Cabinet files: Ministers thought poll tax was "proceeding smoothly"

UK ministers believed implementation of the poll tax in Scotland was “proceeding smoothly” in its early weeks, previously secret papers show.
Scottish Secretary Malcolm Rifkind told the cabinet in April 1989 that the number of people who would refuse to pay would be “relatively small” north of the border.
Just 20 months later, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher resigned.
Sir Malcolm now admits that non-payment UK-wide contributed to her downfall.
The cabinet papers also show that defence chiefs approved plans to shoot intruders at the Faslane naval base on the Clyde after activists broke into the control room of a nuclear submarine.
The security lapse left Mrs Thatcher “utterly horrified”.
Media captionPoll tax "not unwelcome" at first in Scotland And they detail a row in government over funding for Gaelic television.
Chancellor Nigel Lawson opposed extra public funding because he did not want to “inflict more on a largely unwilling audience”, a letter from his department sho..

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Cabinet files reveal plan to shoot nuclear intruders

Media captionProtester tells what he found when he got on board HMS Repulse Sentries at Faslane naval base were ordered to shoot suspected intruders after three people broke into a nuclear submarine, cabinet papers show.
PM Margaret Thatcher, who was told of the order, said she was “horrified” that the intrusion had succeeded.
The papers are among records filed in 1989 and 1990 and released on Friday.
They also include a letter from Mrs Thatcher to Saddam Hussein, asking for clemency for British nurse Daphne Parish, who was accused of spying.
Details of how a magistrate from Hampshire persuaded Mrs Thatcher to change the law on so-called “acid house” parties are also revealed in the annual Cabinet Office release, by the National Archives in Kew.
"Grave danger" at FaslaneThree anti-nuclear demonstrators successfully cut through the perimeter fence at Faslane, on the Clyde, in the early hours of 10 October 1988.
Mrs Thatcher was told of the incident later that day, in an Mo..

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Who"s Who: Theresa May"s cabinet

Theresa May is forming her new government after becoming Conservative prime minister. She is continuing to announce her full cabinet – but here"s what we know so far. The list will be updated as new appointments are made.
Prime Minister – Theresa MayCampaigned to Remain in the European Union
Image copyright PA The former home secretary, 59, becomes the UK"s second female prime minister in the wake of David Cameron"s resignation after the EU referendum. She had previously served in the Home Office for more than six years.
Theresa May: Full profile
Image caption Theresa May"s new cabinet includes several new faces – many of who campaigned to leave the EU How does May"s cabinet compare to Cameron"s?
New to the cabinetForeign Secretary – Boris JohnsonCampaigned to Leave the EU
Image copyright EPA Boris Johnson succeeds Philip Hammond at the Foreign Office. The former London mayor headed the campaign for the UK to leave the European Union. He did not pre..

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Who"s staying and who"s going in the shadow cabinet?

A string of members of Jeremy Corbyn"s shadow cabinet have quit and Hilary Benn has been sacked. Here"s a quick guide to who"s going and who remains in Labour"s top team.
MPs who have left shadow cabinet:Shadow foreign secretary Hilary Benn (sacked)
Media captionHilary Benn tells the BBC"s Andrew Marr: Jeremy Corbyn “not a leader” Hilary Benn was sacked as shadow foreign secretary after he phoned Jeremy Corbyn and told him he had lost confidence in his ability to lead the party.
He told the BBC it had been a “very difficult decision” to tell Mr Corbyn he no longer had confidence in him. But he added that Labour needed “strong and effective leadership”.
“We don"t currently have that and there is also no confidence that we will be able to win a general election as long as Jeremy remains leader.”
Mr Benn, the MP for Leeds Central, had disagreed with Jeremy Corbyn in September over air strikes on Syria. He served as a minister in both the Blair and Brown ..

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Who"s Who: Theresa May"s cabinet

Theresa May is forming her new government after becoming Conservative prime minister. She is continuing to announce her full cabinet – but here"s what we know so far. The list will be updated as new appointments are made.
Prime Minister – Theresa MayCampaigned to Remain in the European Union
Image copyright PA The former home secretary, 59, becomes the UK"s second female prime minister in the wake of David Cameron"s resignation after the EU referendum. She had previously served in the Home Office for more than six years.
Theresa May: Full profile
Image caption Theresa May"s new cabinet includes several new faces – many of who campaigned to leave the EU How does May"s cabinet compare to Cameron"s?
New to the cabinetForeign Secretary – Boris JohnsonCampaigned to Leave the EU
Image copyright EPA Boris Johnson succeeds Philip Hammond at the Foreign Office. The former London mayor headed the campaign for the UK to leave the European Union. He did not pre..

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Cabinet Office cats Evie and Ossie join Whitehall mousers

Image copyright Cabinet Office Image caption Evie, left, and her son Ossie have joined the group of cats trying to keep down the tide of Whitehall mice The Cabinet Office is the latest government department to turn to cats to try to rid it of its resident mice.
Evie and Ossie, rescue cats from the Celia Hammond Trust, have been given the run of four floors at the Whitehall office.
Downing Street has its own mouser – Larry – who was tasked in 2011 with ridding No 10 of a rat problem.
In April, the Foreign Office took on its own mouser, Palmerston, while the Treasury recruited Gladstone in July.
"Settling in"Evie and Ossie are the first to come from the Celia Hammond Animal Trust – Larry, Gladstone and Palmerston came from the better-known Battersea Dogs and Cats Home.
Evie is Ossie"s mother – a Cabinet Office spokesman said they had been bought with funds raised from staff and were “settling in really well”.
Image copyright WPA Pool/Getty Images Image caption Larry stay..

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The tower of silence

AT THE close of “The Candidate”, an Oscar-winning movie released in 1972, the protagonist, played by Robert Redford, marks his surprise election to the Senate by turning to his campaign chief and asking: “What do we do now?” Donald Trump, the state of the president-elect’s transition effort suggests, has had a few such moments since his victory over Hillary ..

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"Mad dog" general tipped for Trump cabinet

Video: Donald Trump continues cabinet talks Donald Trump and Mike Pence are having further discussions at the President-elect"s New Jersey golf club over who should be in their cabinet.
Several senior posts in the administration have already been filled including US attorney general, CIA director, national security adviser, White House chief of staff and chief strategist.
But there are a number of top jobs still up for grabs and among those seeing Mr Trump have been former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.
“Numerous patriots will be coming to Bedminster,” Mr Trump tweeted, adding that he is continuing to “fill out the various positions necessary to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Speaking to Fox News, Vice President-elect Mr Pence refused to be drawn on whether retired Marine Corps General James Mattis would become defence secretary.
Mr Trump had earlier tweeted that the four-star General had been shortlisted for the job of leading the Pentagon, ref..

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Akhilesh Yadav govt sacks eight cabinet ministers

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More violent protests as Lebanon"s cabinet splits over rubbish crisis

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