UK General Discussion:The Rt. Hon Alex Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, Populist Hero

[NewYorkExpress]

https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/uk-foreign-secretary-fire-taking-knee-comments-71320239

Britain’s foreign secretary has drawn criticism after he suggested in an interview that taking a knee appeared to be from “Game of Thrones” and was a symbol of subjugation.

Dominic Raab told talkRADIO Thursday that he understood the frustration driving the Black Lives Matter movement, before adding: “I’ve got to say on this taking the knee thing - which I don’t know, maybe it’s got a broader history - but it seems to be taken from the ‘Game Of Thrones’.”


“It feels to me like a symbol of subjugation and subordination, rather than one of liberation and emancipation,” he said. "But I understand people feel differently about it, so it is a matter of personal choice.”

[NewYorkExpress]

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/06/28/britain-sedwill-boris-johnson-343384

Mark Sedwill, the most senior official in Boris Johnson's government, will stand down in September, Downing Street confirmed.

Sedwill will leave his posts as Cabinet secretary, head of the U.K. civil service and national security adviser.



His departure comes after months of speculation about his position, amid reports that he has clashed with Johnson's Downing Street team. It was announced 24 hours after Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove gave a speech setting out the government's plans for major reforms of the civil service, while criticizing many aspects of the way Whitehall operates.


The U.K.'s chief Brexit negotiator and close Johnson ally, David Frost, will take over as national security adviser and the government will shortly launch the search for Sedwill's successor as cabinet secretary and head of the civil service.

[NewYorkExpress]

https://www.businessinsider.com/conservative-mps-threaten-boris-johnson-rebellion-remove-huawei-5g-2020-7

Boris Johnson faces a sustained campaign of rebellion from dozens of his own Members of Parliament until he agrees to accelerate the removal of the Chinese telecoms firm Huawei from the UK's 5G network.

The UK prime minister is expected to reverse his to decision to grant Huawei a limited but significant role in developing the UK's 5G, amid growing hostility towards the firm and China within his Conservative party.

Johnson is expected to this month set out plans to phase out Huawei from the UK network, according to The Financial Times, with a report by the UK's National Cyber Security Centre set to warn that US sanctions on the company mean it poses an increased risk to UK security.

The sanctions recently introduced by the Trump administration are designed to stop Huawei using US-produced equipment to make semiconductors. This has created concern in London that the Chinese telecoms firm would turn to different technology with an additional security risk.

[NewYorkExpress]

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-53632949

A woman who told police she was raped by a former Conservative minister complained about his behaviour to a senior party figure four months ago.

It is understood that Tory chief whip Mark Spencer spoke with the complainant in April, but Mr Spencer insists she did not make any allegation of serious sexual assault.

The party said it will not suspend the MP while investigations are ongoing.

The MP, in his 50s, was arrested on Saturday and has since been bailed.

The Metropolitan Police said the allegations related to four separate incidents claimed to have taken place between July 2019 and January 2020.

The Sunday Times reported that the allegations against the former minister had been made by an ex-parliamentary employee.

A spokesman for the chief whip said that he took all accusations of harassment and abuse extremely seriously and had strongly encouraged anybody who has approached him to contact the appropriate authorities.

Depending on who this ends up being, could this be enough to bring down Boris Johnson's Government? Surely someone in the Conservative Party could give him a leadership challenge over this?

[NewYorkExpress]

https://www.bbc.com/news/education-53799860

A-level grades awarded in sixth form colleges this year fell below the average of the last three years in England, new analysis suggests.

The Sixth Form Colleges Association said its research is evidence that students in larger institutions have been failed by this year's system.

Almost 40% of A-level grades awarded on Thursday in England were lower than teachers' predictions.

The government has defended the approach it used to determine grades.

Students, who were not able to sit exams this year because of the coronavirus pandemic, had 280,000 A-level results downgraded.

Exam regulator Ofqual has faced criticism over the statistical model it used to decide the grades.

I don't think Boris Johnson is going to suffer any real problems from this, but this could cost Education Secretary Gavin Williamson his position.

[NewYorkExpress]

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/aug/25/boris-johnson-will-quit-dominic-cummings-father-in-law-reportedly-says

Downing Street probably hoped Dominic Cummings’ family would not provide any more headaches after the furore prompted by Boris Johnson’s adviser’s lockdown dash to his parents’ Durham farm this year.

But, in a fresh blow to No 10, the top aide’s father-in-law has reportedly said Johnson will stand down as prime minister in six months.

The claim – strenuously denied by Downing Street and, later, Johnson – was apparently delivered by Sir Humphry Wakefield to a visitor to the family’s 13th-century Grade I-listed Chillingham Castle, in Northumberland, last week.

The 84-year-old baronet, father of Cummings’ wife, Mary, told visitor Anna Silverman Johnson was still struggling badly after having coronavirus and would step down in six months, according to a report in the Times.

The Prime Minister, for his part says he is feeling "far better" and calls the claim "utter nonsense".

[NewYorkExpress]

https://www.ndtv.com/indians-abroad/indian-origin-london-mayor-candidate-geeta-sidhu-robb-dropped-over-antisemitism-remarks-2295342

An Indian-origin entrepreneur-activist was on Monday dropped as a prospective London mayoral candidate to contest against Sadiq Khan next year after her past antisemitic comments came to light.

Geeta Sidhu Robb, the founder of organic food and juice products firm Nosh Detox, had been shortlisted as the Liberal Democrat candidate to take on Labour's Khan but was instead suspended from the party after a 1997 General Election footage revealed her making anti-Jewish remarks.

....






As a Conservative Party General Election candidate in Blackburn 23 years ago when she was contesting against incumbent Labour MP Jack Straw, Sidhu Robb was filmed saying: "Don't vote for a Jew, Jack Straw is a Jew."

The London-based health food promoter, who came second behind Straw in that election, said she was "deeply ashamed" of the language she had used, which she is seen admitting in the footage was done in anger.

[NewYorkExpress]

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-kent-54161766

Ex-Conservative MP Charlie Elphicke has been jailed for two years for sexually assaulting two women.

Elphicke, 49, the former MP for Dover, was convicted of groping the women in similar situations, nine years apart.

He denied the charges, but was found guilty of one count of sexual assault in 2007 and two further counts in 2016, after a trial at Southwark Crown Court.

The judge told Elphicke he was a "sexual predator who used your success and respectability as a cover".

Within minutes of his jailing, Elphicke confirmed he would appeal against his conviction, arguing he had not had a "fair trial".

[NewYorkExpress]

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-54369002

The prime minister's father, Stanley Johnson, has been pictured shopping without a face covering, breaking current Covid-19 restrictions.

Mr Johnson - a former Tory MEP - has apologised, claiming he may not be "100% up to speed" with current rules after returning from abroad.

Fines for not wearing a covering in a shop were raised by the government last week to £200 for first time offenders.

Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has also apologised for breaking the rules.

He was pictured at a dinner party which appeared to have nine guests, going against the government's "rule of six".

Asked about the pictures, Boris Johnson's official spokesman said it was now for the police to "determine what action to take", adding: "What the prime minister is clear on is that the rules apply for everyone and everyone should follow them".

[NewYorkExpress]

https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/15/europe/queen-elizabeth-mask-intl-scli-gbr/index.html

Queen Elizabeth II carried out her first public engagement since Britain's coronavirus lockdown in March, stepping out on Thursday without a mask despite a resurgence of the virus.

The 94-year-old monarch was joined by her grandson Prince William on a visit to the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory at Porton Down, southwest England. Neither were wearing face coverings, though they were adhering to social distancing guidelines.

The UK government recommends wearing a face covering in indoor places where "social distancing may be difficult and where you will come into contact with people you do not normally meet."

Buckingham Palace said that the Queen decided not to wear a mask after consulting her own medics and scientists at the Porton Down military research facility, which is providing vital support to the United Kingdom's Covid-19 pandemic response.

"Specific advice on this visit has been sought from the medical household and relevant parties," a royal source added.

[NewYorkExpress]

https://metro.co.uk/2020/11/13/jacob-rees-mogg-blamed-for-excluding-mp-with-cancer-from-debate-on-illness-13587642/

Commons leader Jacob Rees-Mogg has been slammed after a Tory MP with breast cancer wasn’t allowed to join a debate on the illness.

 Current Commons rules prevented former sports minister Tracey Crouch from participating in a Westminster Hall debate on the future of breast cancer services and the impact of Covid-19 on diagnosing the disease.

Ms Crouch, who announced she had cancer in June and is currently shielding, urged the Commons leader to apologise and change the rules to let members who cannot travel to the chamber contribute remotely.

Speaking to the Commons via videolink, she slammed Mr Rees-Mogg for suggesting that MPs working from home are ‘shirking’ their duties.

But he held his ground, saying there is a ‘careful balance’ to be struck and insisting that scrutiny of legislation is best done in person. A host of MPs have now taken to Twitter to angrily criticise the Commons Leader for his unwavering stance on the matter.

[NewYorkExpress]

Keir Starmer absolutely nails Boris Johnson on his devolution commentary.

Boris Johnson has denied fuelling the break up of the UK after reportedly saying devolution was a "disaster".

Sir Keir Starmer - who shares the PM's opposition to Scottish independence - seized on the alleged comments at Prime Minister's Questions.

"The single biggest threat to the future of the United Kingdom is the prime minister every time he opens his mouth," the Labour leader told MPs.

The PM is said to have made the remarks in a call with Tory MPs on Monday.

He told them devolution - setting up separate Parliaments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland - was "a disaster north of the border" and "Tony Blair's biggest mistake".

Sir Keir described devolution as "one of the proudest achievements of the last Labour government".

[NewYorkExpress]

Boris Johnson stands by Home Secretary Priti Patel, despite accusations of bullying

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson refused to fire or censure his interior minister on Friday despite an investigator’s conclusion that she bullied members of her staff.

A report said Home Secretary Priti Patel had not met the standards required of a government minister, and concluded her behavior fit the definition of bullying.



Cabinet ministers found to have breached the ministerial code are generally expected to resign. But the government said the prime minister had “full confidence” in Patel and “considers this matter now closed.”

Johnson’s adviser on ministerial standards Alex Allan, who led the investigation into Patel, resigned instead, saying he could not continue in his job.

“I recognize that it is for the prime minister to make a judgment on whether actions by a minister amount to a breach of the ministerial code,” Allan said. “But I feel that it is right that I should now resign from my position as the Prime Minister’s independent adviser on the code.”

[NewYorkExpress]

Scotland became the first country in the worfd to offer period products, like tampons for free yesterday.

Periods are a biological predisposition of being born a female, and the average female will spend more than 2,500 days, or roughly 7 years, of her life menstruating, but many women and girls around the world cannot afford period products. On Tuesday, Scotland became the first country to legislatively combat this issue by making menstrual products free in public facilities nationwide.


The Scottish Parliament confirmed in a tweet on Tuesday that the bill had passed unanimously. According to the parliament's website, the law requires the Scottish Government to set up a universal system so that anyone in need of period products can get them for free. Schools, colleges and universities will also be required to make free menstrual products available in restrooms. Local authorities and education providers will be responsible for ensuring free products are made available under the law.

There are roughly 1.57 million menstruating individuals in Scotland, according to the bill's associated financial memorandum. Based on that figure, it's estimated the new law will cost the Scottish government roughly £8.7 million in 2022/23, although the real cost will depend on how many individuals use the products made available. 

[NewYorkExpress]

UK taxpayers will no longer be funding overseas fossil fuel exploration.

The UK taxpayer is to stop funding fossil fuel projects overseas as part of the government’s push for international action on the climate ahead of a key summit on Saturday.


Taxpayers helped to support more than £21bn of fossil fuel development overseas in the last four years, despite calls from green campaigners to halt the finance.

Boris Johnson said: “Climate change is one of the great global challenges of our age, and it is already costing lives and livelihoods the world over. Our actions as leaders must not be driven by timidity or caution but by ambition on a truly grand scale.”

The halt to funding for fossil fuels has been mooted since early this year, when the prime minister was stung by accusations of hypocrisy because the UK continued to fund such developments despite preparing to host the next round of vital UN climate talks, Cop26, in Glasgow.

[NewYorkExpress]

Thanks to the U.K"s COVID response, support for Scottish Independence is growing.

At the Scottish National Party's recent annual conference, Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland's first minister, said she had "never been so certain" that Scotland would become an independent nation.

"Who do we want to be in the driving seat of shaping Scotland's future?" she asked. "The Scottish government has not got everything right, far from it. But I doubt there are many people in Scotland who would have wanted Westminster to be more in charge of our pandemic response."

Sturgeon was referring to Prime Minister Boris Johnson's approach to the coronavirus, which has included a botched testing plan and repeated policy U-turns. With more than 63,000 deaths, the U.K. has the highest toll in Europe.

Johnson's performance is one reason why the last 15 polls show that — for the first time — most Scots consistently support leaving the United Kingdom. A poll in October found 58% of likely voters backed an independent Scotland. That is a big shift from 2014 when voters easily defeated a referendum on independence by 55% to 45%.

Here's a link to the most recent poll on Scottish Independence.

https://www.ipsos.com/ipsos-mori/en-uk/record-public-support-scottish-independence

[NewYorkExpress]

Boris Johnson's father is seeking French citizenship.

Stanley Johnson, the father of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, has said that he intends to obtain French citizenship -- his comments coming just hours before the UK's final transition out of the European Union.

Johnson, a former Member of the European Parliament, told French radio station RTL he "will always be European" in an interview aired on Thursday.

"It's not a question of becoming French. If I understood correctly, I am French," he told RTL in French, highlighting his family's link with the country.

"My mother was born in France, her mother was entirely French as was her grandfather. So for me it's a question of reclaiming what I already have," he said of the decision to become a French citizen. "Therefore, I am very happy."

Britain officially leaves the EU's single market and customs union when the transition period ends at 11 p.m. GMT (6 p.m. ET) on New Year's Eve.

The post-Brexit trade deal between the EU and the UK comes into force at that time, after the two sides agreed to a last-minute agreement. But most Britons will start 2021 by losing their ability to freely work and travel around the 27-nation bloc.

[NewYorkExpress]

New General election poll out, from Focaldata.

The public are deeply unhappy with the government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic and the Brexit negotiations, a damning new poll suggests.

The poll predicts that if a general election were held tomorrow neither the Conservatives nor Labour would win an outright majority. Disturbingly for Boris Johnson, the survey says the Conservatives would lose 81 seats, wiping out the 80-seat majority they won in December 2019.

It gives the first detailed insight into the public’s perception of Johnson’s handling of the Brexit talks and the pandemic, amid fears that Britain is heading into a third national lockdown.

The prime minister is on course to lose his own seat of Uxbridge and Ruislip South, if the insight is accurate.

[NewYorkExpress]

Boris Johnson said that Scotland wouldn't get the COVID vaccine if the SNP had it's way.

Boris Johnson has taken a swipe at the Scottish National party by claiming that there would not have been a single Covid-19 vaccine in Scotland if it were up to Nicola Sturgeon’s party, the Guardian understands.

Addressing a virtual meeting of the 1922 Committee of backbench Conservative MPs on Tuesday evening before Wednesday’s Commons vote on the third national lockdown in England, the prime minister highlighted the threat of the new Covid variant, but is also said to have criticised Scotland’s ruling party.

Johnson tackled a series of questions from backbenchers on the Zoom call, including one from a Scottish Tory MP about the SNP, the answer to which took aim at the pro-independence party.

The prime minister is understood to have said that the strength of the union lay in what could be done for people across the UK, claiming that if it were up to the SNP, no coronavirus vaccines would have been delivered in Scotland.

One MP who attended the virtual meeting said: “Essentially, the point the prime minister was making is that the UK is a major country, we’ve got sufficient clout to get the vaccines rolled out. He did actually mention that we were ahead of the rest of Europe.

“He said if it were up to the SNP, then there wouldn’t have been a single vaccine delivered in Scotland. It was a UK effort, in other words, and needed the clout of a big government.”

[NewYorkExpress]

So, apparently Queen Elizabeth II lobbied Parliament to change a draft law so she could hide the monarchy's wealth.

The Queen successfully lobbied the government to change a draft law in order to conceal her “embarrassing” private wealth from the public, according to documents discovered by the Guardian.

A series of government memos unearthed in the National Archives reveal that Elizabeth Windsor’s private lawyer put pressure on ministers to alter proposed legislation to prevent her shareholdings from being disclosed to the public.

Following the Queen’s intervention, the government inserted a clause into the law granting itself the power to exempt companies used by “heads of state” from new transparency measures.

The arrangement, which was concocted in the 1970s, was used in effect to create a state-backed shell corporation which is understood to have placed a veil of secrecy over the Queen’s private shareholdings and investments until at least 2011.

The true scale of her wealth has never been disclosed, though it has been estimated to run into the hundreds of millions of pounds.

Evidence of the monarch’s lobbying of ministers was uncovered by a Guardian investigation into the royal family’s use of an arcane parliamentary procedure, known as Queen’s consent, to secretly influence the formation of British laws.

[NewYorkExpress]

Emma Hardy has quit her position as Shadow Further Education and Universities Minister, citing the workload caused by the government's handling of the pandemic.

A Labour MP has resigned her shadow ministerial post citing an increase in her constituency work during lockdown.

Emma Hardy said due to the coronavirus pandemic the number of people seeking her help had "risen dramatically".

The Hull West and Hessle MP was appointed as the shadow further education and universities minister last year after Sir Keir Starmer was elected party leader.

In her resignation letter she said she was leaving with a "heavy heart".

Ms Hardy blamed the government's handling of the pandemic for "taking a heavy toll on the place I love".

"In the past year, the number of residents contacting me needing help and support has risen dramatically; I was elected as their representative and their needs will always come first," she said.

Ms Hardy added: "I will no longer be able to give the role of shadow minister the time it deserves."

[NewYorkExpress]

Boris Johnson skipped key meetings early in pandemic to pen book on Shakespeare.

Aides to Boris Johnson fear that former advisor Dominic Cummings could claim that the UK prime minister skipped crucial coronavirus meetings to write a book on Shakespeare to fund his divorce, The Sunday Times reported.

Cabinet Office officials reportedly fear that Cummings will use his appearance before a committee of MPs investigating the government's early response to the pandemic to make damaging revelations about his former boss.

Johnson skipped five meetings of the COBRA emergency committee in the initial weeks of the pandemic in 2020.

The officials reportedly believe that Cummings will claim that Johnson needed the money from the book to fund his divorce from his second wife, Maria Wheeler.

The five meetings Johnson skipped were in late January and early February 2020, as the virus began to spread in the UK. It is customary for the prime minister to chair COBRA meetings during national crises.

[NewYorkExpress]

The BBC is undergoing a review of it's editorial policies after Martin Bashir was called out for using manipulative journalistic practices to secure an interview with Princess Diana

The BBC is to review its editorial practices and investigate how journalist Martin Bashir was rehired, following an inquiry into his interview with Diana, Princess of Wales.

Lord Dyson's report found the BBC covered up "deceitful behaviour" used by Bashir to secure the interview.

The BBC board accepted the findings in full and reiterated its apology.

Culture minister John Whittingdale told MPs that the BBC had "damaged its reputation" in the UK and abroad.

The inquiry, published last week, found Bashir had faked bank statements designed to suggest Princess Diana was under surveillance - to win the trust of her brother Earl Spencer, and eventually gain access to the princess for the 1995 Panorama interview.

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The BBC rehired Bashir as religion correspondent in 2016, when questions had already been asked about his conduct.

[NewYorkExpress]

The BBC is in hot water again, as one of their journalists was caught with old tweets that said "Hitler was right"

BBC News correspondent Tala Halawa has recently come under fire for a series of antisemitic tweets that have been unearthed by pro-Israel Twitter user Gnasherjew, according to Honest Reporting.

In one of the tweets from July 2014, Halawa wrote that “#Israel is more #Nazi than #Hitler! Oh, #Hitlerwasright #IDF go to hell.”

In another post on Facebook, she shared an image with the slogan “Solution for Israel Palestinian conflict – relocate Israel into United States,” which she captioned to be an “easy and simple world solution! To enlightening the ‘dark radical’ middle east."

[NewYorkExpress]

Congratulations go out to Boris Johnson for getting married earlier today.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has married his fiancee Carrie Symonds in a secret ceremony at Westminster Cathedral, it has been reported.

The wedding was held in front of close friends and family on Saturday, according to several newspapers.