Hale Barns stabbing: Boy, 17, killed in attack

Crime watch(wp/bbc):::

A 17-year-old boy has been stabbed to death in Greater Manchester.

Police found the teenager in Gorse Bank Road in the affluent suburb of Hale Barns at about 18:40 GMT on Saturday.

He was taken to hospital where he died. Two boys, also aged 17, have been arrested on suspicion of murder and remain in police custody for questioning.

Officers appealed for information and said there would be extra patrols in the area.

Supt Marcus Noden said: "We have been speaking to people living on the road as part of our immediate inquiries and we will continue to do so over into Sunday.

"There will be extra police patrols over the next few days and those officers are there to provide a visible presence and also for people to approach if they do have any concerns.

"This young man and his family will continue to be at the forefront of our minds throughout this investigation."

The death comes a day after a 17-year-old girl, Jodie Chesney, was killed in a knife attack in a London park.

As many as 70 Labour lawmakers oppose second Brexit referendum - lawmaker

Political reporter(wp/reuters):::

As many as 70 of Britain’s opposition Labour lawmakers oppose holding a second Brexit referendum, Labour lawmaker Caroline Flint said on Sunday.

Earlier this week Labour said it would back a second referendum in order to try to prevent either a ‘no deal’ or Prime Minister Theresa May’s deal.

“I think there are something like 60-70 Labour members of Parliament who feel as strongly as I do against a second referendum,” said Flint, who represents an area of Britain which voted to leave the EU at the 2016 referendum.

Brexit supporters give May three tests for EU deal - Sunday Times

Political reporter(wp/reuters):::
Brexit-supporting MPs who voted down Prime Minister Theresa May’s European Union withdrawal deal in January have outlined demands for a revised treaty to ensure their support, the Sunday Times newspaper said.
MPs overwhelmingly rejected May’s deal in January. Many were unhappy with the “Irish backstop”, insurance to prevent return of hard border controls between EU member Ireland and British-ruled Northern Ireland.

Critics said it could leave the country tied to EU rules indefinitely. Britain, due to exit the bloc on March 29, is attempting to amend the deal to provide assurances that the backstop would not be indefinite.

The Sunday Times said hardline Brexit supporters from May’s Conservative Party had drawn up a document outlining three tests the deal must pass to gain their support.

These are a “clearly worded, legally binding, treaty-level clause which unambiguously overrides” the text of the withdrawal agreement, with language that goes beyond emphasising the temporary nature of the backstop and a clear means to exit the backstop if subsequent trade talks fail.

The paper said the plan had been drawn up with the support of the Democratic Unionist Party, the Northern Irish party which props up May’s minority government.

If May secures the demands, she would win the backing of the DUP and the Brexit-supporting MPs in a vote on the deal which she has promised would be held before March 12, the Times said.

The EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier said on Friday that the bloc was ready to give Britain more guarantees that the backstop was only intended to be temporary and used for a “worst-case scenario”.

“We know that there are misgivings in Britain that the backstop could keep Britain forever connected to the EU,” Michel Barnier said in an interview with Germany’s Die Welt newspaper.

“This is not the case. And we are ready to give further guarantees, assurances and clarifications that the backstop should only be temporary.”

In a further sign that former opponents of May’s deal might now back a revised version, Graham Brady, a senior Conservative lawmaker, said he would support it with legally binding assurances on the backstop.

“Once we have that, my colleagues in parliament need to recognise the strength of feeling,” he wrote in the Mail on Sunday newspaper.

“The whole country is tired of vacillation and delay. When the right compromise is offered, we should pull together behind the Prime Minister and help her to deliver our exit from the European Union on March 29.”

UK firms report weakest growth since April 2013: CBI

Business correspondent(wp/reuters):::

British businesses reported their weakest growth in nearly six years during the past three months due to fears of a no-deal Brexit and rising global trade barriers, the Confederation of British Industry said on Sunday.

The CBI’s index of private-sector activity over the past three months dropped to -3 in February from zero in January.

This was its lowest since April 2013, when Britain was still recovering from the global financial crisis. Firms expected similar weakness in the three months ahead, when Britain is due to leave the European Union after over 40 years of membership.

Prime Minister Theresa May has yet to win parliament’s support for a Brexit transition deal although she has paved the way for a possible delay to Brexit beyond its scheduled date of March 29.

“More and more companies are hitting the brakes on investment and day-to-day business decisions are becoming increasingly problematic,” the CBI’s chief economist, Rain Newton-Smith, said.

A survey last week showed manufacturers stockpiled goods by the most on record for any big advanced economy as they prepared for the possibility of border delays after Brexit.

The Bank of England predicts Britain’s economy will grow by just 0.2 percent in the three months to March and growth in 2019 to be the weakest since 2009, even if Brexit goes smoothly.

Britain’s trading partners in Europe are facing weaker growth too, due to trade tensions between the United States and China that have hurt global manufacturers.

The CBI survey was based on responses from 650 businesses in retail, manufacturing and services.