Britain

The Guardian reports: Imagine, for a moment, that you’re allowed to pick the romantic partner of your dreams. Imagine you could log on to a computer and design them from top to bottom. You can choose their gender, their race, their height, their weight, their eye colour and every single proportion you can possibly think of. Your one true soulmate. …

The Guardian reports: The US billionaire who helped bankroll Donald Trump’s campaign for the presidency played a key role in the campaign for Britain to leave the EU, the Observer has learned. It has emerged that Robert Mercer, a hedge-fund billionaire, who helped to finance the Trump campaign and who was revealed this weekend as one of the owners of …

Already underway. CNN reports: The political controversy over the decision to accord US President Donald Trump the honor of a state visit to the UK will be reignited in the British parliament on Monday. Members of Parliament will spend up to three hours discussing a petition calling for the visit to be downgraded because of Trump’s “well-documented misogyny and vulgarity.” …

The Associated Press reports: London’s mayor says that President Donald Trump shouldn’t receive a state visit in Britain because of his “cruel” policies on immigration. Sadiq Khan said Sunday the U.S. president should not get VIP treatment when he comes to Britain later this year because of his “ban on people from seven Muslim-majorities countries” and his decision to block …

The Guardian reports: The government has abandoned the idea of Donald Trump addressing the joint Houses of Parliament when he comes to Britain for a state visit later this year after objections by MPs led by the Commons Speaker John Bercow. The US president’s controversial visit is now expected to run from a Thursday to a Sunday in late summer …

The BBC reports: The Scottish Parliament has voted by 90 to 34 to oppose the UK government starting the Brexit process. The Supreme Court ruled last month that there was no legal need for Holyrood to give its consent to the triggering of Article 50. But First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she would let MSPs have a say, despite it …

The BBC reports: House of Commons Speaker John Bercow has said he would be “strongly opposed” to US President Donald Trump addressing the Houses of Parliament during his state visit to the UK. Mr Bercow told MPs “opposition to racism and sexism” were “hugely important considerations”. He was applauded by SNP MPs after his comments. President Trump was invited to …

The Daily Record reports: Ranting Brexit cheerleader Nigel Farage was the victim of some top trolling in Brussels as a fellow MEP held up a sign behind him claiming: “He’s lying to you”. Seb Dance scribbled the note on a piece of paper along with an arrow pointing to the ex-UKIP leader and carefully positioned it behind him during a …

The Telegraph reports: Donald Trump’s state visit to the UK is expected to be debated in Parliament after senior Conservatives joined hundreds of thousands calling for it to be cancelled. More than 600,000 people had by Sunday night signed a letter calling for the visit, which is due to take place in the Summer, to be abandoned because of the …

Starting any minute. The BBC reports: Theresa May has arrived at the White House for talks with US president Donald Trump as she hopes to renew the special relationship between Britain and America. The two leaders are spending about an hour in face-to-face talks in the Oval Office, where Mr Trump has restored a bust of Winston Churchill removed by …

The Guardian reports: Theresa May has said she believed she could a forge a strong personal relationship with Donald Trump, arguing that “sometimes, opposites attract”, as she set out how post-Brexit Britain could work with his country to shape the world. On the eve of a much-anticipated visit to the Oval Office, the prime minister used a speech to Republican …

Unsurprising. Via press release: FOX News Channel (FNC) has signed former United Kingdom Independence Party Leader (UKIP) Nigel Farage as a contributor. In this role, he will offer political analysis across FNC and FOX Business Network’s (FBN) daytime and primetime programming. Prior to joining FNC, Farage was the leader of UKIP from 2006 to 2009 and from 2010 to 2016. …

Swampity-swamp-swamp. Reuters reports: President-elect Donald Trump said on Thursday that National Football League team owner Woody Johnson was “going to St. James,” indicating he would assume the plum diplomatic post of U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom. Trump referred to Johnson, owner of the New York Jets, as “ambassador” during remarks at a luncheon in Washington honoring supporters on the …

The New York Times reports: In a speech that holds the potential to define Britain’s relations with its neighbors for decades to come, Prime Minister Theresa May on Tuesday charted a course toward a clean break with the European Union after more than four decades of integration with the Continent. Mrs. May emphasized Britain’s determination to regain control of migration …

The International Business Times reports: The Russian Embassy in the United Kingdom posted a tweet Monday featuring the image of an odd cartoon frog, which, at first glance, would seem harmless enough. But that frog, in internet parlance, has become a meme employed by white supremacists and is defined as a hate symbol by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). Wrote Russia’s …

Bloomberg reports: U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May sent her two most senior aides on a secret trip to the U.S. in an attempt to build bridges with President-elect Donald Trump after a frosty start to their relationship, and top aides to both leaders continue to meet. May’s joint chiefs of staff, Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill, flew across the Atlantic …

Reuters reports: Leading Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage, who has said he wants to be a bridge between the British government and the new U.S. administration, will attend U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration later this month. Farage, who will attend the event as a guest of Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant, spoke at a Trump rally in Mississippi during the U.S. presidential …

The Guardian reports: Richard Hammond has been criticised for linking eating ice-cream with being gay on the latest episode of The Grand Tour, the TV motoring show he co-hosts with Jeremy Clarkson and James May. The exchange occurred on Happy Finnish Christmas, the sixth episode of the first season of the show, which was released on Amazon Prime on 23 …

NBC News reports: A heavy cold kept Queen Elizabeth II from attending the traditional Christmas morning church service near her Sandringham estate in rural Norfolk, England. It is extremely rare for Elizabeth to miss the service, which is a cornerstone of the royal family’s Christmas celebrations and brings the monarch into contact with local residents who gather outside for a …

Britain’s Sunday Express reports: Nigel Farage says he cannot leave his house without security after Brexit and Donald Trump’s US presidential election victory. The interim UKIP leader has received death threats and just last week was confronted during a night out. The revelation came as the 52-year-old Brexiteer refused to rule out backing fascist National Front leader Marine Le Pen …