Political Headlines – Boris, HS2, Labour, Paisley

Today’s Political Headlines include May’s call for Boris to apologise over burqa remarks, six-figure HS2 salaries, Labour’s antisemitism challenge and the petition to recall Paisley. 

May agrees with call for Johnson to apologise over burqa remarks
The Guardian reports that Theresa May has agreed with a call by Conservative party chairman Brandon Lewis for Boris Johnson to apologise for a newspaper column in which he claimed that women in burqas look like letter boxes and bank robbers. Lord Sheik, founder of the Conservative Muslim Forum, has called for the Conservative whip to be withdrawn from him for the comments. Johnson has not apologised.

HS2 salary levels raise concerns
The Times reveals that a quarter of the staff employed by HS2 earn six-figure sums. 318 officials are paid at least £100,000 a year, an increase from 155 in 2015-16, while spending on consultants doubled in the space of a year, reaching more than £600m. The paper adds that Chief Secretary to the Treasury Liz Truss wrote to Transport Secretary Chris Grayling in the spring, raising concerns about salary levels.

Leaked papers show scale of Labour’s antisemitism challenge
The Guardian has seen leaked Labour disciplinary papers circulated to members of the party’s national executive committee which illustrate the challenge faced by the party in tackling antisemitism. Separately, The Times reports that footage from 2011 of Jeremy Corbyn accusing the BBC of being biased towards Israel in an interview with Iranian state TV channel Press TV has emerged.

Paisley recall petition to open
The BBC says that a petition to recall North Antrim MP Ian Paisley is to open today. The petition is the first of its kind and was triggered when Paisley was suspended from the Commons for 30 days after he failed to declare two holidays paid for by the Sri Lankan government. The petition remains open until 19 September.

Sturgeon delays referendum decision over Brexit confusion
The Guardian reports that Nicola Sturgeon has indicated that Brexit confusion means that she will not be able to make a decision on holding a second Scottish independence referendum this autumn. Following a meeting with Theresa May yesterday, Sturgeon said that she had a ‘huge amount of scepticism’ that a deal would be reached by October.

Zahawi calls on private schools to admit children in care
The Sun says that Education Minister Nadhim Zahawi has called on private schools to give boarding places to thousands of children in care so that Jeremy Corbyn would be unable to remove their charitable status. He praised 40 schools that already participated in a Government-backed scheme to do so and asked others to join it.

EU patients could lose access to medicines after Brexit, pharmaceutical firm warns
The Guardian reports that the pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca has warned that patients in the EU may not be able to receive vital medicines produced in the UK in the event of a no-deal Brexit. To try and avoid the risk, it will test medicines in both the UK and the EU, but cannot guarantee that it will be successful.

Rail body calls for customs areas to be set up at freight terminals
The Financial Times says that the Rail Delivery Group is recommending that customs areas should be set up at rail freight terminals, not at the Channel Tunnel, after Brexit. It argues that this would help to prevent ‘congestion and delays’. HMRC says that this should not be necessary, if the proposals put forward in the Government’s Brexit white paper are adopted.

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