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1. Thornberry and Lewis scramble for nominations
The deadline for the first found of MP and MEP nominations for Labour leadership and deputy leadership candidates is 2.30 p.m. today. Candidates need 22 nominations to get through to the second round. So far Keir Starmer, Rebecca Long-Bailey, Jess Phillips and Lisa Nandy have received enough support to attend the first hustings in Liverpool on 18 January. Clive Lewis currently has 5 nominations while Emily Thornberry has 12 – yesterday she insisted that she would reach the threshold. On Coffee House, Isabel Hardman asks why Thornberry is so unpopular with Labour
MPs.
2. Boris: functioning Stormont means ‘an incredible time of opportunity’ for NI
Boris Johnson met with Northern Ireland’s First Minister Arlene Foster from the DUP and Sinn Fein’s Michelle O’Neill, who is Deputy First Minister, following a ratified agreement to resume power-sharing in Stormont. Boris told the leaders that this is ‘an incredible time of opportunity’ for Northern Ireland. He added: ‘after three years, Stormont is open for business again with an Executive who can now move forward with improving people’s lives and delivering for all communities in Northern Ireland’. Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar will join the talks in Belfast this
afternoon.
3. Boris to pledge ‘around £2bn’ for Stormont
Boris Johnson may pledge funding for Northern Ireland of up to £2bn ‘to improve public services’, the Times reports. Northern Ireland’s First Minister Arlene Foster told Today that the proposed amount is a ‘composite figure’ and insisted that Stormont would require enough resources ‘so that we don’t face a cliff edge in another year’.
4. Foreign Office summons Iranian ambassador
The Foreign Office summoned Iran’s ambassador this morning over to explain the ‘unacceptable’ arrest of the British ambassador, Rob Macaire, in Tehran on Saturday evening. Macaire was arrested for attending ‘illegal gatherings’ but was released shortly after his diplomatic status was confirmed. Macaire said he was attending a vigil for the passenger plane which was downed by an Iranian missile last Wednesday.
5. GDP growth falls to 0.1 per cent
UK GDP grew by 0.1 per cent over the three months to November, down from 0.2 per cent growth over the three months to October, the ONS reports.
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