‘Vladimir Putin and Theresa May have spoken for the first time since she took office and both expressed dissatisfaction with the current state of Russian-British relations. The announcement by the Kremlin could herald the start of improved relations between the two countries that have been strained since the 2006 poisoning death of ex-Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko and the Ukraine crisis, among other issues. In the phone call, which Moscow said was initiated by Britain, both leaders “expressed dissatisfaction with the current parameters of cooperation in both the political and economic sphere”. The Kremlin said Mr Putin and Mrs May agreed to develop a dialogue between security agencies on issues related to aviation security, and made plans for a face-to-face meeting in the “near future”.’ – Daily Telegraph
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‘Theresa May’s arrival in 10 Downing Street has, naturally, been accompanied by all sorts of speculation about what sort of prime minister she will be and what she will stand for. We have a reasonable amount to go on. There’s her political record, of course, and there is the situation she inherits, which inevitably will help to determine and circumscribe her actions. She has set out in a series of speeches what she thinks about many topics — industrial strategy, financial services, corporate takeovers, executive pay and, above all, the primacy she accords to helping those who work but still struggle to get by. Yet one very big piece of the jigsaw is missing. We don’t really know what her new chancellor, Philip Hammond, thinks of all this. Or what their relationship will be. And history teaches that both of these things are crucial in establishing the character of a government. It is wrong simply to regard Mr Hammond as “safe”. He is indeed that, but he is a tough and successful political operator with considerable experience. He will make himself felt.’ – The Times (£)
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>Yesterday: ToryDiary: Overwhelming rejection of an early General Election in our Tory members poll
‘UK gilt yields and bond benchmarks in Spain and Ireland plumbed all-time lows on Tuesday, as the tailwind from the Bank of England’s restoration of quantitative easing gathered pace. Global equity and bond markets have been buoyed by the UK’s decision last week to cut interest rates to 0.25 per cent, the lowest level in the BoE’s history, and launch a £70bn quantitative easing programme that includes both government and corporate bond purchases. With the BoE joining central banks in Japan and the eurozone in buying large amounts of sovereign bonds, global benchmark yields continue to descend to new lows, exacerbating the matching of future long-term liabilities for pension plans and insurance companies.’ – FT
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‘The challenge facing UK trade negotiators following the EU referendum has been spelled out by a report from one of the country’s leading thinktanks, showing that membership of the European single market is worth an additional 4% of GDP to the economy. The Institute for Fiscal Studies said that Britain could enjoy the same sort of access to the world’s biggest market on the same World Trade Organisation terms as other non-EU member states such as the US, China or India. But it said membership of the single market provided additional benefits that might be lost depending on the deal struck by ministers in Theresa May’s government. Ian Mitchell, research associate at the IFS and an author of the report, said: “From an economic point of view we still face some very big choices indeed in terms of our future relationship with the EU. There is all the difference in the world between ‘access to’ and ‘membership of’ the single market.’ – Guardian
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Comment:
‘The transport secretary has said there is “absolutely no excuse” for the strike that is disrupting services on the Southern commuter rail service, in the clearest sign yet of the government’s determination to resist union pressure. Chris Grayling was speaking on the second of five days of strike action over plans to switch the responsibility for closing doors at stations from conductors to drivers. Passengers were being made to suffer unnecessary inconvenience and disruption to their journeys because the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union was “holding them to ransom”, he said.’ – FT
‘The government’s £1.3bn troubled families programme was always a dubious enterprise. Launched after the 2011 riots, the scheme aimed to “turn around” the lives of nearly 120,000 families. The first wave paid all 152 local authorities in England to identify and then turn around families deemed “troubled”, at a cost of about £400m. Councils received up to £4,000 per family if an adult got a job, children were truanting less or if antisocial behaviour and youth crime were reduced. The programme is being rolled out to a further 400,000 families with a wider range of problems by the end of 2020, at a further cost of £900m. Of course, there is nothing wrong with experimenting with different ways to intervene early and help families. But this programme was built on several flawed premises.’ – Guardian
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>Today:
‘The Scottish Government hopes to entice them to become family doctors with grants for taking up posts in less popular areas. Some 100 training places have been advertised, with the bursaries available in 37 “hard-to-fill locations” such as remote and rural communities. A combination of an ageing population with complex medical needs, fewer junior doctors opting to become GPs and an exodus among those still in the sector has caused a crisis in general practice, doctors’ leaders have warned.’ – Daily Express
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>Today: Red, White and Blue: May and Sturgeon both dismiss 2017 referendum rematch
‘Labour’s deputy leader, Tom Watson, has said his party is at risk of being taken over by hard-left “Trotsky entryists”, who are “twisting the arms” of young members, sparking a furious response from backers of Jeremy Corbyn. Corbyn’s campaign team accused Watson of “peddling baseless conspiracy theories,” after the MP for West Bromwich East used an interview with the Guardian to claim that “Trots” are infiltrating Labour. Watson said many members of the grassroots Momentum movement, set up to support Corbyn’s leadership, are “deeply interested in political change, in building a more equal society, and are just on a journey in politics that they’re new to”. But he suggested some are being manipulated by seasoned hard-left operators.’ – Guardian
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‘Donald J. Trump on Tuesday appeared to raise the possibility that gun rights supporters could take matters into their own hands if Hillary Clinton is elected president and appoints judges who favor stricter gun control measures. Repeating his contention that Mrs. Clinton wanted to abolish the right to bear arms, Mr. Trump warned at a rally here that it would be “a horrible day” if Mrs. Clinton were elected and got to appoint a tiebreaking Supreme Court justice. “If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks,” Mr. Trump said, as the crowd began to boo. He quickly added: “Although the Second Amendment people — maybe there is, I don’t know.”’ – New York Times
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