Political Headlines – Boris to review sin taxes and May warns of no-deal risks

Today’s political headlines includes Boris to review sin taxes, May warns of no-deal Brexit risks, McDonnell tells civil service to prepare for a Labour Government and Hunts says no deal could cause historic damage. 

Boris to review ‘sin-taxes’
The BBC reports Boris Johnson has said he will review taxes on tobacco, alcohol and sugar to see whether they are effective, and that he will not introduce any new ‘sin taxes’. Johnson said these sorts of taxes disproportionately impact the finances of those on lower incomes. The Times suggests that Johnson has split his campaign by adopting this stance as the policies have been championed by the Health and Social Care Secretary, Matt Hancock, who is one of his supporters.

May to warn of no-deal Brexit risks to union
The Daily Telegraph reports that Theresa May is to make a speech in Scotland on Thursday, announcing a review of devolution to be led by Lord Dunlop and warning of the risk to the union posed by a no-deal Brexit. She will call for the UK Government to have a higher profile in Scotland in order to ward off the threat of independence.

McDonnell tells civil service to prepare for a Labour Government
The Times says that John McDonnell is to call on the civil service to prepare both for a Labour Government and for a second referendum, with Corbyn to request formal talks when he meets Cabinet Secretary Sir Mark Sedwill to discuss a report in The Times that some civil servants believe that Corbyn is not well enough to do the job.

Hunt says no deal Brexit could cause as much damage as financial crash of 2008
The Sun reports on a warning from Jeremy Hunt that a no deal Brexit could cause as much damage to the economy as the 2008 financial crisis. Hunt feels as though the fallout from a no deal would be very serious. This came after Philip Hammond said the Government warned that a no-deal Brexit would lead to a £90bn hole in the public finances.

Ellie Reeves to face possible deselection
The Guardian reports that Ellie Reeves, Labour MP for Lewisham West and Penge, is facing a possible deselection attempt after she signed a statement criticising the readmission of Chris Williamson. A member of the CLP has emailed its chair to request a motion of no confidence in Reeves. As Reeves is 22 weeks pregnant, it is understood that the motion of no confidence would not take place while she is on maternity leave.

Johnson says he’d ‘love’ a bridge between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK
The Daily Mail has said that Boris Johnson used a hustings of Conservative members in Northern Ireland to say that he would ‘love’ a bridge between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK. He accused the EU of ‘moral blackmail’ over the Northern Ireland backstop and claimed that concerns about a no-deal Brexit were ‘wildly overdone’.

Over a dozen Labour MPs would now back May’s Brexit deal
The Sun claims that senior Labour backbenchers have claimed over a dozen of the party’s MPs would now back Theresa May’s Brexit deal, with Lisa Nandy publicly announcing that she would now vote for it. John Mann claimed that up to 30 Labour MPs would back it or abstain if it was put to the vote again.

Field calls homeless charity ‘magnet for undesirables’
In an exclusive, The Guardian reports that suspended minister Mark Field described a homeless charity in his constituency, The Passage, as a ‘magnet for undesirables’. The Big Issue Foundation said this use of ‘pejorative terminology to describe marginalised people’ was unacceptable, while Field claims he was ‘reiterating in verbatim form the strength of local opinion’.

What are the sin taxes and why do they matter? Find out with Vuelio Political Services.