David Frost to meet senior officials in new government’s most significant contact so far
Boris Johnson has sent his most senior EU adviser and Brexit negotiator to Brussels to deliver in person his message that the UK will leave without a deal unless the bloc abolishes the Irish backstop.
David Frost, a former British ambassador to Denmark who was also an adviser to Johnson when he was foreign secretary, is to hold talks with EU officials over the next 48 hours.
Continue reading...After rebuff from Irish taoiseach, PM ready to blame ‘friends across the Channel’
Boris Johnson has said it is up to the EU to compromise to avoid a no-deal Brexit, after his demands for the backstop to be scrapped were met with a flat refusal from the Irish taoiseach, Leo Varadkar.
In comments that showed he is preparing to blame the EU if the UK ends up leaving without a deal, Johnson said he was not aiming for a no-deal Brexit but the situation was “very much up to our friends and partners across the Channel”.
Continue reading...Aim is to create international mission to safeguard shipping through strait near Iran
The UK has invited military representatives of the US, France and other European countries to a meeting in Bahrain on Wednesday in an attempt to create an international mission to safeguard shipping through the strait of Hormuz.
Britain hopes it can act as bridge between the US – which has the largest military presence of a western nation in the region – and countries such as Germany, which is reluctant to getting involved in any mission led by Washington.
Continue reading...Scotland’s first minister criticises Boris Johnson’s ‘hardline position’ on Brexit
Boris Johnson has been accused by Nicola Sturgeon of intentionally pushing the UK towards a no-deal Brexit, despite his “bluff and bluster” about wanting an agreement with EU leaders.
After meeting Johnson face-to-face in Edinburgh, the Scottish first minister said she believed he was pursuing a “dangerous” hardline strategy with EU leaders, with the likely outcome of no-deal Brexit.
Continue reading...Iran's Revolutionary Guards have released audio of an exchange in which a UK warship is told not to intervene in the capture of a British-flagged tanker on 19 July. Iranian commandos seized the Stena Impero near the strait of Hormuz two weeks after British forces captured an Iranian tanker near Gibraltar over concerns it was defying EU sanctions by transporting oil to Syria
Continue reading...Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including Boris Johnson’s first visit to Scotland as prime minister
Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon says that she will press Boris Johnson on the damage that a no deal Brexit will do to the Scottish economy, when she meets the prime minister later this afternoon.
Speaking ahead of the first face-to-face meeting between the first minister and the new prime minister, Sturgeon said:
The people of Scotland did not vote for this Tory government, they didn’t vote for this new prime minister, they didn’t vote for Brexit and they certainly didn’t vote for a catastrophic no-deal Brexit which Boris Johnson is now planning for.
Boris Johnson has formed a hard-line Tory government with one aim – to take Scotland and the UK out of the EU without a deal.
I’m just back from the Number 10 lobby briefing. Mostly it was a routine affair, that did not shed a lot of new light on what the administration is up to, but the prime minister’s spokeswoman did have at least one mini story for the hacks.
Continue reading...Cabinet blitzes media, saying preparations for crashing out are top priority
Boris Johnson is “turbo-charging” preparations to leave the EU without a deal on 31 October as his government’s number one priority, according to several senior cabinet ministers.
The new prime minister sent out cabinet ministers for interviews across newspapers and broadcasters this weekend as part of a publicity blitz about the prospect of a no-deal Brexit.
Continue reading...Crashing out could make a united Ireland more likely, Irish PM says
Boris Johnson has set the UK on an apparent course towards a no-deal Brexit by playing down the likelihood of any talks with the EU unless Brussels agrees to scrap the existing withdrawal agreement and Irish backstop, both of which it has ruled out.
The seemingly intransigent tone prompted Leo Varadkar, the Irish prime minister, to warn that a no-deal departure could lead more people in Northern Ireland to seek a united Ireland.
Continue reading...Judge finds in UK’s favour in dispute that has been linked to Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe case
The path to improved British-Iranian relations has hit a new barrier after the high court in London ruled that the UK does not have to pay at least £20m interest on the £387m it owes to Iran over the cancelled sale of Chieftain tanks in the 1970s.
The debt was seen by Boris Johnson when he was foreign secretary as critical to the release of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the Iranian-British dual national imprisoned in Tehran.
Continue reading...Boris Johnson is taking the helm with an urgent crisis brewing in the Gulf, where Iran’s seizure of a British oil tanker threatens to pull the UK and the international community into the escalating friction between Washington and Tehran. But in crisis there is opportunity, and the new prime minister should use his affinity with Donald Trump to de-escalate responsibly while reinforcing the battered transatlantic relationship around Iran.
Tehran has accused the tanker, the Stena Impero, of colliding with a fishing boat and violating international regulations. However, the seizure came shortly after Iranian leaders threatened to retaliate for the British seizure of an Iranian-flagged vessel in Gibraltar over suspicions that the ship had violated European Union sanctions on Syria.
Continue reading...Defence secretary’s decision may seem puzzling but is in Britain’s best interests
In possibly his last act as foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt signalled Britain’s determination to continue to cooperate with Europe on defence and to side with its nearest neighbours, and not Washington, on how to curb Iranian nuclear ambitions.
He told MPs on Monday he wanted to form a European maritime security force to defend shipping in the Gulf rather than join a US-led force. The two might work in cooperation, but they were to be distinct.
Continue reading...Critics point to irony of UK calling on EU support while heading for Brexit
Plans for a European-led maritime security force in the Gulf unveiled by the UK foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, hit choppy waters as the plan was rejected by Iran, met resistance from supporters of the incoming prime minister, Boris Johnson, and was seen by British shipping industry experts as not providing a short-term solution to the crisis facing UK-flagged shipping in the Gulf.
On Monday, Hunt unveiled a plan for a European-led maritime security force, making clear he regarded a proposed rival plan for a US force as likely to be seen by the Iranians as an escalatory step, partly since Washington opposes the Iran nuclear deal.
Continue reading...US secretary of state’s comment reflects tensions with UK over Iran nuclear deal
The UK must be responsible for the safety of its own ships in the Gulf, the US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, has said.
His remarks reflect unresolved tensions between Britain and the US over Donald Trump’s plans for a US-led military taskforce to protect international shipping operating off the Iranian coast. The UK is meanwhile seeking to assemble a European naval protection force.
Continue reading...Tehran signals it will not release British-flagged tanker until UK frees one of its vessels
The British foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, is under intense pressure to join US-led plans for an international maritime protection force in the Gulf as signs grow that Iran is preparing for a long standoff over the British-flagged tanker it has detained.
As Tehran signalled it would refuse to release the Steno Impero until the UK released an Iranian-flagged ship seized off the coast of Gibraltar a fortnight ago, the British government faced accusations it had failed to sufficiently guard its shipping in the Gulf.
Continue reading...Likely new PM could find no-deal option thwarted by senior Tories such as Philip Hammond
Boris Johnson’s hoped-for triumphant march into Downing Street this week is set to be dampened by a carefully timed series of resignations by senior ministers, who will retreat to the backbenches with a vow to thwart any moves towards a no-deal Brexit.
The announcements by Philip Hammond and David Gauke that they will step down on Wednesday, immediately before Johnson is likely to head to Buckingham Palace, highlight the perilous political climate for Theresa May’s expected successor.
Continue reading...Steven Edginton says his name was left out of original story to avoid ‘possible controversy’
New questions have emerged over leaks of confidential UK diplomatic cables criticising Donald Trump after a 19-year-old Brexit activist was revealed to be the person who obtained them.
In a lengthy feature in the Mail on Sunday, Steven Edginton, who describes himself as a freelance journalist and who since April has worked for the Brexit party, said he was passed Sir Kim Darroch’s briefings on the White House.
Continue reading...Audio of an exchange between British and Iranian naval forces over Iran's interception of a British-flagged oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday has emerged
Continue reading...Tory leadership rivals kept informed about spiralling crisis in the Gulf as ex-naval chief blasts government
Admiral Lord West: ‘our political establishment have been focused on the election of a new prime minister’
Boris Johnson will be tested by a major international crisis in his first days as prime minister, senior military figures and politicians have warned, after Iran seized a British-flagged tanker in a move that raised tensions in the Gulf to new heights.
Johnson, who is expected to win the race to succeed Theresa May as Tory leader and be installed as the new prime minister on Wednesday, was kept informed about the spiralling crisis on Saturday by his rival for the top job, Jeremy Hunt, whom he is expected to reappoint as foreign secretary.
Continue reading...Video released by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards shows speedboats pulling up alongside a seized British-flagged oil tanker. Troops wearing ski masks and carrying machine guns rappelled onto the Stena Impero’s deck from a helicopter. The ship, with its 23-strong crew, has been taken to Bandar Abbas, one of the country’s main military ports
Continue reading...Iranian state media have released footage of the seized oil tanker Stena Impero detained in the strait of Hormuz on Friday, marking a dramatic escalation in the worsening standoff in the Gulf. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claimed to have taken the British-flagged ship into port with its 23-strong crew, and Iranian officials claimed it had infringed maritime regulations
Continue reading...