Political Headlines – Extending the Brexit transition, the meaningful vote and £1bn disability benefit error

Today’s political headlines include May raising the prospect of extending the Brexit transition, MPs may not get a meaningful vote, Government admits to £1bn error in disability benefit and May promises serious response to bullying scandal. 

May raises prospect of extending Brexit transition
The Daily Telegraph reports that Theresa May told fellow EU leaders last night that she was prepared to extend the Brexit transition period and called on them to have ‘courage’ and come up with ‘creative’ ideas to solve the negotiating deadlock, adding that she was ‘confident’ that a deal could be reached. The Financial Times says that EU leaders have cancelled plans to host a special Brexit summit next month but are ready to host it when necessary, with chief negotiator Michel Barnier saying that ‘much more time’ was needed.

MPs may not get ‘meaningful vote’ on Brexit deal, Raab says
The BBC reports that Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab has suggested that MPs may not get a ‘meaningful vote’ on the final Brexit deal, instead being offered a choice of accepting or rejecting the deal rather than being able to amend the motion. Tory MP Dominic Grieve, who campaigned for the ‘meaningful vote’ has called on Downing Street to issue a ‘very rapid’ clarification, while Ken Clark said that the Government ‘won’t get away’ with this.

Government admits to £1bn error in disability benefit
The Daily Mirror reports that over 100,000 sick and disabled people are to be paid over £1bn after the Government admitted to errors in Employment and Support Allowance which had led claimants to lose out on up to £20,000 each over seven years. Once ongoing payments are taken into account, the total cost of the error will be £1.67bn by 2025.

May promises ‘serious response’ to bullying scandal
The Guardian says that Theresa May has promised a ‘serious response’ to Dame Laura Cox’s report on bullying in Parliament after Labour MP Teresa Cox used Prime Minister’s Questions to raise the case of a constituent who worked in Parliament and was being sexually harassed by a co-worker, but was ‘treated like the problem rather than the victim’.

Valerie Vaz accused of bullying
The Times reports that the Shadow Leader of the House of Commons, Valerie Vaz, who had led Labour’s response to the bullying scandal was herself accused of bullying by one of her staff in 2012. Vaz denies the allegations and Labour has declined to investigate as the events happened too long ago.

Williamson suggests Capita may lose army recruitment contract
The Daily Telegraph says that, appearing before the Commons Defence Committee yesterday, Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said that he was considering cancelling the army’s recruitment contract with Capita as recruitment figures were ‘atrocious’, although he admitted that this was not all the firm’s fault.

France publishes no-deal Brexit law
The Sun reports that France has published its draft law for a no-deal Brexit. British citizens would become third country nationals, barred from holding jobs reserved from EU citizens with access to healthcare and welfare restricted and would require a visa or residence permit to enter the country. Border controls would also be reinstated.

Trump notifies Congress of intention to reach trade deal with UK
The Daily Telegraph reports that President Donald Trump has formally notified the US Congress that he intends to start negotiating a trade agreement with the UK. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer wrote that negotiations would begin ‘as soon as’ the UK was ready after Brexit and that preparatory work to ensure that the two countries would be ‘well prepared’ for this is underway.

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