Speaker
Telegraph
The Labour MP Sir Lindsay Hoyle was elected as the new Speaker of the House of Commons on Monday evening and immediately pledged to polish away the “tarnish” left by his predecessor John Bercow. Sir Lindsay promised to restore “transparency and impartiality” to the role as he told MPs that the Commons would “change for the better” on his watch. In an emotional acceptance speech, Sir Lindsay, who won a run-off against fellow Labour MP Chris Bryant by 325 votes to 213, also paid tribute to his late daughter Natalie, who was found hanged in her bedroom two years ago.
Mail
Labour‘s Sir Lindsay Hoyle was dramatically installed as the new Commons Speaker tonight after fending off a challenge from Chris Bryant during hours of behind-the-scenes wrangling. The firm favourite finally emerged victorious in the fourth gruelling round of voting by MPs, after five other candidates fell by the wayside in the contest to replace John Bercow. Sir Lindsay, who has been Deputy Speaker for the past nine years, secured the promotion after receiving backing from 325 MPs to Mr Bryant’s 213.
Independent
Sir Lindsay Hoyle has been elected as the next Speaker of the House of Commons after John Bercow stood down from the post. After four rounds of voting, the veteran Labour MP emerged victorious to replace Mr Bercow in the crucial parliamentary role. Sir Lindsay, who has been deputy speaker since 2010, defeated Labour’s Chris Bryant by 325 votes to 213 in the final ballot after some five hours of voting. In an emotional acceptance speech, Sir Lindsay paid tribute to his family, including his daughter Natalie, who died last year.
Mirror
The House of Commons has chosen its 158th Speaker after bookies’ favourite Lindsay Hoyle triumphed in the race to succeed John Bercow. The 62-year-old Labour MP will now sit as an independent after he won a ballot of MPs to replace the highly controversial Speaker of ten years. The Lancashire-born businessman – who has named his two dogs, parrot and tortoise after famous politicians – triumphed on the fourth round of voting by MPs.
Times
Sir Lindsay Hoyle promised last night to ensure that the “tarnish is polished away” to restore the reputation of the Commons after MPs chose him to replace John Bercow as Speaker. Sir Lindsay, 62, was dragged to the chair in the traditional ceremony to become the 159th Speaker after four rounds of voting. He beat Chris Bryant, a fellow Labour MP, by 325 votes to 213 in a run-off between the two remaining candidates from an initial field of seven. Both had promised to draw a line under Mr Bercow’s increasingly controversial tenure and allegations of bias and bullying.
Post
Times
A union threat to strike during the coming election campaign is a “preview” of the unrest that would follow under a Jeremy Corbyn government, the Conservatives have said. The Communications Workers Union (CWU) yesterday rejected an offer from Royal Mail to open talks if it removed the threat of industrial action until next year. Dave Ward, the union’s general secretary, dismissed the offer as a stunt and blamed the company for risking disruption to postal ballots and Christmas mail.
Express
ROYAL Mail insisted yesterday it will prioritise general election-related mail in the event of a threatened postal strike. Communications Workers Union (CWU) members have voted for a pre-Christmas strike, accusing bosses of failing to live up to an agreement reached last year over issues including pay and conditions. Royal Mail wrote to the CWU last Tuesday saying that if the union offers a commitment to remove the threat of strike action for the rest of 2019 it will enter into talks without any other preconditions.
Mail
A postal strike will cause chaos during the General Election, a senior union official has vowed. Gary Clark, from the Communication Workers Union, boasted that Royal Mail staff would be accused of ‘stealing Brexit‘ through their industrial action. His comments have raised fears that the strike could disrupt the delivery of election leaflets and postal votes. Union bosses have also been accused of timing the walk-out to hamper the Tories, as postal voting is more common among the elderly who make up nearly half of the party’s members.
Telegraph
A postal union has been accused of making a “politically calculated” threat to wreck the election by refusing to deliver millions of postal votes as part of a dispute over pay and bonuses. The Communications Workers Union (CWU) on Monday revealed its latest strategy in industrial action was to refuse to deliver postal votes or campaign material unless the Royal Mail agrees a new deal on jobs and conditions.
Brexit Party
Express
THE Brexit Party could significantly damage Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party with a poll of one constituency highlighting how Nigel Farage could hinder the Tory leader’s chances of securing a majority in the Commons. MPs’ last week voted for a general election, after Prime Minister Boris Johnson said it was the only way to break the Brexit uncertainty.
Mail
Nigel Farage‘s election campaign backfired last night as he was abandoned by three candidates and one of his financial backers. The Brexit Party leader accused the Tories of arrogance after Jacob Rees-Mogg urged him not to split the Leave vote. But as Mr Farage unveiled more than 600 candidates he is fielding across the country, he faced a backlash from his own supporters.
Telegraph
It was supposed to be the day Nigel Farage threw down the gauntlet to the Westminster elite he has spent his entire political career trying to conquer. Yet as the Brexit Party leader on Monday unveiled his 600 troops to fight the general election on Dec 12, the politician who has arguably battled more than any other to take Britain out of the EU was accused of risking the referendum result altogether by the very Eurosceptics who have long hailed him as the martyr for their cause.
Labour Party
Independent
Brexit can be carried out without “trashing” the economy or the NHS, Jeremy Corbyn will claim, as he stamps his authority on his Remain-backing colleagues. The Labour leader will underline his determination to stay neutral in the EU debate, while negotiating “a sensible deal” to be put to a second referendum if the party wins the general election. Labour’s most senior figures – John McDonnell, Tom Watson, Emily Thornberry, Diane Abbott and Sir Keir Starmer – have all pledged to back Remain in that second poll, citing the huge damage from leaving the bloc.
Sun
EACH household in the UK could be left nearly £1000 out of pocket under Labour’s nationalisation plans, according to a new study. The figures from economic consultants Nera are based on direct losses from Brits’ pensions and savings, and indirect losses on holdings of other investments such as UK debt or gilts. Nera’s report – conducted for industry body Water UK – calculates that a future Government will need to pay at least the fair market value to nationalise the UK’s water and energy networks and Royal Mail, to avoid a hit to savings and pensions.
Sky News
Jeremy Corbyn is urging voters to back him with a pledge to “get Brexit sorted” in six months if he becomes prime minister. The Labour leader will outline his plans for renegotiating a new deal based on a customs union with the European Union – and a referendum offering the option to vote for that agreement or Remain – in a major speech on Tuesday. But Boris Johnson accused him of failing to honour the result of the 2016 referendum, and said the plan means “2020 will be lost to more dither and delay over Brexit”.
iNews
A new general election poll suggests that Wales could end up not winning an absolute majority in Wales for the first time since the Second World War. The YouGov poll for ITV/Cardiff University found that Labour is on course to lose up to 10 seats in Wales. It found that the Conservatives are expected to pick up nine of the ten seats that Labour are predicted to lose. ITV Wales’ polling expert, Professor Roger Awan-Scully, Head of Politics and International Relations and Professor of Political Science at Cardiff University, said such results would be an “electoral earthquake”.
Telegraph
Jeremy Corbyn’s aim to introduce a four-day working week would cost the taxpayer at least £17 billion a year because of the impact on the public sector wage bill, a new analysis has shown. John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, told the Labour conference in September that the party would reduce average full-time hours to 32 a week within a decade “with no loss of pay”. People should “work to live, not live to work”, he said.
Independent
Jeremy Corbyn made an “allotment pact” with his top ministers to agree that Labour would back Remain, but was overruled by his most senior adviser, according to claims in a new documentary. The Labour leader reportedly met with allies John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, and Diane Abbott, the shadow home secretary, at his north London allotment during the summer and agreed that the party should move to a position opposing Brexit.
Conservative Party
Guardian
Successive Conservative governments have failed to deliver a single new “starter home” despite promising to build 200,000 by 2020, Whitehall’s spending watchdog has found. The party’s 2015 manifesto committed to building the homes across England to be sold exclusively to first-time buyers under the age of 40, to help young people take their first step on the property ladder. The National Audit Office (NAO) said that, to date, no such homes have been built because the government has not budgeted for them or activated all of the necessary legislation.
BBC News
A government plan to create 200,000 new homes for first-time buyers has resulted in no homes being built, the National Audit Office has found. Announced in 2014, “starter homes” were meant to be aimed at those under the age of 40 and sold at a 20% discount. But legislation to take the project forward was never passed. Labour called the policy a total failure, but the government said it had a “great track record” for house building.
Buzzfeed News
Boris Johnson has been accused of stoking “the politics of division and nationalism” after Conservative election strategists urged their candidates to tell voters the Liberal Democrats “are not proud to be British” and would “make our country more vulnerable to terrorist attacks”. The inflammatory attack lines are contained in an internal opposition research document sent by Conservative headquarters this weekend to Tory candidates who are contesting seats where the main rival is a Liberal Democrat.
LibDems
BBC News
Stopping Brexit will deliver a £50bn “Remain bonus” for public services over the next five years, Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson will say later. In a speech at the party’s campaign launch, she will claim the extra £10bn a year will be due to the UK having a larger economy by staying in the EU. Also on Tuesday, Jeremy Corbyn will make a speech accusing the PM of trying to “hijack Brexit to sell out our NHS”. And he will pledge to “get Brexit sorted” within six months if he is PM.
DUP
Express
SAMMY WILSON has revealed Boris Johnson only needed to include one thing in his Brexit deal to gain the support of the DUP. The Northern Irish Party has firmly insisted the Prime Minister’s Withdrawal Agreement will take the country in the “wrong direction”. The DUP also rejected Theresa May’s thrice-failed Brexit deal that she spent two years negotiating with the EU. But the MP for East Antrim has explained the party, which is made up of only 10 MPs, would have accepted both the deals if they treated Northern Ireland the same as the rest of the UK.
Times
Loyalist paramilitaries have been accused of threatening moderate unionists and forcing them to stand aside in the DUP deputy leader’s marginal seat. The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) announced that it would not be fielding a candidate in Belfast North which Nigel Dodds held with a majority of just over 2,000 votes in 2017. The development came on a fast-moving day in Northern Ireland politics that saw the emergence of an unofficial Remain pact with Sinn Fein standing aside in three seats, including in an unprecedented move, the North Down seat of independent unionist Lady Sylvia Hermon.
Transition period
Times
Boris Johnson refused to rule out extending the Brexit transition period beyond next year as he apologised yesterday for not meeting his pledge to leave the EU by Hallowe’en. The prime minister said that he felt “deep regret” at the failure to honour his “no ifs no buts” pledge to leave by October 31, accepting partial responsibility. Mr Johnson, however, wants to avoid an election row about the next stage of Brexit before Britain has left, hoping to focus attention on the choice between his deal and Labour’s promise of a referendum.
Express
BORIS JOHNSON has put any Brexit extension fears to rest after ruling out talks past 2020. The Brexit transition period will not extend past 2020, according to Downing Street’s statement made today. This comes after a Government official cast doubts on assumptions that future trade talks would be “straight forward”. Mr Johnson’s divorce deal sets a deadline at the end of 2020, leaving the UK and EU only until the end of next year to iron out the details.
Remain alliance
Times
As we head into a Brexit election, both Remain and Leave know that the result could be determined by which side’s vote is most united. This morning the airwaves are hot with Nigel Farage rowing with Tory Brexiteers over splitting the Leave vote. The much bigger split, however, is on the Remain side. In an effort to overcome this, a “Remain alliance” pact is due to launch this week, which will see Liberal Democrat, Green and Plaid Cymru candidates stand aside for each other in up to 60 seats.
Sky News
Pro-Remain parties have struck an election pact to help oust the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) from several seats in Northern Ireland. Sinn Fein will stand aside and urged voters to back the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) in South Belfast and Alliance Party in East Belfast on Thursday 12 December. The republicans are also putting themselves in the highly unusual position of urging people to back pro-unionist independent Lady Sylvia Hermon by fielding no candidate against her in North Down.
iNews
Sinn Fein has announced it will not run candidates in three constituencies in Northern Ireland for the general election in a bid to help defeat the DUP. The party is standing aside in South Belfast, East Belfast and North Downs in order to help pro-Remain candidates take the seats. The SDLP, sister party to Labour, also agreed to stand down candidates in North Belfast, East Belfast and North Down. “You can call this a pact. You can call it what you wish.
EU
Telegraph
Hungary’s leading central banker has launched an outspoken attack on the euro, branding the currency a “strategic error” and a “trap” for some members who should be allowed to leave. Hungary is one of the European Union’s newest members, joining in 2004, but remains outside the 19 eurozone countries that have been using the single currency since 1999.
Guardian
Jean-Claude Juncker fired a vicious parting shot for Boris Johnson accusing him of telling “lies” during the 2016 EU referendum campaign. The outgoing European Commission President said he regretted staying out of the campaign after David Cameron told him his intervention would be counterproductive. Juncker said that had been a big mistake, adding: “So many lies were told, including by current prime minister, Boris Johnson , that there needed to be a voice to counter them.”
Express
SPAIN could have a far-right Government in a break from decades of tradition as the Vox Party surges ahead in the volatile nation’s early election polls. Support for the party has remained steady after it became the first populist grouping since Spain returned to democracy following the collapse of the Franco dictatorship in 1975. A poll released yesterday found Spain’s social-democratic Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) had been set to win next week’s election before the likelihood of the Vox Party doubling its representation also emerged as a possibility.
Express
THE risk of a no deal Brexit has been postponed, but not removed, France’s European Affairs Minister Amélie de Montchalin said on Sunday. Paris was at first reluctant to give the UK a third Brexit extension, arguing that deadlines were important in divorce talks and that repeated delays created nothing but uncertainty.
Independent
Tony Blair‘s approach to European integration as prime minister helped sow the seeds of Brexit by failing to make the case for political union in the UK, Jean-Claude Juncker has said. The outgoing European Commission president said that “my friend” Mr Blair was among politicians who “wanted nothing to do with the EU” as a political project while they were in office.
NHS
Independent
Tens of thousands of people have had their operations cancelled because of staff shortages and faulty medical equipment, according to newly revealed NHS figures. The number of procedures called off by hospitals for non-clinical reasons has increased by 32 per cent in the last two years, the statistics obtained via a freedom of information (FOI) request. Almost 4,000 more were scrapped in 2018 than in 2016.
Breitbart
A National Health Service (NHS) trust has announced that it will withdraw treatment from patients it deems to be racist or sexist. The North Bristol NHS Trust announced that patients will be subject a “sports-style disciplinary yellow card and then final red card in which treatment would be withdrawn as soon as is safe” on its official website. The policy would cover not just “Threatening and offensive language” but also “Racist or sexist language, gestures or behaviour” more generally, as well as “malicious allegations” — a rather troubling caveat, given the NHS has in the past been entangled in large-scale malpractice scandals which hospitals and staff have initially denied.
Education
Mail
Paying for a private school education does pay off – as fee-paying pupils get better grades at A-level, a study has found. The overall difference between fee-paying and a state pupils was one grade at A-level. But this grows to two grades in subjects preferred by top universities, and could be key to securing a place on a competitive course.
