Politics

Boris Johnson, the frontrunner to be Britain's prime minister, promised he would take the United Kingdom out of the European Union by Oct. 31, saying that only by preparing to leave without an agreement could a no-deal Brexit be prevented. Johnson, a former foreign minister and London mayor, is the clear favourite to replace Theresa May. He won the backing of 114 of 313 Conservative lawmakers in a first round of voting on Thursday, almost three times as many as...

Boris Johnson, the frontrunner to replace Theresa May as Britain's prime minister, came under pressure on Friday to face the media over his Brexit plans as another of his rivals dropped out of the leadership battle. Health minister Matt Hancock quit the battle to succeed May as Conservative Party leader, saying the party was looking for a candidate for the present not the future, leaving six contenders amongst whom Johnson is the overwhelming favourite. He won the backing of 114...

Boris Johnson, the frontrunner to replace Theresa May as Britain's prime minister, must face more scrutiny over his Brexit plans, his closest rival said on Friday with a taunt that his hero Winston Churchill would not shy away from the media. Johnson has pledged that Britain will exit the European Union on Oct. 31, warning his divided Conservative Party "delay means defeat". He argues that if Britain is prepared for a no-deal Brexit, the EU will bend to his argument...

German analysis of Britain’s current political impasse has been making the rounds on Twitter – with no translation needed. The article – entitled Der große Clusterfuck der Tories – has been shared on social media under the caption: “My German is not that great. But I think I understand the headline.” It was penned before Britain secured an extension to Article 50 and warned that leaving the EU could have disastrous economic and social consequences for Britain. Describing Theresa May...

Powerful messages have been beamed onto unsafe tower blocks across the country two years on from the tragic Grenfell Tower fire. On 14th June 2017 72 people were killed after flames were able to spread quickly through a tower block in West London due to cladding made from highly flammable aluminium composite material (ACM). In the aftermath it emerged that 433 other high-rise residential and publicly owned buildings had the same kind of cladding. Firefighters today warned that we risk...

The House of Lords agreed to appoint a new special inquiry committee to investigate the impact of digital technologies on democracy. The Committee, which will be Chaired by Lord Puttnam, will look at how the growth in digital technology has changed the way politics functions and what this means for the future of plural, representative democracy, as political parties, campaigners and government increasingly focus on online and social media to communicate with the public. Commenting, Lord Puttnam said:“Digital technologies are changing every...

Tesco, Britain's biggest retailer, has warned that getting ready for a possible disorderly no-deal Brexit in October would be far more problematic than preparations it made for the original planned departure date in March. Britain had been due to leave the European Union on March 29, but Prime Minister Theresa May was unable to get her divorce deal ratified by parliament and the date is now set for Oct. 31. That is not good timing for Tesco as it falls...

President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would see nothing wrong in accepting damaging information on a U.S. political opponent if it were offered to his re-election campaign by a foreign government. Asked in an interview with ABC News if he would accept the information or alert the FBI, Trump said: "I think maybe you do both. I think you might want to listen, there's nothing wrong with listening." "If somebody called from a country, Norway, 'we have information on...

Boris Johnson, who has pledged to deliver Brexit on October 31, surged closer to power on Thursday when he won by far the most support from Conservative Party 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 towards a possible crisis over Brexit as most of the candidates vying to succeed May are prepared to leave on Oct. 31 without...