Political Headlines – Brexit plans, Vote Leave fined, MPs’ holiday and Labour diversity

Today’s Political Headlines includes May’s Brexit plan on the brink of collapse, Vote Leave fined, MPs to vote on more holiday and Labour plans to increase candidate diversity. 

May’s Brexit plans ‘on brink of collapse’ after she gives way to Brexiteers
The Times asserts that Theresa May’s proposed Brexit deal is ‘on the brink of collapse’ after she conceded to amendments put forward by Brexiteers, intended to block her customs proposals. However, Number 10 has disputed that the amendments would do this. Defence minister Guto Bebb resigned so that he could vote against the changes. Pro-remain rebels, who came close to defeating the Government last night, have suggested that they might vote for a new amendment to the trade bill today, which calls for the UK to remain in a customs union with the EU. The Sun says that Olly Robbins, Theresa May’s Brexit advisor, has succeeded in moving 50 Brexit negotiators from the Department for Exiting the European to the Cabinet Office, where they will report directly to him.

Vote Leave fined and referred to the police for breaking electoral law
As the BBC reports, the official pro-Brexit campaign Vote Leave has been fined £61,000 and referred to the police after the Electoral Commission found that it had overspent by almost £500,000 during the referendum. The campaign group was also found to have worked jointly with BeLeave (whose founder, Darren Grimes has been fined and referred to the police) and to have returned an ‘incomplete and inaccurate spending record’.

MPs to vote on beginning recess five days early
The BBC says that MPs will vote today on a proposal to start the summer recess on Thursday, five days early. Labour MPs have been critical, with Angela Rayner describing the proposal as ‘pathetic’ and David Lammy accusing the Government of having ‘run out of ideas’.

Labour plans new measures to increase candidate diversity
The Guardian reveals that Labour’s democracy review proposes compiling a legal case for reserving seats in local elections for female, minority ethnic and disabled candidates, and that the party campaigns to change the law to allow all-BAME shortlists for parliamentary seats. The proposals will be considered by the party’s National Executive Committee today.

Criticism of foreign aid as ‘corrupt’ is ‘valid’, admits senior civil servant
The Daily Telegraph says that Matthew Rycroft, Permanent Secretary of the Department for International Development, has claimed that criticism of overseas aid spending as ‘corrupt’ and wasteful is ‘valid’ and needs to be addressed. He said that one of his ‘big challenges’ was to explain why aid spending ‘is the right thing to do’.

OBR warns that NHS spending rise will increase pressure on public finances
According to the Financial Times, the Office for Budget Responsibility will today warn that the Prime Minister’s promise to increase NHS spending has increased pressure on public finances. As a result, there will need to be tax increases or spending cuts, otherwise borrowing will increase significantly in the 2020s.

Speaker will be covered by new harassment rules
The Guardian says that the Leader of the House of Commons, Andrea Leadsom, has said that new rules on bullying and harassment of staff will cover the Speaker. The new rules, which will be debated on Thursday, won’t cover behaviour prior to the June 2017 general election.

McVey trying to kill off online pensions dashboard
The Times claims that Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey may axe plans for an online dashboard to help people keep track of their pensions. Consultation on the proposals ended in March, but McVey is reported to believe that the service should not be the state’s responsibility and that it would distract from rolling out universal credit.

Is the Brexit bubble about the burst? The Vuelio Political Services team can keep you up to date with all the latest Brexit nuances.