Tag: Boris Johnson

  • Boris Johnson Resigns from Parliament Amid COVID Lockdown Party Allegations

    Boris Johnson Resigns from Parliament Amid COVID Lockdown Party Allegations

    Johnson made the move as he hit out at an investigation by the House of Commons’ privileges committee, which is examining whether the ex-prime minister knowingly misled parliament about COVID rule-breaking parties held in Downing Street.

    The resignation of Johnson, the Tory MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip, will trigger a by-election in a seat he held in 2019 by 7,210 votes.

    In a statement, Johnson said the committee — whose findings have yet to be published but which can recommend a suspension from the Commons — has “still not produced a shred of evidence that I knowingly or recklessly misled” MPs.

    He added: “They know perfectly well that when I spoke in the Commons I was saying what I believed sincerely to be true and what I had been briefed to say, like any other minister. They know that I corrected the record as soon as possible; and they know that I and every other senior official and minister — including the current Prime Minister and then occupant of the same building, Rishi Sunak — believed that we were working lawfully together.

    “I have been an MP since 2001. I take my responsibilities seriously. I did not lie, and I believe that in their hearts the Committee know it. But they have wilfully chosen to ignore the truth because from the outset their purpose has not been to discover the truth, or genuinely to understand what was in my mind when I spoke in the Commons.

    “Their purpose from the beginning has been to find me guilty, regardless of the facts. This is the very definition of a kangaroo court.”

  • BREAKING: UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson To Resign

    BREAKING: UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson To Resign

    British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson will on Thursday resign as leader of the Conservative Party, but he will continue as Prime Minister until the autumn.

    A Conservative leadership race will take place this summer and a new Prime Minister will be in place in time for the Tory party conference in October.

    It is the third day of a steady stream of resignations from Boris Johnson’s government, with over 50 members gone.

    On Wednesday, the Prime Minister was on the brink after two of his senior ministers quit in protest at his scandal-hit leadership, piling on the pressure as he faced a grilling from angry MPs.

    The 58-year-old leader’s grip on power became more precarious within 10 short minutes on Tuesday night when Rishi Sunak resigned as finance minister and Sajid Javid quit as health secretary.

    Both said they could no longer tolerate the culture of scandal that has stalked Johnson for months, including lockdown lawbreaking in Downing Street that enraged the public who followed the rules.

    Sunak and Javid will now sit on the Conservative backbenches at the weekly session of Prime Minister’s Questions at 1100 GMT, which promises to be even more combustible than usual.

    Johnson then faces an hours-long grilling from the chairs of the House of Commons’ most powerful committees, who include some of his most virulent critics in the Tory ranks.

    The exits of Sunak and Javid came just minutes after Johnson apologised for appointing a senior Conservative, who quit his post last week after he was accused of drunkenly groping two men.

    Former education secretary Nadhim Zahawi was handed the finance brief. “You don’t go into this job to have an easy life,” Zahawi told Sky News on Wednesday.

    “Sometimes it’s easy to walk away but actually, it’s much tougher to deliver for the country.”

    Details shortly…

  • Buhari Meets Boris Johnson, Insists on Respecting Nation’s Maximum Term Limit

    Buhari Meets Boris Johnson, Insists on Respecting Nation’s Maximum Term Limit

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday held a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister of Great Britain where he again reiterated his resolve to respect the maximum term limit in the Nigerian Constitution.

    Mr Femi Adesina, the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, who confirmed this in a statement in Abuja, said the meeting was held on the margins of the 26th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Kigali, Rwanda.

    The presidential aide said the UK PM, obviously not quite familiar with Nigeria’s maximum two terms limit, had asked if President Buhari would run for office again.

    Responding to Johnson’s question, the Nigerian leader said:

    “Another term for me? No! The first person who tried it didn’t end very well.”

    On the leader of the proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, not being allowed to see his lawyers privately, the president dispelled such insinuation.

    He said the detained separatist was being given every opportunity under the law “to justify all the uncomplimentary things he had been saying against Nigeria in Britain.

    “He felt very safe in Britain, and said awful things against Nigeria.

    ”We eventually got him when he stepped out of the United Kingdom, and we sent him to court.

    ”Let him defend all that he has said there. His lawyers have access to him. Remember he jumped bail before, how are we sure he won’t do it again, if he’s admitted to bail?”

    On the keenness expressed by the PM to help Nigeria in the area of security, the president said helping to stabilise Libya could be an initial good step.

    He said the fall of Muammar Gadaffi after 42 years in power had unleashed armed guards on countries in the Sahel, “and they are causing havoc everywhere, as the only thing they know how to do is to shoot guns.”

    On Boko Haram insurgency, Buhari said there was serious effort to educate the people on the fact that only an unserious person could kill innocent people, “and say Allah Akbar (God is Great). God is justice.

    ”You can’t take innocent souls, and ascribe it to God. And the education process is working, the people now understand Boko Haram as anti-God, and not about religion.”

    Johnson said he was delighted about the good news on trade between the two countries, adding that the UK was further reducing tariffs on some goods going to Nigeria.

    He described the relationship between the countries as “very strong attachment”.

    He added: “I just want to be sure that we are doing enough. It’s a massive partnership for us, and we need to capitalize on it.”

    The Prime Minister offered condolences on some recent attacks in Nigeria, particularly on churches.

  • Ukraine: Putin’s Barbaric Venture Must End In Failure – Boris Johnson

    Ukraine: Putin’s Barbaric Venture Must End In Failure – Boris Johnson

    UK Prime minister, Boris Johnson, has condemned Vladimir Putin’s full pronged invasion of Ukraine, which he described as a “hideous” and “barbaric” venture.

    In a televised address to the British citizens, PM Johnson stated that Putin’s actions should not be allowed to ‘snuff out’ freedom being enjoyed in Ukraine with an act of ‘wanton and reckless aggression.

    While condemning Putin’s action as unleashing war on the continent, Johnson sent out a hard message to the West to lend their might to lead to the eventual ‘failure’ of Russia’s incursion ‘diplomatically, politically, economically, and eventually, militarily’

    ‘Our mission is clear. Diplomatically, politically, economically, and eventually, militarily, this hideous and barbaric venture of Vladimir Putin must end in failure,’ he said.

    “We cannot and will not just look away,” Johnson said in a televised address to the nation, after phoning Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky just after 4:00 am (0400 GMT) as Russian forces moved in.

    Ukraine can be assured of continued UK support given that “our worst fears have now come true and all our warnings have proved tragically accurate”, the prime minister said.

    Ahead of an emergency virtual meeting of G7 leaders, Johnson said the West “will agree to a massive package of economic sanctions designed in time to hobble the Russian economy”.

    Similarly, Johnson’s Foreign Office minister James Cleverly suggested that Russian military commanders should stage a coup to stop Mr Putin’s ‘catastrophically bad judgement call’.

    He also took swipes at Putin’s mental state after a series of rambling speeches littered with Soviet-era rhetoric, he said the president seemed to be acting ‘increasingly in isolation’ and ‘illogically’.

    – ‘Unprecedented’ sanctions –
    UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, who spoke to her US counterpart Antony Blinken Wednesday evening before Putin announced the start of military operations, joined Johnson in condemning the attack.

    The foreign ministry has deployed teams to five countries in eastern Europe to support Britons leaving Ukraine, she noted.

    Meanwhile, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said he had instructed the UK Civil Aviation Authority to ensure airlines avoid Ukraine airspace “to keep passengers and crew safe”.

    The UK slapped sanctions Tuesday on five Russian banks and three billionaires, in what Johnson called “the first barrage” of measures in response to the Kremlin’s actions in Ukraine.

    Leading members of Johnson’s ruling Conservatives, as well as the main opposition Labour party, have urged him to hit the Kremlin as hard as possible with the new sanctions.

    Foreign office minister James Cleverly vowed London would respond with “unprecedented” steps “to punish this aggression”.

    “Those sanctions will be laid today and over forthcoming days to really prevent Russia from funding this invasion,” he told the BBC.

    “The sanctions package that will be put in response to this is already actually having an effect,” Cleverly added, noting record falls Thursday on the Russian stock market and a slump in the ruble’s value.

  • UK Imposes Sanctions On Russian Banks And Oligarchs

    UK Imposes Sanctions On Russian Banks And Oligarchs

    Britain on Tuesday slapped sanctions on five Russian banks and three billionaires, in what Prime Minister Boris Johnson called “the first barrage” of measures in response to the Kremlin’s actions in Ukraine.

    Addressing the UK parliament hours after Russia ordered troops into two Moscow-backed Ukrainian rebel regions, Johnson described the move as “a renewed invasion” of its western neighbour and “pretext for a full-scale offensive”.

    “The UK and our allies will begin to impose the sanctions on Russia that we have already prepared… to sanction Russian individuals and entities of strategic importance to the Kremlin,” he told MPs.

    The five banks targeted — Rossiya, IS Bank, General Bank, Promsvyazbank and the Black Sea Bank — and three people sanctioned will see any UK assets frozen.

    The individuals concerned — Gennady Timchenko, Boris Rotenberg and Igor Rotenberg — will be barred from entering Britain and all UK individuals and entities will be banned from dealing with them and the banks.

    “We cannot tell what will happen in the days ahead,” Johnson added in the House of Commons, amid cross-party condemnation of Moscow’s actions.

    “But… we should steel ourselves for a protracted crisis.”

    The announcement came after Russia’s ambassador to Britain was called into the foreign ministry in London “to explain” its action, the ministry said.

    “We made clear to the Russian Ambassador that Russia would pay the price for its actions through further sanctions if it did not withdraw its troops,” a ministry spokesperson added.

    – ‘Need to do better’ –

    Earlier Tuesday, Johnson chaired a meeting with security chiefs, after which he vowed measures to hit Moscow “very hard”.

    Weeks ago, he also pledged sanctions will “come down like a steel trap in the event of the first Russian toecap crossing into more sovereign Ukrainian territory”.

    However numerous British lawmakers, including from within his ruling Conservative party, were left underwhelmed by the steps outlined, and urged him to go further.

    Labour MP Ben Bradshaw noted the three oligarchs had been sanctioned in the United States four years ago.

    “We need to do better than that, prime minister,” Bradshaw said, urging more use of so-called unexplained wealth orders against Russians in Britain as well as reviews of high-net-worth UK visas granted to them.

    Johnson insisted further sanctions were “at readiness to be deployed” if the Kremlin continued its aggression.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday recognised the independence of the rebel-held Donetsk and Lugansk regions of Ukraine and instructed the defence ministry to assume “the function of peacekeeping” in the separatist-held regions.

    Its foreign ministry insisted Tuesday it was not planning to send troops to other parts of eastern Ukraine beyond the separatist areas “for now”.

    However, Monday’s move ratcheted up weeks of tensions and punctured Western diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the situation, after a massive build-up of troops on Ukraine’s border.

    Britain’s relations with the Kremlin have been frosty since the radiation poisoning death of a former Russian spy in London in 2006, and the attempted murder of another double agent in the southwestern city of Salisbury in 2018.

    Successive governments in London, however, have faced sustained pressure to act against illicit Russian money circulating through the city’s financial markets in recent decades.

    AFP

  • UK PM Postpones India Trip Due To COVID-19 Crisis

    UK PM Postpones India Trip Due To COVID-19 Crisis

    Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday postponed a post-Brexit trip planned this month to India after the Covid crisis worsened in Britain, Downing Street said.

    “The prime minister spoke to Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi this morning, to express his regret that he will be unable to visit India later this month as planned,” a spokesperson said, blaming a fast-spreading strain of the virus.

    Johnson announced a new England-wide lockdown on Monday following the emergence of the virulent new strain, explaining urgent action was needed to prevent spiralling numbers of cases overwhelming health services.

    “The prime minister said that it was important for him to remain in the UK so he can focus on the domestic response to the virus,” Downing Street said Johnson had told his Indian counterpart.

    Johnson still hopes to visit India in the first half of 2021, before Modi is due to attend a G7 summit in Britain later this year.

    The British leader was due to be a guest at India’s annual Republic Day celebrations on January 26, shortly after the UK left the European Union’s single market and as it seeks new trade deals around the world, particularly in fast-growing Asia.

    Announcing the trip last month, Johnson said the visit would showcase “Global Britain” and help to deliver a “quantum leap” in Britain’s relations with India, the jewel of its former empire.

  • COVID-19: UK PM Announces Fresh  Lockdown in England

    COVID-19: UK PM Announces Fresh Lockdown in England

    UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson has announced a new national lockdown until at least mid-February to combat a fast-spreading new variant of the coronavirus.


    According to Johnson the move was necessary to aid the containing of the disease variant, even as Britain ramped up its vaccination program by becoming the first nation to start using the vaccine developed by Oxford University and drugmaker AstraZeneca.


    Johnson on Monday, January 4, said people must stay at home again, as they were ordered to do so in the first wave of the pandemic in March.


    “As I speak to you tonight, our hospitals are under more pressure from COVID than at any time since the start of the pandemic,” he said.

    Covid-19: Boris Johnson orders new lockdown till February in UK

    Johnson said there were “tough, tough” weeks to come in the fight against COVID-19.


    Under the new rules, which are set to come into effect now, primary and secondary schools and colleges will be closed for face to face learning except for the children of key workers. University students will not be returning until at least mid-February.


    All nonessential shops and personal care services like hairdressers will be closed, and restaurants can only operate takeout services.


    As of Monday, there were 26,626 COVID patients in hospitals in England, an increase of more than 30% from a week ago. That is 40% above the highest level of the first wave in the spring.


     On Monday, they reported 407 virus-related deaths in the UK to push the confirmed death toll total to 75,431, one of the worst in Europe.


    The U.K.’s chief medical officers warned that without further action, “there is a material risk of the National Health Service in several areas being overwhelmed over the next 21 days.”


    Today also,, Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon also imposed a lockdown until the end of January.


    Beginning Tuesday, people in Scotland will be required to stay at home except for essential reasons, to help ease the pressure on hospitals and intensive care units, Sturgeon said. 

  • British PM, Johnson under fire for refusal to shut British schools

    British PM, Johnson under fire for refusal to shut British schools

    A senior scientist defended the British government’s policies for fighting the spread of coronavirus amid growing criticism on Friday of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s refusal to close schools and cancel large events.

    Johnson announced new measures on Thursday designed to move Britain from “containing” to “delaying” the spread of Covid-19.

    The measures encourage social distancing and require people with symptoms of the virus to self-isolate, without any testing unless they develop severe complications requiring hospital treatment.

    Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt said the decision was “surprising” not to follow other nations in closing schools, cancelling all large events and imposing severe restrictions at borders.

    “I think it is surprising and concerning that we’re not doing any of it at all when we have just four weeks before we get to the stage that Italy is at,” Hunt told broadcaster Channel 4.

    “You would have thought that every single thing we do in that four weeks would be designed to slow the spread of people catching the virus,” Hunt aaded., adding the Britain was in a “national emergency.”

    Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance told BBC Radio 4 on Friday that he expects Covid-19 to become an “annual virus.”

    Vallance said the government wants to build a “herd immunity” to the virus in Britain but protect the most vulnerable people.

    Britain has confirmed about 600 Covid-19 infections through testing, but Vallance on Thursday estimated the total infected with the virus at between 5,000 and 10,000. (dpa/NAN)