Political Headlines – policing core issues and post-Brexit financial services

Today’s political headlines include the chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s criticism of policing priorities, Tracey Crouch on the brink of quitting, the financial services deal between London and the EU and Wallace’s warning against money-laundering. 

Police should focus on ‘core’ issues, not misogyny says senior officer
The Times reports that Sara Thorton, the chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, told a conference that forces should focus on ‘core policing’, saying that ‘deserving issues’ such as misogyny and allegations against dead people should not be ‘priorities for a service that is overstretched’. She questioned proposals by the Home Office to make misogyny a criminal offence, suggesting that a ‘criminal justice solution’ was not the ‘best way’ to deal with it.

Crouch considering quitting over delay to maximum stake cut
According to The Daily Telegraph, culture minister Tracey Crouch is ‘on the brink of quitting’ following a decision to delay the cut of the maximum stake on fixed-odds betting terminals from £100 to £2 until October 2019. Iain Duncan Smith, who campaigned for the change, said that Crouch was ‘really upset’ and that the delay would leave families ‘in a terrible plight’.

EU and UK reach services agreement
The Times says that the Government has reached a deal with the EU which would give British financial services firms access to European markets post-Brexit. Tentative agreement has been reached by negotiators on a future partnership on services and the exchange of data. Senior city figures have warned that agreeing the detail in a future trade deal will be harder.

Wallace warns of money-laundering crackdown
Interviewed by The Guardian, Security Minister Ben Wallace set out plans for the multi-agency national economic crime centre which launches today. He warned those who facilitate suspicious activity but don’t report it, such as estate agents, public schools and football clubs, that they would be ‘at the front of our queue’ with ‘organised crime groups’.

Barnier ‘under mounting pressure’ to reach Brexit compromise
The Daily Telegraph claims that it has been told by ‘senior EU sources’ that EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier is ‘under mounting pressure’ to agree a new compromise with the UK over the Irish backstop that would see the UK enter an indefinite customs union with the EU. Separately, Dominic Raab wrote to MPs claiming that he expected a deal to be done by 21 November.

24-hour airport drinking ban could be introduced
In an exclusive, The Sun reveals that the Home Office has launched a review of whether to introduce high street licensing laws to airports, which could lead to bars, restaurants and shops being unable to serve alcohol until 10am. Airlines has been demanding changes as a result of increasing alcohol-fuelled disturbances, but UK Hospitality describes the proposals as ‘unnecessary and unfair’.

Poorer children now receive higher share of education funding
The BBC carries research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies that shows that poorer children now receive a higher share of English education spending as a result of a shift which has occurred since the early 2000s due to policies designed to give more funding to the deprived and an increase in poorer children attending sixth form and university.

Osamor keeps son as staffer, despite drug conviction
The Sun reports that Labour MP Kate Osamor has refused to stop employing her son Ishmael Osamor as a staffer despite him being convicted for possessing drugs with intent to supply and stepping down as a councillor as a result. Commons Speaker, John Bercow, indicated that he could lose his parliamentary pass after he failed to inform authorities of his conviction.

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