Tag: Member of parliament

The Conservative MP Christopher Davies has been found guilty of submitting fake expenses invoices for £700 of landscape photographs to decorate his office, meaning he could be kicked out of parliament under the recall process. Davies has not been suspended by the Conservative party but he will now face a recall petition to see whether his constituents want to force him to face a byelection. “It’s shocking that the Conservative party has still failed to take action against Christopher Davies, over a month after he admitted stealing from the public purse,” he said. He then created two fake invoices, so the £700 cost could be split between the two budgets – £450 to the startup and £250 for the other. MPs ask the public to place their trust in them and in an election that’s what happens. “The recall process may end your political career – that’s part of the machinery.” The process can result in MPs who are handed prison terms of less than a year being subject to a petition to oust them. It is not a financial cost, it is a harm to the integrity of parliament.” Forster said his client underspent across every single budget. For the prosecution, Stott said it was accepted that Davies had not sought to profit financially from the action and that he was entitled to claim for the pictures. However, he said Davies was not entitled to split the costs across two budgets, and any claims had to be accompanied by genuine invoices. Davies served as a councillor in Powys before he was elected as an MP at the 2015 general election.

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.

A House of Commons committee is making a cross-party call for the federal government to offer financial incentives to political parties that nominate more women candidates to run for election. "Despite their growing political participation, women represent just 35 per cent of all legislators in Canada and remain under-represented at all levels of government," the report said. "Increasing women's participation in electoral politics is essential for achieving greater gender equality. Having more women in elected office is about more than achieving equality in a traditionally male-dominated field — it could also have significant effects on public policy." One potential fix, the committee says, would be to offer cash incentives, such as subsidies, to encourage parties to help more women get nominated and then elected. The federal per-vote subsidy was eliminated in 2015. But the rules and processes associated with nomination and election campaigns can be complicated, and decision-making within parties was described by some as "opaque." The committee said Ottawa should also consider encouraging parties to set voluntary quotas for how many female candidates they plan to field and publicly report on efforts to recruit female candidates after every general election. Other recommendations include a call for publicly funded education campaigns and training to counter the negative effects of gender-based harassment of female politicians, both in traditional and social media. The MPs who worked on the report plan to ask to another Commons committee, which studies electoral issues, to consider looking into ways to eliminate gender bias in the design of voting ballots.

Feng Li/Getty The Communist Party of China (CPC) is making its members celebrate their "political birthday," or the day they joined the party. Celebrations are not like typical birthdays: Members are told to host study groups and discussions on CPC's politics. Applicants have to go through multiple background screenings, exams, and interviews in order to join the CPC. The CPC's new "political birthday" directive comes as it ramps up members' loyalty to the party and its leader, President Xi Jinping. The Communist Party of China (CPC) is telling its members to celebrate two birthdays a year: The day they were born, and the day they joined the party. "But for Chinese Communist Party members, there are two birthdays. At the top is Chinese President Xi Jinping, while many prominent Chinese people like Alibaba founder Jack Ma, whose membership was revealed last year, are part of the party. The CPC's push for loyalty The CPC's new "political birthday" directive comes as it ramps up members' loyalty to the party and its leadership. The country has also been on a massive anti-corruption campaign since Xi became president in 2012. Under his rule, the CPC has punished at least 1.3 million party members, many of whom are high-profile figures in the country, according to the South China Morning Post.

Allies of Amber Rudd played down rumours she plans to join Boris Johnson in a Conservative party leadership “dream ticket” to unite the Brexiter and remainer wings of the party, as the manoeuvrings to succeed Theresa May gained pace. With moves to oust the prime minister expected to reach a crescendo if she agrees a longer-term delay to Brexit with the EU at a Brussels summit this week, the idea of a so-called “Bamber” joint bid has been floated, potentially uniting the work and pensions secretary with the former foreign secretary. Rudd is known to be happy to be a standard-bearer for remain-minded opinion in the race to succeed May, but is being seen more as a kingmaker than a likely winner herself, mindful of both the likely preference of Conservative members for a Brexiter as well as the tiny 346 majority she holds in her Hastings constituency. But it is understood that Rudd is by no means signed up to the plan and has not decided on supporting any particular candidate. An ally of the former home secretary said Rudd’s focus was on her so-called One Nation Group of moderate Tories, said to comprise of around 40 MPs intent on making sure any future leader would not pull Britain from the EU without a deal. Also seeking support from that wing of the party will be Michael Gove, the environment secretary, and the international development secretary, Penny Mordaunt, as well as born-again Brexiters such as Jeremy Hunt, the foreign secretary, and the home secretary, Sajid Javid. The Guardian view on May’s Brexit offer to Corbyn: years too late | Editorial Read more The remainer end of the race is currently less congested, in part because hopefuls realise that the party electoral system – whereby a final two whittled down by MPs are put to a vote of the strongly leave-oriented membership – does not favour such views. Their ranks were nonetheless potentially increased by one on Sunday when the former education secretary Justine Greening, now a strong supporter of a second referendum, indicated she could well compete. “I don’t know when the leadership contest will happen but for me [the party] has always been a vehicle for changing Britain for the better, simple as that.” Asked if she might be particularly tempted to try her luck if the candidates did not include any centrists, Greening said: “That would be one of the reasons why I might do it.” Greening was dismissive of the idea of a staunchly pro-Brexit team, for example Johnson and Jacob Rees-Mogg, who chairs the European Research Group, which represents strongly leave-minded Tory backbenchers. “You’re not going to win elections by fishing in a voter pool that probably represents about 30% of the country.” Rees-Mogg, who has so far refused to say who he will back when May departs, as the prime minister has pledged to do when a Brexit departure plan is finalised, had praise on Sunday for both Johnson, the former mayor of London, and for Rudd.

In the face of moves from elsewhere in the EU to insist on a longer delay to Britain’s departure, Merkel is keeping all options on the table ahead of this week’s EU summit and is said to be willing to back 30 June as an exit date. The thinking in Berlin will be a boon to the prime minister, who on Friday proposed the 30 June extension, with the promise that the UK would hold European elections if it had not ratified the withdrawal agreement by 22 May. Tusk, as president of the European council, suggested on the same day that his “flextension” would put the onus on the British government to decide its own fate while freeing Brussels from repeatedly revisiting the issue. But Merkel is said to understand May’s anxiety that this idea would lift pressure on the Commons to ratify the withdrawal agreement. Diplomats from other EU capitals have suggested that, given the divisions between leaders, a compromise position could be a summer-end date, with a commitment to hold European elections. During a meeting of EU27 ambassadors, the French ambassador suggested that, without a clear plan on how an extension would be used by the time a crunch summit of leaders is held on Wednesday this week, the bloc might offer only a two-week extension beyond 12 April to prepare the markets ahead of a no-deal exit. “I understand EU colleagues are somewhat fed up that the process has taken as long as it has. We’re also fed up that we haven’t been able to complete this earlier, but I’m very confident we will get it done.” “I am optimistic that we will reach some form of agreement with Labour later,” Hammond had added of the ongoing cross-party talks. They were continuing last night, we are expected to exchange more text with the Labour party today.” Asked whether a second referendum could be agreed with Labour, the chancellor said the government had approached the talks without any “red lines”. I am not sure that is where my government is at this stage.” The German ambassador is said to have counselled the other EU diplomats not to make a “hasty decision that we rue afterwards”, and to have pointed to the ongoing talks with Labour as a hopeful sign.

The bill, spearheaded by Labour’s Yvette Cooper and the Conservative Sir Oliver Letwin, passed late into the night, with MPs defeating a number of obstructive amendments from both Brexiters and the government. It finally passed its third reading about half an hour before midnight by just one vote – 313 ayes to 312 noes – and must now pass the House of Lords. The bill was almost scuppered during a frenzied day in parliament after MPs initially voted by a majority of just one – 312 to 311 – to let the snap bill proceed. Cooper and Letwin then had six hours to pass the bill’s second reading, committee stage and third reading through the House of Commons. Bercow said it was precedent for the Speaker to vote with the government, which had opposed the motion and the amendments. The government opposed both the Cooper-Letwin motion and Benn’s amendment. Speaking in the debate, Letwin said the government’s plan to seek an extension was an “enormously welcome development” and he did not have doubts that they would seek to avoid a no-deal Brexit, but there was still a need to pass legislation. “It is right she puts that forward, and then the house will decide.” Labour and the SNP whipped in support of the motion. MPs voted through the second stage of the bill at 7pm and after voting on a long series of amendments passed it around 11.30pm. The newly passed legislation could be debated in the Lords as soon as Friday or Monday, where it is likely to encounter attempts to frustrate its progress by Eurosceptic peers.

Boles had left local members unsure if he would be standing again for the Tories, not least after he resigned from the local association last month. He added that of the 345 emails he had received from party members and supporters before the association’s local AGM last month, just 22 had expressed support for Boles, while more than 300 wanted him gone. Sagar accused Boles of arrogance and self-importance: “Rather than Nick and politicians like Anna Soubry, who are far too London-centric, the real victims are the local electorates and associations which largely voted for leave.” Sagar rejected suggestions from supporters of Boles that the local association had been the subject of a “Ukip takeover”. “What should happen next is entirely up to Nick. On Tuesday, some councillors were reluctant to offer their views on Boles’s actions and how he had been treated. But one councillor, Bob Adams, said he was “very disappointed” that the MP felt he had to resign from the party. So from that point of view it’s sad that this has happened,” said the self-proclaimed supporter of a no-deal Brexit. “None has earned the right to lead the country after Brexit.” Conservative MP Nick Boles quits party after his soft Brexit plan fails Read more The MP may have a mountain to climb should he seek re-election on a non-Tory ticket. His resignation – which prompted siren calls from other former Tory colleagues in the Independent Group of MPs, now known as Change UK – means that a rural Lincolnshire constituency is being represented by a non-Tory for the first time since 2010. Others point out that no one has won an election in a rural Lincolnshire seat against a Conservative candidate since 1948.