theguardianuk--2019-11-13--Boris Johnson heckled over floods but does not apologise for 'slow response'

Boris Johnson declined to apologise over his government’s slow response to the flooding across parts of the north of England, insisting that a huge amount of work was going on to help and compensate victims.  The prime minister faced difficult questions over whether enough had been spent on flood defences in deluged regions of Yorkshire, the east Midlands and Lincolnshire, after giving a speech on how he would give billions of pounds to research and development.  Asked to apologise, and challenged over why voters in the areas underwater should support him, Johnson insisted the government stood “ready to support in any way” it could the 850 residents whose homes were flooded.  He said the government had already put £2.6bn into flood defences and would look at longer term solutions, such as planting more trees, to manage the environment better. Earlier, he was accused by some flood victims of doing nothing to help them as he visited one of the worst affected areas.  The prime minister appeared in Stainforth, South Yorkshire, as 100 soldiers were deployed to help shore up the region’s battered flood defences.  One resident told Johnson: “I’m not very happy about talking to you, so, if you don’t mind, I’ll just motor on with what I’m doing.” The woman, clutching a wheelbarrow alongside the troops sent to the area to help, added: “You’ve not helped us … I don’t know what you’re here today for.”  Another told him: “You’ve took your time, Boris, haven’t you?” Johnson replied: “We’ve been on it round the clock.”  Earlier the prime minister chaired a meeting of the government emergency committee, Cobra, following pressure from opposition leaders to get a grip on the crisis.  The Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, and the Liberal Democrat leader, Jo Swinson, visited Fishlake, near Doncaster, on Tuesday, outlining pledges to spend £5.6bn and £5bn respectively on flood defences.  However, Johnson did not mention any extra money for flood defences as he outlined a multi-billion-pound package of spending on research and development while visiting an electric car factory near Coventry.  He claimed a Conservative government would launch three industrial revolutions – in green tech, innovation and skills. His main policy planks were: • None Ensuring that everyone in England and Wales was within 30 miles of an electric vehicle charging point, by spending £500m on expanding the network • None Increasing the target for electricity from offshore wind power from 30GW to 40GW by 2030, a move he said that could create 9,000 more jobs • None Spending £800m on carbon capture and storage (CCS) clusters to help them become established by the mid-2020s • None Doubling research and development spending to £18bn by 2024 compared with 2017 levels, including funding for advanced maths research, a national space strategy and support for nuclear fusion • None About £1.8bn for rebuilding further education colleges  “I want you to imagine a Britain ... where in 10 years’ time scientists are starting to reap the huge rewards from our plans to double funding for research and businesses as well as from space to AI to the gigafactory for batteries we are going to build in the next three years,” Johnson said.  The speech also reiterated his core message on Brexit, claiming he had a “Blue Peter deal – here’s one I made earlier” and one that was “ready to go, just add water, stir in pot”.  He also suggested that all big new public-sector projects would be forced to hire British apprentices as workers after the UK left the EU.


theguardianuk--2019-11-12--Boris Johnson accused of 'outrageous' lack of concern about floods

Boris Johnson has been accused of displaying an “utterly outrageous” lack of concern about the severe floods that have devastated hundreds of homes and caused more than 1,200 properties to be evacuated in northern England.  Under increasing pressure over the issue, the prime minister chaired a meeting of the government’s emergency committee Cobra on Tuesday after he was criticised by Jeremy Corbyn for not declaring a national emergency.  Afterwards, the government announced it would “provide funding to support the recovery efforts of local councils where households and businesses have been affected”.  It said a community recovery grant would be made available to local councils, equivalent to £500 per eligible household, and businesses would be eligible for up to £2,500 each. An additional 100 armed forces personnel will also be deployed.  Speaking afterwards, Johnson said the country had to “prepare for more floods” this winter because the ground is so waterlogged.  Criticism of Johnson by opposition leaders was echoed in the towns badly affected by the downpours, where 30 flood warnings remain in place including five “danger to life” alerts along the River Don in South Yorkshire.  In the Nottinghamshire town of Worksop, scores of residents were evacuated and more than 200 homes and businesses were flooded on Friday after a month’s worth of rain fell in 24 hours.  Simon Greaves, the Labour leader of Bassetlaw district council, said Johnson had been “preoccupied with electioneering” when he should have been coordinating a national response to the disaster, which encompasses Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and South Yorkshire.  He said: “The government had a fantastic opportunity to step up to the plate and take emergency action. For me, they were concentrating more on the general election campaign than they were on people’s lives. They had an opportunity to take action [and] they consciously chose not to. I think it’s utterly outrageous.”  Johnson was filmed mopping up in a branch of Specsavers when he visited flood-hit Matlock on Friday night after campaigning in nearby Mansfield. Earlier that day the body of Annie Hall, the former high sheriff of Derbyshire, had been found, after she had been swept away by the River Derwent at Darley Dale, not far from Matlock.  On his visit to Derbyshire, the prime minister said the government needed to invest in flood defences but that the floods were not “looking like something we need to escalate to the level of a national emergency”.  The Liberal Democrat leader, Jo Swinson, visited Fishlake near Doncaster on Tuesday, where she announced her party’s plans for a £5bn flood prevention fund that local authorities would be able to access to improve their area’s defences.  Sue Marshall, who has been unable to return to her house since she was evacuated on Saturday, said she hoped the political visits would lead to real help for those affected – and that she feared being flooded on Thursday, when more rain is forecast.  “I’ve just said to Jo Swinson that it’s all very well her doing this but in a month’s time we’re going to be old news,” she said. “What we need to know is that in two months’ time, the MPs will revisit this and look at what has been done to stop it happening again. And my immediate concern is what are they doing now to stop it happening on Thursday.”  Corbyn made his second trip to the affected area in a week on Tuesday afternoon visiting a site of serious flooding in Doncaster, eight miles from where the Lib Dem leader made an appearance earlier in the day. He used the visit to announce Labour’s plans for a new £5.6bn fund to level up flood defences over 10 years, funded through the party’s £250bn Green Transformation Fund.    The Labour leader was shown around Custom Windows and Doors in Bentley, which has become the site of a community effort to help people affected by the floods back on their feet, housing piles of donated clothes and food.    Asked whether politicians were guilty of taking advantage of the disaster in South Yorkshire for their own electoral advantage, Corbyn said it was important that people understood that the party was serious about “providing the resources necessary to deal with what are the personal and human disasters of floods”.    Corbyn said that the Conservatives always ignored the needs of the north of England. His party’s proposed fund would prioritise areas of need in the north-west, Yorkshire and the East Midlands.    Emma King, 36, showed Corbyn around the home she lives in with her three children and partner. Her house was flooded on Friday and she said it now smelled like “stale, rotten fish”. King’s house was last flooded in 2007. “It shouldn’t have happened again,” she said.    Gwen Kincel’s home was flooded on Saturday, 12 years after it was last flooded in 2007. “They promised us this would never happen again and it has,” said Kincel, 69. “It was the same in 2007. I spent a year living upstairs last time until the downstairs of my house was back to normal and now i’m going to have to do it again.”  David Hughes, the mayor of Matlock, said it was right that the government had called an emergency meeting but he was surprised that Johnson had not yet visited the worst-affected areas. “Obviously if people are flooded for days and days on end then it is an emergency for them and it seems to be over a large area,” he said. “Given the persistency [of the floods], yes I think he probably should make a visit.”  In the Doncaster suburb of Bentley, which remained under a severe flood warning on Tuesday, Tony Nicholson said there was anger at the hierarchy of the town’s Labour council and the Conservative government over their response to the disaster.  “If this was in another area this would be deemed a national emergency. This is devastating for people’s lives,” said Nicholson, a Green party parish councillor. Nicholson said he was not making a party political point but was angry at the official response at a national and local level.  “It’s the official response that’s the issue, whoever is in charge,” he said. “It seems it has not been fast enough and because these people are not wealthy people and it has happened before, they have a sense that they’re not that important.”  Jane Cox, the leader of the Conservative group on Doncaster council, said it was inappropriate to score political points out of a human tragedy. “It does matter that [the government] should acknowledge it but I firmly believe it should not be politicised,” she said. “I would be horrified if anyone started slating anyone from the Labour party for what has happened.”


theguardianuk--2019-11-12--Andrew Sparrow's election briefing: for Angela Rayner, the personal is political

Boris Johnson has claimed the situation is “stabilising” for those affected by the flooding in northern England, as he spoke to broadcasters after chairing a meeting of the government’s Cobra emergency committee. He rejected claims that the government had been complacent. But No 10 announced the Cobra meeting only after Jeremy Corbyn publicly called for one (although Downing Street says it was scheduled anyway), and Corbyn and the Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson both made visits today to residents affected. Corbyn said Labour would spend £5.6bn over 10 years improving flood defences.  The Labour leader has unveiled what he described as one of the party’s most transformative plans: a lifelong learning proposal that he said would give every adult an entitlement to six years of free education. At a launch in Blackpool, Corbyn said this was one of the plans he was “most excited about”.  Angela Rayner, the shadow education secretary, said people taking up the offer would be able to get the same maintenance support available to students in higher education, and workers would have the right to paid time off for study. Rayner’s speech was powerful because she was able to recount how, as a teenage mother, her own life was transformed by adult education, and her performance will do nothing to quell speculation that, if she is not setting up a national education service after the election (and the polls continue to imply she won’t be), she might be running for the leadership instead.  Corbyn was given a standing ovation by the activists here in Blackpool, and his promise that the NHS is “not for sale” in a trade deal with the US was greeted with enthusiastic applause.  But the star turn was Rayner, who talked about the importance of adult education in her own life, after she left school at 16 to look after her son. Under Labour’s policy, she said, “whether you left school with no GCSEs or 10, your ability to pay or your willingness to take on debt will not determine whether you get the education you need”.  She skewered politicians’ habit of parroting the idea that vocational qualifications are as important as academic ones, or that the UK can simply copy Germany. And she had another nice line that “poverty is not just about being penniless, it is about being powerless”, because workers often don’t have the opportunity to train.  Just anecdotally, the atmosphere is warm here, but the audience doesn’t seem quite as big, as young or as lively as the most memorable Labour events I went to during the 2017 campaign. Back then, some Corbyn fans were coming from miles around just to get a glimpse of their man.  Labour campaigners I chatted to here said they were finding a lot of “undecideds” on the doorstep. Perhaps enthusiasm will build as we get closer to 12 December? We’ll see. • None Corbyn told reporters that British voters were now at risk from a Trump/Farage/Johnson alliance that would threaten the NHS, workers’ rights and safe food. • None Labour has described a Tory claim that personal taxes would go up by £2,400 a head under a Corbyn government as “fake news”. It is. The costings on which the claim is based are flawed, making it even more dubious than these election projections normally are. • None Nigel Farage has branded Conservative calls for the Brexit party to stand down in Labour marginals as “almost comical”, saying his party needs to get MPs into parliament to hold Johnson’s feet to the fire. • None But Farage has also faced a backlash from some of the Brexit party candidates asked to stand down, with one saying he only learned the news when a passing driver asked him why he was still campaigning. • None Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and Corbyn have led tributes to Frank Dobson, the former Labour health secretary, who has died at the age of 79. An MP for 36 years, socialist, campaigner, loyalist, wit and raconteur, he was widely admired, and even more widely liked. • None Labour’s Anna Turley, who is suing the union Unite, has told the high court that the party has moved too far to the left under Corbyn and has refused to apologise for insulting the union’s leader, Len McCluskey. • None The Labour party has faced a second cyber-attack in two days, after experiencing what it called a “sophisticated and large-scale” attempt to disrupt its digital systems. • None Labour has responded to a backlash among voters of Indian heritage in the UK by shifting its stance on the Kashmir dispute and insisting it is a bilateral matter between India and Pakistan in which Labour will not interfere.  Sign up here to receive Andrew Sparrow’s election briefing direct to your email inbox every weekday:


theguardianuk--2019-11-11--Boris Johnson to hold emergency Cobra meeting over floods

Boris Johnson has agreed to chair a meeting of the government’s emergency committee on Tuesday to discuss the response to the recent severe floods, after he was urged by Jeremy Corbyn to “take personal charge” of the situation.  The announcement by Downing Street came as residents began a clean-up operation, and warned that further damage was likely unless existing water was pumped away.  Corbyn had said that he disagreed with the prime minister’s assessment at the weekend that the flooding was “not looking like something we need to escalate to the level of a national emergency” and urged him to convene the Cobra meeting.  The Labour leader wrote to Johnson: “If this had happened in Surrey, not Yorkshire or the east Midlands, it seems far more likely that a national emergency would have been declared.”  He called for the government to ensure “every resource is being utilised to aid those that need it and protect against future potential floods” and “that the insurance industry fulfils its responsibilities”.  Downpours last week meant several areas from Yorkshire to Derbyshire and the east Midlands were deluged with one month’s worth of rain in a day.  On Monday, the Environment Agency had five severe “danger to life” flood warnings in place, all in and around Doncaster, as well as 39 flood warnings across the country. Last week the River Don burst its banks, leaving houses inundated by floodwater and forcing residents out of their homes.  Residents in Fishlake, near Doncaster, raised concerns that more flooding was likely unless the existing water was pumped away, with more rain forecast for Thursday night.  In Fishlake, 51-year-old Grant Berry said he had spent three dark nights marooned on the first floor of his house in Fishlake, relying on candles for light after the electricity was knocked out.  It was just before 1am on Saturday that the Environment Agency issued a “danger to life” warning for the village after a month’s rain fell in 24 hours. But Berry and his wife, Samantha, did not get it, having not signed up to the agency’s text alerts. Nor did many residents of their pretty South Yorkshire village, who thought they had escaped the worst after a major emergency was declared across the county on Thursday night.  They only realised they were in trouble when the water started rushing down the lane by their house. Two nearby rivers, the Don and Ea Beck, had breached their banks, spilling into Fishlake, which centuries ago was settled on a floodplain. The couple had just a few minutes to grab their most precious belongings and a packet of candles before their ground floor was a foot underwater, tripping the electrics.  At the bottom of the drive, the floodwaters had reached waist-height. The couple were going nowhere. All weekend, they sat upstairs eating crisps and corned beef, taking turns to look forlornly out of the window at the For Sale sign outside, poking up from the floodwater.  “We can forget about selling up now,” said Berry, showing the Guardian around the musty ground floor on Monday after the waters had receded, the floorboards warped after their rapid submersion.  Like at least half of the 175 households in Fishlake, the Berrys had no intention of abandoning their property, even though the threat to life warning was firmly in place. Not only did they have nowhere to go, but they worried their home could be targeted by looters.  John Waite, 75, one of the voluntary flood wardens, insisted the door of a local funeral parlour had been forced, leading to the surreal sight of coffins – empty, thankfully – “floating down the high street”. But South Yorkshire police said there were no confirmed reports. “We’ve got a drone up, boats and crime prevention patrols and we can’t find any evidence of criminality,” said a spokeswoman.  In the Hare and Hounds, Andrew Benford was stroking his border terrier, Mazy. Along with several other homeless residents, the pair had been sleeping together on a camp bed in the pub since Friday night when their bungalow was flooded. The new landlords, Scott and Angie Godfrey, had been amazing, said Benford. “They can’t do enough for us.”  On Monday afternoon the first high-volume pump arrived in Fishlake to reduce water levels, which were still several foot deep in some areas of the village. In nearby Bentley Ings, which flooded on Thursday night, an RAF Chinook helicopter had been deployed to reinforce flood banks with aggregate.  However, there was no sign of Doncaster council in Fishlake. A spokeswoman said it could not send in employees for health and safety reasons, and had been asked to stay away by the emergency services while the severe flood warning was in place. While expressing sympathy for residents, she criticised them for using the fire service as “a courier service”. Throughout Monday, fire officers ferried prescriptions via dinghy from house to house, checking that anyone who wanted to leave could do so.  For many residents, the council’s absence was all the more jarring given how many journalists had managed to travel on amphibious vehicles to reach the village, hitching a ride from the nearby pit village of Stainforth. The Guardian was given a lift by one of these “Land Rover heroes”, Neil Carpenter, who with his son Lewis had been providing a shuttle service all weekend, refusing money for petrol.  “What you have seen here is people who have very little, giving a lot,” said town councillor Phil Bedford, who was coordinating a respite centre at Stainforth community resource centre, which was filled with donations of everything from sanitary towels to tins of beans – and even a pair of flippers. “This is a response from the people not the authorities.”


theguardianuk--2019-11-11--Andrew Sparrow's election briefing: The best news Boris Johnson has had so far?

Nigel Farage claimed he had killed off a second referendum  The leader of the Brexit party declared his party would not stand candidates in the 317 seats won by the Conservatives in 2017. The exact impact is still a matter of debate, but it is almost certainly the most significant electoral boost the Tories have had in the campaign so far.  In a speech in Hartlepool (full text here), Farage claimed his decision meant a “leave alliance” was now in operation:  I have got no great love for the Conservative party at all. But I can see right now that by giving Boris half a chance, by keeping him honest and holding him to account by getting people in, and by stopping the fanatics in the Liberal Democrats who’d sign us up to everything, wouldn’t they, the United States of Europe, European army, you name it, I mean they even want to revoke the result of the referendum. No, I think our action … prevents a second referendum from happening and that to me I think right now is the single most important thing in our country. So in a sense, we now have a leave alliance. It’s just that we’ve done it unilaterally.  Boris Johnson said he had not agreed a deal  Johnson claimed he did not call Farage to agree a leave alliance. But Farage claimed he had changed his mind – even though only 10 days ago he said Johnson would have to abandon his whole Brexit plan – because of assurances made in a video posted on Twitter:  Johnson’s “super Canada plus” comment has not been reported today because this sort of trade deal has always been his aim. But it did look as though the video had been distributed to give Farage cover for the climbdown.  Farage is still planning to run candidates in Labour-held seats, which could prevent the Tories from making gains. But given Farage has now accepted Johnson’s deal, and that a Johnson majority would be preferable to a hung parliament, it is hard to see the logic of his stance. It remains to be seen if a further retreat is coming. Thursday is the deadline when candidates must decide whether or not they are standing.  Opposition parties: the Tories are becoming the Brexit party  Labour (here), the SNP (here) and the Lib Dems (here) all made this point.  The Labour leader called on Johnson to chair a meeting of the government’s emergency committee, Cobra, in response to the flooding in South Yorkshire.  This is undoubtedly the best news that Boris Johnson has had during the campaign so far. It doesn’t mean the result of the election is a foregone conclusion, and it does not mean a hung parliament is now impossible, as Farage claimed, but an election in which the Brexit party is not standing in Tory seats will probably not be the same as an election in which it was splitting the Brexit vote.  Two points are worth stressing. First, Farage is capitulating from a position of weakness, not strength. The polls have not shifted a great deal in the past week, but one constant feature is that the Brexit party vote has been heading south. You can see the figures in the Guardian’s poll tracker.  Second, the Brexit party still seems to be intent on standing candidates in Tory target seats – particularly the leave-leaning Labour seats in the north of England, where Farage has been saying his party could do well. But it seems more likely that the Tories and the Brexit party will operate unofficial non-aggression pacts, allowing the best placed party to challenge Labour.  One final point. Until relatively recently it was assumed that if the Tories tried to fight an election without having delivered Brexit, they would get smashed by the Brexit party. Almost all media commentators thought this, but so did Johnson himself, and probably Farage too. But that was another piece of conventional political wisdom (like the idea that Corbyn could never win a Labour leadership contest) that turned out to be nonsense. You could cite this as proof that the Westminster commentariat are all rubbish (perhaps we are?), but it is probably better seen as evidence that voter behaviour is inherently unpredictable. • None Hillary Clinton has called Downing Street’s suppression of a report into potential Russian infiltration of British politics “damaging, inexplicable and shaming”. • None A Green party candidate has withdrawn in a second marginal seat targeted by Labour, prompting speculation that more could step aside as part of an informal anti-Conservative alliance. • None Dominic Raab, the UK foreign secretary, has accused Corbyn of putting Marxist solidarity ahead of democracy after the Labour leader said Evo Morales had been forced to resign as Bolivia’s president. • None A Labour government would introduce “managed migration” for EU nationals in the event Brexit happens, the shadow foreign secretary, Emily Thornberry, has said as the party continues to debate what immigration policy to offer. • None The Conservatives have challenged Labour to explain whether Corbyn would be willing to use nuclear weapons as a last resort after Thornberry refused to answer this question. • None Johnson’s government appears to be preparing to nominate an EU commissioner, potentially breaching another Brexit promise. • None Britain’s economy avoided a recession in the third quarter after it expanded by 0.3% but the annual pace of growth was the slowest for nearly 10 years. • None Ireland has expressed concern over a Conservative party pledge to change the law to protect former soldiers in Northern Ireland from possible prosecution over deaths during the Troubles.  If you’re using the Guardian app and would like a daily alert to Andrew Sparrow’s election briefing, click here and select “get notifications”.


theguardianuk--2019-06-24--The Unwanted The Secret Windrush Files review who could feel proud of Britain after this

The Unwanted: The Secret Windrush Files review – who could feel proud of Britain after this?

As the Empire Windrush made its way from the Caribbean to Britain in 1948, politicians in Westminster were frantically scheming about how they could prevent a ship carrying hundreds of black immigrants from docking in the UK. The Labour prime minister Clement Attlee described it as an “incursion”. A meeting of the government’s economic policy committee discussed whether it might be possible to divert the ship to east Africa, and make its passengers (a well-qualified group of electricians, mechanics, welders and carpenters) take work there, picking peanuts. Eleven Labour MPs delivered a letter to Attlee warning that “an influx of coloured people” would “impair the harmony, strength and cohesion of our public and social life and cause discord and unhappiness among all concerned”.  Anyone who thought that the introduction of the hostile environment was one of Theresa May’s few clear, tangible accomplishments will need to reconsider. It turns out that even this unpleasant creation is not something she can claim as her core legacy, since it had already been 70 years in the making.  Although the postwar government estimated Britain needed 1.3 million extra workers to help rebuild a country shattered by five years of war, officials turned out to be more welcoming to ex-SS soldiers from Germany than British subjects from the Caribbean. In his powerful film, The Unwanted: the Secret Windrush Files (BBC Two), the historian David Olusoga manages to explain complex immigration law and decode dense documents from the government archives in an arresting way. He pulls out devastating passages from forgotten files to showcase the hostility of successive governments to non-white settlers.  Everything begins with the British Nationality Act of 1948, which confirmed the right of all British subjects to move freely and live anywhere they liked within the newly created Commonwealth. But the act, Olusoga argues, was intended to ensure frictionless travel for the large white populations of Canada and Australia. “No one imagined that black and brown people from Asia, Africa and the West Indies would use their rights under this act to come and settle in Britain.”  Incriminating archival material reveals the scale of official panic about immigration and the underhand measures taken to discourage residents of Britain’s colonies from settling. Crucially, politicians wanted to restrict access without actually appearing to be racist. The film exposes their shameful contortions as they scrabbled around to justify their prejudices.  We learn how ministers in the 1950s commissioned researchers to come up with reasons for concluding that non-white immigration was problematic, with senior civil servants instructing dole officers to conduct secret race surveys to see if there was any truth in the assumption that migrants were coming to live off the welfare state, and asking police chiefs around the country leading questions such as: “Is it true that they are generally idle?”, “Do they have low standards of living?”, and “Are they addicted to drug trafficking and other types of crime?” Winston Churchill was obsessed by the “considerable” number of “coloured workers” employed by the Post Office, and, by 1955, was suggesting to ministers that they should fight the next election on the slogan “Keep England White”.  This gradual tightening of immigration legislation exploded in the hands of Theresa May’s government last April, with the Windrush scandal – when thousands of Caribbean-born citizens, legally settled here since childhood, found that they had been silently transformed into illegal immigrants, and threatened with deportation, detained, sacked from their jobs or made homeless.  Olusoga shows how the roots of the scandal lie in a single line from the 1971 Immigration Act, which put the onus on individuals to prove that they are here legally – something so many people were unable to do, with devastating consequences. “Who keeps receipts from the 1970s?” Anthony Bryan asks, explaining how he was detained for five weeks and booked on a flight back to Jamaica. A letter from the Home Office to his lawyer demands more proof: “Your client has stated that he has been resident in the UK since 1965. As such, the evidence submitted must be continuous, and cover the entirety of the 51 years that your client has claimed to reside in the UK.”  The most moving parts of this film are the interviews with three Windrush victims (all of whom helped expose the scandal in the Guardian). “It was a country I was proud of, but now I don’t think I feel proud of it,” Sarah O’Connor says, after being wrongly classified as an illegal immigrant, despite her 51 years in the UK. “At times I got so low I wanted my life to end.” Sarah died before the film was finished. No one could feel proud of Britain after watching it.


thedailyrecord--2019-07-22--First picture inside seized British tanker showing crew held captive by Iran forces

Crew members of a British oil tanker seized by Iranian forces can be seen in the first photo to be released from inside the ship.  The captured sailors have been pictured sat together on the floor behind an Iranian official, with their shoes piled up nearby.  It comes after Iran's Revolutionary Guard took control of the Stena Impero last Friday, initially claiming it was in violation of international maritime law int he Strait of Hormuz.  The owner of the UK-flagged tanker says the crew are of Indian, Russian, Latvian and Filipino nationality.  Fresh video footage also shows the Iranian flag raised above the vessel, where the British flag once was.  A separate snap shoes an armed member of Iran's forces on the ship, with reports suggesting all those on board the shop are safe and well, as the Mirror reports.  Britain said the ship was in Oman’s territorial waters when its was seized, and it was following international law.  Theresa May will chair a meeting of the Government's emergency committee Cobra on Monday to discuss the situation as the crisis between Iran and the West deepened.  The Prime Minister is expected to receive updates from ministers and officials on the seized tanker and will discuss the maintenance of the security of shipping in the region.  Mrs May was not present at ministerial Cobra meetings over the weekend - which she spent in her Maidenhead constituency - but was kept informed of developments.  Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt will update the Commons on the situation on Monday afternoon, amid reports that ministers are considering freezing Iranian regime assets.  He is expected to tell MPs what further measures the Government will take.  UK ships have been warned to avoid the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil shipping route.  The Swedish-owned, UK-flagged ship and its crew members are being held at the Port of Bandar Abbas.  It was captured just weeks after British Royal Marines seized an Iranian tanker off the coast of Gibraltar earlier this month as the UK claimed the vessel had violated sanctions on Syria.  An audio recording has emerged of communications between Iranian authorities and HMS Montrose moments before the Stena Impero was seized in a busy oil shipping route.  In the radio recording, the Iranian vessel can be heard saying: "If you obey, you will be safe.  "I want to inspect the ship for security reasons."  HMS Montrose replied: "You must not impair, impede, obstruct or hamper the passage of the Stena Impero.  "Please confirm that you are not intending to violate international law by attempting to board."  Iran has directly linked the seizure of the vessel with Britain's role in detaining a tanker carrying Iranian oil earlier this month.  A spokesman for Iran's Guardian Council was quoted as saying "the rule of reciprocal action is well known in international law" and that Tehran made the right decision in the face of an "illegitimate economic war and seizure of oil tankers".  The explanation, which contrasts with a suggestion on Friday night that the Stena Impero was "violating international maritime rules" and had collided with a fishing boat, came as the UK Government warned British ships to stay away from the Strait of Hormuz.  HMS Montrose, which is patrolling the Persian Gulf to protect shipping, and earlier this month intercepted Iranian patrol boats surrounding another UK-flagged tanker, reportedly arrived minutes too late to prevent the latest incident.  A second oil tanker, the Liberian-flagged Mesdar, which is managed by Norbulk Shipping UK, veered off course towards the Iranian coast after it was boarded by armed guards at about on Friday.  Communication with the ship was later re-established and the crew were unharmed.  The tanker was reportedly allowed to resume navigation.  France and Germany joined condemnation of Iran's actions, which have triggered concerns that it will lead to further oil price hikes amid heightened tensions in the Gulf involving Iran, the US and UK.  Hostilities between Iran and the West, mainly the US, have increased after Washington imposed new, tighter sanctions in May.  The sanctions were introduced after President Donald Trump pulled out of a nuclear deal signed by his predecessor Barack Obama.  The deal had provided Iran access to world trade in return for curbs on its nuclear programme.  In recent weeks, the US has accused Iran of seizing several oil tankers in the region, and the Americans and Iranians have shot down each other's drones.  Britain became involved when the Royal Marines seized an Iranian tanker off the coast of Gibraltar earlier this month as the UK claimed the vessel had violated sanctions on Syria.  The crisis between Iran and the US escalated on Monday as Tehran claimed it had captured 17 "CIA spies" and some have been sentenced to death.  An intelligence ministry official claims CIA operatives infiltrated "sensitive" and "vital" sectors of Iran - including economic, nuclear, military and cyber sectors - to steal secrets.  Some of those involved in the spy ring were sentenced to execution for being "corrupters", the ministry added.


thedailyrecord--2019-07-20--Watch Iranian balaclava-clad commandos rappel from helicopter onto British oil tanker

Iran has released footage of balaclava-clad commandos seizing a British oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz.  The clip shows marines rappel from a helicopter onto the deck of the Stena Imperio on Friday in a move which dramatically escalated tensions between the regime, the UK and its allies.  Taircraft hovers overhead as the men board the boat, according to The Mirror .  A statement from Stena Bulk, which owns the tanker, said ship manager Northern Marine Management had lost contact with the crew of 23 after "unidentified small crafts and a helicopter" approached the vessel at around 4pm on Friday.  The company – which is based in Clydebank near Glasgow – said the tanker was in international waters at the time but now appeared to be heading north towards Iran.  And today British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said Iran's action "raises very serious questions about the security of British shipping and indeed international shipping in the Strait of Hormuz."  Speaking after a meeting of the Government's emergency committee Cobra, Mr Hunt said the vessel was seized in Omani waters in "clear contravention of international law".  The ship, which was carrying no cargo, remains in Iranian hands. Its crew are said to be safe and in good health.  Since Royal Marines abseiled from a helicopter off Gibraltar to seize the Grace 1 Iranian tanker on July 4, a number of Iranian officials had threatened to retaliate.  And on Friday Iranian troops seized the tanker, which is owned by Stena Bulk who are based in Sweden.  The vessel was surrounded by four vessels and a helicopter before heading into Iranian waters, according to Mr Hunt.  A spokesman for the Iranian Revolutionary Guards claimed that the UK sent two helicopters to harass Iranian troops as they seized the tanker.  Despite the "resistance and interference" of the British warship, the Stena Impero was brought to the shore, Ramezan Sharif, a Guards spokesman said.  Stena Bulk are said to be preparing a formal request to visit its 23 crew members who are of Indian, Russian, Latvian and Filipino nationality, Stena said.  Iran claim the tanker violated maritime regulations in the Strait of Hormuz and got into an accident with an Iranian fishing boat. This has been denied by the UK.  It is being held at the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas for investigations.  Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency posted a video of the ship anchored at sea, its name clearly visible.  Britain also summoned the Iranian charge d'affaires in London.  The strait, between Iran and the Arabian peninsula, is the sole outlet for exports of the vast majority of Middle Eastern oil, and the seizure sent oil prices sharply higher.  Iran's foreign minister Javad Zarif tweeted that the UK "must cease being an accessory to #EconomicTerrorism of the US".  He said it was Iran that guarantees the security of the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.  The United States, which tightened sanctions against Iran in May with the aim of halting its oil exports altogether, has been warning for months of an Iranian threat to shipping in the strait.  France, Germany and the European Union joined Britain in condemning the seizure.  The three big European countries are signatories to a 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers that Washington undermined by quitting last year, setting Iran's already fragile relations with the West on a downward spiral.  Under the pact, Iran agreed to restrict nuclear work in return for lifting sanctions.  The European countries opposed the Trump administration's decision to abandon the agreement last year, but have so far failed to fulfil promises to Iran of providing alternative means for it to access world trade.


skynewsus--2019-07-22--Trump denies Iran held CIA spies after breaking up ring

Trump denies Iran held 'CIA spies' after 'breaking up ring'

Iran says it has captured 17 suspects, adding some have been sentenced to death  Iran's claims that it broke up a CIA spying ring have been dismissed as "totally false" by Donald Trump.  Tehran also said it had sentenced some of the 17 suspects to death.  But the US president said the allegations contained "zero truth".  Mr Trump tweeted: "The report of Iran capturing CIA spies is totally false. Zero truth".  He added it was "just more lies and propaganda put out by a religious regime that is badly failing and has no idea what to do".  He said the Iranian economy was "dead and will get much worse", and described the county as a "total mess".  According to a statement from Iran's intelligence ministry, read on state TV, the alleged spies were "employed in sensitive and vital private sector centres in the economic, nuclear, infrastructural, military and cyber areas... where they collected classified information".  Suspects were arrested during previous months, an Iranian intelligence official told a press conference.  He did not say how many had been sentenced to death, and did not give his name, which is unusual.  Reporters were told, however, that he was the director of the counter-espionage department at Iran's intelligence ministry.  None of the suspected spies succeeded in their sabotage missions, he added, claiming that some of them had turned and were now working with his department against the United States.  Iran also aired a TV documentary purportedly showing a CIA officer recruiting an Iranian man in the United Arab Emirates.  In the film, a woman who speaks Persian with what appears to be an American accent says: "There are so many intelligence officers in Dubai. It is very dangerous... Iranian intelligence."  Last month, Iran said it had exposed a large cyber espionage network it alleged was run by the CIA - although it is unclear whether this latest development is linked to that.  Spies had been arrested in different countries, it claimed.  US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the "Iranian regime has a long history of lying", adding: "I would take with a significant grain of salt any Iranian assertion about actions that they've taken."  There have been months of increasing tension between Iran and the West since tighter US sanctions came into effect at the start of May.  On Saturday, Iran released a video which it claimed disproved Donald Trump's claim that a US warship destroyed an Iranian drone.  The American president said the USS Boxer took "defensive action" on Thursday after the drone ignored repeated warnings and came within 1,000 yards of the ship in the Strait of Hormuz.  But Iranian state TV aired video it said was taken by the drone on Thursday of USS Boxer and another American warship.  There have also been increased tensions between the UK and Iran, after a British-flagged oil tanker, the Stena Impero, was seized in the Strait of Hormuz.  Iran has linked its capture of the vessel with Britain's role in detaining a tanker carrying Iranian oil earlier this month.  Theresa May has chaired a meeting of the government's emergency cobra committee to discuss Britain's response.  The prime minister's official spokesman said: "We do not seek confrontation with Iran but it is unacceptable and highly escalatory to seize a ship going about legitimate business through internationally recognised shipping lanes."  The spokesman added that the Stena Impero had been seized under "false and illegal pretences and the Iranians should release it and its crew immediately".


skynewspolitics--2019-11-11--Six years free education for adults pledged by Labour

General election: Six years free education for adults pledged by Labour ahead of Jeremy Corbyn speech  General election: Six years free education for adults pledged by Labour ahead of Jeremy Corbyn speech  Diplomas in areas such as engineering and nursing will all be offered  Every adult in the UK would get six years of free education to help bring vocational study in line with university degrees under Labour, Jeremy Corbyn is pledging today.  Undergraduate and foundation degrees as well as diplomas in areas such as engineering and nursing will all be offered as part of the promise to be announced officially by the Labour leader and shadow education secretary Angela Rayner.  The pair will give a speech in Blackpool, as the general election campaign enters its seventh day.  Elsewhere, the Conservatives have sparked a new row over how much Labour's election plans will cost.  And the Liberal Democrats are calling for a £5bn flood prevention fund to protect vulnerable communities from the sort of torrential rain that struck northern England last week.  Boris Johnson is convening a meeting of the government's emergency committee COBRA to decide a response to the severe flooding later in the afternoon, following pressure from Mr Corbyn and despite saying over the weekend it was "not looking like something we need to escalate to the level of a national emergency".  Campaigning will begin in earnest after a brief moment of unity by party leaders on Remembrance Sunday, with Labour trying to shift focus on to its plan to form a national education service.  It is announcing a move to give low-income adults grants through educational courses, if the party wins a majority when voters head to the polls on 12 December.  Ms Rayner and Mr Corbyn are due to pledge those without an A-level or equivalent qualification would be able to attend college and study them for free.  They will also promise to give adults skills to tackle climate change and stop being shut out of work by automation, aiding their bid for a "green industrial revolution".  The proposals are estimated by Labour to cost £2.6bn on education entitlement, and a further £573m on maintenance grants from 2023/24.  It said funding for the pledge will be set out in the party's manifesto, which will be released in a few weeks. But higher taxes on top earners and reversals to giveaways to big businesses have been hinted at.  He said Labour was "making promises that it simply won't be able to fulfil" because its plan to hold another EU referendum means the party "won't be able to focus on domestic priorities like education".  "Only Boris Johnson and the Conservatives will get Brexit done and keep our economy strong which means we can focus on the people's priorities like education and the NHS," he added.  Meanwhile, the Tories claimed Labour's plans would cost taxpayers £2,400 a year.  Speaking to Sky News, Treasury minister Rishi Sunak said the Conservatives had based their estimate on Labour's 2017 manifesto and recent pledges from conference and the campaign trail so far.  He said: "We have been clear, we don't think we should borrow for day to day spending.  "We have had a £30bn surplus from the OBR and we have spent £13.5bn on the NHS, schools and policing.  "We will responsibly invest in long term infrastructure but the debt at the end of parliament will be lower as a share of GDP than it is today. That will not be the case with Labour."  Shadow Treasury minister Jonathan Reynolds called it "fake news", as the party has not yet published its manifesto.  It came after the Conservatives faced criticism for not placing a cost on their own policies. When asked to, business minister Kwasi Kwarteng told Sophy Ridge On Sunday he wouldn't "bandy around figures".  Sam Coates, Sky News' deputy political editor, said: "The latest Tory analysis relies on the results of its work on the economic consequences of Labour economic plans released on Sunday.  "The original research was criticised for costing policies that will not be appearing in Labour's manifesto, such as the financial implications of the abolition of all private schools, and relying on heavily disputed research such as the cost of the four-day working week.  "This analysis hinges on a tweet from shadow chancellor John McDonnell from January which says Labour has ruled out borrowing to fund for Labour's day-to-day spending plans. They use this to suggest there is a black hole in their spending plans that must be filled with big tax rises.  "Labour is likely to contest what the Tories say constitutes 'day to day spending', and will spell out more on their fiscal rules and tax plans next week."  Lib Dem shadow chancellor Ed Davey has called for both the other two major parties to submit their manifestos to the Office for Budget Responsibility to be independently costed, raising the need for "proper scrutiny".  Party leader Jo Swinson has called for a flood defence fund ahead of a trip to Doncaster to meet a charity handling donations for those affected by the water.  "Leaving the EU will mean that we lose access to the EU solidarity fund for flood relief and the EU structural investment funds that help maintain and strengthen flood defences and improve flood resilience," she said.  "The Liberal Democrats are committed to investing in our flood defences and protecting communities from the devastation we have seen in the last week."


newsbiscuit--2019-08-04--Prime Minister to send 250 beavers to Whaley Bridge

After a meeting of the Government’s COBRA Committee late last night, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that 250 beavers will be drafted in to help emergency services and the armed forces in shoring up the unstable dam wall at Toddbrook Reservoir.  The beavers will be drafted in from zoos and wildlife parks across the country, with US President Donald Trump offering to send another 500 to help if needed.


aljazeera--2019-12-12--Britons head to polls in election dominated by Brexit

London, United Kingdom - Voting is under way in the United Kingdom's snap general election, with millions expected to deliver their verdict on the Brexit crisis engulfing British politics.  Thursday's ballot will shape how, or whether, the UK will finally exit the European Union after months of parliamentary deadlock over how to execute the result of its 2016 referendum on membership of the bloc.  The vote brings to an end a febrile campaign period during which Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Conservative Party and Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party have offered starkly different visions for resolving the impasse and rebuilding the UK after a decade of austerity.  Johnson wants to action a swift exit from the EU, while Corbyn is committed to holding a second referendum over the issue.  Polls opened at 7am (7:00 GMT) and close at 10pm local time (22:00 GMT), with final results expected by early Friday morning.  More than 45 million voters are registered to take part, but harsh weather and a general sense of weariness, brought on by this being the third election since 2015, may hamper turnout.  As leaders of the UK's two largest parties, Johnson, 55, and Corbyn, 70, are clear frontrunners, but both have been criticised over their leadership credentials.  They are fighting what has been called an "unpopularity contest".  Brexit aside, health and social care provision, the unfolding climate crisis and law and order are among voters' other key concerns, along with the UK's economy, which flatlined in the three months leading up to October.  Analysts said it remained to be seen whether Britons would vote according to their views on Brexit, above all else.  "We won't know if it's the Brexit election until we see the results," said Anand Menon, director of The UK in a Changing Europe think-tank, citing several pro-Brexit, traditionally Labour-held constituencies as bellwethers.  "The last time [in 2017], for all the talk about Brexit, it was a pretty traditional election where social class was the determining feature for how and why people voted."  In Westminster, London's political heart, voters were out early in the morning under grey skies.  Aicha Daidai, 28, said she was voting for the first time in 10 years to try and prevent the Conservatives from extending their decade-long grip on government.  "I voted Labour. Out of all the candidates, Jeremy Corbyn is the one that I relate to and like the most," Daidai said.  "He stands for peace rather than hatred and separation, while as a Muslim woman, I don't like what Johnson has said about Muslims ... He more spreads hatred and separation rather than uniting and keeping us together as a nation."  Both Johnson and Corbyn have fought claims of racism within their parties, over Islamophobia and anti-Semitism respectively.  Former-Conservative supporter Adam Ling, 50, said he was turning his back on the party over its veer to the right under Johnson's leadership.  "I voted Liberal Democrats [a pro-EU party]. I'm an ex-Tory, but the party has gone very right-wing and I'm not there," Ling said. "Brexit is a big issue but also, in general, the Tory party is no longer a big tent; all the people that I liked and admired have all left, so I have left as well."  Johnson has repeatedly promised to take the UK out of the EU by the end of next month if voters return a majority Conservative government, with his "Get Brexit Done" mantra front and centre of the party's pre-election campaigning efforts.  Even if Parliament were to sign off on his withdrawal agreement by that deadline, a potentially gruelling negotiation over the UK and EU's future relationship will begin as the so-called "transition period" comes into effect.  Johnson's Brexit message has been aimed at consolidating support among his base and luring disgruntled, pro-Brexit Labour voters into switching sides.  "Brexit is wrapped into a whole bunch of other issues, but I think it's important that we are able to take control of our own destiny from a legal standpoint," said 54-year-old Conservative voter John, in Westminster, adding the party's pledges to invest in the NHS and lower taxes also had his support.  "The era of the British Empire is long past and the country needs to be able to embrace a new way forward and to my mind that new way forward is to emulate somewhere like Singapore, and create a low-tax environment. I think it is a lot easier to do that when you're outside of the EU."  Corbyn, for his part, has pledged that a Labour administration would negotiate a softer withdrawal agreement than the one brokered between Johnson and Brussels, one aimed at building a new UK-EU customs union and ensuring close alignment to the EU's single market.  Under Labour's Brexit plan, the revised deal would be put to a referendum, alongside an option to remain, within six months.  With the party deeply divided over the issue, however, much of Labour's pre-election messaging focused on the state of public services and its plan for a major shake-up of the economy.  Among the smaller parties, the Scottish National Party is aligned with Labour in supporting a second referendum, so long as remaining in the EU is an option on the ballot paper, while the Liberal Democrats, led by Jo Swinson, have pledged to revoke Article 50 and cancel Brexit altogether if they win a majority.  In the event no party wins an outright majority, there will be a "hung parliament". In this scenario, the party with the largest vote share may form a minority government, seek out the support of smaller parties for a "confidence and supply" arrangement, or try to build a formal coalition.  A mile down the road from the Parliamentary Estate, several voters expressed despair at the choices on offer and the prospect of further political chaos.  One participant shouted it was "time to spoil my ballot" as he headed to a polling booth, while others said they would register a protest vote.  "The two leading parties are both in need of reform," said Victoria, 62. "The centre has collapsed ... and the quality of our politicians is pitiful."  Heading out of the booth with no great excitement, having cast his ballot for the Liberal Democrats for the first time, Ling said: "The campaign was completely uninspiring, and its now a choice between unpalatable alternatives ... Politics is broken."


aljazeera--2019-12-12--Britons vote in high-stakes election dominated by Brexit

London, United Kingdom - The United Kingdom's snap general election has entered its final hours, with millions expected to have delivered their verdict on the Brexit crisis engulfing British politics by the time polls close.  Thursday's ballot will shape how, or whether, the UK will finally exit the European Union after months of parliamentary deadlock over how to execute the result of its 2016 referendum on membership of the bloc.  The vote brings to an end a febrile campaign period during which Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Conservative Party and Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party have offered starkly different visions for resolving the impasse and rebuilding the UK after a decade of austerity.  Johnson wants to action a swift exit from the EU, while Corbyn is committed to holding a second referendum over the issue.  Polls opened at 7am (7:00 GMT) and close at 10pm local time (22:00 GMT), with final results expected by early Friday morning.  More than 45 million voters are registered to take part, but harsh weather and a general sense of weariness, brought on by this being the third election since 2015, may hamper turnout.  As leaders of the UK's two largest parties, Johnson, 55, and Corbyn, 70, are clear frontrunners, but both have been criticised over their leadership credentials.  They are fighting what has been called an "unpopularity contest".  Brexit aside, health and social care provision, the unfolding climate crisis and law and order are among voters' other key concerns, along with the UK's economy, which flatlined in the three months leading up to October.  Analysts said it remained to be seen whether Britons would vote according to their views on Brexit, above all else.  "We won't know if it's the Brexit election until we see the results," said Anand Menon, director of The UK in a Changing Europe think-tank, citing several pro-Brexit, traditionally Labour-held constituencies as bellwethers.  "The last time [in 2017], for all the talk about Brexit, it was a pretty traditional election where social class was the determining feature for how and why people voted."  In Westminster, London's political heart, voters were out early in the morning under grey skies.  Aicha Daidai, 28, said she was voting for the first time in 10 years to try and prevent the Conservatives from extending their decade-long grip on government.  "I voted Labour. Out of all the candidates, Jeremy Corbyn is the one that I relate to and like the most," Daidai said.  "He stands for peace rather than hatred and separation, while as a Muslim woman, I don't like what Johnson has said about Muslims ... He more spreads hatred and separation rather than uniting and keeping us together as a nation."  Both Johnson and Corbyn have fought claims of racism within their parties, over Islamophobia and anti-Semitism respectively.  Former-Conservative supporter Adam Ling, 50, said he was turning his back on the party over its veer to the right under Johnson's leadership.  "I voted Liberal Democrats [a pro-EU party]. I'm an ex-Tory, but the party has gone very right-wing and I'm not there," Ling said. "Brexit is a big issue but also, in general, the Tory party is no longer a big tent; all the people that I liked and admired have all left, so I have left as well."  Johnson has repeatedly promised to take the UK out of the EU by the end of next month if voters return a majority Conservative government, with his "Get Brexit Done" mantra front and centre of the party's pre-election campaigning efforts.  Even if Parliament were to sign off on his withdrawal agreement by that deadline, a potentially gruelling negotiation over the UK and EU's future relationship will begin as the so-called "transition period" comes into effect.  Johnson's Brexit message has been aimed at consolidating support among his base and luring disgruntled, pro-Brexit Labour voters into switching sides.  "Brexit is wrapped into a whole bunch of other issues, but I think it's important that we are able to take control of our own destiny from a legal standpoint," said 54-year-old Conservative voter John, in Westminster, adding the party's pledges to invest in the NHS and lower taxes also had his support.  "The era of the British Empire is long past and the country needs to be able to embrace a new way forward and to my mind that new way forward is to emulate somewhere like Singapore, and create a low-tax environment. I think it is a lot easier to do that when you're outside of the EU."  Corbyn, for his part, has pledged that a Labour administration would negotiate a softer withdrawal agreement than the one brokered between Johnson and Brussels, one aimed at building a new UK-EU customs union and ensuring close alignment to the EU's single market.  Under Labour's Brexit plan, the revised deal would be put to a referendum, alongside an option to remain, within six months.  With the party deeply divided over the issue, however, much of Labour's pre-election messaging focused on the state of public services and its plan for a major shake-up of the economy.  Among the smaller parties, the Scottish National Party is aligned with Labour in supporting a second referendum, so long as remaining in the EU is an option on the ballot paper, while the Liberal Democrats, led by Jo Swinson, have pledged to revoke Article 50 and cancel Brexit altogether if they win a majority.  In the event no party wins an outright majority, there will be a "hung parliament". In this scenario, the party with the largest vote share may form a minority government, seek out the support of smaller parties for a "confidence and supply" arrangement, or try to build a formal coalition.  A mile down the road from the Parliamentary Estate, several voters expressed despair at the choices on offer and the prospect of further political chaos.  One participant shouted it was "time to spoil my ballot" as he headed to a polling booth, while others said they would register a protest vote.  "The two leading parties are both in need of reform," said Victoria, 62. "The centre has collapsed ... and the quality of our politicians is pitiful."  Heading out of the booth with no great excitement, having cast his ballot for the Liberal Democrats for the first time, Ling said: "The campaign was completely uninspiring, and its now a choice between unpalatable alternatives ... Politics is broken."


aljazeera--2019-12-12--UK election exit poll predicts Conservative majority

London, United Kingdom - Voting has ended in the United Kingdom's snap general election, with the exit poll predicting Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Conservative Party is on course to win a sizeable parliamentary majority.  Thursday's high-stakes ballot came after months of political deadlock over Brexit - the UK's drama-filled bid to quit the European Union.  The exit poll compiled by Ipsos Mori for the BBC, Sky News and ITV suggested the Conservatives were set to secure 368 seats in the 650-member House of Commons, with the main opposition Labour Party on course for 191.  Such a result would mark the Conservative's biggest victory since 1987 and hand Johnson the working majority he needs to take the UK out of the EU by the end of next month, as he has repeatedly pledged to do.  It would also signal an historic defeat for Jeremy Corbyn, Johnson's main challenger and leader of the Labour Party.  Johnson, 55, wants to action a swift exit from the EU, while Corbyn, 70, is committed to holding a second referendum over the issue.  Among the smaller parties, the Scottish National Party were predicted to win 55 seats, with the pro-EU Liberal Democrats forecast to win 13.  The exit poll has been increasingly accurate in recent elections; correctly predicting the Conservative Party would be the largest party in the UK's last vote, in 2017.  The final result is not expected to be known until the early hours of Friday morning, however, with constituency vote counts now under way.  More than 45 million voters were registered to take part in the poll, the UK's third since 2015.  Johnson put his "Get Brexit Done" mantra front and centre of the Conservative's pre-election campaigning efforts, promising to leave the EU by January 31 2020 if he won a majority.  Chris Hopkins, head of political research at research consultancy Savanta ComRes, said the exit poll indicated the prime minister's pared back campaign messaging had worked.  "If this was the Brexit election and it looks for all intensive purposes, if this exit poll is correct, that it was, then the simple message of 'Get Brexit Done' has clearly resonated," Hopkins said.  "Johnson is going to want to get his Brexit deal through as soon as he can, and it sounds like he is going to have the numbers to do so at a canter really, very, very easily," he added.  Even if Parliament were to sign off on the prime minister's withdrawal agreement by the end of next month, a potentially gruelling period of negotiations over the UK and EU's future relationship would begin as the so-called "transition period" takes effect.  Johnson has repeatedly said this period will not be extended past the end of 2020, when it is currently scheduled to end, but there is widespread doubt over whether a comprehensive agreement could be concluded before then.  "If you really want to get Brexit sorted by the end of December next year then you are looking at a more limited future relationship because you will not have the time to negotiate in more detail a new bespoke arrangement with the EU," said Maddy Thimont Jack, a specialist Brexit researcher at the UK's Institute for Government.  "If you look at previous negotiations that the EU has had with other countries then 11 months is much shorter than it took to broker other agreements, for example with Canada, but I do think it is worth saying that in those instances there wasn't a need for a strict timeframe."  Corbyn, for his part, pledged that a Labour administration would negotiate a softer withdrawal agreement than the deal brokered between Johnson and Brussels - one aimed at building a new UK-EU customs union and ensuring close alignment to the EU's single market.  Under Labour's Brexit plan, the revised deal would be put to a referendum, alongside an option to remain, within six months.  With the party deeply divided over the issue, however, much of Labour's pre-election messaging focused on the state of public services and its plan for a major shake-up of the economy.


fortruss--2019-10-09--From Hostility to Warmness: Why has Brazilian President Changed his Aggressive Anti-China Actions?

In an interview with DW Brasil, former Brazilian ambassador to Beijing, Marcos Caramuru, revealed the great interest Chinese companies have in potential infrastructure work in Brazil. Even with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro showing initial hostility towards China during his 2018 election campaign, his opinion appears to have changed given the huge sums involved in bilateral relations and the opportunities the Asian country can provide the economic struggling Latin American Giant.  Bolsonaro is commonly known as the ‘Tropical Trump’ for his open admiration of the U.S. President and his shared ideas and beliefs. Therefore, it was unsurprising that he said “The Chinese are not buying in Brazil… They are buying Brazil,” in the pre-election campaign.  Global Times speculated that “it’s inconceivable the new Bolsonaro government would give up on the Chinese market.” It also left a note of caution for the Brazilian leader who made another major antagonism towards China: “His trip to Taiwan during the presidential campaign caught the ire of Beijing. If he continues to disregard the basic principle over Taiwan after taking office, it will apparently cost Brazil a great deal … The Chinese island won’t bring any more benefits to Brazil, which Bolsonaro and his team must be aware of.”  Marcus Vinicius Freitas, a visiting professor at the China Foreign University in Beijing, explained that: “When the Chinese look at Brazil they actually see an amusement park where everything still needs to be done.” His assessment is in reference to the huge developmental and infrastructural opportunities that Brazil has, with many sectors remaining underdeveloped despite the domineering position Brazil has over the wider Latin American region. “There is no doubt that China has a menu of options for Brazil,” he added, citing Chinese technologies in road, subway, rail, viaduct and airport construction that could be of interest to Brazil.  There are also additional opportunities from agribusiness to commodities, the most attractive sector for Chinese capital is infrastructure and major works, especially in the area of gas, oil, renewable energy which will ensure growth on a sustainable and significant basis for the Brazilian economy.  However, despite the significant economic relationship between the two countries and the opportunities China can provide Brazil, it had not stopped Bolsonaro from aggravating Beijing. Therefore, it would be assumed that Bolsonaro would submit to Trump’s every demand in the midst of the U.S. president’s trade war with China. However, this has proven not to be the case with Brazil’s Vice President Hamilton Mourão saying in June that his country does not plan to ban Huawei from providing 5G equipment to telecoms in his country, signalling that Bolsonaro has said one thing during the election campaign, but acted in another way while president.  This would suggest that Bolsonaro’s government is following a different path than initially anticipated and the Brazilian president is not a complete U.S. puppet as often said by his critics. Although Trump told Bolsonaro during the latter’s visit to the White House earlier this year that Huawei was a security threat, the Brazilian Vice President emphasized that Brazil has no reason to distrust Huawei and that his country needs the Chinese technology to help its continued development.  As Beijing has been calling for a resolution to the Trump-initiated trade war, China’s ambassador to Brazil, Yang Wanming, accused the United States of bullying and lobbying its trading partners, affecting the entire global economy. He explains that the U.S. ruined market confidence, increased the risk of global recession and endangered emerging economies like Brazil.  And in this scenario, it would be important for Brasilia and Beijing to defend international cooperation and multilateralism. China’s GDP grew by ‘only’ 6.2% in the second quarter of 2019, which is the lowest economic growth recorded since 1992. This so-called economic ‘slowdown’ has served as a successful bait to trigger Western media.  As a result, Trump declared that his tariff war with China was working and said his protectionist measures had led to the exodus of companies from the Asian giant. However, if the measures were so successful Trump would not continue to threaten his partners from trading with China. The Bolsonaro government has seen that in this situation, siding with the U.S. is not in its interests.  Although Bolsonaro will continue to take on a very pro-Trump stance in Latin American affairs, especially against Cuba and Venezuela, he has demonstrated that he is unwilling to embroil Brazil in international issues besides those relating to Israel, serving the interests of the powerful Christian Evangelical lobby in the South American country.  In fact, an argument can be made that Brazil benefits from the ongoing trade war between the two Great Powers. China has continually been placing large orders of Brazilian soybeans, choosing the South American country to fill the supply gap after stopping U.S. purchases. Chinese buyers are increasingly looking for Brazilian soybeans.  China halted U.S. soybean imports as tensions between Beijing and Washington increased and turned to Brazil. For now, Brazil has been able to respond to China’s demand, but its supply is running low and Beijing is at risk of failing to meet its needs. With any end to the trade war, it is unlikely that China will revert and make the U.S. its most important soy purchaser, providing an opportunity for Brazil to consolidate its own position.  Whether it was through a sudden realization, or whether it was from internal pressures from Brazil’s powerful agricultural industry and other important advisers, Bolsonaro has certainly done a 180 towards his China rhetoric. With the status of Brazil’s role in BRICS questioned by experts last year because of Bolsonaro’s initial hostility towards China and his vivid support for Trump, his Foreign Minister Ernesto Araújo has fully embraced his country’s chairmanship of the organization. This demonstrates that no matter the motivating reason, Bolsonaro has certainly changed his China policy from hostility to openness and welcomeness as the Asian country can drastically improve Brazil’s economic situation.


france24--2019-11-25--Uruguay opposition leads presidential vote with slim margin

Supporters of Uruguayan presidential candidate Daniel Martinez from the ruling party Frente Amplio, wait for results after the second-round presidential election in Montevideo, Uruguay November 24, 2019.  Uruguay's conservative opposition held a slim lead on Sunday in a run-off presidential election between the liberal ruling party and a resurgent opposition that had been the pre-vote favourite to clinch victory.  With 99.4% of polling booths counted, National Party candidate Luis Lacalle Pou had 48.74% of the vote ahead of Daniel Martinez's ruling Broad Front party with 47.48%, official data showed, with around 30,000 votes separating the two rivals.  In a region undergoing political upheaval, the likely swing to the right would mark a major shift in the farm-driven South American nation, known for its cattle ranches and liberal policies on legalized marijuana and abortion rights.  Broad Front, the ruling party for 15 years, has overseen a period of stability and growth, but has come under pressure recently from a slowing economy due to global trade woes and the effects of drought and flooding on the key farm sector.  The slim gap meant an official result could be delayed until Thursday or Friday as the last votes are counted, electoral court president José Arocena told reporters.  "We still have to wait to know the final result," Martinez said late on Sunday to supporters waving Uruguayan flags in capital Montevideo.  Lacalle Pou, speaking later, said that he would also wait to claim victory and that the close result meant the two parties would need to work closely together in the period ahead.  "Formally we will know in a few days," he told supporters, adding that he believed the result was "irreversible".  Pre-election polls had made Lacalle Pou, 46, whose father is a former president, favorite to topple the long-standing coalition that has been led by President Tabare Vazquez since 2015.  Some 2.7 million Uruguayan voters were eligible to choose, with a widespread expectation that the South American nation was set for a shift back towards the right.  As pre-election campaigns closed last week Lacalle Pou had struck a confident tone, saying Uruguay was demanding change. Pre-election polls had showed him beating Martinez by a margin of 6-8 points.  "It's the people... saying 'I want to shake up the government's drowsiness and change it,'" said Lacalle Pou, who became the front-runner after striking deals with a string of allies following an October first round.  Martinez, a 62-year-old former Montevideo mayor, has said the five-party coalition against him is simply an attempt to dislodge the liberal government and warned about "fundamentalist" policies taking Uruguay sharply to the right.  While neighboring counties Bolivia and Chile are suffering unrest and Argentina is in the middle of a political left-turn, Uruguay has generally remained stable. However economic growth slowed to just 0.1% in the second quarter of the year.  Unemployment has also edged up to 9.2% versus a year earlier, while inflation this year so far has been 8.36%.


ipolitics--2019-04-07--What Were Watching Libel suits and long-running scandals

What We’re Watching: Libel suits and long-running scandals

PMO libel suit marks early start to this week’s installment of the SNC-Lavalin saga  If anyone on Team Trudeau was harbouring the faintest of hopes that expelling Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott from caucus would mark the beginning of the end of the sprawling SNC-Lavalin saga, the Conservatives have made it clear that they’re not planning on letting this die down without a fight.  On Sunday, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer convened a mid-afternoon press conference to reveal what would seem to be Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s latest — and perhaps most ill-advised yet — attempt to move past the allegations of attempted political interference in the criminal case of the embattled Quebec engineering firm; namely, a notice of defamation, signed off on by high-profile libel lawyer Julian Porter on Trudeau’s behalf. It alleges that Scheer’s March 29 Facebook posting was “beyond the pale of fair debate,” and “is libellous” of Trudeau “personally, and in the way of his occupation as Prime Minister.”  After talking it over with his legal team, Scheer has decided to fight back by rocketing off a missive of his own, penned by lawyer Peter Downard. It contends that Trudeau’s complaint is “entirely without merit” and that it is “profoundly disappointing” for the prime minister to “seek to silence debate on matters of such great public importance.”  Scheer has now issued an open challenge to Trudeau: Proceed with the threatened lawsuit “immediately” — which, Scheer notes, would require the prime minister to submit to depositions, hand over evidence and possibly even testify under oath in open court — or “properly acknowledge” that Scheer’s statements “were appropriate and grounded in evidence before the Canadian people.”  So far, there’s been no word from PMO on how Trudeau intends to respond, but you can bet the pros and cons of the latest legal gambit will dominate both the precinct speculation circuit and the next round of House debate.  Elsewhere on the SNC-Lavalin front  Conservative MP Peter Kent is planning to renew his campaign to have the House ethics committee open a new investigation into the case. That seems, at least at press time, virtually assured to go down to defeat at the hands of the Liberal majority.  On the Senate side, Independent Sen. Andre Pratte will make the case for his proposal to set up a special committee to explore one particular aspect of the case: prosecutorial independence.  If his motion succeeds, the committee would examine and report on the separation of the functions of the minister of justice and the attorney general, and on other initiatives that promote the integrity of the administration of justice. It would also delve into the fine print of the remediation regime to explore “the appropriate interpretation of the national economic interest.”  Finally, while not directly related to the allegations at the heart of the SNC-Lavalin controversy, in the wake of now former Privy Council Clerk Michael Wernick’s assertion that he was “very worried” about the potential for foreign interference in the upcoming federal election, it might be worth perusing the Communications Security Establishment’s latest status report on “cyber threats to Canada’s democratic process.” It’s set to be released on Monday morning.  Wernick’s initial warning — which was delivered as part of his opening statement to the justice committee during its investigation into the attempted political interference allegations — was viewed by many as an attempt to divert attention away from his own actions on the SNC-Lavalin file. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean he was wrong to sound the alarm over the risk.  What remains unclear is whether the fallout from Wernick’s testimony — and his subsequent resignation — has had a corrosive effect on the credibility of the ostensibly nonpartisan public officials and agencies tasked with monitoring and countering such attacks.  According to the advisory, senior CSE officials will hold an embargoed technical briefing for media before giving the floor to Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan and Democratic Institutions Minister Karina Gould, who will preside over the public reveal.  In the House: Omnibudget bill and pot pardons    After writing off all but one day of the previous sitting week to a Conservative-led filibuster that lasted the full four days allotted for the initial budget debate, the government will go back to ticking off items on its legislative priority list on Monday. The Liberals will start with their long-awaited proposal to set up a streamlined process for pot-related pardons, which has been criticized by the New Democrats, among others, for not simply expunging those records from the archives.  Also on the Commons agenda this week: Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s first — and, given the calendar and the rapidly dwindling number of sitting days before the summer recess, almost certainly last — omnibus bid to implement his most recent budget plan. It’s expected to be tabled within the next day or two, and with debate set to begin debate on Wednesday afternoon.  And while there’s virtually no chance it will garner the cross-aisle support required to succeed, on Monday evening, the Conservatives will force the Liberal caucus to vote down their opposition motion calling on the government to “show respect for the rule of law” by handing over various documents and records demanded by lawyers for Vice Admiral Mark Norman ahead of his trial on one count of breach of trust.    At committee this week: Canola trade crisis, HIV disclosure and anti-malarial drugs    While the SNC-Lavalin scandal spotlight is, as noted earlier, set to shine on at least two House committees — JUSTICE and ETHICS — both are currently slated to continue studying two entirely unrelated issues that are arguably just as critical to public policy: the criminal prosecution of individuals who fail to disclose their HIV status and the privacy of digital government services, respectively.  It’s worth noting that the question of when to pursue criminal charges on HIV non-disclosure was actually the subject of what would turn out to be Wilson-Raybould’s final ministerial directive, which was issued last December on World AIDS Day. It instructs prosecutors not to pursue charges where there was “no realistic possibility of transmission,” as well as take into account other factors when determining whether the public interest would be served by prosecution.  Over at INTERNATIONAL TRADE, MPs will hold another roundtable discussion with Canadian canola producers as they continue to examine the circumstances — and potential consequences — of China’s move to suspend Richardson International’s export permit. It’s viewed by many in the sector as another salvo in the ongoing diplomatic standoff over the arrest of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver last year. (TUESDAY PM)  Also on the Commons committee to-do list this week:  Meanwhile, thanks to a last-minute deal co-signed by all four Senate caucus leaders, NATIONAL SECURITY will soon wrap up its work on Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale’s plan to tighten up federal firearms laws by adding enhanced background checks and more rigorous record-keeping requirements for retailers. It’s due to be reported back to the Upper House no later than Wednesday.  Also facing an imminent deadline under the agreement: LEGAL AND CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS, which will have to finish going through the fine print of the government’s bid to overhaul the federal access to information regime by Tuesday.  There’s still more than a month left on the clock for ENERGY, THE ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES committee, which kicks off cross-country hearings on Environment Minister Catherine McKenna’s controversial proposal to revamp the federal environmental assessment process. Senators will be in Vancouver on Monday, followed by full day sessions in Calgary, Fort McMurray and Saskatoon.  Back in the precinct, TRANSPORT AND COMMUNICATIONS is still mulling over the implications of the proposed ban on tanker traffic off the northern coast of British Columbia, which has to be reported back to the Senate by May 16th.  On the witness list for this week: Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, who will take a brief time-out from the provincial campaign hustings to offer her thoughts on the proposed new restrictions via video conference on Tuesday. Saskatchewan Trade Minister Jeremy Harrison will appear in person during the same session. (TUESDAY AM)  Finally, two ministers are set to appear before Senate committees this week:  Also on the Hill this week  The Canadian Federation of Agriculture hits the West Block press theatre to launch a pre-election campaign focused on “producing prosperity in Canada.” According to the notice, it will “promote the opportunities presented by Canada’s Agri-Food industries and highlight the many benefits a more prosperous domestic industry can provide to all Canadians.” (TUESDAY AM)  Representatives from the Chemistry Industry Association of Canada will outline its collective concerns over a “duplicative clean fuel standard” within the proposed carbon pricing regime. The group contends it “will push the total carbon price to an excess of $200 per tonne, effectively doubling the cost of natural gas for the industry.” (Tuesday AM)  House Speaker Geoff Regan commemorates the 20th anniversary of Nunavut being formally established as a full-fledged territory by unveiling a sculpture created by Igloolik-based artist Bart Hanna. It will be displayed in West Block until the Centre Block reopens. (MONDAY AM)  Out and about outside the precinct  Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor teams up with Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale to unveil a “national action plan” on post-traumatic stress injuries that aims to bolster “research and data collection,” as well as new measures to encourage “early intervention and stigma reduction,” as well as preventative measures, and increased support for care and treatment. (MONDAY)  Elsewhere in the capital, Environment Minister Catherine McKenna drops by a Loblaws Superstore with a fresh tranche of cash from her government’s low carbon economy fund for a new “climate action” initiative by the supermarket chain.  (MONDAY)


ipolitics--2019-04-09--Liberal MP pushes Senate-backed bid for tougher sentences for violent crimes against Indigenous wome

Liberal MP pushes Senate-backed bid for tougher sentences for violent crimes against Indigenous women

MPs will have one more day to delve into the fine print of Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s latest omnibus budget bill, which was tabled in the House on Monday and weighs in at just under 400 pages, and is expected to be called for an opening round of debate on Wednesday.  On the Commons to-do list today: The government’s bid to overhaul the laws governing resource management in the Mackenzie Valley, which was introduced last fall but is still waiting for preliminary second-reading approval before it can proceed to committee for further study.  Later this afternoon, Liberal MP Robert Falcon Ouellette will attempt to make the case for Sen. Lillian Dyck’s proposal to make the fact that the victim of a violent crime is an Indigenous woman an aggravating circumstance in sentencing, which has been in parliamentary limbo since it was adopted by the Upper House nearly two years ago.  Meanwhile, Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale is set to submit to a 45-minute Q&A session on the floor of the Senate Chamber, where he can expect to be quizzed about everything from national security policy to the move by a Senate committee to perform a major rewrite of his proposed new gun laws.  UPDATE: According to Sen. Denise Batters, the minister cancelled his scheduled appearance on Monday for unspecified schedule-related reasons.  ON & AROUND THE HILL  The Canadian Federation of Agriculture launches its national pre-election campaign, which will focus on “producing prosperity in Canada,” and will be outlined in detail during a morning press conference hosted by a panel of senior association members from across the country.  Also on the precinct media circuit:  The Parliamentary Budget Office is also slated to release a new report that examines infrastructure spending in the territories, which will be posted to the PBO website this morning.


labourlist--2019-10-04--McDonnell kicks off pre-election campaign tour in Essex

John McDonnell will kick off Labour’s pre-election campaign tour in Essex today – outlining the party’s plans to rebuild the economy and invest in communities hit hard by Tory austerity measures.  With a general election looming, the Shadow Chancellor will use the latest phase of his UK-wide listening tour to set out Labour’s plans to improve living standards in Essex and outline the party’s programme for government.  Speaking ahead of the ‘Road to Rebuilding the Economy’ conference in Colchester, McDonnell said: “Nearly 10 years of austerity has hit communities in Colchester and Essex as a whole very hard. British towns, coast to coast, have lost their traditional industries. Nothing has filled that gap and people in Essex have been let down badly by the Tory government, which has inflicted over nine years of austerity on these communities.  “Our struggling high streets are one of the clearest symptoms of the government’s failure to invest in our communities. Labour’s five-point plan for British high streets will help breathe life back into our struggling town centres. And Labour will deliver a fair deal for Essex’s coastal communities.”  The Shadow Chancellor will highlight Labour’s plans to introduce a real living wage of £10 by 2020, establish a four-day working week with no loss of pay, deliver free personal care, roll out sector-wide collective bargaining, tackle tax avoidance and increase investment in public services by raising taxes on the top 5% of UK earners.  “Labour will tax the rich and giant corporations to end austerity, properly fund public services free at the point of use, and rebuild our economy so it works for the many, not the few,” McDonnell said.  The one-day conference in Colchester – where Tory MP Will Quince holds a majority of 5,677 – is the latest in a new series of pre-election campaign events focused on the economy and the impact of austerity on communities across the country. Previous conferences have been held in Hastings and Rye, Broxtowe, Pudsey, Mansfield, Blackpool, Airdrie and Shotts, Stoke on Trent, Chingford and Woodford Green and Stroud as part of a listening exercise to help develop Labour’s next manifesto and plans to transform local economies.  McDonnell’s visit to Colchester comes on the heels of a series of major policy announcements unveiled by the Shadow Chancellor at Labour Party conference in Brighton, including the introduction of a shorter working week and a new National Care Service. McDonnell’s recent comments signal that Labour’s expanded vision for universal basic services – which includes free higher and further education, childcare, school meals and bus services for young people – will form a central plank of the party’s general election message.  The Shadow Chancellor – who vowed to eliminate in-work poverty by the end of Labour’s first term in office – described the government spending round presented by Sajid Javid in early September as a “pre-election, panic-driven Tory stunt.”


mail--2019-03-20--Turkeys Erdogan sparks spat with Australia New Zealand

Turkey's Erdogan sparks spat with Australia, New Zealand

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has been campaigning for local elections due at the end of the month, suggested this week that Australia and New Zealand had sent troops to fight in WWI's Gallipoli campaign due to their opposition to Islam.  In more inflammatory comments, Erdogan said any Australians and New Zealanders traveling to Turkey with anti-Muslim sentiments would be sent back in coffins "like their grandfathers" were in the Gallipoli campaign.  The battle, marked by heavy casualties on both sides, was a disastrous defeat for the allies against the then Ottoman Empire. Although the battle later helped cement friendship between the three countries, more than a century later it remains a highly sensitive subject in both Australia and New Zealand.  Australia was aghast at Erdogan's comments, with Prime Minister Scott Morrison summoning Turkey's ambassador Wednesday and demanding Erdogan take the comments back, saying "all options are on the table" if he did not.  On Wednesday, a senior Turkish official said Erdogan's words "were unfortunately taken out of context." "As he was giving his speech at the (Gallipoli) commemorations, (Erdogan) framed his remarks in a historical context of attacks against Turkey," said Fahrettin Altun, director of communications for the Turkish presidency, on Twitter.  "Turks have always been the most welcoming and gracious hosts to their Anzac visitors," he said. It is not the first time Erdogan has sparked outrage abroad by making controversial statements about foreign countries, particularly during pre-election periods to stir up nationalist sentiment and consolidate his support base. He has sought to patch-up relations after the elections.  In 2017, in the run-up to a referendum on expanding the powers of Turkey's president, Erdogan had lashed out at the Netherlands and Germany, comparing them to Nazis after they barred Turkish officials from holding campaign rallies there.  He also recently engaged in a war of words with Israel's prime minister and frequently slams the European Union over its immigration policies and what he says is rising Islamophobia. Local elections are set to be held in Turkey on March 31. With the economy struggling, Erdogan's party risks losing the capital, Ankara, to the opposition. Such an outcome would be a severe blow to the president, whose ruling Justice and Development Party and its predecessor have run the city for the past quarter century.  On Wednesday Erdogan, inaugurating a theme park in Ankara as part of his pre-election campaign, called for votes for his ruling party candidates as a response to "occupiers who attempt to threaten our nation from tens of thousands of kilometers away."  Australia has issued a travel advisory warning people visiting the Gallipoli battlefields for remembrance ceremonies during next month's anniversary of the campaign to exercise caution. Erdogan has also sparked outrage abroad by screening at his campaign rallies excerpts of a video taken by the gunman who killed 50 people in mosques in Christchurch, to denounce what he has called rising hatred and prejudice against Islam. Three Turkish citizens were among the dozens wounded in the attack.  Erdogan, whose party has roots in Turkey's Islamic movement, has also been showing parts of a manifesto said to have been left by the gunman in which he threatens Turks and Erdogan himself. New Zealand has been trying to prevent the use of the videos. New Zealand's Foreign Minister Winston Peters is due in Istanbul this week for a meeting of the Organization for Islamic Cooperation to discuss the mosque shootings and was expected to take up the issue during the visit.  In Australia, Turkish ambassador Korhan Karakoc said he had a "frank" conversation with Morrison when the envoy was summoned to Parliament House on Wednesday. "Remarks have been made by the Turkish President Erdogan that I consider highly offensive to Australians and highly reckless in this very sensitive environment," Morrison told reporters in Canberra, Australia's capital.  "They are offensive because they insult the memory of our Anzacs and they violate the pledge that is etched in the stone at Gallipoli," he said, referring to a promise made by the founder of modern Turkey, Kemal Ataturk, that those who are buried rest on friendly soil.  "I do not accept the excuses that have been offered for those comments," Morrison said. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu later held a telephone conversation with his Australian counterpart, Marise Payne, Turkish Foreign Ministry officials said. They did not provide further details about the call.  In an opinion piece published in The Washington Post on Wednesday, Erdogan said the attacker in New Zealand is no different from the Islamic State group. He also called on Western leaders to learn from "the courage, leadership and sincerity" of New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and "embrace Muslims living in their respective countries."


oann--2019-11-25--Uruguay election: tight race between left and right as vote count begins

MONTEVIDEO (Reuters) – Uruguay’s presidential candidates were neck-and-neck as early vote count data trickled in on Sunday night in a run-off vote between the liberal ruling party and a resurgent conservative opposition that had been favorite to clinch victory.  After polls closed at 7:30pm local time (2230 GMT), exit polls gave mixed signals. Two showed Luis Lacalle Pou’s center-right National Party holding a slim lead. A third had Daniel Martinez of the ruling Broad Front party just ahead.  The seemingly tighter-than-expected race comes after pre-election polls had made Lacalle Pou, whose father is a former president, distant favorite to topple the long-standing coalition that has led farm-driven Uruguay through a period of stability and relative, though recently cooling, growth.  Some 2.7 million Uruguayan voters were eligible to choose, with widespread expectation that the South American nation was likely a shift back towards the right after around 15 years of liberal rule.  As pre-election campaigns closed last week Lacalle Pou, a 46-year-old, had struck a confident tone, saying Uruguay was demanding change. Pre-election polls show him beating Martinez by a margin of 6-8 points.  “It’s the people…saying ‘I want to shake up the government’s drowsiness and change it,'” said Lacalle Pou, who became the front-runner after striking deals with a string of allies following an October first round.  Martinez, a 62-year-old former Montevideo mayor, has said the five-party coalition against him is simply an attempt to dislodge the liberal government.  He has also warned about “fundamentalist” policies taking Uruguay sharply to the right, “ending up like in Argentina or Brazil.”  Amid wider regional unrest in Bolivia and Chile, Uruguay remains stable, but a slowing economy saw growth of just 0.1% in the second quarter of the year.  Unemployment has also edged up to 9.2% versus a year earlier, while inflation this year so far has been 8.36%.