From 2h ago Boris Johnson became ‘suspicious’ of Sue Gray as she carried out her inquiry, says Guto Harri Good morning. With the coronation over, politics is back in spades after three days where it has been effectively marginalised. There is plenty around. But let’s start with the latest instalment of the Boris Johnson Tory psychodrama. Guto Harri, Johnson’s communications director when Johnson was PM, is launching a new podcast about his time in No 10 and, in an article for the Daily Mail, he claimed that Johnson and King…
Tag: Boris Johnson
Xi Jinping hails China’s rule over Hong Kong on 25th anniversary of handover
Xi Jinping has hailed China’s rule over Hong Kong as he led 25th anniversary celebrations of the city’s handover from Britain, insisting democracy was flourishing despite a political crackdown that has silenced dissent. After swearing in a new hardline chief executive, John Lee, in a solemn ceremony on Friday morning, the Chinese president laid out his vision for the city and its administrators. On his first trip outside mainland China since the pandemic began, he vowed that “one country, two systems” – a governance model under which Hong Kong was…
No 10 staff will be able to give evidence confidentially to inquiry into whether PM lied over Partygate – UK politics live
From 1h ago No 10 staff will be able to give evidence confidentially to inquiry into whether PM lied over Partygate, committee says The Commons privileges committee has issued a statement after its first meeting to consider its inquiry into whether Boris Johnson lied to MPs about Partygate. It has issued a wide-ranging call for evidence, and it is inviting whistleblowers to give evidence anonymously if they want. This provision seems intended to encourage civil servants working in No 10, who may have heard Boris Johnson reveal in private that…
Unvaccinated over-60s face monthly fine in Greece; UK reports another 84,429 cases and 85 deaths – as it happened
Greece on Monday imposed a vaccination mandate for people over the age of 60, as coverage remains below the EU average and a recent rise in infections has sustained pressure on hospitals, the Associated Press reports. Older people who fail to get vaccinated will face penalties, starting at a €50 ($57) fine in January and followed by a monthly fine of €100 ($114) after that. About two-thirds of Greece’s 10.7 million population is fully vaccinated – the EU average is just over 70%. The rate of death and daily hospitalisations…
Johnson’s imperial bombast could suck Britain into more deadly interventions | Simon Jenkins
Relations between the world’s great powers are tenser than ever since the cold war. Troops are massing along Russia’s border with Ukraine. Chinese ships and planes are openly threatening Taiwan. Japan is rearming in response. Turkey is renewing its belligerence towards its neighbours. Russia is backing east-west fragmentation in Bosnia. Where Britain stands in all this is dangerously unclear, drifting on a sea of Boris Johnson’s gestures and platitudes. The Royal Navy currently has a £3.2bn aircraft carrier waving the union flag in the South China Sea, completely unprotected. China…
Scott Morrison tells Cop26 Australia will exceed 2030 target in bid to fend off criticism
Scott Morrison has used his national statement at the Cop26 to emphasise that Australia will probably overachieve on its 2030 emissions reduction target in an effort to blunt international criticism about his government’s lack of climate ambition. While the lead-up to the Glasgow summit was dominated by Morrison’s negotiations with the National party to land a net zero commitment by 2050, the UN-led event is focused on ambition for the 2030s. Australia – part of a bloc of big emitters and exporters at last weekend’s G20 summit in Rome attempting…
‘If we don’t act now it will be too late’, warns Johnson ahead of Cop26
World leaders have been warned that Cop26 must “mark the beginning of the end of climate change” amid last-minute talks that could help determine the future of the planet. With the long-awaited environmental summit due to start on Monday, Boris Johnson issued his plea while saying “too many countries are still doing too little”. Speaking en route to Italy to meet other prime ministers and presidents from the G20 group of industrialised nations, Johnson said that without action the modern world could suffer the same fate as the Roman empire…