Brexit: No progress expected in latest round of UK-EU trade talks July 23, 2020 UK and EU negotiators are expected to announce today that no significant progress had been made in the latest round of Brexit trade deal negotiations. Boris Johnson last month said he wanted the framework of free trade deal agreed between the UK and EU by July, however it looks like this deadline will pass with [...]
Former Wirecard boss Markus Braun arrested for second time July 22, 2020 The former chief executive of Wirecard has been rearrested as Munich prosecutors accuse him of committing a multiyear fraud. Markus Braun stepped down from the company last month after being accused of misrepresenting the payments company’s accounts and of market manipulation by falsifying income from transactions with so-called third-party acquirers. The Financial Times reported prosecutors [...]
Labour calls for review of Russia Today’s UK TV licence July 22, 2020 Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has called for state-backed broadcaster Russia Today (RT) to have its TV licence reviewed on the back of fresh warnings about Kremlin interference in the UK. Starmer called on Boris Johnson at today’s Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) to “stop the spread of Kremlin-backed disinformation”, adding that the UK’s High Court [...]
Grant Shapps says there is ‘no evidence’ of Russian Brexit interference July 22, 2020 Transport secretary Grant Shapps has said there is no evidence that Russia interfered in the 2016 Brexit vote and therefore the UK secret services did not need to investigate the allegations. Shapps’s statement came the day after lawmakers finally released the delayed Russia report. It said the government failed to investigate possible Russian interference in [...]
Russia report: What were the key findings? July 21, 2020 A long-awited and long-delayed parliamentary report into Russia’s interference in UK politics was finally released today by Westminster’s Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC). The report was presented at a press conference by new committee chair, and now independent MP, Julian Lewis, Labour MP Kevan Jones and SNP MP Stewart Hosie. While the report did not [...]
Russia report: Russian influence in UK politics is ‘new normal’ July 21, 2020 Russian influence in UK politics has been described as the “new normal” in Westminster’s Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC)’s long-awaited Russia report. The report said that successive governments “welcomed the oligarchs and their money with open arms, providing them with a means of recycling illicit finance through the London ‘laundromat’” and “connections at the highest [...]
Russia ‘interfered with Scottish referendum’, report to say July 21, 2020 A forthcoming report into Russia’s influence on British politics is set to conclude the Kremlin attempted to influence the result of the Scottish independence referendum, it is reported. Russia tried to split the UK in the 2014 referendum, the Daily Telegraph reported ahead of the official publication later this morning. However, Russian President Vladimir Putin [...]
EY told Wirecard that KPMG audit ‘risked misinterpretation’ July 20, 2020 EY reportedly told Wirecard that a draft of an independent audit lacked “context” and could lead to wrong conclusions about the firm. EY, which has been the German payments firm’s auditor for over a decade, intervened a day before the publication of the KPMG report in April, which cast doubt over Wirecard, according to the [...]
UK secures supply for potential German coronavirus vaccine July 20, 2020 The UK has secured a supply of 30m doses of a potential coronavirus vaccine being developed by German firm BioNTech and US drugmaker Pfizer over the next two years, making it the first country to sign up for the drug. BioNTech and Pfizer said they have the capacity to produce 100m doses by the end [...]
Report to show Russia tried to interfere in Scottish and Brexit referendums July 19, 2020 A long-delayed report on Russian interference into UK politics is expected to show the Kremlin tried to influence the results in both the Brexit and Scottish independence referendums. The Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) will release the Russia report next week before parliament rises for a six-week summer break. The report comes as it was [...]