Category Archives: Liz Truss

UK politics live: Truss warns of ‘some economic hardship’ as she gives more detail of Russian sanctions

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Truss says officials ‘working through the night’ to draw up sanctions against oligarchs; Kwasi Kwarteng in Commons on economic crime bill

In a thread on Twitter, Rob Ford, the politics professor and co-author of Brexitland, a book explaining the attitudinal shifts (including on immigration) that led to Brexit, says that the public may be much more supportive of opening the borders to Ukrainian refugees than people (like Priti Patel?) assume. It starts here.

And here is one of Ford’s conclusions.

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Increase funding or abandon hope of ending malaria, TB and Aids, UK warned

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Global Fund urges UK and other donors to pledge billions to get efforts to end diseases by 2030 ‘back on track’ after catastrophic impact of Covid

Britain is being urged to pledge billions of dollars to get the fight against malaria, tuberculosis and Aids “back on track” after efforts were ravaged by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The UK has historically been one of the main donors to the Global Fund, an international financing organisation aimed at ending the three deadly epidemics by 2030. Now it is warning that, unless donors make an unprecedented total funding pledge of $18bn (£13.25bn) this year, that goal will be missed.

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UK ‘weakening threat to Kremlin by failing to close property loophole’

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EU capitals concerned UK is not ensuring identity of real estate owners known in event of sanctions

Britain has frustrated its EU allies and weakened the west’s financial threat to the Kremlin by failing to close a loophole that will ensure London real estate remains a safe haven for Russian money, according to diplomatic sources in Brussels.

New legislation, described as the “toughest ever” by the foreign secretary, Liz Truss, gives the UK government powers to freeze the assets of individuals linked to the Russian state in the event of an invasion of Ukraine but fails to “capture” property owned via anonymous offshore structures.

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Ukraine crisis brings British intelligence out of the shadows

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Analysis: warnings of Russian invasion issued in bid to shape the narrative and win information war with Kremlin

British intelligence, so used to operating in the shadows, has been thrust into the spotlight during the Ukraine crisis, cited by Boris Johnson on Wednesday to warn that Russian troop numbers were still increasing or by the foreign secretary, Liz Truss, last month to warn of a possible coup in Kyiv.

As the crisis has intensified, the warnings have, if anything, become even less subtle. An extraordinary video released on Thursday by the Ministry of Defence, billed in capital letters as an “intelligence update”, included a Dad’s Army-style map showing a possible Russian invasion plan and other assessments aimed at the general public.

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Ukraine: Russian military buildup shows ‘no signs of slowing’, says Truss – video

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The UK foreign secretary, Liz Truss, has said there are no signs that Russia's military buildup on the Ukraine border is slowing down.

Speaking in Kyiv, Truss said the UK stood 'shoulder to shoulder' with Ukraine in the face of the threat

Russia and Ukraine crisis latest news: live updates as US warns of Russian invasion

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Truss tells Iran she hopes UK will soon be able to repay £400m debt

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Tehran is keen to see Britain do more to help with Afghan refugee crisis

Liz Truss has said she hopes Britain will soon be in a position to pay the £400m debt overdue to Iran, according to an Iranian account of the phone call between the foreign secretary and her Tehran counterpart, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

UK government officials have been exploring legal ways to pay Britain’s historical debt, although international economic sanctions on Iran have made it difficult.

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Russia-Ukraine crisis a ‘dangerous moment for the world’, warns Truss

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UK foreign secretary says invasion by Putin could embolden Iran and China to expand their ambitions

The UK foreign secretary, Liz Truss, has warned of a “dangerous moment for the world” as the “highly likely” prospect of a Russian invasion of Ukraine could embolden other countries such as Iran and China to expand their ambitions.

Speaking on Sky News, Truss said “we could be on the brink of a war in Europe, which would have severe consequences not just for the people of Russian and Ukraine but for the broader security in Europe”, adding she was “very worried”.

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Liz Truss warns Russia could launch Ukraine invasion ‘almost immediately’ – video

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Vladimir Putin could launch an invasion of Ukraine 'almost immediately', the foreign secretary has warned after chairing a meeting of the government’s Cobra emergency committee. Liz Truss repeated a call for Britons to leave Ukraine because of the threat of war. She also defended her decision to travel to Moscow to meet her Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, saying: 'The Russians didn’t like what I had to say, but I say it nevertheless, and I want them to desist, and I want them to be aware that there will be severe costs of an invasion'

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Liz Truss warns Russia of sanctions during tense Ukraine talks

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Foreign secretary issues warning as Sergei Lavrov describes UK’s contribution to talks as ‘just slogans’

The British foreign secretary, Liz Truss, has personally warned Moscow of tough sanctions that are to be imposed if Russia attacks Ukraine, during tense talks that Russia’s top diplomat said were like a conversation of “the mute with the deaf”.

The British sanctions package remained under government review on Thursday, somewhat undermining Truss’s threat as she led a British diplomatic effort to head off a potential Russian offensive in Ukraine.

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Liz Truss heads to Moscow with ‘toughest sanctions’ plan delayed

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Foreign secretary told MPs laws would be in place by 10 February but nothing has been put to parliament

The British foreign secretary, Liz Truss, will meet her Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, on Thursday with her plan to have put the UK’s “toughest sanctions regime against Russia” on the statute book in time for the trip having fallen through.

Truss told MPs the laws would be in place by 10 February, but nothing has been put to parliament, raising suspicions among opposition MPs that government lawyers are struggling to frame the sweeping and unprecedented new laws.

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Truss says Falklands part of ‘British family’ after China backs Argentina

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Accord signed by Alberto Fernández and Xi Jinping at Winter Olympics also supports Chinese claim to Taiwan

Liz Truss has defended the Falklands as “part of the British family” after China backed Argentina’s claim over the South American islands.

The foreign secretary tweeted that “China must respect the Falklands’ sovereignty” after the Argentinian president, Alberto Fernández, met China’s President Xi on the fringes of the Beijing Winter Olympics.

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Biden rattles his sabre at Putin … but it’s Xi he really wants to scare

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Tub-thumping talk of all-out war in Ukraine seems overblown but the White House knows the fledgling Sino-Russian axis is a real threat, in Taiwan and elsewhere

If, as seems increasingly probable, Russia decides not to launch an all-out invasion of Ukraine, tub-thumping US and British politicians who have spent weeks scaring the public with loose talk of looming Armageddon will have some explaining to do.

The military build-up directed by Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, is real enough. But suspicion grows that the actual as opposed to the hypothetical threat of a large-scale conventional attack is being mis-read, misinterpreted, over-estimated or deliberately exaggerated.

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Ministers accused of failing to stem flow of Russian ‘dirty money’ into UK

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Anti-corruption activists criticise government inaction in face of years of Kremlin provocation

Britain’s efforts to halt the flow of Russian “dirty money” into the UK have been called into question in the aftermath of a threat by the foreign secretary, Liz Truss, to hit Kremlin-linked oligarchs with economic sanctions if Ukraine is attacked.

Labour and anti-corruption campaigners this week accused the government of failing to curtail Russian wealth and influence in Britain, despite years of provocative actions from the Kremlin.

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Liz Truss says UK will introduce tougher sanctions on Russia this week

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Foreign secretary announces legislation in bid to dissuade Putin from launching Ukraine invasion

Legislation to allow Britain to hit banks, energy companies and “oligarchs close to the Kremlin” with economic sanctions will be introduced by the government this week, the foreign secretary, Liz Truss, has said.

The scheme is the latest attempt by the UK to dissuade the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, from launching an invasion of Ukraine, and was announced hours after Britain said it was willing to deploy more forces to Estonia and other Nato allies in eastern Europe.

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Former Australian PM Paul Keating criticises Liz Truss over ‘demented’ China comments

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Ex-leader targets UK foreign secretary’s remarks on potential China aggression in the Indo-Pacific, adding Britain suffers from ‘relevance deprivation’

The former Australian prime minister Paul Keating has accused Liz Truss of making “demented” comments about Chinese military aggression and urged the British foreign secretary to hurry “back to her collapsing, disreputable government”.

Keating, in a blistering op-ed, also said Britain “suffers delusions of grandeur and relevance deprivation” and its tilt to the Indo-Pacific lacks credibility.

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Brexit leaves furious British citizens stranded in EU countries

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Thousands of people say their rights have been compromised despite government promises

A 67-year-old British woman who planned to return to Britain with her 80-year-old French husband after 30 years in France has told how Home Office delays have left them waiting almost a year for the Brexit paperwork they need to set foot in the country.

Carmel and her husband, Louis, who asked that their real names not be used, sold their house last year and packed up all their belongings having read that it would take 15 days to get a family permit.

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UK and Irish foreign secretaries meet over Northern Ireland Brexit impasse

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Liz Truss and Simon Coveney meetup comes before talks on protocol with EU Brexit negotiator

The UK foreign secretary, Liz Truss, and her Irish counterpart, Simon Coveney, have had a “good and friendly” first meeting over the vexed issue of the Brexit arrangements in Northern Ireland, Irish government sources have said.

They met for the first time over dinner in London on Thursday night and discussed the Northern Ireland protocol, the wider relationship with the EU, and UN security matters including the crisis in Ukraine and Kazakhstan.

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Liz Truss says Russia faces high-level sanctions if it invades Ukraine

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Foreign secretary asserts western solidarity against Putin’s threats, but MPs challenge her on Russian influence in UK

Massive coordinated sanctions threatened against Russia if it launches military action against Ukraine will hit the high-level Russian elite and its ability to carry out financial transactions, Liz Truss, the UK foreign secretary, told MPs on Thursday, as she warned the west could not afford to be seen to reward Moscow in crucial talks next week.

Her remarks appear indirectly to confirm that if Russia mounts an incursion into Ukraine it could be excluded from Swift, the messaging network used by 11,000 banks in 200 countries to make cross-border payments.

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Johnson’s pig-headed reign approaches its tragicomic climax | William Keegan

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Events in the run-up to Christmas have conspired like twists in a novel to reveal the true character of Tory Brexiters

There was a moment last year when Boris Johnson was reported to have gone awol (absent without leave) from governing the country in order to work on a book about Shakespeare.

At the time, many commentators blamed his absence for a crucial delay in decision-making which contributed to thousands of avoidable, Covid-related deaths. Be that as it may, or was, he returned to the helm of state, brushed off many a criticism, and managed to persuade gullible members of the media and electorate that he possessed Teflon qualities and was invincible.

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UK accused of abandoning world’s poor as aid turned into ‘colonial’ investment

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Rebrand of Foreign Office’s development arm, seen as effort to rival China’s loans, will shift aid to private sector, warn NGOs and unions

The British government has been accused by NGOs and trade unions of “chasing colonial post-Brexit fantasies” at the expense of the world’s poorest as they urge Liz Truss to keep aid focused on poverty reduction rather than geopolitical manoeuvring.

In a joint letter to the foreign secretary, the group criticises the rebranding of the UK’s development investment arm, which will see the Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC) become British International Investment (BII) next year.

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