Foreign secretary says he agrees 150% with sentiment of tweet which quoted Katie Hopkins
Jeremy Hunt has vigorously defended Donald Trump for quoting the far-right commentator Katie Hopkins in an attack on the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, as Downing Street declined to condemn the US president’s words.
The foreign secretary said that while he would not have used the same words as Trump he would “150% agree” with the overall sentiment.
Continue reading...Fast must not go ‘to bitter end’ as they are parents to Gabriella, says Richard Ratcliffe
Richard Ratcliffe will join his wife, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, in her hunger strike for as long as he can, he has said, as the couple sought to increase pressure on the Iranian government for her release after three years’ imprisonment in Iran on charges she denies.
But Ratcliffe said it was important the action did not go “to the bitter end” because of their five-year-old daughter, Gabriella, who is also unable to leave Iran and return to the UK.
Continue reading...Labour leader urges UK to ease tensions in Gulf after Foreign Office links blasts to Tehran
Jeremy Corbyn has called for the government to abstain from escalating tensions with Iran without “credible evidence” that Tehran was responsible for attacks on two oil tankers.
The Labour leader said Britain risked increasing the threat of war after the Foreign Office (FCO) said it was “almost certain” in its assessment that “a branch of the Iranian military … attacked the two tankers on 13 June”.
Continue reading...Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including the first round of voting in the Tory leadership contest
Here is my colleague Rafael Behr on Boris Johnson.
Related: Boris Johnson has an unfair advantage in the leadership race … there’s two of him | Rafael Behr
One of the two Johnsons served as mayor of London from 2008-2016. He has liberal, metropolitan instincts – broadly pro-immigration, old-fashioned in his use of idiom, but a moderniser at heart. Then there is 2016-2019 Johnson, figurehead of the Vote Leave campaign, the ultimate Brexit-booster. He is a more aggressive, divisive figure – a partisan of nationalistic culture wars who has consorted with Steve Bannon. Both Johnsons are dispensing wild promises to Tory MPs behind closed doors. The self-styled “One Nation” Conservatives and rightwing ultras each seem to think the other side is being taken for a ride, which suggests they all are.
Matt Hancock surpassed expectations, a spokesman for his campaign said. The spokesman went on:
MPs have responded well to Matt’s energetic and positive campaign. His pro-business message, his focus on taking the fight to Corbyn and the Lib Dems not just the Brexit party, and his argument that the Tory party “need a leader for the future, not just for now” has gone down well with colleagues.
Continue reading...The red carpet has been rolled out for the US president’s three-day state visit. He landed at Stansted airport and headed to Buckingham Palace for an official welcome and a day of engagements culminating in a state banquet
Continue reading...Philip Hammond and senior party figures warn that MPs are prepared to take drastic action
Boris Johnson and Dominic Raab have been warned that Tory MPs would be prepared to bring down any prime minister backing a no-deal Brexit, triggering a general election, amid fears the leadership hopefuls will veer to the right in response to a surge in support for Nigel Farage at the European election.
A string of senior Conservatives, led by Philip Hammond, the chancellor, delivered a sobering message to candidates that many Tory MPs are prepared to take drastic action to stop a no-deal Brexit.
Continue reading...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
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...Secretary of state’s visit will be first high-level meeting since redacted Mueller report release
Mike Pompeo is to meet Vladimir Putin in Russia at a time of heightened fears of a clash between the US and Iran, a Moscow ally.
A Kremlin spokesman, before the meeting on Tuesday, accused the US of applying a “maximum pressure policy” against Iran, a reference to a harsh US sanctions regime and military deployments to the Middle East.
Continue reading...UK told ‘not to soothe the ayatollahs angry’ at US decision to abandon nuclear deal
US secretary of state Mike Pompeo has urged the UK to stand with Washington in reining in Iran’s “bloodletting and lawlessness”, as Tehran took the first conditional steps to extricate itself from the landmark nuclear deal it had signed with the west, Russia and China in 2015.
Iran said it was acting in response to Donald Trump’s decision a year ago to withdraw the US from the deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, JCPOA, imposing a wave of sanctions not just on Iran but on any company that seeks to trade with it.
Continue reading...Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments, as the government and Labour resume cross-party talks on a possible Brexit compromise
These are from the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg on today’s cabinet.
1. Cabinet sources say Brexit Sec Steve Barclay raised prospect of leaving EU in October without a deal at meeting this morning - big discussion on deal prep planned for next week - source suggests push back from Clark saying position was clear now that couldn't happen
2. No substantive discussion of cross party talks at Cabinet this morning - PM apparently also raised Williamson's sacking and said again there was compelling evidence - sources close to him say he still hasn't been told what it is
Almost all the MPs who have publicly backed a second referendum on Brexit are opposition MPs who would vote remain again if given the chance. Only a handful of Tories have backed the idea. But there are some signs now that that is starting to change.
On Friday Eric Pickles, a former Tory MP who now sits in the House of Lords, said that, much to his own surprise, he had now come round to the view that, if MPs cannot pass a deal, the public should be asked to decide.
If we cannot do this, if this is beyond us, and if we fail, then another referendum is inevitable.
If we fail, if there can be no compromise between the parties, I can actually see then the logic, and other people will be demanding another referendum. And those like me who have genuine concerns about what will happen to our society if we go through this process again, we will lose that debate over the referendum, because it will be the only option then left available to try to break the gridlock that we’ve entered into.
Talking to them, I think they are so obsessed with this issue, and they are so determined not to compromise in any way, they feel almost as if any form of compromise is some sort of betrayal. And certainly that narrative, one gets a great deal on Twitter: ‘This is a betrayal’, ‘This is a betrayal to the country’, ‘We are not fulfilling what the British people voted for’. I think that’s for the birds – it’s crazy …
I have to say, wouldn’t it be ironic if the ERG, the Eurosceptic caucus, through their intransigence, actually result in another referendum which will potentially overturn the previous result.
Continue reading...UK foreign secretary refuses to be called on possible leadership bid during marathon African tour
Jeremy Hunt’s 12,500-mile odyssey through Ghana, Senegal, Nigeria, Ethiopia and Kenya has been a chance for the man who could be the UK’s next prime minister to learn more about Africa – and for us to learn more about him.
The visit by the foreign secretary was ambitious in mileage and scale, speckled with meetings with presidents, helicopter rides to Maiduguri – the Boko Haram haven in Nigeria’s north-east – keynote speeches at the African Union headquarters, seminars with civil society and photo-ops.
Continue reading...Foreign secretary’s press freedom day speech ramps up British assault on RT
Foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt will on Thursday declare the Russian government-owned TV station RT to be a “weapon of disinformation” in a speech to mark World Press Freedom Day.
The comments, to an audience in Ethiopia, mark an escalation of a British ministerial assault on the standards of the Russian broadcaster, originally known as Russia Today, which had faced repeated investigations into its output by the media regulator Ofcom.
Continue reading...Plan could lose support of more Tory MPs than it gains from Labour, says foreign secretary
A Brexit deal with Labour to enter a customs union could cost the Conservatives the support of as many of their own MPs as they would gain from Labour, Jeremy Hunt has said as pressure mounts on Theresa May’s leadership over the cross-party talks.
Related: Brexit: Tory MPs won't accept cross-party compromise involving customs union, says Hunt - live news
Continue reading...Trip gives foreign secretary chance to push Tory leadership claims and speak up for Brexit
Jeremy Hunt is to start a five-day, five-nation tour of Africa that will give the foreign secretary a chance both to push his personal agenda ahead of an expected Conservative leadership election and try to convince Africa that Brexit will bring trade benefits.
Hunt will begin his tour on Monday in Senegal before travelling to Ghana, Nigeria, Ethiopia and Kenya, which have five of the fastest-growing economies on the continent.
Continue reading...UK foreign secretaries wrote to assure Ecuador president over WikiLeaks founder’s extradition
Ecuador’s president, Lenín Moreno, was assured by two British foreign secretaries that Julian Assange would not be extradited to a country where he could face the death penalty, according to letters seen by the Guardian.
Letters signed by the foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, and his predecessor Boris Johnson, dated 7 March 2018 and 10 August 2018 respectively, confirm a person cannot be extradited if they could face the death penalty, according to British legislation.
Continue reading...No 10 scrambles to explore options before possible heavy losses in EU elections
No 10 is feeling the pressure to pull the plug on Brexit talks with Labour and move to an alternative plan, amid warnings that the opposition is in no hurry for a deal before the European elections.
With talks deadlocked and no sign that the government moving on its red lines, neither the Conservatives or Labour want to appear responsible for the breakdown in discussions.
Continue reading...Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen
MPs are now debating amendments to Cooper Letwin. A result is expected within an hour or so.
We expect the House of Commons to debate the #CooperLetwin Bill around 9pm for up to an hour, with votes at the end. pic.twitter.com/0leLoH8gZQ
There’s been a split in the hard Brexit-supporting Tory backbench ERG group this evening: The MP, Daniel Kawczynski, has announced his resignation.
There have been recent rumblings of disquiet among the group; some of whom believe others are so determined to deliver the hardest of Brexits that they are actually imperiling the whole project. Kawczynski is one of them.
Have decided to resign from ERG. Despite excellent Chairmanship by @Jacob_Rees_Mogg who has accommodated all views I can no longer be a member of caucas which is preventing WA4 from passing. Hardcore element of ‘Unicorn’ dreamers now actually endangering #Brexit
Continue reading...Passengers reported to have been seen leaving terminal after strike by pro-Haftar forces
A warplane has attacked the only functioning airport in Tripoli as fighting between forces loyal to the Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar and rival militias escalated and EU foreign ministers met in Brussels to try to de-escalate the violence.
Mitiga airport, in an eastern suburb of the capital, was closed after it was hit in an airstrike by pro-Haftar forces. Passengers could be seen leaving the terminal, a Reuters correspondent at the airport said. Fighting was also under way at Tripoli’s international airport, 15 miles from the city centre, which has not been functioning since fighting destroyed much of it in 2014.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Yemen rebel chief says foreign secretary ‘cannot be a peace broker and arms salesman’
The leader of the Houthi movement in Yemen has condemned the British foreign secretary for pressing Germany to relax its arms sales ban on Saudi Arabia, saying it was not possible for the UK to be a peace-broker in the country and an arms seller.
“Britain sending aid does not change the tragic reality of its arms sales. Jeremy Hunt cannot promote peace while at the same time acting as an arms salesman,” said Mohamed Ali al-Houthi, the head of the supreme revolutionary committee, in an interview with the Guardian.
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