chairman seems to have got tone right here

-Morduant lays into former Oxfam heads for misleading and betrayal of trust

-Corbyn vows to make City of London the servant and not the master, would strength takeover protections, indicates Labour would back full customs union

-May rules out dropping tuition fees but saying it is most expensive system in the world will come back at her again and again and again, says Corbyn needs to be open about what happened with the Czech spy, indicates she will cool down amount of peers she nominates and that some certain professions won't lead to near automatic peerage.

-Foster urges Bradley to set a budget and take charge but Sinn Feinn and Ireland has warned against direct rule

-Maria Miller wants more done against upskirting

-Williamson says defence recruitment system is unacceptable as it takes 300 days for some to go through the system

-Spring Statement will be 13th March and Treasury working hard to downplay it as 15-20 minutes only with no red box and no big policy moments

-Corbyn has instructed his lawyers over a tweet by Ben Bradley which has been deleted but involved the spy story

-Tom Watson says Corbyn spy story is newspaper propaganda and an abuse of newspaper power and isn't overly impressed by William Hill's taking money from criminals

-Boundary Commission says they would not have time to do another review if current one is rejected

-Carney says Bank of England can limit chances and damage of a crash but can't stop one happening

-Dr Fox says media should say more on how well manufacturing is doing in UK, can't give details about Brexit strategy but will be no addition trade barriers

-Convey accuses Kate Hoey of being reckless when she called Good Friday agreement unsustainable, Owen Smith accuses Hoey and Paterson (who linked to an article making similar claims) of playing a dangerous game, Lord Empey says they are cheerleaders playing into Sinn Feinn's hands

-Gove and Davies both do speeches today, both seemed to be openly disagreeing on EU aid rules (Davies defended it, Gove bemoans it preventing investment in broadband)

-Culture Committee do not seem keen on Baroness Stowell as proposed chair of Charity Commission

-Treasury Committee publishes RBS report by the authorities who will not be happy

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-Lord Williets concerned that highest fees for those produce highest paid graduates would reverse the work of the pupil premium

-Geoffrey Robinson on organ donation bill

-Nicky Morgan says Davies has owned up on need for Brexit compromises

-Damian Green bemoans Brexiteer conspiracy theories about forecasts and wants more published

-David Jones accuses Treasury of trying to drag out and soften Brexit but praises rest of Whitehall for how they have handled the challenges of Brexit

-Lord Adonis says tuition fees must come down

-Farage bemoans we lack a free market Tory party after seeing Davies speech

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-Kate Maltby sexual atmosphere and boundaries at Westminster

-Bush on the Labour row

-Ian Birrell (sun) higher education funding

-Sonia Sodha says higher education needs more reform then on tuition fees

-Max Hastings bemoans attitudes towards universities

[Dong Zhou]

PMQ's: Corbyn went on Brexit. I'll let that sink in

It has been noted Corbyn's teams have worked on quick opening lines and it has been working, Corbyn this time suggesting bar for successful Brexit should perhaps be a bit higher then avoiding Mad Max type future. May gave a generic answer and tries a poke at Labour cabinet disagreement on Brexit, Corbyn quoted one former Brexit minister on failure to come to decision while if Davies was against deregulation why did Brexit department report that there were opportunities to cut regulation like employment and environment law. May sets out what she wants from Brexit in vague terms like good trade (till this, I I really thought we were aiming for bad trade deal ), Corbyn points to members of cabinet wanting to scrap working time directive and May downgrading on tariff free trade to tariff free as possible, May denies downgrading and says will enhance workers rights while talking of government record (not convincingly), Corbyn goes on the research group wish for bonfire and asks what is desired outcome. May goes with a detailed... no wait "I'm very happy to: bespoke econimic partnership". Corbyn asks about hard border, May points to past answers showing how they can avoid hard border, Corbyn jumps onto Boris speech mentioning all sorts of things but never N.Ireland, half way through the Brexit speeches have been waffle and empty rhetoric when we need clarity, summary lacked a bit of punch. May points out there was no question, May says she set out security partnership detail last week then congratulates Corbyn for not asking for a blank cheque (with one cheap shot at liking such things), lacked power

Corbyn with lots of good little questions vs a May with no real answers. Corbyn lacks effective PMQ power, lack of follow through was frustrating and was a little flat in delivery (he also needs to remember to ask a question) but he let May reveal a lack of answers, a lack of certainty, he won that. Those little questions may well stick because they play into the worries of everyone. Blackford raises on deaths in eastern Ghouta and asks what government is doing, May sets out efforts through UN, both going for non-partisan as they talk of the horrors

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-I think Osamor got tone wrong as she attacked Bradley for not condemning Tories who want aid target dropped

- European Research Group letter (Tim Shipman says they are called "Mogglodytes”) signed by 60 Mp's make some "suggestions" for Brexit like being able to sign trade deals as soon as Brexit happens and "full regulatory autonomy" while Brexiteers get their economics to forecast with 2% rise of GDP if May gets the deals she wants. Nicky Morgan calls it a ransom note, Boles remarks that is over 200 Tories who didn't sign it, Soubry warns one can never appease these "unicorn chasers".

-Corbyn says the spy story shows press is worried about Labour winning and that change is going to come to press (which has alarmed press), denies being a spy

-May asks more Labour and Lib Dem peers to retire (Tories have had 11 retire, Labour and Lib Dems not even on 5), needs to consider 15 year max terms for Lords

-Davies says Brexit deal by end of year is well on cards, we can't do race to bottom as we would lose out to China

-Gove says a seasonal agricultural workers scheme with EU is compelling as he acknowledged EU workers in agriculture sector are highly skilled and would be difficult to replace

-Ben Wallace compares Corbyn to Kim Phibly. Both he and Wallace should resign in disgrace unless they can publish proof of high treason, Corbyn should certainly sue both

-Bercow makes passionate appeal to MP's to stop the abuse at PMQ's

-Owen Smith says Corbyn's Brexit view is evolving and deepening

-Unemployment up to 4.4% for first time in two years but people in jobs rise, pay up to 2.5% (inflation at 3%), public sector strikes lowest for 21 years, productivity up 0.8%

-Hancock backs Baroness Stowell for Charity Commission chair

-Abbott says Labour wants EU migrants who come in during transition having same rights as those that came in beforem she believes immgration is used as a euphmisim for race and Labour should seek to change the way things are discussed

-Brexit transition draft gets leaked to Bloomberg (then way way way later then scheduled, the offical one gets published), says it doesn't want to commit to an end date (some Brexiteers furious but May has been open about her wish for end date flexibility), want some kind of mechanism for any rule disputes. Baker has thrown his backing behind it so will be interesting to see how Brexiteers react

-Immigration minister Noakes says EU migrant registration system expected to come in in Autumn and they are testing to check it doesn't crash under the expected strong demand, EU migrants during transition phase will have different rights to those here now

-Adrian Bailey attacked and mugged on way home

-John Swinney and Mike Russell on Westminster Brexit powergrab

-Bank of England expects three rate rises in three years, Carney expects wages to be 5% lower then expected pre referendum by end of year but expects wages to firm up ad overtake inflation this year

-Dutch Prime Minister pleads, as long standing friends with long econimic links, for UK to offer Brexit clarity with time running out

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-Bolton back with Marney

-Gerard Batten is UKIP's caretaker leader

-Baker refuses to back Williamson claiming Corbyn has betrayed the country or Wallace and mentions he doesn't want to get into potential libel territory. Was interesting and fairly open on Brexit segment of DP to the shock of Andrew Neill while the usually skilled Gwynne struggled in DP.

-Shadow Minister Baroness Dianne Hayter on her Brexit bill concerns

-Andrew Neill great on the Corbyn story

-Bridgen says we must have say in rules during transition

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-Bush argues spy story shows Labour need to be better at rebuttal

-Keussenberg on tution fee reviews

-Afua Hirsch accuses aid agencies of white saviour attitudes

-Alex Morton's proposed aid reforms

-Union leader Manuel Cortes on PFI and privatization

-Darren Huhes not happy with cuting MP's

[Dong Zhou]

-SDLP leader Colum Eastwood and Hoey have ugly clash at N.Ireland select committee with Eastwood accusing Brexiteers of a concerted campaign that has disturbed N.Ireland, Eastwood warns Stormont institutions could be down for five years unless things changes

-Sinn Feinn president Mary Lou McDonald says May has no plan for resolving Stormont deadlock and has allowed DUP to act as a blocker, wants inter-governmental conference brought back

-Gove threatening new powers to Ofwat if water companies don't address public concern over prices, leaks, executive pay and payments to shareholders.

-Federal Commissioner for the Stasi records says they have no records on Corbyn or Abbott

-National Farmers Union elects it first female head Minette Batters

-Labour has asked Ben Bradley to apologize, pay costs and make a donation to a charity of Corbyn's choice

-Brexit cabinet meet at Chequers

-Rees-Mogg declares the Brexit transition proposal is a perversion of democracy, a poor piece of work, must be disowned, must be something on immigration controls, fixed end date and be able to sign trade deals during

-EU seems to have ruled out the three basked approach to regulatory alignment suggested by UK

-Heavy rumours Crawford Falconer, the government’s chief trade negotiator, wants to resign as he feels excluded an that Unilever will go for Netherlands rather then UK as it's HQ

-Growth for end of 2017 revised down to 0.4% and 2017 growth down to 1.7% (Italy looks like an econimic powerhouse compared to us), long term migration last year (till September) is at 244,000with more EU nationals coming rather then leaving but at lowest levels for five years, data on disabled getting into work delayed by ONS due to quality of the numbers, trade deficit widens

-Hilary Benn writes to Davies urging urgent clarity on Brexit

-Sir Cash says his committee has been told that if transition goes beyond planned dates, UK may owe an extra 4-5 billion

-Brexit minister Robin Walker says they want more feedback from EU on UK proposals

-McDonnell says Labour's Brexit policy has been evolving, suspects government will have to agree to a form of customs union but rules out Labour staying in single market, cuts to councils mean people may back a land value tax

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-Lord Carlile gives passionate defence of the wonders of Good Friday Agreement

-Hoey keeps saying UK seems to give in to EU

-Tory Mp's switching from What'sApp for encrypted app Confide to try to prevent leaks

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-Bush on London polling

-Jane Merrick says apologies for abuse is not enough

-Alison Rowat not pleased with Corbyn's attack on press

-Christian Wolmar urges Labour to embrace EU

-Kettle on how rest of world sees Brexit

-Kuessenberg on Chequers meeting

-Hinsliff fears Corbyn is showing the wrong attitude for the reform media needs