UK suspends extradition treaty, places arms embargo on Hong Kong July 20, 2020 The UK has officially suspended its extradition treaty with Hong Kong indefinitely and banned arms exports to the region in line with existing restrictions on mainland China. Foreign secretary Dominic Raab said the imposition of new security legislation in Hong Kong by Beijing meant that the “key assumptions underpinning or extradition treaties with Hong Kong” [...]
PM calls face-to-face cabinet meeting since lockdown – without masks July 20, 2020 Boris Johnson will summon his first in-person cabinet meeting tomorrow for the first time since March, with members due to meet without masks despite current social distancing guidelines. The Prime Minister’s usual Tuesday morning cabinet meetings in Downing Street have convened virtually for the last five months using video conferencing software, due to the nationwide [...]
Signs of progress in fourth day of EU coronavirus fund talks July 20, 2020 EU talks aimed at agreeing the terms of a €750bn coronavirus bailout fund ran into their fourth day but there have been signs of progress. Germany and France said a framework had been sketched during a summit in Brussels which has been heated at points. The main division is between the countries hardest-hit by the [...]
Blackburn risks local lockdown as infection rate surpasses Leicester July 20, 2020 A local lockdown in Blackburn is the “last resort”, the area’s public health official has said, as the Lancashire district surpassed Leicester as England’s coronavirus hotspot. Blackburn and nearby market town Darwen together recorded the highest infection rate in the country in the week to 17 July, according to Public Health England figures. There were [...]
Johanna Kyrklund: Are markets paying enough attention? July 20, 2020 | City Talk Like home-schooled children during the Covid crisis, markets seem to be struggling to pay attention for long. For parents, one of the most difficult parts of lockdown has been home-schooling their children. My social media feed has been full of people tearing their hair out as long-forgotten concepts such as subordinate clauses or trigonometry have [...]
Test and trace programme breaks GDPR laws, government admits July 20, 2020 The NHS Test and Trace scheme that collects contact details of those who have been in close proximity to Covid-19 breaks data protection laws, the Department for Health and Social Care has admitted. Campaigners from the Open Rights Group (ORG) earlier this month threatened legal action against the department over claims the NHS programme has [...]
Global banks ‘scrutinise Hong Kong clients for pro-democracy ties’ July 20, 2020 Global banks are examining whether their clients in Hong Kong have ties to the city’s pro-democracy movement, sources have warned Six people with knowledge of the matter said banks are scrutinising clients in an attempt to avoid getting caught in the crosshairs of China’s new national security law. Bankers at Credit Suisse Group AG (CSGN.S), [...]
EU leaders make progress in €750bn coronavirus fund talks July 20, 2020 European leaders edged close to agreeing to the terms of a €750bn coronavirus bailout fund this morning after the “frugal four” governments signalled they were willing to compromise. Negotiations ended in the small hours of the morning after the Netherlands, Austria, Denmark and Sweden were satisfied with €390bn of the emergency fund being made available [...]
UK set to suspend Hong Kong extradition treaty July 20, 2020 The UK will suspend its extradition treaty with Hong Kong today in a further escalation of its dispute with China over the introduction of a security law in the former colony, British newspapers reported. Foreign secretary Dominic Raab, who on Sunday accused China of “gross” human rights violations, will announce the suspension of the treaty [...]
Time for the UK to recognise the prospect of an independent Scotland July 20, 2020 The debate on Scotland’s future is changing. Opinion polls have begun showing majority support for independence. The two most recent polls have put the “Yes” vote at 54 per cent, nearly a full inversion of the 2014 referendum result. Brexit has been the main driver of this shift. The Scottish electorate consistently rejected leaving the [...]