Politics

They've been dubbed a shadowy Brextremist government within the government. And they have probably been called a lot worse by Theresa May and her team, constantly critisising her Brexit agreement and trying their best to unseat her as leader for a harder Brexit. Some even advocate a no deal Brexit, with Britain crashing out of the EU on WTO rules with shortaged of food and medicine predicted among the chaos and recession that would entail. This week the ERG were...

Uncertainty caused by Brexit is causing buyers and sellers to sit tight in increasing numbers across the UK, according to the November 2018 RICS UK Residential Market Survey. Looking at London, the results from the latest survey continue to show a weaker trend in sales with demand and supply falling once again, as almost half of respondents to the survey across the UK as a whole cite political uncertainty caused by Brexit as impacting the UK housing market.  The number...

Theresa May has been left with a Commons majority of just 32.5 per cent after last night's vote.  Despite surviving a leadership contest by 200 to 117 votes she is now facing an uphill battle with a third of her own politicians having no confidence in her and the SNP, DUP, Labour, Lib Dems and Greens giving her scant support.  That leaves her with only 32.5 per cent of total MPs in the Commons out of the 650 MPs in total...

As the UK falls into chaos over leaving the EU, the EU itself has gone on and approved a huge trade deal with Japan starting in 2019. The European Parliament voted 474 to 156 in favour of the plan to bind the two economic powerhouses. This will create the world’s largest free trade area totally around a third of the earth’s GDP. EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said in a statement: “This will bring clear benefits to our companies, farmers,...

Andrew Griffiths has had the Tory whip restored today as Theresa May frantically looks to get the support she needs to survive tonight's vote of no confidence. The Prime Minister will face the vote this evening with results expected to come in at around 9pm tonight. And she will need all hands on deck if she is to survive. Andrew Griffiths resigned earlier this year after it was revealed he sent 2,000 texts to two barmaids asking for explicit photos and videos...

Jeremy Corbyn was combative mood in today’s PMQs demanding that the PM puts her Brexit deal to parliament immediately. The Labour leader accused the government of behaving in a ‘totally unacceptable way’ to the House of Commons. May had cancelled the vote this week and instead made a dash across Europe trying desperately to get some concessions for her deal. Corbyn said he was “delighted to see the prime minister back in place after her little journeys”. He continued: “Having...

Mhairi Black nailed the absurdity of the behaviour of the UK Government in a way only she could in a speech to the House of Commons yesterday.  The SNP MP started off by lamenting parliament for ignoring the will of Scotland, saying they voted to remain and they were ignored and the Scottish Government produced a sensible plan but that was ignored too.  She added: “There’s not a hint of regret or even an awareness of the damage they are...

Former Brexit secretaries Dominic Raab and David Davis have teamed up with DUP leader Arlene Foster to launch a campaign for a "Better Deal" for Brexit.  The Guardian's Brexit correspondent Lisa O'Carroll has reported that the trio will unite in protest against Theresa May's tabled deal with Europe, which triggered a vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister today.  Raab demanded a “unilateral exit mechanism from the backstop” in a press conference, but said the government could, in turn,...

Theresa May is expected to survive a vote of confidence this evening. The challenge to Mrs May's position comes after the required 48 letters calling for a contest were delivered and she’s 3/1 to lose the vote she is 1/5 to get through the vote. She requires 158 Tory MPs to stick with her. She could come up short with 101 to 150 votes – the favourite at 6/5, with 50 to 100 next in the betting at 15/8, while...