Tag: United Kingdom

• Friday, December 22nd 2017 - 10:51 UTC

  Theresa May loses one of her closest allies in the cabinet to pornography allegations

  

  Damian Green, one of British Prime Minister Theresa May's closest allies, has been sacked from the cabinet after an inquiry found he had breached the ministerial code. He was “asked to quit” after he was found to have made “inaccurate and misleading” statements over what he knew about claims pornography was found on his office computer in 2008.

• Friday, December 22nd 2017 - 06:45 UTC

  Theresa May pledges no compromise on Falklands' right to self determination

  

  In a personal Christmas message to Falkland Islanders, Prime Minister Theresa May emphasized that she would not allow anyone to compromise Islanders’ right to self determination. Her full message follows:

• Thursday, December 21st 2017 - 10:48 UTC

  “Unprecedented” absence of Royal Navy vessels on the world stage

  

  Britain has no major warships deployed on operations beyond home waters in what has been described as an “unprecedented” absence of the vessels on the world stage. All six of the Royal Navy’s Type 45 destroyers are docked in Portsmouth, while 12 of 13 Type 23 frigates are either at Portsmouth or Devonport.

• Wednesday, December 20th 2017 - 09:30 UTC

  EU support for Falklands at the UN in doubt, warns ex UK ambassador

  

  The European Union will refuse to back Britain in United Nations votes over the Falkland Islands after Brexit, a former ambassador has suggested. Other countries regarded the UK’s loss of influence since the Leave vote “as a shark would regard blood in the water”, Lord Hannay told a parliamentary inquiry.

• Wednesday, December 20th 2017 - 08:48 UTC

  Protecting UK (and Falklands) fisheries in a post Brexit scenario

  

  In the midst of the Brexit debate in the UK, and its expected consequences, Environment Secretary Michael Gove has anticipated EU fishing quotas referred to UK will be scrapped and if things go as planned by the cabinet member, French, Spanish, Danish and other nations fishing fleets will be chased form illegally fishing in UK waters.

• Tuesday, December 19th 2017 - 12:48 UTC

  May admits that during the Brexit transition period, UK would still be bound by EU rules

  

  Theresa May has acknowledged that Britain will be unable to implement any new trade deals during a Brexit transition phase, telling MPs that although the country would have left the customs union it would still be bound by its rules.

• Tuesday, December 19th 2017 - 12:28 UTC

  Hard Brexit, soft Brexit, and the Irish question

  

  By Gwynne Dyer - Politicians never lie. Well, hardly ever. They're not into full disclosure, as a rule, but they know that if you lie, sooner or later you will be caught out, and then you are in deep trouble. So just change the subject, or answer a different question than the one you were asked, or just keep talking but saying nothing until everybody gets bored and moves on.

• Tuesday, December 19th 2017 - 12:06 UTC

  Any UK/EU trade agreement will not include financial services, warns Barnier

  

  The European Union has dashed the British government's hopes of carving out a special arrangement to allow City firms to trade freely in the EU if Britain leaves the single market. Michel Barnier, the European Commission's chief Brexit negotiator, said he was not open to a free trade agreement including financial services.

• Tuesday, December 19th 2017 - 11:48 UTC

  Royal Navy's largest ever vessel leaks: some 200 liters of water per hour

  

  The Royal Navy's new multi-billion pound aircraft carrier has a leak so big that hundreds of liters of seawater pour into it each hour which could cost millions to fix. HMS Queen Elizabeth reportedly has a major defect with the stern seal which surrounds its huge propeller shafts.

• Monday, December 18th 2017 - 06:56 UTC

  Theresa May and cabinet to discuss UK's future relationship with the EU

  

  Theresa May is due to meet her “Brexit cabinet” - about a dozen of her most senior ministers - to discuss for the first time what the UK's future relationship with the EU should be. The PM will later tell MPs the UK wants to sign trade deals during what she calls an implementation period.