Tag: Verdict

A weary European media had three questions after Theresa May’s last-minute attempt to “break the Brexit logjam”: why did it take her so long; will it work; and should Europe even be bothering any more. “There is not a playwright living or dead who could have devised a drama to incite as much fury, exhaustion and resignation as Brexit,” wrote the Irish Independent in an exasperated editorial complaining of “near-total chaos” in Westminster. “The prime minister has at last woken up to the fact she must either step up, or step out … But hovering for too long in mid-air can only ever end in disaster; let’s hope this desperate last roll of the dice is not too little, too late.” 'Jezz the two of us': what the papers said about May's overture to Corbyn Read more With just 10 days to a no-deal Brexit, “May has completely changed her strategy,” despaired Germany’s Die Zeit after the prime minister announced her intention of seeking a compromise with Labour and a short further extension from the EU. “She has realised she cannot secure Brexit through her own party, because a third of Tory MPs are Brexit fundamentalists who dislike her deal and refuse all compromise. So she has to find another solution – and her gaze naturally falls on the opposition.” But May knows full well that any softening of Brexit risks a deep split in her party: “That is why she waited so long. She would never have taken this step if Britain was not about to crash out in a few days’ time. But now “everything is made far, far more difficult by the timetable – we need an agreement before 10 April, the day of the emergency EU summit. In the Netherlands, NRC Handelsblad said that after “nearly three years in their stranglehold, May has finally thrown off the hawks in her own party”. “To grant a brief postponement, Brussels will need a guarantee that Britain will exit before the European elections on 23 May,” the paper said. “That could prove difficult for London to provide before the agreement has been ratified in parliament.” Le Monde was equally sceptical.

The verdict in the retrial of former Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano and his wife Linda is unlikely to have a major impact on county politics, with the major fallout having already occurred in the 2017 elections, experts said. With most of the political impact of the federal corruption past, any remaining fallout from the convictions of the Manganos probably will not help Democratic County Executive Laura Curran if she seeks re-election in 2021, said Larry Levy, executive dean of the National Center for Suburban Studies at Hofstra University. The jury convicted both he and his wife of conspiracy to obstruct justice. It also found Linda Mangano guilty of obstruction of justice, and two counts of lying to the FBI. Republicans trying to recover from their loss of the county executive's post to Curran in 2017 say they intend to campaign in legislative and countywide races against her administration's reassessment of residential and commercial properties. “In fact, homeowners who I run into on a daily basis are outraged over Nassau County Executive Laura Curran’s error-plagued reassessment project, which is no more than a backdoor tax hike for hundreds of thousands of property owners,” Cairo said. But Democrats say they plan to hammer the message that their candidates are better suited to gain taxpayer confidence. Dean Skelos and his son Adam, who were convicted on corruption charges for using Dean Skelos' position in state government to shake down companies for $300,000 in payments to Adam, began serving four-year sentences in federal prison in January. But Nicolello said Nassau voters are more concerned with economic issues, particularly Curran's countywide property reassessment. "Going forward, people are judging you on what you do," Nicolello said " … People will still be concerned about corruption but that cuts across both parties — it’s not just a Republican issue.

May said her policy was to leave the customs union, having as frictionless trade as possible, no hard border in Ireland and an independent trade policy. The Labour leader said there had been no progress in cabinet for five months. May said some people wanted the UK to forget about having an independent trade policy. Neither of those positions was a position of the government. May’s retort was that Corbyn said there wouldn’t be a deal before December. He said the Dutch have already started training new customs officers. How many HMRC extra staff have been recruited to deal with Brexit? He was also more versatile than usual, combining real humour (ie, a joke that actually made people laugh, not synthetic, parliamentary humour – the laughter after his first question went on so long they will probably have to edit it out in the radio bulletins), deadly specifics (the question about HMRC staff), good attack quotes (the ones from car manufacturers), but also questions that accurately and harshly summed up the government’s failings (primarily, the absence of a Brexit negotiating position only five months before the deal is supposed to be completed). Tories who have been withering about Corbyn’s abilities should start asking themselves what it is about the government’s record that has made a Brexit PMQs such a doddle for him. Memorable lines Jeremy Corbyn’s opener: When the prime minister wrote at the weekend that she wanted ‘as little friction as possible’, was she talking about EU trade or the next cabinet meeting?

The judge presiding over the riot trial of Hong Kong pro-independence activist Edward Leung Tin-kei urged jurors to put politics aside on Monday, as she began to direct them on reaching a verdict. Leung, 26, and four other men have pleaded not guilty to a host of charges, including rioting and inciting others to take part in a riot, in the busy district of Mong Kok on the night of February 8, 2016. The chaos carried on into the early hours of next morning. His other co-defendants are Lam Lun-hing, Lam Ngo-hin, Lee Nok-man and Lo Kin-man. Wrapping up the case on Monday, Pang told the jury this was a case involving a group of social activists and frustrations against the authorities. The chaos later descended into a stand-off with police, with prosecutors alleging that Leung and a fellow member from the localist group Hong Kong Indigenous, Ray Wong Toi-yeung, then incited the crowd to riot by issuing commands. Among the crowd, the prosecutors said, were other members from the group dressed in blue T-shirts. Video footage played in court showed a confrontation of protesters hurling verbal abuse at police officers and assaulting them, with bricks being launched as missiles when the unrest later spread to Argyle, Shantung, and Fa Yuen streets. Madam Justice Anthea Pang Po-kam Pang told the jury on Monday while some might be put off by the violence and insults, and others might sympathise with the hawkers, it was important they maintain a “calm and impartial” approach when considering the criminal allegations against each of the defendants. The judge also said the event was widely reported by media at the time.