Summary

  • Downing Street drop plans to curb Lords powers

  • Retail sales rose at fastest rate for 14 years in October

  • Conservative MPs join forces with opposition parties to urge ministers to pause disability benefit cuts set to be introduced next April.

  • Ed Balls says Bank of England's independence should be curbed

Live Reporting

Jackie Storer and Alex Hunt

  1. Listen: Ex-Nato chief says Europeans should pay more

    Today Programme
    BBC Radio 4

    US President-elect Donald Trump is right that European Nato members should make a bigger financial contribution, says former Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

    During his election campaign, Mr Trump described Western military alliance Nato as obsolete and suggested the US would think twice about coming to the aid of any Nato ally under attack if it had not paid its dues.

  2. Downing Street should 'certainly' talk to Farage

    The World at One
    BBC Radio 4

    Conservative MP Sir Gerald Howarth has said he believes No 10 should "certainly" be talking to UKIP interim leader Nigel Farage about his connection to Donald Trump. 

    Speaking to the World at One on Radio 4, Sir Gerald said he sensed that the government had instead "closed the door to any discussion". 

    He said that "unconventional political times" meant the UK needed to think outside the box, and that if Nigel Farage was as well connected with Donald Trump as his meeting at the weekend suggested, then No 10 should "certainly be talking to him". 

    Sir Gerald stressed that he wasn't recommending any kind of "formal role" for Nigel Farage. Instead, he said it was about "keeping lines of communication open" in order to establish "close connections". 

    Sir Gerald said the government needed to use all available means to persuade Donald Trump that Nato was "essential" in today's times. 

    Nigel Farage, he said, is a "politician of some standing in the UK, whether one likes it or not" and it was therefore "worth talking to him and perhaps even taking some advice from him".

  3. Watch: 'No words' for Strictly says Yvette Cooper

    The Daily Politics

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  4. More prisoner trouble for justice secretary

    The BBC's home affairs correspondent tweets...

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  5. Businesses 'cut £65.6bn investments over Brexit'

    A sign reads 'Brexit: how do we do it?' at the Tory party conference

    A survey of 1,015 UK firms by YouGov and the CEBR has found that uncertainty over Brexit has led a third of British businesses to cancel or postpone investments in the UK. 

    The total value of the lost investments is £65.5bn, claims Hitachi Capital, which commissioned the survey. 

    Medium-sized business were most affected, with 44% postponing or delaying investments. 

    Companies surveyed reported that the fall in the value of the pound, worry over the health of the UK economy post-Brexit and the risk of losing access to the European single market were prime concerns. 

  6. Assange's cat photographed as he meets Swedish investigators

    The PA's deputy newswire editor tweets...

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  7. Watch: The week ahead in politics

    The Daily Politics

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  8. Pic: Prime minister opens new diabetes charity office

    Theresa May at Diabetes UK office

    Theresa May, who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in 2013, opened the new office of charity Diabetes UK in east London.

    Mrs May said: "There's still a job to do to make sure that everybody knows it's not about sugar, it's about blood sugar."

  9. Watch: PM to give foreign policy speech

    The Daily Politics

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  10. Commons: 'Bedroom tax' and Croydon tram crash

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  11. Watch: 'Huge differences between Front National & UKIP'

    The Daily Politics

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  12. Watch: Is there a role for Nigel Farage in UK-US talks?

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  13. Memewhile in America...

    Twitter sees the funny side

    Joe Biden and Barack Obama@hansmollman/twitter

    Just what are US President Barack Obama and Vice-President Joe Biden talking about?

    People are speculating online about the private conversations between the pair as they prepare to hand over to President-elect Donald Trump and Vice-President-elect Mike Pence.

    These internet memes have taken off since the US election on 8 November.

    Read more...

  14. Watch: Could Theresa May be Thatcher to Donald Trump's Reagan?

    Sir Malcolm Rifkind has said the Prime Minister could do the "same job" with Donald Trump that Margaret Thatcher helped do with Ronald Reagan.

  15. Watch: 'The administration will want to deal with governments and leaders'

    The Daily Politics

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  16. Watch: 'Risks of volatility' in UK-US relationship

    The Daily Politics

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  17. India: Theresa May's charm offensive leaves many unmoved

    The World This Weekend
    Radio 4 programme

    Theresa May and Liam Fox depart for trade visit to IndiaPA

    The prime minister seemed pleased with the outcome of her trade visit to India. Theresa May said the 33-strong delegation had sealed deals worth £1bn, laying the groundwork for more than 1,300 jobs in the UK.

    Mrs May even donned a sari on a visit to a Hindu temple in the southern city of Bangalore, mixing the traditional with the modern. Bangalore has now become an important IT base for many other countries.

    Yet in India, they're not so sure. Her reception was polite, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi granting her an unusually long meeting of 90 minutes, but there are now significant tensions in the relationship which three days of photo opportunities will not resolve.

    Read more...

  18. Watch: Farage should have UK-US role

    The Daily Politics

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  19. Trump 'looking forward' to another Reagan-Thatcher relationship

    Carole Walker
    Political correspondent

    The prime minister's spokeswoman has said the relationship between Downing Street and the president-elect is "working well". 

    She said that in their phone call last week, the president-elect had invited the prime minister to visit at the earliest opportunity. 

    She said the call was "very warm in tone" and Mr Trump had said he looked forward to having the same relationship as that between President Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. 

    In a possible dig at Nigel Farage, she added: "I don't remember there being a third person in that relationship." 

    Asked whether the prime minister might meet Donald Trump before his inauguration, the prime minister's spokeswoman said she hoped to set out dates in due course.

  20. No third wheel for Trump and May

    The BBC's political editor tweets...

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