Tag: Boris Johnson

 The Story: In an unexpected political triumph, British Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Boris Johnson has formalized at last the end of Britain's long ...

The Story: This spring the United Kingdom, like much of the rest of the world, imposed significant restrictions on the movement of its residents in...

“On Tuesday they’re going to come into Parliament … and then in the next week they are going to be prorogued, or suspended," NBC News reporter Matt McBradley said. » Subscribe to MSNBC: http://on.msnbc.com/SubscribeTomsnbc MSNBC delivers breaking news, in-depth analysis…

England just picked a “Trumpian” politician as its new Prime Minister. The Beat reports on the striking similarities between Donald Trump and Boris Johnson and the nationalism, alleged populism and xenophobia rising in many countries. » Subscribe to MSNBC: http://on.msnbc.com/SubscribeTomsnbc…

Donald Trump calls him "Britain Trump" and now he's about to take office as the U.K.'s new prime minister amid turmoil over Brexit. The Washington Post's Brian Klaas and MSNBC National Security Analyst Jeremy Bash explain to Lawrence O'Donnell what…

Boris Johnson became the new prime minister of the United Kingdom today, and President Trump hailed him as the "Britain Trump". » Subscribe to MSNBC: http://on.msnbc.com/SubscribeTomsnbc MSNBC delivers breaking news, in-depth analysis of politics headlines, as well as commentary and…

Boris Johnson, one of the two men who could become the United Kingdom's next prime minister, has repeatedly dodged questioning over what happened when police were called to an alleged altercation at the south London home he shares with girlfriend…

The US has arranged for a representative from the state department, which has repeatedly warned of the risks of using Huawei, to give a briefing on Monday. The latest US lobbying comes after the leak of a decision by the normally secret UK National Security Council, which agreed to allow Huawei to supply 5G technology after a contested meeting in which five cabinet members raised objections. But while Downing Street may regard the Huawei decision as final there are signs that it could yet be reversed once Theresa May steps aside, with sources close to Boris Johnson indicating the former foreign secretary could be willing to “look again” at the Huawei approval if he were to become prime minister. The chancellor, Philip Hammond, was the first minister to publicly confirm that a leak inquiry had started, when asked about Huawei at an Chinese government investment forum in Beijing – and said it needed to be dealt with. “I think it is very important that we get to the bottom of what happened here.” On Thursday it emerged that the cabinet secretary, Sir Mark Sedwill, had written to the senior ministers present at the meeting to demand that they and their aides cooperate with the inquiry and state whether they were aware of the leak. It is understood that Sedwill’s letter did not spell out exactly what would happen next, but the inquiry process could involve phone and email records being examined and politicians and aides interviewed by investigators appointed by Sedwill. Some Conservative backbenchers want the police or MI5 to be called in to help with the investigation, which could become a criminal prosecution under the Official Secrets Act. Allies of Hammond say he also categorically denies being involved in any leaks from the meeting. The others were Theresa May, the prime minister; David Lidington, her effective deputy; Greg Clark, the business secretary; and Jeremy Wright, the culture secretary, who is ultimately responsible for the security of the UK’s telecoms networks. It also emerged on Friday that the Dutch telecoms giant KPN will select a “western company” to work on the core of its 5G rollout across the Netherlands after the US ambassador criticised its apparent plans to give the contract to Huawei.

Talks between Labour and the government are unlikely to advance much further in the coming week unless Theresa May moves on her red lines over a future customs union, sources close to the talks have suggested. Labour has suggested the ball is in the government’s court and, while the opposition will engage on other topics including workers’ rights and security, the key question on customs arrangements remains unresolved. “We think it is possible to get the benefits of a customs union but still have the flexibility for the UK to pursue an independent trade policy on top of that with other countries outside the EU. He said there was “no date ringed in the calendar” for the talks to end but if agreement could not be reached on some form of Brexit deal then he hoped the two sides would be able to agree a binding mechanism for parliament to agree a way forward. May and Corbyn are not expected to be involved in the talks this week during the Easter recess, though Tory MPs expect speculation over the prime minister’s position and leadership jostling to continue. I think those dates still stand,” he told Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday. Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, the two peers said there was “nothing standing in their way” if MPs agreed to change the rules, though the committee’s current chair, Sir Graham Brady, said he was “less certain that it would be possible to change the rules during the current period of grace”. “There has been a stop Boris campaign since the days of Michael Howard pushing forward Cameron and Osborne,” she tweeted. Many of those with their own eye on No 10 aren’t a fan of that prospect.” Duncan Smith said many in the party were deeply concerned about the most recent polling predicting a Labour lead of up to seven points and dire forecasts for the local and EU elections. “The big problem was as soon as we didn’t leave, you could see all the poll ratings start to crash.”

Boris Johnson has been accused of “an over-casual attitude towards obeying the rules of the house” after a Commons standards watchdog found he had failed to declare his share of a property in Somerset on time. The Commons standards committee said the former foreign secretary had breached rules by failing to declare a financial interest within the required time limit. The committee dismissed Johnson’s claim that he had not fully understood the rules. The committee said this offence followed a previous failure to register a financial interest. “The committee noted with concern that two investigations by the commissioner in rapid succession demonstrate a pattern of behaviour by Mr Johnson which reinforces their previous view that he had displayed an over-casual attitude towards obeying the rules of the house,” the ruling found. “Although Mr Johnson argued that the house’s rules were confusing, the committee concluded that the problem lay not with the relevant rules, which they consider to be clear, but with Mr Johnson’s failure to consult the guide to the rules. He has apologised for the breach. The ruling follows an earlier warning from the watchdog after Johnson was found to have failed to declare almost £53,000 of earnings before the 28-day deadline. Johnson apologised in the House of Commons for the breach. Last year, Johnson was also found to have broken rules that prevent former cabinet ministers taking up new jobs for three months after leaving office, by signing up for his £275,000-a-year Daily Telegraph column.