Politics Live - readers' edition: Friday 17 August

Sadiq Khan is to instruct London planners to prepare for a no-deal Brexit. Photograph: Odd Andersen/AFP/Getty Images

8.46am BST

I’m not writing my usual blog today but here, as an alternative, is the Politics Live readers’ edition. It is a place for you to discuss today’s politics, and to share links to breaking news and to the most interesting stories and blogs on the web.

Feel free to express your views robustly, but please treat others with respect and don’t resort to abuse. Guardian comment pages are supposed to be a haven from the Twitter/social media rant-orama, not an extension of it.

You can read all today’s Guardian politics stories here.

And here are some of the main ones on our site this morning.

• Sadiq Khan is to ask the London resilience forum to start making preparations for a no-deal Brexit, to assess whether London could face potential shortages of medicines and food.

Sadiq Khan: London planners must prepare for no-deal Brexit Read more

• Len McCluskey has accused Jewish leaders of showing “truculent hostility” towards Labour.

Labour antisemitism row: Unite boss accuses Jewish leaders of ‘truculent hostility’ Read more

• As reported on Thursday, a Conservative peer has said that calls for him to be expelled from the party because he attended the same Palestinian rights conference as Jeremy Corbyn are motivated by Islamophobia and his criticism of Boris Johnson.

Conservatives call for Lord Sheikh to be expelled from party Read more

• Earlier this week we official figures revealed a trip by Boris Johnson to Afghanistan on the day of the government’s key vote on Heathrow expansion cost taxpayers nearly £20,000.

Boris Johnson trip on day of Heathrow vote cost taxpayer £20,000 Read more

On Thursdays local council byelections take place. There were three yesterday. Britain Elects has the results.

Gwynfi (Neath Port Talbot) result:

IND (Jones): 57.8% (+13.8)
PC: 15.7% (+15.7)
LAB: 12.9% (-43.1)
IND (Joshua): 9.7% (+9.7)
IND (Paul): 3.0% (+3.0)
CON: 0.9% (+0.9)

Independent GAIN from Labour.

Turnout: 51.3%

— Britain Elects (@britainelects) August 16, 2018

East (Bury) result:

LAB: 64.2% (+4.3)
CON: 25.2% (+8.6)
UKIP: 4.8% (-13.8)
GRN: 3.5% (-1.3)
LDEM: 2.2% (+2.2)

Labour HOLD.

Turnout: 25.7%

— Britain Elects (@britainelects) August 16, 2018

Knaresborough (North Yorkshire) result:

LDEM: 54.9% (+20.1)
CON: 35.2% (-3.3)
LAB: 9.9% (-1.4)

LDem GAIN from Con.

No Grn (-8.5) and UKIP (-6.8) as prev.

— Britain Elects (@britainelects) August 16, 2018

Updated at 8.50am BST