LONDON: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has strongly defended his government’s plan to override sections of the Brexit deal he negotiated with the European Union, arguing that the EU has an “extreme” interpretation of the treaty that could jeopardize the UK’s future.
In a column published Saturday in The Daily Telegraph, Johnson said the government’s Internal Market Bill is needed to end EU threats to impose a “blockade” in the Irish Sea that the prime minister asserted could “carve up our country.”
The legislation, which the British government has conceded violates international law in places, has prompted a furious outcry within the EU and Johnson’s Conservative Party. British lawmakers are expected to debate it next week.
With the government showing no sign of changing course, there are real concerns that ongoing talks on a future trade deal between the UK and the EU could collapse within weeks. If that happens, tariffs and other impediments to trade will be imposed by both sides at the start of 2021.
The furor is largely based on the fact that the bill would diminish the EU’s previously agreed oversight of trade between mainland Britain and Northern Ireland in the event a trade agreement isn’t secured.
Michael Gove, a senior member of Johnson’s Cabinet, told Sky News on Saturday that the government needs to take out an “insurance policy.”
The UK left the EU on Jan. 31, but it is in a transition period that effectively sees it benefit from the bloc’s tariff-free trade until the end of the year while a future relationship is negotiated. Even before the latest standoff, discussions between the EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, and his UK counterpart, David Frost, had made very little progress.
One major element of the Brexit withdrawal agreement, which allowed for the UK’s smooth departure from the EU, is the section related to ensuring an open border on the island of Ireland to protect the peace process in Northern Ireland
The issue proved thorny during the more than two years of discussions it took to get a Brexit deal done, as the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland is the only land link between the UK and the EU.
The EU wanted assurances the border would not be used as a back-route for unlicensed goods arriving in Ireland from the rest of the UK — England, Scotland and Wales. As a result, the two sides agreed there would be some kind of regulatory border between mainland Britain and Northern Ireland.
In his newspaper column, Johnson wrote he was “now hearing” that unless his government agrees to the EU’s terms in the trade discussions, then the bloc will use “an extreme interpretation of the Northern Ireland protocol to impose a full-scale trade border down the Irish Sea.”
He said that could mean the EU imposing tariffs on goods moving to Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK or that the bloc stops the transport of food products.
“I have to say that we never seriously believed that the EU would be willing to use a treaty, negotiated in good faith, to blockade one part of the UK, to cut it off; or that they would actually threaten to destroy the economic and territorial integrity of the UK,” the prime minister wrote.
EU leaders have expressed dismay at the U.K’s bill and warned that the trade talks will end if Johnson does not pull the contested proposal. Legal action has also been threatened.
Luis Garicano, a Spanish member of the European Parliament, slammed Johnson’s allegation that the EU is trying to break up the UK as “ridiculous.”
“I think Mr. Johnson insists on having his cake and eating it,” Garicano told BBC radio.
US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has also said there would be “absolutely no chance” of a trade deal between the United States and the UK if commitments to Northern Ireland are violated. Congress has to ratify all US trade deals.
The EU-UK trade discussions are set to resume on Monday in Brussels.
“It’s now for the UK to reestablish trust toward the European Union,” the EU’s economy commissioner, Paolo Gentiloni, said Saturday at a meeting of European finance ministers in Berlin. “We are prepared to deal also with (an) extraordinary negative outcome of this discussion, but we are still working for finding agreements and solutions.”
Boris Johnson defends Brexit change to avoid UK ‘carve-up’
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Boris Johnson defends Brexit change to avoid UK ‘carve-up’
- Johnson said the government’s Internal Market Bill is needed to end EU threats to impose a “blockade” in the Irish Sea
- The legislation has prompted a furious outcry within the EU and Johnson’s Conservative Party
Uruguay votes for next president in closely fought runoff race
- Final opinion polls suggest the Nov. 24 runoff promises to be razor tight
- Fewer than 25,000 votes potentially separating the frontrunners
The vote in the small nation of 3.4 million people sees opposition center-left candidate Yamandu Orsi take on continuity conservative runner, Alvaro Delgado, who has the backing of a third-placed ally.
Final opinion polls suggest the Nov. 24 runoff promises to be razor tight, with fewer than 25,000 votes potentially separating the frontrunners.
Unlike sharp right-left divides in recent elections in Argentina, Brazil or Mexico, Uruguay’s political arena is relatively tension-free, with significant overlap between the conservative and liberal coalitions vying for office, taking some of the sting out of Sunday’s final result.
Ballot stations open at 8 a.m. (1100 GMT) and close at 7:30 p.m. local time, with first results expected two hours later.
Orsi, who has pledged a “modern left” policy approach, won 43.9 percent of the October vote for the Broad Front and will face Delgado, who secured 26.8 percent but also has the backing of the conservative Colorado Party that together with his National Party made up almost 42 percent of votes. The two parties did the same in 2019, winning the election.
Orsi has sought to reassure Uruguayans that he does not plan a sharp policy shift in the traditionally moderate and relatively wealthy nation.
Delgado meanwhile has asked voters to “re-elect a good government,” seeking to capitalize on the popularity of President Lacalle Pou, who constitutionally cannot run for immediate re-election.
Neither coalition has an absolute majority in the lower house following October’s elections. But Orsi’s Broad Front won 16 of 30 Senate seats. He argues his senate majority places him in a better position to lead the next government.
Both contenders on Sunday are hoping to attract the roughly 8 percent of first-round voters who went for smaller, unaligned parties, as well as those who failed to turn out in October.
But neither has made new pledges in the final weeks to appeal to them, and pollsters say a televised debate on Nov. 17 appears to have had little effect.
“I don’t know who I’m voting for,” said Rosario Gusque, 42, from the region of Canelones where Orsi was previously mayor. “Even less so after seeing the debate.”
One question as the biggest year for elections in history comes to an end is whether Uruguay will buck a global trend of incumbent parties losing vote share compared with the previous election. Voters hurt by inflation and high living costs have punished parties in power, including in Britain, Japan and the United States.
A robust Uruguayan economy though could help Delgado on Sunday: “There are few indications that voters are clamoring for significant political change,” said Uruguayan analyst Nicolas Saldias of the Economist Intelligence Unit.
82 killed in three days of Pakistan sectarian violence: official
“Among the deceased, 16 were Sunni, while 66 belonged to the Shia community,” said a local administration official in Kurram district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Pakistan is a Sunni-majority country but Kurram district — near the border with Afghanistan — has a large Shiite population and the communities have clashed for decades.
The latest bout of violence began on Thursday when two separate convoys of Shiite Muslims traveling under police escort were ambushed, killing at least 43 and sparking two days of gunbattles.
“Our priority today is to broker a ceasefire between both sides. Once that is achieved, we can begin addressing the underlying issues,” provincial Law Minister Aftab Alam Afridi said Sunday.
Pakistan partially stops mobile and Internet services ahead of pro-Imran Khan protest
- Sunday’s protest is to demand Khan’s release
- The government is imposing social media platform bans and targeting VPN services, according to monitoring service Netblocks
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Sunday suspended mobile and Internet services “in areas with security concerns” as supporters of imprisoned former premier Imran Khan geared up for a protest in the capital.
The government and Interior Ministry posted the announcement on social media platform X, which is banned in Pakistan. They did not specify the areas, nor did they say how long the suspension would be in place.
“Internet and mobile services will continue to operate as usual in the rest of the country,” the posts said. A spokesperson for the Interior Ministry was not immediately available for comment.
Khan has been in prison for more than a year and has over 150 criminal cases against him. But he remains popular and his political party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf or PTI, says the cases are politically motivated.
His supporters rely heavily on social media to demand his release and use messaging platforms like WhatsApp to share information, including details of events.
Pakistan has already sealed off the capital Islamabad with shipping containers and shut down major roads and highways connecting the city with PTI strongholds in the provinces of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The government is imposing social media platform bans and targeting VPN services, according to monitoring service Netblocks. On Sunday, Internet-access advocacy group, Netblocks said live metrics showed WhatsApp backends are restricted in Pakistan, affecting media sharing on the app.
Last month, authorities suspended the cellphone service in Islamabad and Rawalpindi to thwart a pro-Khan rally. The shutdown disrupted communications and affected everyday services such as banking, ride-hailing and food delivery.
Fire rips through slum area in Philippine capital
- Manila Fire District said around 1,000 houses were destroyed in the blaze
- The structures housed around 2,000 families, according to the fire department
MANILA: Raging orange flames and thick black smoke billowed into the sky Sunday as fire ripped through hundreds of houses in a closely built slum area of the Philippine capital Manila.
Manila Fire District said around 1,000 houses were burned in the blaze that is thought to have started on the second floor of one of the homes.
There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Drone footage shared online by the city’s disaster agency showed houses in Isla Puting Bato village of Manila razed to the ground.
The structures housed around 2,000 families, according to the fire department.
Village resident Leonila Abiertas, 65, lost almost all her possessions, but managed to save her late husband’s ashes.
“I only got the urn with the ashes of my husband,” a crying Abiertas said.
“I really don’t know how I can start my life again after this fire.”
Fire and disaster services deployed 36 trucks and four fire boats while the country’s airforce sent in two helicopters to help extinguish the fire.
“That area is fire-prone since most of the houses there are made of light materials,” firefighter Geanelli Nunez said.
Turkiye’s Erdogan to discuss Ukraine war with NATO chief
ANKARA: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan will discuss the latest developments in the Russia-Ukraine war with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Monday during his visit to Ankara, a Turkish official said on Sunday.
Russia struck Ukraine with a new hypersonic medium-range ballistic missile on Thursday in response to Kyiv’s use of US and British missiles against Russia, marking an escalation in the war that began when Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbor in February 2022.
NATO member Turkiye, which has condemned the Russian invasion, says it supports Ukraine’s territorial integrity and it has provided Kyiv with military support.
But Turkiye, a Black Sea neighbor of both Russia and Ukraine, also opposes Western sanctions against Moscow, with which it shares important defense, energy and tourism ties.
On Wednesday, Erdogan opposed a US decision to allow Ukraine to use long-range missiles to attack inside Russia, saying it would further inflame the conflict, according to a readout shared by his office.
Moscow says that by giving the green light for Ukraine to fire Western missiles deep inside Russia, the US and its allies are entering into direct conflict with Russia. On Tuesday, Putin approved policy changes that lowered the threshold for Russia to use nuclear weapons in response to an attack with conventional weapons.
During their talks on Monday, Erdogan and Rutte will also discuss the removal of defense procurement obstacles between NATO allies and the military alliance’s joint fight against terrorism, the Turkish official said.
