Boris Johnson, leadership candidate for Britain's Conservative Prime Minister, leaves his home in London, Britain June 15, 2019. REUTERS/Toby Melville
(Reuters) - British conservative lawmaker Esther McVey said on Saturday that she will support Boris Johnson in his bid to be prime minister, The Telegraph reported.
"Boris Johnson is supporting my agenda – which is why I'm supporting him", she wrote bit.ly/2WLp52V in the newspaper, adding that she looks forward to working with Johnson to deliver on behalf of "blue collar Conservatives" across the country.
Reporting by Ishita Chigilli Palli in Bengaluru; Editing by Daniel Wallis
FILE PHOTO: Mayor of London Sadiq Khan speaks during an interview with Reuters at an event to promote the start of London Tech Week, in London, Britain, June 10, 2019. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez/File Photo
LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump once again criticized London Mayor Sadiq Khan on Saturday, saying he is a “disaster” and will “only get worse” after three people were slain in the city in less than 20 hours.
Trump retweeted a tweet by the right-wing commentator Katie Hopkins who called London “stab city” and said “this is Khan’s Londonistan,” a phrase used to describe the city’s failure to tackle Muslim extremists.
“LONDON needs a new mayor ASAP. Khan is a disaster - will only get worse!” Trump said on Twitter.
Trump called Khan, a Muslim of Pakistani heritage, a “stone-cold loser” earlier this month after the mayor criticized the British government for inviting Trump for a state visit and compared him to 20th century fascists.
Trump’s feud with Khan dates back several years. Khan has criticized Trump’s effort to ban travelers from Muslim countries, while the president has castigated the mayor for his handling of a 2017 terrorist attack on the London bridge that killed 11 people.
Reporting By Andrew MacAskill; Editing by Bill Trott
DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran on Saturday summoned the British ambassador to Tehran after London blamed it for attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman, the semi-official Students News Agency ISNA reported.
“During the meeting with Iran’s foreign ministry official, Iran strongly condemned the unfounded allegations and criticized Britain’s unacceptable stance regarding the attacks in the Gulf of Oman,” it said.
The ambassador was asked for an explanation and correction after Britain was the only nation to echo U.S. accusations, ISNA reported.
British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt issued a statement on Friday blaming Iran and its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for the attacks, saying no other state or non-state actor could have been responsible.
Iran has denied any involvement.
The attacks have raised fears of a confrontation in the vital oil shipping route of the Strait of Hormuz at a time of increased tension between Iran and the United States.
Writing by Parisa Hafezi; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Andrew Cawthorne
LONDON (Reuters) - The number of people to die from a listeria outbreak in British hospitals has risen to five from three, Public Health England (PHE) said on Friday.
The agency said that since the outbreak it had reviewed earlier cases and established that one other death had also been linked to the infection, which is thought to stem from sandwiches and salads. One patient who had been seriously ill has also since died, taking the number to five.
“To date, there have been no patients linked to this incident outside healthcare organizations, but we continue to investigate,” said PHE’s Nick Phin. “Swift action was taken to protect patients and any risk to the public is low.
Reporting by Kate Holton; editing by Stephen Addison
British Conservative Andrea Leadsom speaks during the launch of her campaign for the Conservative Party leadership, in London, Britain June 11, 2019. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls
(Reuters) - The UK’s Andrea Leadsom, who was defeated in the first round of a leadership contest, is now considering supporting interior minister Sajid Javid in the leadership race to succeed Prime Minister Theresa May, The Times reported.
Leadsom would back a candidate who would put Brexit at the “front and centre” of their plans for government, suggesting that Javid would be a serious contender for her support, The Times reported citing campaign sources.
The former House of Commons leader is expected to make a decision on whom to support over the weekend, The Times added.
Reporting by Maria Ponnezhath in Bengaluru; Editing by Sandra Maler
LONDON (Reuters) - Boris Johnson, who has pledged to deliver Brexit on Oct. 31, surged closer to power on Thursday, winning by far the most support from Conservative lawmakers in the first round of the contest to replace Prime Minister Theresa May.
Three years since voting 52%-48% to leave the European Union, the United Kingdom is heading toward a possible crisis over Brexit as most of the candidates vying to succeed May are prepared to leave on Oct. 31 without a deal.
While parliament has indicated it will try to stop a no-deal Brexit, which investors warn would hurt financial markets and the world economy, some of those running say it may be the only way for Britain to leave the bloc without further delay.
Johnson, the face of the official campaign to leave the European Union in the 2016 referendum, won the support of 114 Conservative lawmakers in the first round of the contest to replace May. A total of 313 lawmakers voted.
“Thank you to my friends and colleagues in the Conservative & Unionist Party for your support. I am delighted to win the first ballot, but we have a long way to go,” Johnson said on Twitter.
His closest rivals were: Jeremy Hunt, the foreign minister, who won 43 votes; Michael Gove, environment minister, with 37 votes and Dominic Raab, former Brexit minister, on 27 votes.
Sajid Javid, interior minister, came fifth with 23 votes. Matt Hancock won 20 votes and Rory Stewart 19. Three were knocked out: former leader of the House of Commons Andrea Leadsom, Mark Harper and Esther McVey.
Betting markets give Johnson, who has a long record of scandals and gaffes, a 70% probability of winning the top job.
SECOND ROUND
Johnson, a former London mayor and foreign minister, has spent weeks wooing Conservative lawmakers, staying out of the spotlight with a low-key campaign at odds with his flamboyant publicity stunts of the past.
But his spokesman, while celebrating a higher-than-expected number of supporters, said there was still “a long way to go in the contest and you have to hold the numbers to go into the next rounds and that’s the challenge”.
The second round is due on June 18 with further ballots planned for June 19 and June 20 until there are just two candidates. A postal ballot of the wider Conservative Party membership will then be held to pick a leader.
A new prime minister should be chosen by the end of July. There had been speculation that the contest could be accelerated due to Johnson’s strong lead but there was no immediate sign of rivals bowing out of the race.
Some were quick to make veiled warnings about the frontrunner.
PM hopeful Boris Johnson leaves his home in London, Britain, June 13, 2019. REUTERS/Simon Dawson
Hunt, who has pitched himself as a unifier of both Brexit-supporting and pro-EU Conservatives, warned members of the party that “the stakes have rarely been higher for our country”. “This serious moment calls for a serious leader,” he tweeted.
Stewart, who has criticized Johnson for making promises on Brexit he cannot keep, voiced optimism about his campaign: “This is amazing - we’re getting some real momentum here ... It’s increasingly clear it’s me against Boris. And let’s win.”
Finance minister Philip Hammond, who has not publicly endorsed a candidate, wrote on Thursday to all remaining leadership contenders to urge them to stick to existing budget rules until at least the next scheduled election in 2022.
Johnson has proposed cutting income tax to 20% from 40% for those earning 50,000-80,000 pounds ($65,000-$105,000), while Gove has suggested replacing value-added tax on goods and services with a narrower sales tax.
Johnson kicked off his official campaign on Wednesday with a pledge to lead Britain out of the European Union on Oct. 31 and a warning to his divided Conservative Party that “delay means defeat”.
“After three years and two missed deadlines, we must leave the EU on October 31,” Johnson, 54, said then. “I am not aiming for a no-deal outcome.”
Johnson, whose unconventional style has helped him shrug off a series of scandals in the past, has won over much of his party by arguing that only he can rescue the Conservatives by delivering Brexit.
He argues that if Britain is prepared for a no-deal Brexit, the EU will bend to his argument to remove the so-called Northern Irish backstop to prevent a return to a hard border with Ireland if there is no agreed future trade deal.
Slideshow (3 Images)
But the EU has refused to renegotiate the Withdrawal Agreement reached with May last November and Ireland has said it is not willing to change the backstop.
On Wednesday, the European Commission said: “In light of the continued uncertainty in the United Kingdom ... and the overall domestic political situation, a ‘no-deal’ scenario on 1 November 2019 very much remains a possible - although undesirable - outcome.”
Additional reporting by David Milliken; Writing by Guy Faulconbridge and Elizabeth Piper; Editing by Stephen Addison and Janet Lawrence
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain’s special forces are about to shift away from counter-terrorism work and instead concentrate on blocking covert operations by countries such as Russia, the BBC reported on Thursday, citing unnamed British officials and military sources.
Senior military officers are considering the proposal and are likely to recommend the government approve it, the BBC’s security editor said.
“The counter-terrorist task is drawing down, while the need to confront dangerous international behavior by peer adversaries is increasing,” the BBC quoted one source as saying.
Britain blames Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency for the poison attack on former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the English city of Salisbury last year. Russia denies responsibility.
The Skripals’ poisoning with a nerve agent prompted a wave of diplomatic expulsions and recriminations, with ties between London and Moscow shriveling to a post-Cold War low in its wake.
Russia has raised international concerns following its 2014 annexation of Crimea, the Skripal affair and accusations by the United States and some EU governments that it interfered in their elections.
“Under the new plan, an operation might be mounted in a Baltic republic or African country in order to uncover and pinpoint Russian covert activities,” the BBC said.
Britain’s Ministry of Defence declined to comment on the BBC report, and a spokeswoman said the government did not routinely comment on matters affecting special forces.
The BBC said the change would boost the role of Britain’s Special Reconnaissance Regiment, a military unit which carries out covert surveillance such as planting cameras in insurgent-held territory and electronic eavesdropping.
It quoted an unnamed senior British military officer as saying commanders wanted a greater range of options beyond conventional military action.
“Right now, you do nothing or you escalate,” the officer said. “We want to expand that competitive space.”
Reporting by David Milliken; Editing by Sandra Maler
