Tag: Jeremy Hunt

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…

Allies of Amber Rudd played down rumours she plans to join Boris Johnson in a Conservative party leadership “dream ticket” to unite the Brexiter and remainer wings of the party, as the manoeuvrings to succeed Theresa May gained pace. With moves to oust the prime minister expected to reach a crescendo if she agrees a longer-term delay to Brexit with the EU at a Brussels summit this week, the idea of a so-called “Bamber” joint bid has been floated, potentially uniting the work and pensions secretary with the former foreign secretary. Rudd is known to be happy to be a standard-bearer for remain-minded opinion in the race to succeed May, but is being seen more as a kingmaker than a likely winner herself, mindful of both the likely preference of Conservative members for a Brexiter as well as the tiny 346 majority she holds in her Hastings constituency. But it is understood that Rudd is by no means signed up to the plan and has not decided on supporting any particular candidate. An ally of the former home secretary said Rudd’s focus was on her so-called One Nation Group of moderate Tories, said to comprise of around 40 MPs intent on making sure any future leader would not pull Britain from the EU without a deal. Also seeking support from that wing of the party will be Michael Gove, the environment secretary, and the international development secretary, Penny Mordaunt, as well as born-again Brexiters such as Jeremy Hunt, the foreign secretary, and the home secretary, Sajid Javid. The Guardian view on May’s Brexit offer to Corbyn: years too late | Editorial Read more The remainer end of the race is currently less congested, in part because hopefuls realise that the party electoral system – whereby a final two whittled down by MPs are put to a vote of the strongly leave-oriented membership – does not favour such views. Their ranks were nonetheless potentially increased by one on Sunday when the former education secretary Justine Greening, now a strong supporter of a second referendum, indicated she could well compete. “I don’t know when the leadership contest will happen but for me [the party] has always been a vehicle for changing Britain for the better, simple as that.” Asked if she might be particularly tempted to try her luck if the candidates did not include any centrists, Greening said: “That would be one of the reasons why I might do it.” Greening was dismissive of the idea of a staunchly pro-Brexit team, for example Johnson and Jacob Rees-Mogg, who chairs the European Research Group, which represents strongly leave-minded Tory backbenchers. “You’re not going to win elections by fishing in a voter pool that probably represents about 30% of the country.” Rees-Mogg, who has so far refused to say who he will back when May departs, as the prime minister has pledged to do when a Brexit departure plan is finalised, had praise on Sunday for both Johnson, the former mayor of London, and for Rudd.

The SNP will ask for the power to hold an independence referendum if the UK leaves the EU. The party's Westminster spokesman Ian Blackford MP told BBC's Sunday Politics Scotland the party would put forward an amendment this week asking for the power to hold a second vote. 'Scotland's choice' However, Mr Blackford said that the Scottish Parliament has a mandate to hold an independence referendum and said that Theresa May should respect the sovereignty of the Scottish people. Brexit could be lost if deal rejected, Jeremy Hunt says Brexiteer MPs say delay would be political calamity One more push needed to get deal through, says May Mr Blackford continued: "What we're going to do is put down an amendment asking for the government to recognise that Scotland voted to remain. AdChoices "We're making reference in that to the claim of right and the debate we had in Parliament in July 2018 that Parliament accepted the motion that sovereignty rests with the Scottish people. "We will do what we can to work with other parties to stop Brexit, we have no desire to see Scotland dragged out against its will, but we need to recognise that if that does happen then the people of Scotland have got to determine their own future." Brexit: Does anyone really know what happens next? Mr Blackford said that the SNP would vote to rule out a no-deal Brexit and extend the Article 50 process if the prime minister's vote on Tuesday is defeated. SNP 'excuses' A UK government spokesman said: "Scotland had an independence referendum in 2014 and voted decisively to remain in the UK. That is what people and business in Scotland expect."

Soft-Brexit cabinet ministers fear that Theresa May is determined to appease hardline leavers rather than reach out across the House of Commons, after key figures were excluded from discussions with other ministers. However, government sources suggested this may have been down to logistics. Rudd has also said there should be “everything on the table because the priority is to find a negotiated settlement”. Cabinet sources said ministers at the Friday meetings had pressed the PM for reassurance that her public statements rejecting any movement on a customs union or a referendum reflected what was being said in private. “As to what the next steps are, we are none the wiser.” Another cabinet source said May was urged not to pursue a route that could see a Tory split. “The only way forward that doesn’t split the party is to bring the DUP and the ERG on board,” the source said. On Thursday night and on Friday morning, she took calls from European leaders including the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, the Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, and the EU leaders Jean-Claude Juncker and Donald Tusk. In her call with Rutte, May insisted there would be no delay to the UK’s departure from the EU on 29 March, while he in turn said the withdrawal agreement would not be “tweaked” to help her get the deal through parliament. “She is really expecting Brexit to go ahead on 29 March,” Rutte told his weekly press conference, adding that he was concerned about the lack of time to avoid a no-deal scenario. That would in effect make it impossible for the government to legally leave the EU without a deal on 29 March.

The most likely alternative is a permanent customs union, which could get the backing of a majority of MPs. They have also discussed the Norway-plus option – with the welfare secretary, Amber Rudd, thought to be particularly interested – though this would be problematic for May’s red line on free movement. He is unlikely to survive if the prime minister falls. Clark and Gauke are thought to be prepared to consider a second referendum. Ultra-loyalists Every prime minister needs a few ministers who she can rely on whatever happens. Whichever option she goes for when MPs reject her deal as seems almost inevitable – a second attempt, renegotiating with Brussels, a second referendum or even a general election – they are likely to stand by her. Labour accuses government of defying will of Commons by not releasing full Brexit legal advice - Politics live Read more Born-again Brexiters These ministers all have their eyes on the biggest prize of all: being on the right side of the Brexit debate when May does eventually step down. The home secretary, Sajid Javid, was a natural Eurosceptic who backed remain at the behest of David Cameron but appeared to regret his decision after the vote, which lost him the trust of many Tory Brexiters. Loyal for now While they represent different factions of the Tory party, these ministers have all come out in support of the prime minister’s deal, for now. The health secretary, Matt Hancock, who was close to George Osborne, has survived, even thrived, under May and has played a relatively straight bat on Brexit.

The shadow foreign secretary, Emily Thornberry, demanded he go further and suspend UK arms sales to Saudi Arabia, as well as imposing financial penalties on those responsible for Khashoggi’s death. And you can read the full story on the prime minister’s Commons Brexit statement here: Hunt tells MPs the UK authorities are investigating the actions of Khashoggi’s alleged killers when they were in the country in March. So, whilst we will be thoughtful and considered in our response, I have also been clear that if the appalling stories we are reading turn out to be true, they are fundamentally incompatible with our values and we will act accordingly. He says the UK and Saudi Arabia have a close and mutually beneficial relationship. May has finished now and the foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, is making a statement on the death of Jamal Khashoggi. Have they given up on governing? My guess: Offer of unilateral GB harmonisation with Northern Ireland in the event the yet-to-be-agreed EU backstop comes into force, which London wants to become UK-wide customs but NI-only "full alignment" with EU regs https://t.co/4RgW8amRkv (@SamCoatesTimes) Yes. The former Brexit minister Steve Baker, one of the key figures in the ERG, says that those who briefed against the prime minister using language about nooses and knives have “throughly disgraced themselves.” May thanks him for the “supportive comments.” DUP MP Sammy Wilson calls the backstop “unnecessary and damaging” and says it is designed to keep Northern Ireland in the customs union. May says the government has rejected that proposal from the EU and that the UK will leave “as one United Kingdom.” The former home secretary Amber Rudd says she also “utterly condemns” the language which has been used about the prime minister. May says that the backstop issue has to be resolved whatever the state of the future relationship.

Only two weeks ago, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, was preparing to host foreign investors at a lavish event being described as "Davos in the desert." Here, MBS -- as he is colloquially known -- would show off his Vision 2030 plan for the kingdom and present to the world his future for a modern Saudi Arabia and charm international investors to back his plans. Bin Salman's conference, a staged event designed to present a transformed Saudi Arabia, is looking likely to be a significantly less impressive affair, as investors and business leaders are dropping out in horror at the events of the past week. Has bin Salman badly misjudged the extent to which the world is willing to isolate him? It took the global business community confronting bin Salman at Davos early the following year for the message to hit home that locking up prominent businessmen is not the way most high-profile investors choose to work. Do they copy the playbook of Russian President Vladimir Putin and continue to flatly deny all allegations, or do they engage with and try to clean up this mess and take responsibility for what Turkey claims is a brutal murder? The problem for Saudi Arabia is that Turkey claims that it does hold such evidence -- and is gleefully sharing it with its allies. His plan to borrow against Saudi Arabia's enormous national wealth, open its economy and drag his nation into the 21st century is withering before his eyes. While he's currently Crown Prince and in line to inherit the Kingdom, Saudi politics can be brutal. There are lots of other royals in Riyadh and it's not hard to imagine one or two of them sidling up to King Salman and telling him that his son is out of control.

Speaking to the Guardian, Röttgen, a prominent member of Angela Merkel’s CDU governing party, said both sides needed to make concessions to reach an agreement if a catastrophic no-deal was to be avoided. Brussels rejects Theresa May's plea to break Brexit deadlock Read more He said: “In my opinion and from the outside, the only way Britain is to reach a reconciliation and end these deep divisions through society is if it holds a referendum in which no one can say, after two years of deep discussion, they did not know the consequences of Brexit. Very few knew the full consequences of Brexit after the first referendum.” He said he supported a three-choice referendum in which voters chose between the government deal, a no-deal Brexit and remaining in the European Union. It will be remembered after the party conference. It matters that the foreign secretary shows responsibility in his language. He is one of the most senior figures in government and responsibility is required.” In one of the first signs that Germany may be willing to take up at least part of Theresa May’s Chequers proposals, Röttgen said the EU should be prepared to give the UK access to the single market in relation to goods, but not services, in return for the UK accepting EU rules and the customs union for goods. Tories fight over what's left of their stash | John Crace Read more He said the EU could in return offer unspecified concessions on free movement. It is a position on which the EU has to change to find compromise. There has been growing concern in UK government circles that Merkel, weakened at home, is deferring to a harder-line France in the talks, making it more difficult to persuade the German chancellor to assert her instinct for a pragmatic compromise. European leaders thought Theresa May’s approach of either Chequers or no-deal was inappropriate.

In findings that will offer some relief to the prime minister, an ICM survey for the Guardian found that voters believe the Tories would be more likely to lose the next election if May was replaced by Johnson or five other potential successors. The Guardian view on Tory party entryism: a real and present rightwing danger | Editorial Read more May’s leadership has been questioned since she called a snap election in 2017 that led to the loss of the Tories’ Commons majority. But, asked by ICM if the Conservatives would have a better chance of winning the next election under Johnson, only 27% of respondents agreed, while 45% disagreed, giving Johnson a net score of -18. Voters believe a young and unheralded leader would give the Tories a better chance of winning the next election than other contenders Standfirst ... * -30% -20 -10 0 'Someone quite young and able, not currently in government' Ruth Davidson Boris Johnson Sajid Javid Jacob Rees-Mogg Jeremy Hunt Michael Gove Guardian Graphic | Source: Guardian/ICM poll. Question asked if chances of victory better or worse with each candidate - net figure shown Two other leading candidates – Michael Gove, the environment secretary, and Jeremy Hunt, the new foreign secretary – are seen as even worse choices. Just 7% of people believe each man would help the party’s chances, and their respective net ratings are -38 and -34. But 20% disagreed, giving this unspecified candidate a net score of +5. Rees-Mogg is seen by Tories as the person next best placed to help the Tories, but his net score is -8. However, in a leadership contest Johnson would be challenged to show that he could win over Labour voters. Conservatives and Labour level in the polls after one percentage point increase in Tory support Voting intention (change from ICM poll two weeks ago) % 0 10 20 30 40 Conservatives 40% (+1) Labour 40 (-) Lib Dems 8 (-) Ukip 6 (-) Green 2 (-1) Guardian Graphic | Source: Guardian/ICM poll ICM Unlimited interviewed a representative online sample of 2,021 adults aged 18 or over, between 17 and 19 August 2018.

In a speech in Washington on Tuesday during his first visit since taking over from Boris Johnson as the UK’s most senior diplomat, Hunt will specifically call for tighter regulation of online political advertising and new measures to prevent cyber attacks on electoral machinery. Is free trade always the answer? Read more Hunt will also throw out a challenge to Trump’s protectionist policies by warning a weakening of free trade will only damage western economies, and ultimately western political power. He will say the emergence of an international order based on the application of law rather than might had led to an exponential growth in trade, leading to extraordinary advances in economic and social prosperity across the globe. “Given the importance of the online world for political communication the rules governing online activity in the runup to elections should surely be as strict as those elsewhere – and modern electorates should be given confidence the results cannot be influenced by the cyber activities of other countries.” Hunt’s remarks suggest he is prepared to back the case recently made by the former foreign secretary Lord Hague for a ban on online paid political advertising of the kind that has been imposed on broadcasters for decades. Following the summit, Trump implied that he trusted the Russian president as much if not more than his own intelligence agencies. Trump has always been reluctant to support wider sanctions against Russia. Before the summit Trump clashed with his Nato allies and implied he might accept the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine – a policy the US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, repudiated days after the summit. Hunt will urge the EU to stand truly shoulder to shoulder with the US administration by going further to impose more comprehensive sanctions against Russia. The two sides are likely to probe for potential common ground over the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, still supported by the EU, but torn up by Trump.