Tag: Jeremy Corbyn

However, the council has switched in recent years between Labour and no overall control, and is run by a coalition of Conservatives and the City Independents, which despite its name is a party and includes among its councillors longtime independents as well as defectors from parties as varied as Labour, Ukip and the British National party. Mohammed Pervez, the energetic leader of the Labour group, which remains the council’s biggest, is fighting an avowedly local campaign, focused on traditional areas such as litter, parking, potholes and schools. During a canvass of comfortably sized postwar terraced houses in his own ward north of the city centre, Pervez delivers a well-drilled message about “four years of chaos” covering everything from children’s services to road maintenance. Our challenge is to make people understand that this election is not about Brexit, but about local services. “We always get asked how, as independents, we have influence on the government,” James says. “But governments have never supported Stoke-on-Trent by putting money into it. The Conservative group leader, Abi Brown, who is number two to James in the council, recounts the period before 2015 when her party had two representatives – her and Brereton – and “were regarded as a bit of an irrelevance”. Now they have seven, and like Pervez, Brown is keen to keep the campaigning as far away as possible from national issues like Brexit: “I’d like to think that in the wards we hold, people know their councillors and while they might be unhappy with things at a national level – and it does get raised – they’ll vote on local issues. Landon declines to tell Pervez how he will vote – “all the councillors have always been rubbish. Now you can’t really predict anything.”

Jeremy Corbyn has joined a protest against himself outside his own house after he was unable to resist its pull. Members of Extinction Rebellion, a group that demands immediate action against climate change, glued themselves to the fence outside Jeremy Corbyn’s house. They believe that Corbyn’s green manifesto doesn’t go far enough to avert a worldwide climate disaster. ‘He’s one of the better politicians but he still doesn’t go far enough. This isn’t a can that can be kicked thirty years down the road,’ one of the protesters told us. When the Labour leader saw the protesters outside his home, his natural reflexes kicked in and within moments he had glued himself to his own fence. ‘I do love a good protest, even if it’s against me,’ he told the gathering press. Corbyn took the opportunity to talk to Extinction Rebellion about some of his key policies. This proved to be a more effective form of crowd dispersal than any police technique as the group slowly peeled away and left the Labour leader talking to himself. ‘Bloody part-timers,’ grumbled Corbyn.

LIVE from UK House of Commons: Prime Minister Theresa May returns to address parliament after she secured an extension on Brexit at an emergency EU summit. FOX News operates the FOX News Channel (FNC), FOX Business Network (FBN), FOX News…

The PM set out a clear ask in terms of an extension and it is important that she set out the rationale for that.” The prime minister has requested an extension to article 50 until 30 June but this has previously been turned down and some EU leaders have suggested they would rather grant a longer extension of about a year, potentially with a break clause if the UK ratifies a deal during that time. If no extension is granted, the UK is set to leave the EU without a deal on Friday. During the weekend, Conservative ministers talked up the chances of a compromise with Labour, with Downing Street making clear the government could be open to making changes to the political declaration in order to sign up to a form of customs union. And that’s what these conversations are about.” However, the shadow Brexit secretary, Keir Starmer, said Labour was waiting for the government to move on issues such as the customs union. “There aren’t any scheduled talks yet but I’ve no doubt things will develop today,” he told ITV News. “At the moment we haven’t seen a change of position from the government. “All they’ve done so far is to indicate various things, but not to change the political declaration. Where next for Brexit? MPs vote to establish favoured option - May said she would back this Yes 10 April EU considers UK proposal, including extension, at summit EU disagrees EU agrees No deal on 12 April UK revokes article 50 Can Commons pass deal before 22 May? “To agree to be non-voting members of the EU, under the surrender proposed by Jeremy Corbyn – it cannot, must not and will not happen.” Brexit may destroy parties.

Talks between Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa May will break down if Labour insists on putting any compromise deal to a confirmatory referendum, government sources have said. As part of the compromise, legislation will be proposed to lock in the bulk of the proposals on workers’ rights and environmental standards. A swashbuckling global Britain free to do its own trade deals? Senior cabinet ministers appear to be willing to accept a customs union as the price of a deal. It is seen as a red line that the government is not asked as part of the deal to tell its MPs to back a confirmatory referendum in the Commons. On the other hand, a deal in the next few days will preclude the need for Britain to hold European parliamentary elections – something both parties wish to avoid due to the unpredictable results, and charges of betrayal over Brexit. The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, is determined to prevent the economic damage of a no-deal Brexit. Watson insisted Labour had entered the talks with an open mind. But speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he said: “We went into the discussions with the idea that there would be a confirmatory ballot. We are genuinely in good faith trying to find a solution to this.” He also confirmed Labour had begun selecting candidates for European elections in May, which the UK would have to hold if an extension was agreed.

Heather Stewart is joined by Lisa O’Carroll, Zoe Williams and Henry Newman to assess the chances of Corbyn and May burying the hatchet to reach a cross-party consensus on Brexit. Plus: we meet one of the environmental protesters who invaded parliament this week. And is Brexit bad for our mental health? After three years of turmoil, billions of pounds spent, and three failed attempts at getting her deal through parliament, Theresa May stopped trying to exit the EU with Tory and DUP votes and turned instead to Jeremy Corbyn. But have two political leaders ever been more ill-suited to finding a cross-party consensus? Joining Heather Stewart to discuss this are Zoe Williams and Lisa O’Carroll from the Guardian, and Henry Newman from Open Europe. Also this week: we talk to Will Brooks, one of the Extinction Rebellion activists who disrobed in parliament on Monday to protest about climate change. And … what toll is Brexit taking on the nation’s mental health?

Jeremy Corbyn will resume Brexit talks with the prime minister on Thursday, after Labour tensions over a second referendum burst into the open, with the shadow foreign secretary, Emily Thornberry, writing to colleagues to insist any pact must be put to a public vote. Thornberry wrote to colleagues to say that she was unable to attend for personal reasons – but would have insisted any deal must be subject to a public vote. “What I would have said is that if we look like reaching any other decision than confirmatory vote that would be in breach of the decision made unanimously by conference in Liverpool and overwhelmingly supported by our members and it needs to be put to a vote? by the shadow cabinet,” the letter said. She said the cabinet had held a vote on Tuesday and the shadow cabinet should adopt the same procedure. If it did, she said, “can I – in writing – confirm that my votes are that yes, any deal agreed by parliament must be subject to a confirmatory public vote, and, yes, the other option on the ballot must be remain”. April 3, 2019 That is the careful formulation used by the leadership since Labour shifted its position towards support for a referendum in February – and falls short of Thornberry’s position that any deal should be subject to a public vote. Speaking in favour of the referendum option in the indicative votes process, he told the House of Commons: “At this late stage it is clear that any Brexit deal agreed in this parliament will need further democratic approval.” The Scottish National party, which commands 35 votes in the Commons, has strengthened its demands for a confirmatory referendum on any Brexit deal agreed after May’s cross-party talks, although it has not yet made that a precondition for its support of a new soft Brexit proposal. Starmer, who is one of the more vocal advocates for a referendum in the shadow cabinet, accompanied Corbyn at the meeting, together with Labour’s chief whip, Nick Brown, and strategy and communications director Seumas Milne. Play Video 1:52 But, unlike in previous meetings with the prime minister, Corbyn took the shadow business secretary, Rebecca Long-Bailey, who has expressed scepticism about a referendum. If May cannot secure Labour’s backing for a compromise deal, she hopes to win Corbyn’s sign-up for a binding process in the Commons to decide what form of Brexit is acceptable.