Today’s Political Headlines – 28 February 2018

Today’s Political Headlines include EU set to publish draft withdrawal agreement, the battle to become Labour General Secretary, the Labour Party’s sexual misconduct dossier and BoJo thinking the UK should welcome the Saudi Arabian Crown Prince.

EU set to publish draft withdrawal agreement
The EU is set to publish a legal draft of the EU withdrawal agreement today, the BBC reports. It will say that Northern Ireland will have to follow single market rules unless an alternative is found. The Times says that Theresa May is to reject the draft, as it would threaten the UK’s ‘constitutional integrity’. Sky News has published a leaked letter from Boris Johnson to the Prime Minister, in which he says ‘it is wrong to see the task as maintaining “no border”’.

Battle to become Labour General Secretary exposes party tensions
According to The Guardian, the battle to become the new General Secretary of the Labour Party ‘is set to expose a faultline which has been quietly widening on the left of the party’ between Momentum and the trade unions. Momentum founder Jon Lansman is considering challenging Unite’s Jennie Formby, who has the support of the leader’s office.

Sexual misconduct dossier submitted to Corbyn by Labour activists
The BBC reports that Labour activists have submitted a dossier to Jeremy Corbyn, detailing cases of harassment, intimidation and abuse at all levels of the party. The report by LabourToo recommends a number of changes to how the party functions.

UK should welcome Saudi Arabian Crown Prince, Johnson argues
Writing in The Times, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson argues that the UK should welcome Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman when he visits next week, who he says has achieved ‘genuine reform’. Johnson also stresses the importance of co-operating with Saudi Arabia on security. The paper adds that ‘concerted protests remain likely’ despite Johnson’s intervention.

Mail discovers Mosley leaflet
The Daily Mail says that in 1961 Max Mosley published what it calls ‘arguably one of the most racist official leaflets ever published in a modern British parliamentary election’. In an interview with Channel 4 News, Mosley admitted that the pamphlet ‘probably was racist’ but asserted that it might not be ‘genuine’. As a result, the paper claims that Labour’s deputy leader Tom Watson is under pressure to return £540,000 donated to him by Mosley.

Cambridge Analytica denies working on EU referendum
Giving evidence to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, the Chief Executive of the data marketing company Cambridge Analytica, Alexander Nix, denied that his firm had worked on the EU referendum, despite claims to the contrary by Arron Banks of Leave.EU, The Guardian reports.

BBC aid charity didn’t tell Government about staff sacked for sexual misconduct
BBC Media Action, the BBC’s international development charity, sacked six staff for sexual misconduct without telling the Government, The Daily Telegraph reveals. Between 2012 and 2017 the charity received £70m from the Government.

Hammond attacked over night on beach comments; Government fails to spend housing cash
According to The Daily Telegraph, Chancellor Philip Hammond is ‘under fire’ after telling the Cabinet about a night he had spent on a beach during a discussion about helping homeless people during the cold snap. Meanwhile, the Daily Mirror reports the Government failed to spend £72m allocated to affordable housing last year.

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