Readers below the line have been discussing the Ukip leader Paul Nuttall, who is standing in next week’s Stoke byelection and has been defending his claims that he is a Hillsborough survivor, after the Hillsborough Families Support Group questioned why he had never offered any support.
Here is our latest story, which comes after Nuttall gave an interview with Liverpool’s Radio City News.
And in our latest Brexit story, David Davis has said he still expects article 50 to be triggered by the end of March, with the House of Lords expected to pass amendments rewriting the legislation of the Brexit bill next week.
If you were one of the 1.8 million people who signed a petition calling for the cancellation of Donald Trump’s state visit to the UK, you will have received an email in your inbox this morning informing you the visit is going ahead.
“We look forward to welcoming President Trump once dates and arrangements are finalised,” says the email.
Some readers drew attention to the wording of the initial petition, which said Trump “should not be invited to make an official State Visit because it would cause embarrassment to Her Majesty the Queen.”
I’m not writing my usual blog this week because I’m off for half term 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.
- Jeremy Corbyn has condemned Theresa May’s “Hunger Games approach to Brexit” after a document obtained by the Guardian warned that British nationals living on the continent could expect a backlash as a consequence of the government’s treatment of foreigners since the EU referendum.
- Hacking attacks on the government and businesses are increasing in their frequency, severity and sophistication, Philip Hammond, the chancellor, has said.
- The government has attempted to distance itself from claims that a new espionage act would outlaw investigative journalism or whistleblowing in the public interest – describing the proposals as the project of a “previous prime minister”.
- Supporters of John Bercow in parliament have mounted a counter-campaign to save the Speaker’s job after the Tory MP who is leading the plot to oust him claimed to have widespread support at all levels of parliament.
- Boris Johnson has been criticised for “siphoning off” from the UK’s foreign aid budget to fund diplomacy in former Soviet states and the Middle East via a new £700m “pro-democracy” fund.
Is the Queen some kind of precious flower who needs greater protection from unpleasant people?
While I approve of the desire not to grant Trump a state visit, this should be because we as a people find him out of kilter with our values, not because we're worried the Queen might be upset.