Tag Archives: UK

Reuters reports: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited Scotland on Thursday to try to stem growing support for a new independence referendum by arguing that the COVID-19 pandemic had shown the benefits of staying together. The bonds that tie England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland together in a $3 trillion economy have been severely strained by both Brexit and Johnson’s …

Bloomberg News reports: U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson remains in isolation with a high temperature, more than a week after testing positive for coronavirus. Johnson made the announcement in a video posted on Twitter on Friday, as the latest official figures showed 3,605 people had died from the disease in the U.K. by April 2. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said …

The Scotsman reports: Nicola Sturgeon has said she intends to “exercise the mandate” she has to hold a referendum on Scottish independence in response to the Brexit turmoil. The SNP leader said she will make her long-awaited statement an a second referendum when the current “chaotic” negotiations are concluded. With an extension to Brexit likely, that may take months. But …

The Times reports: A anti hate-crime campaign endorsed by Scottish ministers and the police risks “stirring up” religious prejudice, according to a leading Christian charity. Billboard posters that have appeared across Scotland in recent weeks targeting prejudices such as racism and homophobia are part of the One Scotland campaign, run by the Scottish government and Police Scotland. However, the initiative …

The BBC reports: Two men named as suspects in the poisoning of a Russian ex-spy in the UK claim they were merely tourists. The men, named as Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, told the RT channel that they went sightseeing in Salisbury but returned to London within an hour. They are accused by the UK of trying to kill Russian …

The Guardian reports: Two Russian nationals have been named and charged over the novichok poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury, Wiltshire. British police and prosecutors made the announcement on Wednesday. Police said the two men were traveling on authentic Russian passports under the names of Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov and arrived in the UK on an Aeroflot …

We’re not the only ones getting screwed by his golfing: The British government confirmed on Tuesday that it would cover up to $6.6 million in policing costs for President Trump’s potential visit to Scotland to go golfing. Liz Truss, the chief secretary of Treasury and Member of Parliament (MP) for South West Norfolk, shared a letter addressed to the Scottish …

Belfast Live reports: Politicians have been urged “to do the right thing” by thousands of people who joined a rally in Belfast this afternoon calling for equal marriage. The march, which was organised by the Love Equality campaign, was led from Writer’s Square by Belfast Lord Mayor Nuala McAllister and Patrick Corrigan, from Amnesty International. Supporters lined the streets as …

Reuters reports: Leading rights groups praised the British embassy in Minsk on Tuesday for flying a rainbow flag to support sexual minorities in one of Europe’s most homophobic states, after Belarus condemned the UK for challenging its “traditional values”. Britain came under fire from the eastern European country’s interior ministry on Sunday, which said on its website that the UK …

The Belfast Telegraph reports: A bid to introduce same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland has been blocked from progressing the legislative process in the House of Commons. MP Conor McGinn [photo] had brought a private member’s bill forward seeking to extend same-sex marriage into Northern Ireland following the collapse of the devolved government more than 15 months ago. He had expected …

The Associated Press reports: Russia’s foreign minister says Moscow will expel the same number of diplomats from the nations that have expelled Russian diplomats over the poisoning of an ex-Russian spy in Britain. Sergey Lavrov said U.S. Ambassador Jon Huntsman has been summoned to the Foreign Ministry on Thursday, where he was given notice that Russia is responding quid pro …

The Guardian reports: SCL, Cambridge Analytica’s predecessor, had access to secret UK information and was singled out for praise by the UK Ministry of Defence for the training it provided to a psychological operations warfare group, according to documents newly released by MPs. The document also noted that SCL – which was subsequently rebranded as Cambridge Analytica by Steve Bannon …

The Washington Post reports: The Trump administration on Monday ordered the expulsion of 60 Russian intelligence and diplomatic officers in New York and Washington and the closure of the Russian consulate in Seattle in retaliation of the poisoning of a former Russian spy in Britain. Twelve Russian diplomats at the United Nations in New York and 48 at the Russian …

The Guardian reports: The UK is to expel 23 Russian diplomats, consider new laws to combat spying and impose sanctions in response to the nerve agent attack in Salisbury, Theresa May has said. Announcing a sweeping response to the attempted murder of Sergei Skripal and his daughter, the prime minister told parliament the expulsions were the biggest such move for …

The BBC reports: Former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter were poisoned by a military-grade nerve agent of a type developed by Russia, Theresa May has told MPs. The PM said the government concluded it was “highly likely” Russia was responsible for the Salisbury attack. The Foreign Office summoned Russia’s ambassador to provide an explanation. Mrs May said if there …

The Belfast Telegraph reports: Three senior unionists who were involved in establishing power-sharing at Stormont 20 years ago have called for a referendum on issues currently causing deadlock in the talks. These include whether there should be a stand-alone Irish Language Act for Northern Ireland, same-sex marriage laws and our abortion laws. Former Ukip MLA David McNarry, ex-Ulster Unionist chairman …

The Guardian reports: Ecuador’s foreign minister has said Julian Assange’s five-and-a-half-year stay in her country’s London embassy is “untenable” and should be ended through international mediation. The WikiLeaks founder has been holed up in Knightsbridge since the summer of 2012, when he faced the prospect of extradition to Sweden over claims that he sexual assaulted two women. He denies the …

The BBC reports: The Queen has paid tribute to London and Manchester in her Christmas Day message for their handling of this year’s terror attacks. She said it was a “privilege” to meet the concert attack survivors in May and stressed both cities’ “powerful identities”. The monarch also remembered the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire. In the year of …

Reuters reports: Scotland’s devolved government issued an apology on Tuesday to men convicted in the past for same-sex activity and passed a new law which will allow them to clear their names. “It is only right that we address this historic wrong,” First Minister Nicola Sturgeon told the Scottish parliament. Discriminatory laws, although abolished, continue to have implications for people …

The London Evening Standard reports: Donald Trump is set to visit Britain early in 2018 – but for a stripped-down trip that will not include staying with the Queen. Diplomats are discussing plans for a “working visit” by the US president that will be shorn of the pomp and flummery of a full-blown State Visit. And instead of a red …