Stories of the week 19 May
As the pressure mounts on Theresa May and the days are counting down until departure, she is determined to bring her deal back for another Commons vote one last time. There seems even less chance of it passing this time unless some miraculous additional offer or change of approach materialises. If the vote, as expected, fails one more time then many pundits suggest there will only be two choices left, Revoke or No Deal.
Meanwhile, a Remain tactical voting site remainvoter.com launches to show Remain voters which Remain party to vote for in their area to make sure their vote really counts. Angela Merkel this week encouraged the EU to unite and stand up against the tyranny of Russia, China and the US.
This week Nigel Farage showed his true leadership credentials by fleeing the scene of a Road traffic Accident. Police asked McDonalds to stop selling milkshakes during a Farage rally in Edinburgh. It was also revealed that Arron Banks had given Farage £450,000 and MPs are considering investigating a Brexit party fake members scam and dark money pouring into the party. Meanwhile the trial of Boris Johnson for misleading the public over the referendum continues. Another reminder of the illegal Leave campaign during the referendum.
Labour announced this week that is was going to renationalise the National Grid as part of its green new deal to cut both emissions and utility bills.
Divisions in the Conservative party continue to plague the country. Reportedly, a tearful Theresa May had to agree to a schedule for her departure. The leadership race is on with all the usual suspects and even some new contenders putting themselves forward for the title.
It was revealed this week that 1 in 4 northerners are paid less than the minimum wage as yet more appalling stories of teachers feeding school children emerged. Some Press reported that child poverty has become the new ‘normal’ with an estimated 500,000 more children trapped in poverty since 2010.
The relationship between the US and Iran is delicately balanced on a knife-edge this week. Supposedly encouraged by Bolton, Donald Trump has upped the war of words with Iran and has sent more ships and troops into the area. Iran has told its militias throughout the region to prepare for a proxy war.
The whole world faced yet another wake-up call this week with the news that more than 20 million babies are born underweight each year. This is a clear indication of health problems to come and a measurement of how healthy our environment actually is.
