Political Headlines – Calls for Corbyn to apologise and Boris to be investigated

Today’s Political Headlines include the widows of the Munich massacre victims calling for Corbyn to apologise, the Muslim Council calling for an investigation into Boris, May’s fanciful customs plan and the Government’s £100m pledge to end rough sleeping. 

Widows of Munich massacre victims call for Corbyn to apologise
The Daily Mail reports that widows of the victims of the Munich massacre have called for an apology from Jeremy Corbyn after details of a trip he made to the Tunisian cemetery where members of terrorist group Black September are buried were revealed in Saturday’s Mail. Labour claimed that Corbyn was there to commemorate victims of an Israeli air strike on a PLO base, but in an article written at the time he said he had laid wreaths on other graves.

Muslim Council calls for investigation into Johnson as Islamophobic incidents increase
The Guardian says that the Muslim Council of Britain is to write to the Prime Minister to demand a full disciplinary investigation into Boris Johnson, claiming that there has been an increase in Islamophobic incidents since his article on the burqa was published. Data from the Tell Mama project shows that there has been an increase in abuse towards women wearing niqabs and hijabs in the last week.

May’s customs plan is ‘fanciful’, experts say
According to The Times, trade experts have described Theresa May’s planned customs deal with the EU as ‘fanciful’, questioning the pledge that most businesses would pay the correct or no tariff at the border, and the assertion that businesses would be able to reliably track goods in order to prevent smuggling. The paper says that if her proposal fails, she would have to choose between remaining in the customs union or pulling out completely.

Government pledges £100m to end rough sleeping
The BBC reports that the Government has promised to end rough sleeping in England by 2027 in its new Rough Sleeping Strategy, to be announced by Housing, Communities and Local Government Secretary James Brokenshire today. It has promised to spend £100m ‘to help people turn their lives around’, including spending on mental health, substance misuse and housing.

Johnson calls for stamp duty cut
The Daily Telegraph carries a column by Boris Johnson, in which he claims that ‘absurdly high’ stamp duty should be cut and targets for affordable housing should be ditched in an attempt to increase rates of building. He claims that developers have become an ‘oligopoly’, land-banking and building poor-quality homes.

Minister apologises after Tory tweet leaves Chris Boardman ‘genuinely sick’
The Mirror says that Chris Boardman, the Olympic medal-winning cyclist whose mum was killed while cycling, has claimed that he was left ‘genuinely sick’ by a Conservative claim that new laws would protect ‘our most vulnerable road users’ from cyclists, leading transport minister Jesse Norman to issue an apology and the party to delete the tweet in question.

Moderate Tories set up ‘pragmatic Brexit’ group
The Daily Telegraph reveals that a bloc of 50 moderate Conservative MPs led by Simon Hart and Andrew Percy have established the Brexit Delivery Group, which aims ‘to find a pragmatic Brexit outcome’ and challenge the European Research Group. The party’s head of policy, Chris Skidmore, has called for the party to unite and to talk about domestic issues.

Stewart calls on military to boost prison leadership
The Times reports that prisons minister Rory Stewart is asking for assistance from military leaders to set up a military-style staff college for prison governors, although he has abandoned the idea of making governors wear uniforms. The paper adds that prison sources have cast doubt on the idea that the military’s experience is relevant.

Parliament may be on recess, but politics isn’t. Keep up to date with the latest news from Vuelio Political Services.