Danger for Boris Johnson, if he becomes PM, is being portrayed as governor of 51st state
In normal times, the breakdown in relations between Donald Trump and the British ambassador to the US could be readily finessed. Trump would vent his anger, and gain private British assurances that Sir Kim Darroch will be replaced by someone more palatable by the end of the year.
It would create an awkward interlude in the special relationship but every family has bust-ups.
Continue reading...Naturalist tells MPs radical action needed to tackle crisis but attitude of young people gives him hope
The attitude of young people towards tackling the environmental crisis is “a source of great hope”, David Attenborough has told MPs, as he predicted that polluting the planet would soon provoke as much abhorrence as slavery.
Giving evidence to the business, energy and industrial strategy committee on how to tackle the climate emergency, the naturalist and TV presenter said radical action was required.
Continue reading...Email to members stops short of setting out party’s stance in event of early general election
Jeremy Corbyn has sought to draw a line under Labour’s Brexit travails by announcing a “settled” policy of backing remain in any referendum called on a Conservative deal.
The Labour leader has been under intense pressure to shift to an overtly anti-Brexit stance, but has insisted on consulting the party’s stakeholders in recent weeks, including the trade unions.
Continue reading...Pelosi attacks Trump’s 2020 citizenship question as ‘disgraceful’, while Trump says US will no longer deal with UK ambassador Kim Darroch
As House Democrats began issuing subpoenas for President Trump’s financial records, the Justice Department fought a federal judge’s decision to allow the lawsuit accusing Trump of profiting off the presidency to go forward, the Associated Press is reporting:
Justice Department lawyers want an appeals court to take the case instead.
They filed papers Monday seeking to move the case from federal court in D.C. to the U.S. Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia. They also want to stop subpoena requests seeking Trump’s business tax returns, and documents from Trump’s D.C. and New York hotels, Mar-a-Lago Club and Trump Tower.
Our climate and environment reporter, Susie Cagle, listened in on President Trump’s speech about “maintaining a healthy environment.” Here are some choice quotes from the speech:
Related: What Trump gets wrong about wildfires, by a fire scientist
Continue reading...Party poised to announce move in surprise consensus but will still seek deal if elected in time
Labour is poised to declare it will campaign for remain in a second referendum on any deal put to parliament by a Conservative prime minister, after trade union leaders including Unite’s Len McCluskey backed a change of policy.
The joint position agreed by the unions on Monday would not commit Labour to an explicitly pro-remain position in all circumstances: unions also agreed Labour should seek to deliver a Brexit deal if the party won an election before the UK left the EU.
Continue reading...Carwyn Jones insists he made mistake in telling court he had given Ann Jones formal care role
The former Welsh first minister Carwyn Jones has been accused of lying under oath over the support measures put in place to protect a colleague who was found dead after allegations of inappropriate sexual behaviour.
Carl Sargeant died four days after being sacked by Jones from his post in the Welsh government. Family and friends strongly believe the way the dismissal was handled left him in despair.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Corbyn says government is risking lives in Yemen by seeking to set aside judgment
Ministers have asked the courts to set aside a landmark ruling that British arms sales to Saudi Arabia are unlawful, a legal manoeuvre that prompted Jeremy Corbyn to accuse the Conservatives of prioritising military exports over civilian lives.
The government has applied for a stay of last month’s judgment pending an appeal, according to Campaign Against Arms Trade, which is fighting the case, at a time when conflict between the Saudis and Houthi rebels in Yemen has intensified.
Continue reading...Tory leadership frontrunner pledges to leave the EU by 31 October ‘come what may’
Boris Johnson has pledged to get the UK “match fit for no deal” to ensure it can leave the EU on 31 October “come what may”.
The Conservative leadership frontrunner said there would be “no second chances” as he stressed that the Halloween deadline was real, “not fake”, in a comment aimed at his rival Jeremy Hunt.
Continue reading...On two-day visit, DfID minister says outbreak is heartbreaking and very dangerous
The year-long Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is on the edge of spiralling out of control and the World Health Organization should declare it an international emergency, Rory Stewart, the UK’s international development secretary, has said.
Stewart is on a two-day visit to the DRC visiting emergency health centres and victims of the disease to assess the issues hampering efforts to bring the epidemic under permanent control. So far in the outbreak 2,400 people have contracted the disease and 1,606 have died, according to the WHO.
Continue reading...Private comments by British ambassador to the US published by the Mail on Sunday
This is what Kim Darroch, the British ambassador to the US, is reported to have said in private about Donald Trump.
On Trump’s ‘dysfunctional’ administration
Continue reading...US president criticises Kim Darroch, saying he ‘has not served Britain well’
Donald Trump has said Britain’s ambassador to the US has “not served the UK well” as he hit back following the leak of confidential internal memos that presented an unflattering portrait of the president and his administration.
Earlier, the Foreign Office ordered an inquiry into the leaking of the cables, written by the ambassador, Kim Darroch, in which Trump’s White House is described as “uniquely dysfunctional” and “inept”.
Continue reading...Foreign secretary refused to clarify Britain’s stance in row over Hong Kong protests
China’s ambassador to the UK has accused the UK’s foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, of having a “cold war mentality” in his approach to the diplomatic row over Hong Kong.
Liu Xiaoming criticised the Conservative leadership candidate for his stance of “strategic ambiguity” on the possibility of sanctions against China over the crackdown on the ongoing protests in Hong Kong.
Continue reading...Boris Johnson is being warned that embracing a disruptive no-deal Brexit would fuel nationalism in Scotland and risk the future of the union, as both opponents and supporters predict that he will now claim a decisive victory in the Tory leadership election.
Related: Brexit must work for the whole UK to see off Scottish nationalism
Continue reading...Jeremy Hunt’s support for the Hong Kong protests has released old resentments long suppressed
Last week’s sudden outbreak of verbal hostilities with China, triggered by violent clashes in Hong Kong, provided a disturbing glimpse of post-Brexit Britain’s isolated and impotent future in a world of more muscular adversaries. It also underlined a dilemma facing all the western democracies in their dealings with Beijing: what matters most – liberal values or money-making?
Like bullies sensing weakness, Chinese officials let rip after Britain dared defend the demonstrators’ right to protest against the erosion of Hong Kong’s freedoms. The row released tensions largely suppressed since the former colony was handed back in 1997. The depth of China’s pent-up fury was cautionary.
Continue reading...Tory leadership contender says English is not first language in ‘too many parts of our country’
Boris Johnson has said there are “too many parts of our country” where English is not spoken as a first language and that he would require all immigrants to Britain to learn English.
At a hustings event for the Conservative leadership race in Darlington on Friday, the former mayor of London praised the capital’s diversity but suggested some communities were not doing enough to integrate into society.
Continue reading...Follow the day’s political developments, including the latest on the Conservative leadership race as 160,000 Tory members begin voting
Boris Johnson has apologised for offending Scots, while condemning the SNP’s record in government and insisting that a no-deal Brexit is “extremely unlikely” in an interview in the Press and Journal.
Asked about a series of magazine articles in which he described being a Scottish MP as a “political disability” and said that “government by a Scot is just not conceivable”, Johnson replied:
“Of course I am sorry if people take offence at distorted quotations from old newspaper articles – but one of the things I want to make clear is that Conservatives must reach out beyond the Westminster bubble and that means not just speaking in waffle and jargon”.
Boris Johnson has been shearing sheep in North Yorkshire before the hustings in Darlington today.
Good luck @BorisJohnson #BackBoris pic.twitter.com/2dqd2FRCbK
Our house, two Tory members voted for Boris today ... #backboris pic.twitter.com/2mf5zeM0i9
Continue reading...High court judge rules that gay asylum seeker who feared persecution in Uganda should have been allowed to remain
The Home Office has been ordered to help a woman deported to Uganda six years ago to return to Britain after a high court judge ruled that the handling of her case was “procedurally unfair”.
If the judgment stands, the woman may become the first deportee whose case was processed through fast-track rules operational between 2005 and 2015 to return to the UK and appeal against the decision to deport her.
Continue reading...Widdecombe becomes first Brexit party MEP to speak in new European parliament
The former Conservative minister Ann Widdecombe has likened the UK’s departure from the EU to the emancipation of slaves, as she became the first Brexit party MEP to speak in the new European parliament.
With her leader, Nigel Farage, on her right, Widdecombe said the recent negotiations among the EU’s heads of state and government over the leadership of the bloc’s institutions confirmed the need for Britain to leave.
Continue reading...Former UK chancellor’s austerity agenda will count against him, say opponents
George Osborne’s interest in running the International Monetary Fund has met immediate criticism because of the former chancellor’s austerity policies and Brexit-related question marks over the UK’s international standing.
Osborne, the editor of the Evening Standard, has signalled to friends that he views himself as a potential candidate to replace Christine Lagarde, the current head of the Washington-based fund, who was nominated to lead the European Central Bank this week.
Continue reading...As another five-year term begins, the bloc is straining for unity across a range of issues
When the German chancellor was asked this week why she would not railroad Italy and the so-called Visegrád group of countries – Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary – into accepting the former Dutch foreign minister Frans Timmermans, a critic of populist governments, as European commission president, Angela Merkel’s answer was telling.
“The Brexit is looming on the horizon,” Merkel said in reference to the need to avoid tensions when appointing the next head of the commission. “Other important issues are on the table. I think we need to treat each other with care.”
Continue reading...