Harry Barnes obituary

It was probably inevitable that the former Labour MP Harry Barnes, who has died aged 89 of cancer, would have very well delineated political views when he arrived in the House of Commons. He was already middle-aged, and had spent much of the previous three decades studying politics, first as a mature student and then working as an extramural lecturer on the subject, teaching others who were likewise seeking a second chance at education later in life.Barnes, who represented North East Derbyshire from 1987 until 2005, was a serious politician, a man of principle and conviction, but also someone who recognised the need for political flexibility in evolving circumstances.He was never constrained by ideology and was constantly in pursuit of what could be a possible new route to resolve existing problems, notably in Ireland. Always on the left of the Labour party, he was a serial rebel against his own frontbench, while simultaneously writing polite notes to the chief whip to explain his latest defiance

Peers vote to back clause pardoning women convicted over illegal abortions

Women who have been convicted, and in some cases jailed, over illegal abortions are set to be pardoned after a historic vote in the House of Lords.Last June, the House of Commons voted to end the criminalisation of women who terminate their pregnancies outside of the legal framework, while keeping the existing framework in place. Doctors and others who act outside of the law could still face the threat of prosecution.The change, by way of an amendment to the crime and policing bill put forward by the Labour backbencher Tonia Antoniazzi, came after a reported increase in prosecutions and a number of high-profile court cases that saw women in the dock.There had been an attempt in the Lords to strike out Antoniazzi’s clause in the bill, but this was defeated, and an attempt to ban the use of telemedicine, where abortion medicine is able to be dispatched by post for pregnancies under 10 weeks, also failed

Farage backs Tory attack on Muslim iftar event, saying public prayer ‘was a shock’ – as it happened

Q: [From Peter Walker from the Guardian] Yesterday you backed what Nick Timothy said about the Ramadan event in Trafalgar Square. What was your objection to it? Yesterday your party said it was a segregation matter. This morning the party chair, Kevin Hollinrake, said it was a general point about prayer in public. But in an article this morning Timothy said this was a specific point about Islam. What is the party’s position?Badenoch says they are both right

Kemi Badenoch channels her fantasies as she launches the Tories’ local election campaign | John Crace

Abandon hope all ye who enter here. You’d have thought this would be the very definition of futility. An act of defiant nihilism. A few weeks ago Kemi Badenoch had declared that the Tory candidate for Gorton and Denton, Charlotte Cadden, had been the real winner despite getting under 2% of the vote and losing her deposit. Now Kemi was to launch the Conservatives’ local election campaign in the certain knowledge the end result would be electoral wipeout

Kemi Badenoch backs Nick Timothy after he calls Islamic public prayers ‘act of domination’

Kemi Badenoch has backed her shadow justice secretary, Nick Timothy, after he claimed that Islamic prayers taking place in public are intimidating and un-British, with Labour saying the Conservatives had embraced the “gutter” politics of prejudice.The row began after Timothy posted images on social media of prayer at a Ramadan event in London’s Trafalgar Square, saying mass prayer in public places was “an act of domination” and “straight from the Islamist playbook”.After heavy criticism, including from Sadiq Khan, the London mayor, who attended the event, Timothy doubled down on his views, writing in the Daily Telegraph that such an expression of a non-Christian faith was a “challenge” and a call for replacement.After a speech to launch the Conservatives’ local election campaign in London on Thursday, Badenoch was asked if she agreed with Timothy, or with arguments from other Tories that the main worry about the event was about prayers being separated for women and men.“They are both correct,” Badenoch said

Ban corporate donations to UK political parties to protect elections, says thinktank

Political donations by companies should be banned to protect UK elections from foreign interference, a thinktank has warned.In the first big overhaul of election funding in 26 years, ministers have pledged to “keep British democracy safe” by closing a loophole that allows individuals not eligible to vote in Britain to donate to political parties through UK-registered companies.The representation of the people bill, being debated in parliament, will oblige corporate donors to show they are controlled by UK electors or citizens.However, in a report published today, the Centre for the Analysis of Taxation (CenTax) claims the new legislation will not solve the problem.Sebastian Gazmuri-Barker, a senior legal analyst at CenTax, said the bill’s proposed tests “contain loopholes that are easily exploitable”