Political Headlines – Corbyn, cancer detection, ivory sales and blue passports

Today’s Political Headlines include criticism of Corbyn’s Passover attendance, budget cuts failing cancer detection, tougher rules on ivory sales and challenging the passport contract. 

Corbyn criticised for attending Passover event with left-wing Jewish group
The BBC says that Jeremy Corbyn has been criticised for attending a Passover event with Jewdas, a left-wing Jewish group which is critical of mainstream Jewish community bodies. Last week the group accused the Jewish Board of Deputies, Jewish Leadership Council and Jewish Labour Movement of ‘playing a dangerous game’.

Lord Lansley blames budget cuts for failure to detect his cancer earlier
The Times reports that Lord Lansley, the former Health Secretary, has said that budget cuts meant that doctors failed to detect his bowel cancer earlier. He criticised the Treasury for thwarting a screening programme called Bowelscope which he introduced in 2010 butwhich only covers 50% of the population owing to cuts to the Health Education England budget.

Government to introduce tougher rules on ivory sales
The Government is to ban the sale of most antiques made of ivory under Government plans to protect elephants from poaching, The Times says. Exemptions will apply for items with only a small amount of ivory, musical instruments and antiques over 100 years old and deemed important, and museums will still be allowed to buy ivory.

De La Rue plans legal challenge to passport contract
The Financial Times reports that De La Rue is planning a court challenge against the Government’s decision to award the contract to produce the UK’s new passports to the Franco-Dutch firm Gemalto. The British company is taking the first steps towards initiating a judicial review in the High Court.

Thousands of cancer operations cancelled over winter
The Guardian reports a poll of acute NHS trusts by the Health Service Journal, which found that hundreds of cancer operations were cancelled over winter. Macmillan Cancer Support has warned that the delays could have affected some patients’ survival chances. Separately, an exclusive in the paper finds that thousands of ambulances are being prevented from responding to 999 calls because they are tied up at A&E units.

European Central Bank warning puts thousands of City jobs at risk
The Times says that the European Central Bank has instructed financial companies to prepare for ‘a no-deal scenario leading to a hard Brexit with no transition’. City sources told the paper that the stance will automatically lead to the loss of 5000-10,000 jobs in the UK, and blamed France for the ECB’s stance, which is at odds with that of UK’s regulators.

Survey of teachers warns of rising child poverty
A survey of teachers by the National Education Union and the Child Poverty Action Group, reported by the Daily Mirror, has found that 87% think that poverty has a significant impact on learning, while 60% think that the situation has got worse since 2015. School leaders described pupils ‘turning up at school with grey skin and stuffing food in their pockets’.

At least two trade deals will be ready for end of Brexit transition
The Sun claims that internal Government forecasts show that the UK will have ‘at least two bumper free trade deals’ ready for implementation when the Brexit transition period ends, in rolling-over ‘dozens’ of the EU’s current free trade agreements. A source told the paper that deals with Australia and New Zealand would be the simplest to reach.

Daily Political headlines curated by Vuelio political services.