Alok Sharma, the business secretary, has been tested for coronavirus after feeling unwell while delivering a statement in the Commons. Sharma appeared ill and to be sweating while he spoke about a bill. The parliamentary authorities are understood to have given the area a deep clean and MPs were at the time sitting at least two metres apart. 'This was done as a precaution,' a House of Commons source said
Continue reading...Category Archives: Politics
Britons applying for German citizenship up 2,300% last year
Since Britain voted to leave the EU in 2016, 31,600 Britons have acquired German citizenship
The number of Britons applying for a German citizenship last year was up by approximately 2,300% compared to the year before the Brexit referendum, driving up the number of naturalisations in the country to a 16-year high.
According to data released by the Federal Statistical office on Wednesday, the total number of citizenship applications granted in 2019 increased by 15% year on year to 128,900, with 14,600 granted applications from British citizens accounting for almost half the increase.
Continue reading...China accuses UK of gross interference over Hong Kong citizenship offer
‘Serious representations’ made after worries offer could trigger brain drain from region
China’s foreign ministry has accused Britain of “gross interference” in the country’s affairs after Boris Johnson said he would offer millions of Hong Kong residents a path to UK citizenship if Beijing pushed ahead with a controversial security law for the city.
The ministry’s spokesman Zhao Lijian told Britain to “step back … otherwise there will be consequences” and said China had made “serious representations” to London over its offer to holders of British national (overseas) passports.
Continue reading...Theresa May attacks Boris Johnson over Brexit and Covid quarantine plans
Former PM warns of security implications of no deal and threat to trade from travel restrictions
Theresa May has launched a double attack on Boris Johnson’s government, speaking in the Commons to first warn about the security implications of a final no-deal Brexit, and then against the coronavirus quarantine plans.
May, who has largely kept a low profile since returning to the backbenches, used prime minister’s questions to express worry at a lack of possible lack of intelligence and data sharing if the Brexit transition period ends without a formal agreement.
Continue reading...Cabinet Office ignored warning EU voters could miss out in 2019 elections
Documents show ministers were urged to make preparations before EU parliament elections
The Cabinet Office ignored warnings that EU citizens living in the UK would be disenfranchised in the May 2019 European parliamentary elections if preparations were not made long before polling day, according to internal documents released during legal action against the government.
Details of efforts made by officials to persuade ministers to prepare in advance of voting have been revealed in submissions to the high court in a case launched last year by the3million, a group campaigning on behalf of resident EU citizens.
Continue reading...‘We were packed like sardines’: evidence grows of mass-event dangers early in pandemic
Research appears to back up stories of people who believe they got coronavirus at events UK government allowed to go ahead
The last major football match played in England before all sport was suspended because of the coronavirus crisis was the European Champions League showpiece between Liverpool and Atletico Madrid. It was a thrilling contest that transfixed 54,000 people under the floodlights of Anfield.
But now that match, along with many other mass events that the government allowed to go ahead as the pandemic spread in March, is coming under renewed scrutiny as evidence grows of the lethal danger to which people were exposed. They include rugby matches, horse races, musical concerts and dog shows attended, in total, by hundreds of thousands of Britons.
Continue reading...George Floyd protest: halt UK riot gear sales to US police, says Labour
Tory government must act as exports are prohibited if used for internal repression, says Emily Thornberry
Labour has called on the UK to suspend the sale of riot control equipment to the United States and review whether any British-made teargas or crowd control guns were being used against demonstrators across the United States.
Emily Thornberry, the shadow international trade secretary, has written to her opposite number, Liz Truss, arguing it would “be a disgrace” if the UK supplied material that was used by US police or national guard during crisis sparked by the death in police hands of George Floyd.
In her letter the Labour MP said: “If this were any other leader, in any other country in the world, the suspension of any such exports is the least we could expect from the British government in response to their actions, and our historic alliance with the United States is no reason to shirk that responsibility now.”
Boris Johnson lays out visa offer to nearly 3m Hong Kong citizens
UK prime minister says all eligible for BNO passport can apply if China cuts freedoms
Boris Johnson has opened the path to what he called one of the “biggest changes” ever to the British visa system, stating he was ready to offer a right to live and work in the UK to any of the nearly 3 million Hong Kong citizens eligible for a British National Overseas passport.
Ministers have been ambivalent since last Thursday on whether the government’s offer of an extendable 12-month visa would be available only to the 350,000 current BNO passport holders in Hong Kong, or would also include the more than 2.5 million eligible to apply for the passport.
Continue reading...Keir Starmer warns PM: get a grip or risk second wave of coronavirus
Labour leader accuses Boris Johnson of ‘winging it’ in stinging attack
- Keir Starmer: ‘Boris Johnson has to get a grip and restore public confidence’
- Coronavirus – latest updates
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Keir Starmer has accused Boris Johnson of causing a collapse in public confidence over the government’s handling of the coronavirus crisis, saying No 10 will be directly responsible if the infection rate starts to rise again.
In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, the Labour leader launched a stinging attack on the the prime minister, accusing him of “winging it” over the easing of the lockdown and making an already “difficult situation 10 times worse”.
Continue reading...MPs join 90-minute-long queue to vote to end virtual voting
Critics say move to physically-distant voting puts vulnerable and BAME politicians at risk
MPs are to return to parliament after a government motion was passed to prevent the resumption of virtual voting, despite what one MP called “absurd” scenes of a kilometre-long conga line of politicians trying to vote.
The 527 MPs snaked through Westminster halls and courtyards for an hour and 23 minutes to vote on the proposal by the Commons leader, Jacob Rees-Mogg, which was carried by 261 votes to 163. It incited a furious reaction from many MPs, including those who are shielding and black and ethnic minority (BAME) politicians.
Continue reading...EU has no legal duty to give UK trade privileges, document says
Paper concludes EU does not have to offer privileges given to others in previous deals
The EU has no legal duty to grant the UK privileges offered to other countries in trade deals, an internal European parliament paper has concluded ahead of a crucial round of Brexit talks this week.
The document, drawn up by officials for the parliament’s UK coordination group, is a short analysis of arguments made by the UK’s chief negotiator, David Frost, in a letter to his counterpart, Michel Barnier. Frost accused the EU of treating the UK as an “unworthy” negotiating partner by denying the UK “the kind of well-precedented arrangements commonplace in modern FTAs [free trade agreements]”.
Continue reading...Northern Ireland faces ‘potent threat’ from Brexit and Covid-19
Lords committee warns uncertainty over trading rules may add to economic damage of crisis
Northern Ireland faces a “potent threat” to its prosperity and stability if reduced business confidence due to uncertainty over post-Brexit trading rules compounds the economic damage from coronavirus, a Lords committee has warned.
A fourth round of talks between the UK and EU over a permanent deal begins this week, with little apparent progress made, and the looming deadline of 1 July for the UK to seek an extension to the transition period beyond this year.
Continue reading...Seven former foreign secretaries urge UK to take lead on Hong Kong
Cross-party initiative reflects concern response to China’s imposition of security laws cannot be left to Donald Trump
Britain must take the lead in co-ordinating the international response to China’s efforts to impose draconian security laws in Hong Kong, seven former Conservative and Labour UK foreign secretaries have come together to declare.
Related: Hong Kong officials lash out at Trump plan to strip city of special status
Continue reading...Health officials make last-minute plea to stop lockdown easing in England
Royal College of Nursing also fears lifting of more restrictions on ‘happy Monday’ is too early
Senior public health officials have made a last-minute plea for ministers to scrap Monday’s easing of the coronavirus lockdown in England, warning the country is unprepared to deal with any surge in infection and that public resolve to take steps to limit transmisson has been eroded.
The Association of Directors of Public Health (ADPH) said new rules, including allowing groups of up to six people to meet outdoors and in private gardens, were “not supported by the science” and that pictures of crowded beaches and beauty spots over the weekend showed “the public is not keeping to social distancing as it was”.
Continue reading...From rose garden to ridicule: how a week of disaster for Tories and Dominic Cummings unfolded
Boris Johnson said it was time to move on – but the public, the press and scores of his own MPs didn’t agree
As she looked out of her kitchen window towards a farm in the distance owned by Dominic Cummings’ parents, an elderly woman described her reaction on Friday to the story that had caused shock not just in rural County Durham, but across the whole country.
“I have isolated for 10 weeks. I have not seen my children since before Christmas,” said the woman, who asked not to be named. She lives in a pretty village across the valley, with a pond and village green, where life normally passes quietly by with few disturbances.
Continue reading...Dominic Cummings has broken Covid-19 policy trust, say top scientists
Health experts warn lives ‘put at risk’, as Opinium/Observer poll shows slump in Tory support
Britain’s top public health leaders and scientists have warned Boris Johnson that trust in the government has been shattered by the Dominic Cummings affair and now poses real danger to life when lockdown measures are lifted this week.
In a letter sent to No 10 on Friday, 26 senior UK academics and health administrators warn that public faith in the government is essential if the Covid-19 crisis is to be tackled effectively.
Continue reading...Three million Hong Kong residents ‘eligible’ for UK citizenship
Home Office decision infuriates Chinese government and could risk backlash among traditional Tory voters
The Home Office appears to have dramatically widened the pool of Hong Kong citizens that will be eligible to apply for UK citizenship, implying millions may be able to apply if China presses ahead with plans for draconian new security legislation in the territory.
The UK government’s decision has infuriated the Chinese government, and could risk a backlash among traditional Conservative voters opposed to immigration.
Continue reading...June Brexit summit on cards as talks head for deadlock
PM and commission president likely to meet with progress unlikely in talks next week
Brexit talks are heading towards deadlock as senior advisers in Brussels and London concede a breakthrough in the final round of talks next week is unlikely.
It means a high-level political summit between Boris Johnson and the European commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, in the middle of June is now almost certain as talks among officials on a trade deal and the future relationship hit the buffers.
Continue reading...UK coronavirus live: groups of six people can meet outside in England from Monday; No 10 backs Cummings
Johnson unveils lockdown relaxation measures; Durham police say they won’t take further against against Cummings; UK death toll rises by 377 to 37,837
- Full story: groups of six can meet in England from Monday
- Scientists warn R-rate still very high amid lockdown relaxation
- Dominic Cummings potentially broke lockdown rules, say police
- Global coronavirus updates - live
- See all our coronavirus coverage
Q. In Northern Ireland the R has been increasing and is barely below 1 – should that cause alarm?
Vallance says the R remains below 1 everywhere but may be very close to 1 in some places.
Q. Do you really have the capacity to trace all the contacts of infected people?
Q. Why is the UK still only listing three symptoms for the disease compared to other countries?
Continue reading...UK says it will extend Hongkongers’ visa rights if China pursues security laws
Foreign secretary Dominic Raab threatens to change status of British national (overseas) passport holders
The UK will extend visa rights for as many as 300,000 Hong Kong British national (overseas) passport holders if China continues down the path of imposing repressive security laws on the former British colony, the foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, has said.
The move, which appears in outline to stop short of giving the BN(O)s a right of abode, is a response to growing Conservative backbench pressure on the Foreign Office to do more to help Hong Kong citizens fearful that China is about to extinguish their independence and political freedoms.
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