Daily Update – May 18th

[Brexiter]

Politics Live

5:30pm – And that’s all from us today! Join us tomorrow for more news and updates.

5:12pm – This is unlikely to go down well among the musicians and artists in the UK.

Lord Frost reveals that the EU offered a visa waiver system for culture workers such as musicians and actors but that would have meant UK ceding control of borders and not ending Free Movement

— lisa o'carroll (@lisaocarroll) May 18, 2021

4:37pm – While there are some genuine concerns about the Indian variant and what it could mean for the UK, here is some good news on the covid front:

Seven deaths reported today. I believe this is the lowest figure reported on a Tuesday since the start of the pandemic, apart from 1st September which was the day after a bank holiday. https://t.co/j51J0oFjn6

— Hugo Gye (@HugoGye) May 18, 2021

3:25pm – LGBT issues have proved to be a difficult battle ground for the Conservatives for some time now.

Tomorrow the Women and Equalities Committee will question the three members of the government's LGBT+ panel who resigned over an alleged 'hostile environment', as first reported on @itvnews in March. https://t.co/VSwVVJN3Z9

— Paul Brand (@PaulBrandITV) May 18, 2021

1:51pm – The Chesham & Amersham by-election will take place in just under a month’s time. It’s a fairly safe Tory seat so don’t expect too much change there.

The Chesham & Amersham by-election will take place on Thursday 17th June.

— Election Maps UK (@ElectionMapsUK) May 18, 2021

12:45pm – The Dominic Cummings affair continues as the former adviser threatens to release government covid documents.

Significant intervention by Cummings. He says « I can think of no significant element of Covid response that would not have been improved by discarding secrecy and opening up » https://t.co/joE4rYmsJy

— Robert Peston (@Peston) May 18, 2021

11:26am – A new government white paper on railways could move the country towards nationalisation…

historic moment coming up on Thursday as the government sounds the death knell for the railway franchise system after nearly 30 years https://t.co/ww6qs5Oouy

— Jim Pickard (@PickardJE) May 18, 2021

9:56am – This could only go well I’m sure…

EXCL: Keir Starmer is in talks with a production company about a fly on the wall documentary tracking his leadership

Some aides see it as a way of getting a broader section of the public to engage with him https://t.co/9OrpLXmGgl

— Henry Zeffman (@hzeffman) May 18, 2021

9:15am – The government seems to be saying people can go to amber light countries, despite contrary claims over the past few days:

George Eustice gives Today and holidaymakers yet another government message on amber and red list countries: “They can go to those countries provided they quarantine when they come back and have the two tests on return.”

— Dan Bloom (@danbloom1) May 18, 2021

8:15am – So what’s in the news today?

• Questions about India variant as parts of the UK reopen
• Pressure on Israel and Palestine to reach a ceasefire
• Concerns from farmers about UK-Australia trade deal

8:00am – Welcome back to another day of Politics Live!

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