Editor Brian Harrod Provides Comprehensive up-to-date news coverage, with aggregated news from sources all over the world from the Roundup Newswires Network
Exclusive: ‘culture of disbelief’ excludes at least 3,100 nationals from countries outlawing same-sex acts
The UK Home Office has refused at least 3,100 asylum claims from lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) nationals of countries where consensual same-sex acts are criminalised, figures reveal.
At least 1,197 LGBT Pakistanis were refused asylum after making a claim for protection on grounds of sexual orientation between 2016 and 2018, analysis by the Liberal Democrats of figures published by the Home Office shows. A further 640 LGBT Bangladeshis and 389 Nigerians had their claims on same grounds refused during the period.
Speculation is mounting that Boris Johnson could call a snap general election if backbench rebels succeed in passing a bill to delay Brexit, with a Downing Street source saying the issue would be treated as “an expression of confidence” in the government.
Johnson’s cabinet ministers are being summoned for an emergency cabinet meeting on Monday afternoon, before the prime minister addresses Conservative MPs at a No 10 drinks reception.
Rebel Tories face deselection over Brexit, as PM abruptly cancels meeting with group including ex-ministers
Boris Johnson is prepared to blow up his own parliamentary majority and withdraw the whip from dozens of Conservative MPs if they back plans to stop no-deal Brexit, Tory whips have warned potential rebels, in an extreme move by Downing Street that would pave the way for an imminent general election.
As hostilities escalated, Johnson also signalled how serious his intention is to follow through the threat of deselection by abruptly ripping up plans for a meeting with rebellious former ministers, including Philip Hammond and David Gauke, that had been billed as a last-ditch effort to limit support for the action in parliament.
Led By Donkeys group reminds minister of his statement that no one voted for no-deal Brexit
A portrait of Michael Gove so large it can “be seen from space” has been drawn on the sand on the North Yorkshire coast to condemn his stance on Brexit.
The anti-Brexit campaign group Led By Donkeys travelled to Redcar to install the drawing measuring 7,500 sq metres, which features a quote from the cabinet minister in which he said the UK “didn’t vote to leave without a deal” in the 2016 EU referendum.
Legal experts warned against Priti Patel’s decision to change law immediately after Brexit deadline
The government has been forced to scrap plans for a law that would end freedom of movement at midnight on 31 October in a no-deal scenario, according to reports.
In a shift of policy, the home secretary, Priti Patel, had planned secondary legislation to stop freedom of movement for EU citizens into the UK, but has been forced to accept that the move could have landed the government in court.
Exclusive: Current system for asylum-seeking minors set to end the day after UK leaves EU
The Home Office is preparing to end the current system of family reunification for asylum-seeking children if the UK leaves the EU without a deal, the Guardian has learned.
The government has privately briefed the UN refugee agency UNHCR and other NGOs that open cases may be able to progress, but a no-deal Brexit would mean no new applications after 1 November from asylum-seeking children to be reunited with relatives living in the UK. Even if there is a deal, the future of family reunion is not certain.
Protesters ranged from students at the prime minister’s old Oxford college to retired teachers, children and activists
In Cambridge’s Market Square, a crowd of families, young people and silver-haired academics listened as Percy Bysshe Shelley’s The Masque of Anarchy was read out. Many joined in, from memory, making a collective appeal for non-violent resistance: “Rise, like lions after slumber... Ye are many – they are few.” There were moments of more garrulous protest too. During a speech criticising Boris Johnson, someone shouted: “Off with his head!”
From Bodmin to Berlin, Bristol to Oxford, tens of thousands of people took to the streets in towns and cities across England, Scotland and Wales on Saturday to vent their fury at Johnson’s plan to suspend parliament. Around 1,200 people attended the rally in Cambridge, where they booed the prime minister and his adviser Dominic Cummings as though they were pantomime villains.
Campaigners point to rise in grants for pre-settled status, which has fewer rights
Sajid Javid has responded to concerns raised over thousands of EU citizens in the UK having no legal rights after 31 October , by saying “there shouldn’t be a single person that should be concerned about their status”.
The settled status scheme has been running since March for EU nationals living in the UK to establish their permanent right to live in Britain.
Tens of thousands of demonstrators are taking to the streets across Britain and outside the gates of Downing Street in protest against Boris Johnson’s move to suspend parliament.
Crowds brandished banners pledging to “defend democracy”, chanted “stop the coup” and waved EU flags in London in a bid to resist the parliament shutdown.
Its general secretary is gone but the question remains: how do you fix a party branch synonymous with sleaze and scandal?
One of Labor’s favourite Chinatown eateries was packed as Kaila Murnain readied herself to speak. It was 2014, the year before the fateful Labor fundraiser at the centre of this week’s explosive anti-corruption hearings.
But the scene was largely the same. The Eight Restaurant in Haymarket was at capacity, the room full of wealthy donors cosying up to some of the most powerful Labor figures in the state.
New systems to ensure smooth transit of goods are tested in France before UK’s exit from EU
The Port of Calais has staged a no-deal Brexit rehearsal to test new systems ahead of the UK’s anticipated departure from the EU on 31 October. Michael Gove, the minister in charge of no-deal planning, witnessed the practice run during a visit to France on Friday afternoon.
Dominic Cummings ‘pissed off’ about briefings on pay and gender balance – report
A furious Sajid Javid confronted Boris Johnson on Friday and demanded an explanation of why his media adviser was sacked without his knowledge, amid claims that a deep “culture of fear” has taken hold within the government.
Sonia Khan, Javid’s media adviser, was escorted from No 10 by an armed police officer after a meeting with Johnson’s top strategist, Dominic Cummings, in which she was accused of being dishonest about her contact with the former chancellor Philip Hammond and one of his ex-advisers, who have been trying to block a no-deal Brexit.
A hearing at the High Court in London relating to a bid to challenge the suspension of Parliament will take place on Thursday 5 September, a spokesman for the judiciary has confirmed.
The spokesman told PA:
“A hearing into an application for judicial review received from Gina Miller with the Prime Minister as defendant has been fixed for Thursday 5 September 5 2019 at the Divisional Court in Court 4 at the Royal Courts of Justice, with the Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett presiding.
“The court will first consider the request for the case to be heard and, if it agrees, a full hearing will follow the same day. Further information will be given early next week.”
The chancellor, Sajid Javid, was not informed in advance about the sacking of one of his senior advisers by Boris Johnson’s strategist Dominic Cummings, it has emerged.
Sonia Khan, Javid’s media adviser, was escorted from No 10 by a police officer after being accused of misleading Cummings over her contact with individuals close to the former chancellor Philip Hammond, who has been trying to block a no-deal Brexit.
Decision to rule out UK and Hong Kong would be major blow to both financial centres
Saudi Arabia’s revived plans for a $2tn mega-listing of its state oil company may rule out the London Stock Exchange amid Britain’s rising political uncertainty, according to reports.
Saudi Aramco, the world’s most profitable company, may instead look to Japan’s Tokyo stock exchange to host the second phase of what would be the biggest public offering in history.
Human rights campaigners claim Lord Carlile’s appointment undermines review’s credibility
Human rights campaigners have threatened the Home Office with legal action over its appointment of Lord Carlile as the independent reviewer of its anti-radicalisation programme Prevent.
The peer’s appointment, announced this month, was met with criticism from human rights and civil liberties groups, citing his previous on-record support for the Prevent programme.
If the past few years of Brexit debate have passed you by, here is what you need to know
If you’ve lost track of Brexit’s seemingly endless “cliff edges”, now is the time to pay attention as three years of argument appears set to come to a head.
SNP MP Joanna Cheery has confirmed that she has spoken to her legal team about speeding up the action in the Scottish courts to stop Boris Johnson shutting down parliament, which was due to be heard of September 6.
Ian Murray, another of the cross-party group of more than 70 MPs and peers said that they will now consider seeking an interim interdict (similar to an injunction in England and Wales) in the Court of Session to block prorogation.
The Speaker, John Bercow, has issued an extraordinary statement. “I have had no contact from the government, but if the reports that it is seeking to prorogue parliament are confirmed, this move represents a constitutional outrage,” he says.
Boris Johnson has confirmed he has asked the Queen for permission to suspend parliament for five weeks from early September.
The prime minister claimed MPs would have “ample time” to debate Brexit, as he wrote to MPs on Wednesday, saying he had spoken to the Queen and asked her to suspend parliament from “the second sitting week in September”.
The archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has responded to an invitation from MPs to chair a “citizens’ forum on Brexit” in which alternatives to a no deal would be discussed.
It’s an unexpected privilege to be asked to chair the proposed Citizens’ Forum on Brexit. In the past such gatherings have opened the way for careful deliberation. I’m open in principle – provided the Forum doesn’t aim to stop or delay Brexit, and has cross-party support. https://t.co/pYLYUDFzwJ
It is an unexpected privilege to be asked to chair this proposed citizens’ forum on Brexit. In the past this kind of gathering has, in many places and in difficult situations, opened the way for careful deliberation if at the right time and genuinely representative.
I am honoured to be approached and would be willing to accept in principle, subject to some conditions which have not yet been met. The main three are first, and indispensably, that the forum should not be a Trojan horse intended to delay or prevent Brexit in any particular form. That power can only be exercised by the government and MPs in parliament. A forum must be open to all possibilities. Second, that it has cross-party support (although its members will not be politicians). Third, the process must have time to be properly organised.
I generally don’t criticise the archbishop but he shouldn’t allow himself to be tempted into what is essentially a very political issue right now. This assembly is designed to destabilise Boris Johnson’s position. As such I hope he will recognise the deeply political nature of this.
Jeremy Corbyn was not at today’s meeting of opposition leaders at Church House – the shadow chancellor said he was busy in meetings – but the Labour leader has spoken to broadcast media this afternoon.