Category Archives: Foreign policy

Labour under pressure to ballot members on second EU referendum

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Campaigners say thousands of signatures have come in from members on the issue

Labour’s ruling body is facing demands to ballot all party members about whether to start campaigning immediately for a second EU referendum, as thousands sign petitions asking for the party’s policy to change in the wake of the European elections.

Campaigners in the Labour party wanting a “people’s vote” wrote to the national executive committee on Tuesday requesting a members’ ballot or special conference. Each of these options has been endorsed by Labour’s deputy leader, Tom Watson.

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Stop Boris campaign launched by Tory moderates opposed to no-deal Brexit

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Former foreign secretary attacked as dishonest by leadership candidate Rory Stewart

A campaign to stop Boris Johnson becoming prime minister and taking the country into a no-deal Brexit was launched by moderate cabinet ministers on Saturday as the first shots were fired in the Tory contest to succeed Theresa May in Downing Street.

After May bowed to pressure on Friday and announced she would resign as Tory leader within two weeks, justice secretary David Gauke and international development secretary Rory Stewart condemned Johnson’s readiness to embrace a no-deal, saying it would be hugely damaging to the national interest.

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Matt Hancock says he will stand for Tory leadership

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Health secretary throws his hat into ring as Rory Stewart rules out serving in a Boris Johnson cabinet

Matt Hancock, the health secretary, has become the latest cabinet minister to declare he will stand for the Tory leadership after Theresa May’s resignation.

“Yes. I’m going to run to be the next prime minister,” Hancock told the BBC on Saturday morning. He said he would be “the servant of parliament” in delivering a Brexit deal – a conundrum that destroyed May’s leadership.

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UK negotiates loophole in Saudi export ban to sell planes to Yemen

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Government will continue to supply aircraft to be used in war, says Jeremy Hunt

The UK government has negotiated a loophole in a German arms export ban to Saudi Arabia that will ensure UK-supplied planes will continue to be used in the war in Yemen, the foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, has confirmed.

The news is contained in two unpublished letters from cabinet ministers to the parliamentary Committee on Arms Export Controls (CEAC). The aircraft, Tornado fighter bombers and Eurofighter Typhoons, are used in the Saudi bombing raids designed to push back the Houthi rebellion in the four-year civil war in Yemen. The aircraft were developed by consortiums of European companies and Germany supplies spares for them.

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An ambassador for human rights won’t convince the world that Britain cares | David Wearing

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The creation of this post is pure self-delusion, and doesn’t change the UK’s dire record in Yemen, India, Iraq …

The foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt has created a new role of ambassador for human rights, which, according to a Foreign Office statement, “demonstrates the UK’s commitment to defending human rights globally”. Plainly it does nothing of the sort. What it demonstrates is the government’s desperation to repair the reputational damage incurred as its support for the worst human rights abusers of the Middle East comes under increasing scrutiny.

Related: UK arms exports are still playing a central role in Yemen’s humanitarian crisis | Anna Stavrianakis

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Andrea Leadsom resigns from the government as May refuses to quit – live news

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Tory ministers and backbenchers conspicuously absent as Theresa May makes statement about her proposed Brexit bill

Labour’s deputy leader Tom Watson criticised Andrea Leadsom’s decision to step down on the eve of the European elections, calling it a “slap in the face” for her colleagues.

He tweeted: “I accept that she may want to go but to do it the night before an election looks odd.

Commentators are pointing out the irony that it may be a resignation by Andrea Leadsom, who stood aside to let Theresa May take the Tory leadership in summer 2016, which may eventually lead to the prime minister’s downfall.

.@andrealeadsom will be seen by history to have delivered the coup de grace to @theresa_may - which is appropriate some would say because it was her withdrawal from leadership race that handed 10 Downing St to May on a plate. Revenge dish best served steaming hot perhaps

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Theresa May to reveal new Brexit deal

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Prime minister to give details of plan to get withdrawal agreement bill ‘over the line’

Theresa May is to set out the details of her “new deal” on Brexit in a speech at 4pm as she paves the way for a last-ditch attempt to take Britain out of the European Union before she leaves Downing Street.

The prime minister’s spokesman said cabinet had discussed, “alternative arrangements, workers’ rights, environmental protections, and further assurances on protecting the integrity of the UK in the unlikely event that the backstop is required”.

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Brexit: May to give speech at 4pm with details of ‘new’ deal for MPs – live news

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Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, as Theresa May’s cabinet met to consider the contents of the Brexit EU withdrawal agreement bill

PM’s speech is called ‘A new Brexit deal - seeking common ground in Parliament’

In the urgent question in the Commons earlier on British Steel, which is on the brink of collapse putting 5,000 jobs at risk, Andrew Stephenson, the business minister, said the government “leave no stone unturned” in supporting the UK steel industry. He said:

I can reassure the house that, subject to strict legal bounds, the government will leave no stone unturned in its support for the steel industry ...

We can only act within the strict bounds of what is legally possible under domestic and European law.

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Tories scrabble for new Brexit vision in place of Theresa May’s ‘doomed’ plan

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Chancellor argues no-deal Brexit would betray leave vote, as chances of PM’s bill fade

The expected demise of Theresa May’s Brexit plan has sparked open lobbying over an alternative Tory vision, with the chancellor, Philip Hammond, arguing that proponents of a no-deal Brexit are betraying the referendum result.

The cabinet will on Tuesday discuss the final details of what Downing Street call a “new and improved deal” to be presented to MPs, expected to include reassurances on areas including the Irish backstop, workers’ rights and environmental protections.

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Theresa May prepares ‘bold’ last-ditch offer to MPs on Brexit bill

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Prime minister will ask her cabinet to sign off on concessions this week

Theresa May will ask her cabinet to sign off a package of Brexit concessions this week, as she gears up for one last bid to win over MPs and salvage something concrete from her troubled premiership.

With the Conservatives on course for a drubbing in Thursday’s European elections, the prime minister hopes the results will focus the minds of her own MPs and persuade them to support the long-awaited withdrawal agreement bill (WAB).

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Corbyn defends Labour’s bid for both leavers and remainers

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Polls suggest his party could be squeezed into third place in the European elections

Jeremy Corbyn has given a robust defence of Labour’s decision to try to appeal to both leavers and remainers in this Thursday’s European elections.

With an Observer poll suggesting Labour could be squeezed into third position behind Nigel Farage’s Brexit party and the pro-remain Liberal Democrats, Corbyn said he still wanted to bring the two sides of the Brexit divide together.

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Keir Starmer blames ‘wannabe Tory leaders’ for Brexit talks failure

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Shadow Brexit secretary says impasse could be broken by allowing confirmatory vote

The shadow Brexit secretary, Keir Starmer, has blamed “wannabe Tory leaders” for the breakdown of cross-party talks as he renewed his call for a second referendum on leaving the EU.

The government and Labour sought to blame each other after talks to find a compromise Brexit plan collapsed on Friday, leaving any remaining hopes of an imminent solution to the impasse in tatters.

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Scotland won’t be independent within EU, says Farage

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Brexit party leader dismisses Nicola Sturgeon’s campaign for independence within EU

Nigel Farage has called on “genuine Scottish nationalists” to vote for his Brexit party in next week’s EU elections, as he described Nicola Sturgeon’s campaign for an independent Scotland within Europe as “the most dishonest political discourse anywhere in the world”.

As anti-racist protesters chanted outside the venue, Farage told cheering supporters at a rally in Edinburgh: “If you’re genuinely a nationalist lend your vote to the Brexit party, let’s get out of the EU and then have an honest debate about independence.”

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May and Corbyn blame each other as Brexit talks collapse

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Tories and Labour point to each other’s internal divisions after negotiations fail

The government and Labour have sought to blame each other after cross-party talks to find a compromise Brexit plan collapsed, leaving any remaining hopes of an imminent solution to the impasse in tatters.

While both sides insisted the discussions had taken place in good faith, Theresa May said a sticking point had been Labour splits over a second referendum.

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Labour avoids party split over Common Market – archive, 17 May 1971

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17 May 1971: Mr Wilson and Mr Callaghan succeeded in persuading both pro- and anti-Market groups not to insist on firm decisions on either tactics or principle

Labour Party leaders last night came to the sensible conclusion that it was not worth splitting the Labour movement wide open over the Common Market when Mr Heath and the Conservative Party were already faced with the even more immediate and difficult problem of rallying a respectable Parliamentary majority for entry on the basis of Tory votes without the aid of Labour MPs.

That was, to all intents and purposes, the outcome of a full afternoon session of Labour’s national executive committee and the Shadow Cabinet of the Parliamentary Labour Party, at which Mr Wilson and Mr Callaghan succeeded in persuading both pro- and anti-Market groups not to insist on firm decisions on either tactics or principle. For the time being, the heat is out of the European issue inside the party.

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Iran tells Middle East militias: prepare for proxy war

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Exclusive: Top military leader delivers message at Baghdad meeting as tensions rise

Iran’s most prominent military leader has recently met Iraqi militias in Baghdad and told them to “prepare for proxy war”, the Guardian has learned.

Two senior intelligence sources said that Qassem Suleimani, leader of Iran’s powerful Quds force, summoned the militias under Tehran’s influence three weeks ago, amid a heightened state of tension in the region. The move to mobilise Iran’s regional allies is understood to have triggered fears in the US that Washington’s interests in the Middle East are facing a pressing threat. The UK raised its threat levels for British troops in Iraq on Thursday.

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May averts Tory mutiny by agreeing to set her exit date after Brexit bill vote

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1922 Committee agrees to let PM wait until after vote on withdrawal agreement bill in early June

Theresa May has agreed to set a timetable for her departure as prime minister in the first week of June, leading MPs to believe she will trigger a leadership contest before the summer.

Sir Graham Brady, the chair of the 1922 Committee of backbenchers, said she would agree a timetable for the election of a new leader after her Brexit legislation returned to parliament for a final attempt in the week of 3 June.

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May vows to put Brexit deal to MPs in early June

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Prime minister hopes to forestall leadership challenge as talks with Labour continue despite lack of progress

Theresa May has pledged to give MPs another opportunity to vote on Brexit early next month, with or without Labour’s backing, after Jeremy Corbyn raised concerns about her ability to deliver on a cross-party deal.

The prime minister called a meeting with the Labour leader on Tuesday night to take stock of the Brexit negotiations, as the government sought to inject fresh urgency into the process. The pair held an hour-long meeting alongside the two parties’ chief whips.

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Brexit talks with Labour are blind alley, senior Tories tell May

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Prime minister under pressure from 14 senior party figures to abandon cross-party pact

Theresa May’s Brexit talks with Labour have been criticised as a “blind alley” as she came under intense pressure from 14 senior party figures to abandon the idea of a cross-party pact.

The former defence secretary Michael Fallon said the talks should be stopped, after he joined 12 other former cabinet ministers and Sir Graham Brady, the chair of the 1922 Committee, in warning No 10 against any deal that involved a customs union.

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Senior Tories press May to abandon Brexit deal talks with Labour

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PM told that any deal involving customs union would be ‘bad politics and bad policy’

Theresa May is under intense pressure to abandon cross-party Brexit talks, after a group of senior Conservative figures, including leadership contenders Boris Johnson and Dominic Raab, issued a strongly worded warning against any deal that involved a customs union.

May’s cabinet, and Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet, are both due to take stock of the talks on Tuesday, with neither side optimistic about the prospects for an agreement that could secure a majority in parliament.

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