Government preparing for legal fight with Covid inquiry (it set up) over Boris Johnson WhatsApp messages June 2, 2023 Ministers are preparing for a high-profile legal battle with the Covid-19 inquiry as the Government seeks to challenge the request for Boris Johnson’s unredacted WhatsApp messages and notebooks. Bereaved families and opposition parties hit out at the Government after the Cabinet Office took the highly unusual step of seeking a judicial review of inquiry chairwoman [...]
‘Ukraine’s rightful place is in Nato’: Rishi Sunak promises Kyiv ‘security arrangements’ June 1, 2023 Ukraine’s “rightful place” is in Nato, Rishi Sunak has said. The Prime Minister is in Moldova for a gathering of European leaders, with his comments coming after a meeting with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky. Kyiv has long called for Ukraine to be admitted to Nato, but allies are divided about when and how any accession [...]
Sunak ‘putting tackling legal migration top of the agenda’ at European summit June 1, 2023 Rishi Sunak is seeking to put “tackling illegal migration top of the international agenda” at a gathering of European leaders in Moldova. The Prime Minister is stressing the need for collaboration on the “global issue” at a meeting of the European Political Community. While there, he is expected to announce the start of negotiations on [...]
Zahawi, Patel and Rees-Mogg lead calls to abolish ‘morally wrong’ inheritance tax June 1, 2023 Senior Tory MPs including former chancellor Nadhim Zahawi are calling for inheritance tax to be abolished. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt face a call from more than 50 of his MPs to scrap the tax, according to The Telegraph. Writing in the newspaper, Mr Zahawi suggested scrapping the tax and said it [...]
Explainer: Why Erdoğan refuses to let Sweden join NATO May 31, 2023 This is a big week in foreign policy. Rishi Sunak is preparing for his trip to Moldova tomorrow, to attend the European Political Community Summit, where he hopes to talk about migration and support for Ukraine. Yet with the newly re-elected Recep Tayyip Erdoğan also invited, there’s another issue that might overshadow the Summit, something [...]
AI ‘godfather’ feels ‘lost’ over life’s work after experts warn it could lead to extinction of humanity May 31, 2023 One of the “godfathers” of artificial intelligence (AI) has said he feels “lost” as experts warned the technology could lead to the extinction of humanity. Professor Yoshua Bengio told the BBC that all companies building AI products should be registered and people working on the technology should have ethical training. It comes after dozens of [...]
Starmer says Britain’s Brexit future is OUTSIDE of the EU under Labour May 31, 2023 Britain’s future is outside the EU, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said, as he promised to make Brexit work. Writing in the Daily Express newspaper, Sir Keir – who campaigned for Remain in the 2016 referendum – also said he would not be seeking a return to freedom of movement. The comments are Sir [...]
The west forgot about Crimea. It cannot forget about the rest of Ukraine May 31, 2023 It is perhaps easy to become fatigued by news of the war in Ukraine. It is now fifteen months since Vladimir Putin’s tanks rolled over the frontier for what they thought would be a straightforward victory, an imperial conquest more akin to 1940 or the Napoleonic era than the 21st century. Through sheer bloody-mindedness as [...]
Sunak to crack down on ‘unacceptable’ targeting of young people by vape market May 30, 2023 A new Government crackdown on vape marketing will prevent the “unacceptable” targeting of children and young people, Rishi Sunak has said. Ministers have pledged to close a loophole allowing retailers to give free samples of vapes to children in England, amid concerns over the proportion of children trying e-cigarettes. The move comes days after the [...]
Covid inquiry legal battle looms for ministers over Boris Johnson WhatsApp requests May 30, 2023 Ministers could be set for a legal battle with the Covid-19 inquiry over the requested release of unredacted WhatsApp messages and diaries belonging to Boris Johnson. The Cabinet Office has until 4pm on Tuesday to respond to the request from Lady Hallett’s official inquiry. There has so far been little sign that ministers are set [...]