Category Archives: Jeremy Hunt

Liz Truss plays stateswoman as Tory leadership contenders line up for battle

Posted on by

The foreign secretary was doubtless happy to project an image of authority at a G7 meeting as chaos reigned in Downing Street

While Downing Street spent a disastrous week attempting to deal with scandals over parties and wallpaper – and the prime minister was juggling the crises with the birth of a daughter – things were somewhat more serene for another member of his top team.

Rather than dealing with resignations among staff or the latest revelations about Whitehall Christmas parties, foreign secretary Liz Truss has spent the weekend boosting her credentials as a stateswoman, using a meeting of her international counterparts in Liverpool to pitch herself as one of those protecting “the frontiers of freedom” around the world.

Continue reading...

Why an old £400m debt to Iran stands in way of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s release

Posted on by

The UK signed an arms deal with pre-revolutionary Iran that it never fully delivered on. Will it finally pay the refund it owes?

The former UK foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt has said that practicalities, not principles, are holding back the payment of a £400m British debt to Iran, seen as a precondition of the release of British-Iranian dual nationals held in Tehran, including Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.

Continue reading...

Damning Commons Covid report should be seen only as a start

Posted on by

Analysis: report is not short on lessons but a full public inquiry is needed to get to the bottom of UK’s response to pandemic

It might not have been the immediate public inquiry sought by opposition parties and bereaved families, but the landmark joint report into the UK’s handling of Covid proved less toothless than some feared.

Published almost exactly a year to the day since the MPs’ inquiry was first announced, the “lessons learned to date” report, prepared by two Commons committees after mammoth evidence sessions, is not short on lessons – some of them expressed with notable bluntness.

Continue reading...

Produce evidence Matt Hancock lied on Covid, Dominic Cummings to be told

Posted on by

Select committee chiefs to demand PM’s former aide backs up explosive claims

Dominic Cummings will be asked by senior MPs this week to produce evidence that Matt Hancock lied repeatedly about policy on Covid-19 before the health secretary’s appearance in front of a parliamentary committee early next month.

Jeremy Hunt and Greg Clark, the chairs of the joint select committee which took seven hours of explosive testimony from Cummings last week, will write to the former adviser to the prime minister in the next few days asking that he produce the evidence within the next fortnight.

Continue reading...

UK to move to highest coronavirus alert level as full lockdowns loom

Posted on by

Boris Johnson to make TV announcement on Monday night after pressure to tackle soaring infection rate

The government is expected to announce new steps to control the spread of coronavirus, as the chief medical officers recommended that the UK move to the highest coronavirus alert level.

Boris Johnson is due to make a TV address on Monday evening where he is set to announce mass school closures and tight lockdown restrictions. MPs will be recalled to parliament from Wednesday.

Continue reading...

Mass weekly Covid-19 testing of population to be trialled in England

Posted on by

Jeremy Hunt says UK should embrace repeat testing as route to more ‘normal life’

The UK government is to trial routine weekly Covid testing of the population as part of preparations to head off a possible winter second wave, as the former health secretary Jeremy Hunt called for such tests to become the norm.

Matt Hancock said the government was committing an extra £500m to scale up testing capacity and launch community pilots trialling the effectiveness of repeat testing in schools and colleges, as well as in the population as a whole. It will also ramp up the trials of a new test kit that it is claimed can provide results within 20 minutes.

Continue reading...

Bank of England blocking release of Venezuelan gold, court hears

Posted on by

$1bn gold hoard subject of dispute between Nicolás Maduro and rival Juan Guaidó

Claims that the Bank of England is unlawfully blocking the release of 31 tonnes of gold valued at nearly $1bn(£805m) and intended to combat the coronavirus in Venezuela have been heard in the high court this week.

The bars are among the 400,000 bars of gold held in the Bank’s vaults, but there is a political dispute about their rightful owner.

Continue reading...

Seven former foreign secretaries urge UK to take lead on Hong Kong

Posted on by

Cross-party initiative reflects concern response to China’s imposition of security laws cannot be left to Donald Trump

Britain must take the lead in co-ordinating the international response to China’s efforts to impose draconian security laws in Hong Kong, seven former Conservative and Labour UK foreign secretaries have come together to declare.

Related: Hong Kong officials lash out at Trump plan to strip city of special status

Continue reading...

Iran’s ambassador to UK reveals bilateral talks over £400m debt

Posted on by

Envoy says Britain is taking a new approach to the release of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe without acknowledging any link to the debt

The Iranian ambassador to the UK says the British government is taking a new approach to the release of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, adding bilateral talks were taking place over the payment of an outstanding £400m debt owed by the UK to Iran.

Hamid Baeidinejad said the two sides were looking at novel ways for the debt to be paid.

Continue reading...

Hunt siding with Europe over the US in the Gulf makes practical sense

Posted on by

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...

Iran rejects UK’s proposal for European-led maritime force

Posted on by

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...

UK must look after its own ships in the Gulf, says Pompeo

Posted on by

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...

Jeremy Hunt under pressure to back plan for Gulf force as Iran digs in

Posted on by

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...

Jeremy Hunt warns Iran of ‘serious consequences’ over tanker seizure – video

Posted on by

The foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, said on Saturday morning that Britain’s response would be ‘considered but robust’ if the British-flagged Stena Impero was not released, although he said the government was not contemplating military action. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had captured the British-flagged tanker, announcing the move two weeks after the British navy seized an Iranian tanker in Gibraltar, on suspicion of shipping oil to Syria in violation of an EU embargo

Continue reading...

Boris blimp to join 9ft Nigel Farage on anti-Brexit march in London

Posted on by

Pro-Europe grassroots groups to voice opposition to a Johnson premiership

Protesters will take to London’s streets on Saturday for a “No to Boris. Yes to Europe” march days ahead of Boris Johnson’s widely anticipated move into No 10.

A Boris toddler blimp was launched in Parliament Square at 10am, featuring salmon-pink skin, the politician’s trademark “faux-dishevelled hairstyle”, mismatched running gear and a Brexit-bus T-shirt, according to March for Change.

Continue reading...

EU expected to reject outright Johnson and Hunt’s backstop plan

Posted on by

Next PM will be told in ‘no uncertain terms’ that axing backstop amounts to no deal

Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt’s Brexit plan to axe the Irish border backstop from the withdrawal agreement will be rejected outright by the European Union, EU sources have said.

Informed sources say that it is doomed to failure and if the next prime minister goes to Brussels with such a plan, he will be told in “no uncertain terms” that it amounts to a declaration of no deal.

Continue reading...

Jeremy Hunt says ‘small window’ exists to save Iran nuclear deal – video

Posted on by

Arriving in Brussels on Monday, the UK’s foreign secretary said there was still time to save the Iran nuclear deal. European powers are trying to preserve the landmark deal, which the US abandoned unilaterally a year ago. Iran recently announced it would start enriching uranium beyond agreed limits

Continue reading...

Failure of Iran deal could pose ‘existential threat’, says Hunt

Posted on by

UK foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt tries to reinforce nuclear deal abandoned by US

Tensions in the Middle East could pose an existential threat to mankind unless the Iran nuclear deal is maintained, Jeremy Hunt will say on Monday in his starkest warning since the regional crisis escalated two months ago.

Speaking ahead of an EU meeting in Brussels, the UK foreign secretary will try to underline the importance of the deal, which was abandoned unilaterally by the US a year ago, leading to an accelerating reciprocal withdrawal by Iran.

Continue reading...

Boris Johnson claims his remarks were ‘misrepresented’ to Kim Darroch

Posted on by

Tory frontrunner says former US envoy confirmed TV debate was a factor in his resignation

Boris Johnson has robustly defended his role in the resignation of Kim Darroch, claiming his remarks in a televised debate had been “misrepresented” to the former ambassador to Washington.

Darroch quit his post on Wednesday, after Donald Trump publicly expressed his fury about a series of highly critical reports that had been leaked to the Mail on Sunday.

Continue reading...

Bitter blue-on-blue as Hunt and Johnson clash on live TV

Posted on by

Hunt accuses rival Johnson of putting ambition before country in head-to-head Tory leadership debate

Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt escalated the blue-on-blue warfare in Tuesday night’s televised debate, trading blows on which potential prime minister could see through a no-deal Brexit, as Hunt repeatedly emphasised his rival’s refusal to answer questions.

The bitter back-and-forth, which will raise questions over whether Hunt could serve in a Johnson government after the aspersions he cast on his rival, saw the foreign secretary accuse Johnson of putting personal ambition above the welfare of the country.

Continue reading...