We’re not writing our 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.
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Karen Bradley has admitted that before becoming Northern Ireland secretary she was profoundly ignorant of the country’s political divisions and “slightly scared” of the place.
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Philip Hammond has warned that the government would have to refocus its priorities if the Brexit negotiations resulted in no deal, as details emerged of a Whitehall contingency plan codenamed Operation Yellowhammer.
- Delays in granting security clearance for civil servants are putting the implementation of crucial government policies such as Brexit at risk, Whitehall’s spending watchdog has warned.
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Vince Cable is to announce a plan to enlist a new group of Liberal Democrat supporters who will be able to help choose leaders despite paying nothing, one of a series of reform measures intended to reinvigorate his moribund party.
- Tony Blair has said Labour has undergone a “profound change” since Jeremy Corbyn became leader and that he is not sure it is possible for “moderates” to regain control of the party.
On Thursdays local council byelections take place. There were four yesterday. Britain Elects has the results so far.
Four council by-elections tonight: four Labour defences.
— Britain Elects (@britainelects) September 6, 2018
Previews by @andrewteale: https://t.co/ykOtWb62uu#SuperThursday
Ashton Waterloo (Tameside) result:
— Britain Elects (@britainelects) September 6, 2018
LAB: 52.5% (-7.1)
GRN: 26.4% (+11.8)
CON: 21.1% (-4.7)
Labour HOLD.
Turnout: 19.5%
Chgs. w/ 2016.
Conservative GAIN Inverkeithing & Dalgety Bay (Fife) from Labour.
— Britain Elects (@britainelects) September 6, 2018
Updated
