Editor Brian Harrod Provides Comprehensive up-to-date news coverage, with aggregated news from sources all over the world from the Roundup Newswires Network
PM to appeal to Donald Trump if Anne Sacoolas fails to return to UK over fatal traffic collision
Boris Johnson will personally appeal to Donald Trump if the US continues to refuse to lift the diplomatic immunity it has granted to a US diplomat’s wife who is accused of killing a 19-year-old motorcyclist in a traffic collision.
Anne Sacoolas, who is married to a US communications official, left the UK last month, prompting widespread anger in Britain over the use of diplomatic immunity to flee potential charges of causing death by dangerous driving.
Exclusive: Leaked papers obtained by the Guardian show extent of fundamental objections Brussels has raised
The European Union’s full devastating point-by-point rejection of Boris Johnson’s Brexit proposals for the Irish border has been revealed in documents obtained by the Guardian.
Leaked documents lay bare the scale of the multiple faults highlighted to David Frost, the prime minister’s chief negotiator, during the recent talks.
Reciprocal scheme in which NHS reimburses cost of treatment will cease under a no-deal Brexit
Britons with serious, sometimes terminal, illnesses who live in the EU say they have no certainty about how or even whether their healthcare costs will be covered after a no-deal Brexit and are suffering a “living nightmare” of anxiety and despair.
“It’s like a death sentence,” said Denise Abel, who moved to Italy in 2012. “It’s all you think about. I feel abandoned, betrayed and furious. There are no words for the rage I feel. We’re the collateral damage in the government’s war with the EU.”
The French president has given Boris Johnson until the end of the week to fundamentally revise his Brexit plan, in a move that increases the chances of the negotiations imploding within days.
The UK proposals tabled last week are not regarded in Brussels as being a basis for a deal and Emmanuel Macron emphasised it was up to the UK to think again before an upcoming EU summit.
Stephen Barclay also says government willing to discuss detail of customs proposals
The Brexit secretary has hinted that the government could amend its proposal to give the Democratic Unionist party an effective veto over its plan for an alternative to the Irish backstop
With EU leaders not willing to accept the UK’s ideas and talks between the two sides suspended over the weekend when Boris Johnson had been hoping to intensify them, Stephen Barclay said on Sunday that the government would be willing to discuss changes to the mechanism designed to ensure the new arrangements receive political approval in Northern Ireland.
Sources say PM’s insistence on Ireland customs border means there is no basis for discussions
Boris Johnson’s Brexit plans look to be falling apart as the European commission said there are no grounds to accept a request from the UK for intensive weekend negotiations two weeks before an EU summit.
EU sources said there was no basis for such discussions, given the British prime minister’s insistence on there being a customs border on the island of Ireland.
The prime minister tweeted that there must be “new deal or no deal – but no delay”, echoing the words he used in his party conference speech in Manchester on Wednesday.
Ireland’s Leo Varadkar says PM’s pledge of no hard border contradicts written proposal
Jean-Claude Juncker has called on the British government to publish its Brexit plan in full after Boris Johnson was accused by Ireland’s prime minister of misleading parliament over the impact on the Irish border.
The move came on a dramatic day during which Johnson’s hopes of securing a deal by the time of a crunch summit appeared to unravel:
The European parliament has told Boris Johnson that his proposals for the Irish border do not “even remotely” amount to an acceptable deal for the EU, in comments echoed by Ireland’s prime minister.
The committee of MEPs representing the parliament’s views on Brexit said the prime minister’s proposals could not form the basis for an agreement, describing them as a “last-minute” effort. The European parliament will have a veto on any withdrawal agreement.
Boris Johnson appears to be fighting a losing battle to avoid Britain staying in the European Union beyond 31 October after Michel Barnier privately gave a scathing analysis of the prime minister’s new plan for the Irish border, describing it as a trap.
The European commission also refused to go into the secretive and intensive “tunnel” talks with the UK’s negotiators before a crunch summit on 17 October from which the UK had hoped to deliver a breakthrough deal.
The absence of a “take it or leave it” demand in Boris Johnson’s conference speech has offered some hope in Brussels of a prime ministerial U-turn on what EU officials have described as unworkable proposals for the Irish border, my colleague Daniel Boffey reports.
The absence of a “take it or leave it” demand in Boris Johnson’s conference speech has offered some hope in Brussels of a prime ministerial U-turn on what EU officials have described as unworkable proposals for the Irish border.
Downing Street had briefed before the address in Manchester that Johnson would use his platform to make a “final offer” to Brussels, but the rhetoric appeared in the end far more conciliatory than billed.
Boris Johnson agrees pact with Northern Irish party as details emerge of ‘two borders’ plan
Boris Johnson has struck a secret deal with the Democratic Unionist party involving radical proposals for a Belfast-Dublin “bilateral lock” on post-Brexit arrangements on the island of Ireland.
Details have emerged of the prime minister’s final Brexit offer that he will lay out on Wednesday, with Northern Ireland staying under EU single market regulations for agri-food and manufactured goods until at least 2025, at which point its assembly in Stormont will decide whether to continue alignment with EU or UK standards.
Boris Johnson’s hopes of entering into intensive negotiations next week over his Irish backstop plans are likely to be dashed if he continues to back the return of a customs border with checks and controls on the island of Ireland.
With just over two weeks to go before a crunch EU leaders’ summit at which Johnson hopes to sign off on a deal, Downing Street is banking on entering secretive “tunnel” negotiations to hammer out the details of an agreement.
The Guardian’s just published a leader on Labour’s universal credit policy, concluding that the “plan makes sense”.
The shocking failings of universal credit are justly blamed on the government having listened to the wrong people when setting it up. The sensible reforms set out by Labour show that the opposition has been listening to the right ones. Never mind that the package of changes announced by Jeremy Corbyn on Saturday was misleadingly described as a plan to “scrap” universal credit. His party’s proposals to end the five-week wait for initial payments, scrap the benefit cap and two-child limit (and heinous “rape clause”) are sound. So are promises to review the sanctions system, ditch the “digital only” approach and hire 5,000 new advisers to help those who struggle with online applications.
The army’s zero-tolerance drugs policy has been scrapped less than a year after it was introduced, the defence secretary has confirmed.
Speaking at a ConservativeHome fringe event at the Conservative party conference in Manchester, Ben Wallace told Tory members he had changed the policy because it should be for commanding officers, and not the government, to decide to strip an individual of their job.
I changed it. I took the view that some people are young and irresponsible and it should be up to their commanding officers to decide, whether it’s a young lad or girl who’s made a mistake, whether they should be allowed to remain in the armed forces or not.
And people who have left and want to rejoin, the same should apply to them as well. I think, you know, that doesn’t mean to say you should be able to do drugs in the armed forces.
It should be up to commanding officers to understand their workforce, to understand whether that individual is the problem, or if there’s a medical problem and they think they need help, or whether indeed it was a mistake.
Bishops sign joint letter lambasting ‘unacceptable’ language, and calling for respect of others’ opinions
The tone of the Brexit debate has become unacceptable, the Church of England’s bishops have warned, as the prime minister faced intense criticism over his provocative rhetoric.
The bishops released a joint statement on Friday, calling on people both inside and outside parliament to treat each other with greater respect. They spoke after a host of MPs complained of receiving threats and Boris Johnson’s senior aide suggested that only carrying out Brexit would calm the tensions.
Boris Johnson has refused to apologise in the face of criticism that he is inciting hatred against MPs, as he briefed his cabinet on preparations for a populist election campaign that will accuse his opponents of “surrender” to the EU.
In the face of widespread condemnation for his inflammatory rhetoric, the prime minister vowed to carry on referring to the Benn law against no-deal Brexit as the “surrender bill”.
While foreign leaders buddy up to Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, his people endure a brutal crackdown on rights
Even before Egyptian authorities warned that they would “decisively confront” any protests that take place on Friday, it was evident that it would require extraordinary courage to answer the call to the streets. Abdel Fatah al-Sisi’s regime has repeatedly shown its utter ruthlessness since seizing power six years ago in a coup. Security forces killed thousands of people protesting against the takeover. The country has locked up 60,000 political prisoners. Executions have soared this year.
Yet hundreds of people did demonstrate in cities including Cairo, Suez and Alexandria last week. The authorities responded with teargas, rubber bullets, beatings and live ammunition. Almost 2,000 people have since been arrested – more than are thought to have taken part. They include several prominent figures who do not appear to have been involved in any way, including the internationally recognised rights lawyer Mahienour el-Massry, who was defending protesters; the journalist and opposition politician Khaled Dawoud; and Hazem Hosny, a former spokesperson for Sami Anan, the former military chief of staff detained since he tried to challenge Mr Sisi for the presidency last year.
Here is more from what Boris Johnson told Conservative backbenchers at his private meeting with the 1922 Committee.
From my colleague Rowena Mason
Boris Johnson told MPs at 1922 that he would carry on using the phrase surrender bill but did say MPs must all be careful about using language of violence
Boris Johnson left the 1922 to shouts of “Will you apologise?” from journalists - he scuttled off with no comment
In 1922 meeting there was a sombre moment when @PennyMordaunt told MPs she was with @BorisJohnson in 2016 when news came through that Jo Cox had died. She said 'Boris's reaction was so human'. "It was a moving moment in there," one Tory MP says.
Striking how few Tory MPs leaving 22 Committee with Boris after around 30 mins stopped to chat to reporters compared with the dying days of Theresa May’s premiership. Not many smiling faces either tbh.
Boris Johnson was described as ‘ebullient’ and ‘full of bonhomie’ by two walking out, others looked pretty sullen.
Jeremy Corbyn is speaking on this topic for Labour.
He says it is “extremely disappointing” that Boris Johnson is not here himself to answer the UQ.