- Wednesday, April 24, 2024
INDIA is pressing for an exemption from the UK's proposed carbon tax as negotiations progress towards finalising a free trade agreement, The Guardian reported on Friday (19). A British government official, briefed on the negotiations, revealed that India is seeking exemption from the proposed carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM), citing…
The parliament is expected to approve a contentious law this week that would allow the deportation of asylum seekers to Rwanda, a significant policy spearheaded by prime minister Rishi Sunak. The law's passage appears imminent, yet it faces potential legal challenges that could delay or obstruct its implementation. Prime minister…
PRIME MINISTER Rishi Sunak and Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame reiterated Tuesday (9) that they expect Britain to soon start sending undocumented migrants to the African country, despite fresh questions over the controversial scheme. Sunak hosted Kagame at his official residence in London just as a British newspaper reported that properties…
THE son of a British man held in an Indian jail for more than five years awaiting trial on Tuesday (2) criticised the government over its response to the case. Arms dealer Christian Michel, 62, has been detained in India since December 2018 after being extradited from the United Arab…
Britain on Monday accused Chinese hackers of trying to break into email accounts of British lawmakers who were critical of China and said a separate Chinese entity was behind a hack of its electoral watchdog that compromised millions of people's data. In response to the attempted hack in 2021 of…
No issue has caused Rishi Sunak more trouble as prime minister than immigration. He identifies himself as a prime minister with a plan, determined to deliver. That has been a challenging battle on the economy and public services, but has been most difficult of all on immigration. The government has increased…
Indian prime minister Modi inaugurated the ₹1200 crore Gandhi Ashram Memorial masterplan on the anniversary of the historic Dandi Yatra in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. During the event, he stressed the significance of preserving the country's heritage, stating that a nation failing to cherish its heritage jeopardises its future. "The Sabarmati Ashram…
Embattled UK leader Rishi Sunak suffered a fresh blow Monday when a former ally defected to a right-wing populist party that is worrying the ruling Conservatives ahead of this year's general election. Lee Anderson announced that he was joining Reform UK, weeks after he was suspended from Sunak's Conservative party…
Former prime minister Boris Johnson flew to Venezuela in February for unofficial talks with its President Nicolás Maduro, The Times reports. Johnson spoke to the Venezuelan president about the war in Ukraine, amid concerns that the South American nation could supply weapons or military support to Russia. Venezuela has been…
British finance minister Jeremy Hunt's new tax cuts have given his struggling Conservatives slim hope of narrowing the wide gap with the opposition Labour Party before an election expected later this year, but the scale of the challenge remains huge. Hunt announced a two percentage-point cut in the rate of…
A team of British negotiators have left for India to iron out differences and clinch the multibillion-pound free-trade agreement (FTA), The Guardian reports. Led by a civil servant, the team has been mandated to resolve thorny issues like goods and services chapters, the daily added. The Sunak administration is eager…
THE mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has told Eastern Eye he believes communities will come together to stand up against “politics of extremism, division and blame”. His comments came amid an escalating row after Lee Anderson, the former deputy chairman of the Conservative party, last Saturday (24) claimed “Islamists had…
Prime minister Rishi Sunak has declared he is “living proof” that Britain is not a racist country as he sought to douse the Islamophobia row, The Times reports. He warned that all politicians had an obligation to be “careful” and not “unnecessarily inflame” tensions after the former deputy Tory chairman,…
India-born media executive Dr Samir Shah was on Thursday confirmed as the new BBC chairman after his selection cleared the stages of scrutiny to be approved by King Charles III this week. Shah, who has worked in UK broadcasting for over 40 years, was picked as the government's preferred candidate…
FORMER chancellor Sajid Javid was honoured with a knighthood by the Prince of Wales for his contribution to politics and public service on Wednesday (21). Javid described his knighthood as a “tremendous honour” after he was recognised for his achievements in the New Year’s Honours List announced in last December,…
London’s Overground train lines have never before had the attention of the iconic underground. The tube map was a popular hit straightaway in the 1930s, a design classic copied the world over. The Overground lines have kept a low profile on the map’s periphery, with its 114 stations hiding behind…
In the face of two significant defeats that cast a shadow over his leadership before the upcoming general election, prime minister Rishi Sunak pointed to "low voter turnout" on Friday (16) as the reason for the Labour Party's success in overturning substantial Tory majorities to win the by-elections in England.…
IN her new book, author Nadeine Asbali reveals how her decision to wear the hijab led to an “overnight” shift from blending in to facing “racism and Islamophobia”. Born in the UK to an English mother and a Libyan father, Asbali looked like the quintessential white British teenager before putting…
THIS was a tale of two anniversaries. As Big Ben chimed 11pm on January 31, 2020, the United Kingdom had formally left the European Union. Yet the fourth anniversary of that moment passed without a great deal of fanfare last week. The media sparring between the remnants of the referendum…
The new president of the scandal-hit Confederation of British Industry (CBI), Rupert Soames, has admitted that he was trying to salvage the organisation from an existential crisis. He said the Guardian’s revelations about sexual misconduct at the lobbying group were “an appalling shock” that tipped it into a “near-death experience”.…
Labour party’s shadow foreign secretary David Lammy and shadow business and trade secretary Jonathan Reynolds on Monday (5) began a three-day visit to India to strengthen diplomatic and trade ties. The Labour leaders will visit Delhi and Mumbai to meet senior Indian politicians and business leaders and discuss their party’s…
LONDON’S MAYOR, Sadiq Khan, has warned of dirty tricks to spread lies and misinformation about him during May’s mayoral race. In an exclusive interview with Eastern Eye, Khan said that those who do not like him will use deep fake artificial intelligence to try to discredit him. Last year (November),…
Simon Clarke, a senior Tory MP on Tuesday (23), voiced his concerns regarding the party's leadership. He openly called for a change in the prime ministerial role, expressing his belief that under Rishi Sunak's leadership, the party is heading towards a significant defeat in the upcoming election later this year,…
In a crucial test of his leadership, prime minister Rishi Sunak successfully navigated a key parliamentary vote on Wednesday (17), overcoming opposition from right-wing rebels for his controversial plan to send migrants to Rwanda. Sunak, in power since October 2022, has staked his political future on the scheme, as Britain…
Queen Elizabeth II, who passed away at the age of 96 in September 2022, reportedly left a sealed death-bed letter for her son and heir, King Charles III, a new book has claimed. According to a report in ‘The Daily Telegraph' on Saturday, biographer Robert Hardman has written about the…
INDIA’s defence minister Rajnath Singh arrived in London on Monday (8) for a three-day visit focusing on the India-UK defence partnership as well as security and industrial cooperation. Singh has been accompanied by a Ministry of Defence delegation comprising officials from the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Service Headquarters,…
INDIAN defence minister Rajnath Singh will discuss bilateral issues with his UK counterpart Grant Shapps during his official visit, the ministry of defence said in a statement. Singh arrived in UK on Monday (8) night. Notably, this marks the first visit of a sitting Indian defence minister to the UK…
India's Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is scheduled to commence a three-day visit to the UK, from Monday (8), aimed at revitalising strategic and security engagement between both nations. The visit aims to explore potential collaborations for joint development of fighter jets and other military platforms. Singh is scheduled to hold…
BILLIONS of voters across south Asia, the UK and the US will go to polls in the next 12 months in what will be a test of democracy, analysits have told Eastern Eye. In the UK, prime minister Rishi Sunak has to call a general election by January 28, 2025,…
RISHI SUNAK fired the starting gun on Britain's next election on Thursday (4), saying his "working assumption" was it would take place in the second half of the year, all but ruling out an earlier vote opposition parties had called for. The prime minister and Labour leader Keir Starmer both…
Ahead of the upcoming general election this year, the ruling Conservatives find themselves once again challenged by a fringe right-wing political party, originally founded by the eurosceptic populist Nigel Farage. Reform UK -- formerly called the Brexit Party and whose current leader admires former US president Donald Trump -- rails…
Tories have expressed strong disapproval and concern over allegations that Rishi Sunak offered Dominic Cummings a secret deal to assist him in winning the election. One Tory MP said that Boris Johnson's former chief aide should have no role in the political sphere, following these claims. Within WhatsApp groups, other…
According to a UK media report, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak aims to secure a free trade agreement (FTA) with India by Easter, which falls at the end of March 2024. The India-UK FTA talks began in January last year, aimed at significantly enhancing the £36-billion bilateral trading partnership. A new…
THE government's choice for the next BBC chairman, Samir Shah, faces reservations from MPs who questioned his suitability for the role, reports said. Shah appeared before the House of Commons committee ahead of his formal appointment, where concerns were raised about his ability to challenge BBC executives. While the committee…
THE Financial Times business book of the year for 2023 has gone to Right Kind of Wrong: Why Learning to Fail Can Teach Us to Thrive by Amy Edmondson, a Harvard professor who has been called “the world’s most influential organisational psychologist”. The prize, worth £30,000, was announced last Tuesday…
A LEADING Conservative parliamentarian has warned fellow Tory politicians they face a decision to either “unify or die” as party infighting threatens to derail the leadership of prime minister, Rishi Sunak. On Tuesday (12) Sunak narrowly won in his latest plans to send migrants to Rwanda. The way in which…
Prime minister Rishi Sunak on Monday said he was "deeply sorry" for those who lost family during the Covid pandemic as he was quizzed about his actions as finance minister during the global health emergency. Sunak is expected to face questions at the public inquiry into the UK's handling of…
RISHI SUNAK did not imagine that his premiership would end up like this. His intention was to lead an economy-first government, rebuild trust in politics and deliver on many fronts. Sunak has become the embattled leader of a single-issue government and mutinous party. Every week seems to be immigration week…
Prime minister Rishi Sunak faces questions Monday over whether his "Eat Out to Help Out" scheme to help the struggling hospitality sector during the pandemic spurred the spread of Covid-19. Sunak, who was finance minister at the time, is due to give evidence to the public inquiry into the UK…
In his testimony to Britain's Covid inquiry on Thursday (7), former prime minister Boris Johnson dismissed any suggestion that he aimed to allow the virus to "let rip" as "rubbish" and "completely wrong." Johnson, who was the prime minister between 2019 and 2022, faced a second day of questioning on…
SAMIR SHAH, a media executive with more than 40 years of experience in TV production and journalism, has been named as the government's preferred candidate to take over as the new BBC chairman. He will replace Richard Sharp, who was forced to resign after his communication with former prime minister…
BRITAIN signed a new treaty with Rwanda on Tuesday (5) which it said would overcome a court decision blocking its plan to deport asylum seekers to the East African country, a ruling that dealt a huge blow to the government's immigration policy. The Rwanda scheme is at the centre of…
FORMER prime minister Boris Johnson will make a much-anticipated appearance before an inquiry into the handling of the coronavirus pandemic on Wednesday (6) with his personal reputation and that of the Tory government at stake. The inquiry has already heard damaging testimony about Johnson's handling of the crisis, including claims…
THE government continues to fail south Asian women, girls and boys who are suffering domestic abuse, and it has not learnt lessons from the pandemic, campaigners have told Eastern Eye. They said they remain concerned that should there be another pandemic, south Asians and minority groups would be in unnecessary…
Home Secretary James Cleverly arrived in Rwanda on Tuesday (5), to finalise a new treaty aimed at deporting asylum seekers to the African nation, following the UK's highest court ruling that declared the previous deportation scheme unlawful. The Rwanda plan is at the centre of the government's strategy to cut…
At the Covid inquiry, Matt Hancock asserted that tens of thousands of lives might have been spared had the UK implemented a lockdown three weeks earlier. He described Boris Johnson’s Downing Street operation as affected by a "culture of fear." Hancock detailed instances of his staff encountering mistreatment from Dominic…
Rishi Sunak has attributed the high levels of net migration to Boris Johnson. He said, that he "inherited these very large numbers" and is committed to reducing them. The prime minister pledged to take necessary measures to decrease net migration, facing pressure from the right wing of his party to…
During the Covid inquiry, it was revealed that in a meeting held in July 2021, Rishi Sunak advocated fervently for the lifting of all lockdown restrictions. Boris Johnson, during the same meeting, reportedly referred to individuals as "malingering" and "workshy," as detailed in a diary entry by the then chief…
While giving evidence to the Covid Inquiry on Thursday (30) former health secretary Matt Hancock said his “single greatest regret” concerning the pandemic was not “overruling” advice from scientists who allegedly said that Covid could not be transmitted asymptomatically. The former health secretary revealed that advisers had informed him during…
CONSERVATIVE politicians sounded like they were already in opposition during the ferocious blue-on-blue attacks on the government over record levels of net migration announced last week. There were many calls for immediate action to slash the numbers. Yet none of those declaring that it was of existential political importance to…
LONDON’S mayor Sadiq Khan has accused the government of keeping him “in the dark” about its early response to the coronavirus pandemic and claimed many “lives could have been saved” had he been in the loop then. He told the UK Covid-19 Inquiry on Monday (27) that Downing Street ignored…
Ishwar Sharma bagged the Europe Cup 2023 in the Boys 12-14 category in the competition organised by the International Yoga Sports Federation on 18 and 19 November A 13-year-old Indian-origin yoga prodigy from south-east England, boasting a collection of awards, secured yet another Gold Medal at the 2023 European Yoga…
Senior Conservatives have raised concerns that Rishi Sunak's stance against human rights laws, potentially enabling the deportation of asylum seekers to Rwanda, might jeopardise the Northern Ireland peace process. These MPs echoed worries expressed by the White House, underscoring that Downing Street's reported intentions to disregard parts of the Human…
England's chief medical officer, professor Sir Chris Whitty, shared with the Covid inquiry that the initial lockdown in March 2020 was enforced "a bit too late," acknowledging the government faced limited options during that period. He highlighted public health concerns such as loneliness, depression, and the risk of exacerbating poverty,…
Researchers at Bangor University have discovered that individuals who strictly adhered to Covid lockdown measures during the pandemic are currently experiencing more pronounced mental health challenges. The study has revealed that those who initially followed the restrictions most closely when the pandemic began are now more prone to suffering from…
PRIME Minister Rishi Sunak was quoted as saying the government should "just let people die" during the Covid-19 pandemic rather than impose a second national lockdown, the inquiry into how Britain handled the crisis heard on Monday (20). Patrick Vallance, who was the government's chief scientific adviser during Covid, made…
The official inquiry into the Covid-19 pandemic is anticipated to disclose compelling evidence this week, regarding the tensions and disputes among the then prime minister Boris Johnson, his ministers, and the country's top scientific advisors. Sir Patrick Vallance, the government's former chief scientific adviser, is set to provide evidence during…
The prime minister has shown that “he has a backbone” by sacking his controversial home secretary, south Asian Conservative parliamentarians and grassroots members have told Eastern Eye. Rishi Sunak fired Suella Braverman on Monday (13), five days after she wrote a Times newspaper article in which she criticised the Met…
TO HER party, Suella Braverman was able to say things which the prime minister thought but could not voice. To his critics, Rishi Sunak was the man who stabbed Boris Johnson in the back and someone whose party did not elect him as its leader. Braverman gave him a shield…
BRITAIN's government has already been working on a new treaty with Rwanda and could change the country's laws after the Supreme Court ruled that the plan to send migrants there was unlawful, prime minister Rishi Sunak said on Wednesday (15). "The government has already been working in advance on a…
THE Supreme Court ruling on the government’s Rwanda scheme to deport people seeking asylum in the UK to the African nation is crucial for prime minister Rishi Sunak, said independent migration Think tank British Future. The top court will deliver its ruling on Wednesday (15) on whether the government can…
PROMINENT British Asian GP, Dr Nikki Kanani, has announced that she will step down from her current role at NHS England next month after serving six years. She worked as the medical director for primary care overseeing the establishment of Primary Care Networks (PCNs) and the formulation of a fresh…
How do you solve a problem like Suella? This was the week that Rishi Sunak changed his mind. Bringing Suella Braverman back as Home Secretary was a price he was willing to pay to secure the premiership unopposed, though it this was a coalition of convenience rather than conviction on…
During the Covid inquiry, Priti Patel, the former home secretary said that the £10,000 fines for violating Covid laws on large gatherings were excessively high. She said that the penalty, introduced before the August bank holiday in 2020, was not proportionate. Patel, along with her officials at the Home Office,…
THE Supreme Court said on Thursday (9) it would deliver its ruling next week on whether the government can go ahead with its controversial plan to deport migrants to Rwanda. In April, London's Court of Appeal said the scheme was unlawful because the east African country was not a safe…
NOTHING has been done to protect south Asian and black medical staff or patients, despite their disproportionate number of deaths during Covid, doctors have told Eastern Eye. They have warned that if a pandemic were to happen tomorrow, more people of colour would die unnecessarily. Medical experts have previously told…
Home Secretary Suella Braverman has sparked controversy with accusations that the Metropolitan Police are "playing favourites" in their handling of pro-Palestinian protests. In an article published in The Times, Braverman alleged that while right-wing protests that turned aggressive were often stopped, "pro-Palestinian mobs" were allowed to continue. The Met Police…
Charles III will deliver the inaugural King's Speech in over 70 years on Tuesday (7), formally opening the parliament session and outlining his government's legislative agenda amid the approaching elections. The 74-year-old head of state will outline Conservative prime minister Rishi Sunak's wish list of new laws that are expected…
FORMER prime minister Boris Johnson asked the government's top scientific advisors early in the pandemic if a "special hairdryer" could be used against Covid, it emerged this week. As the virus began to spread worldwide in March 2020, Johnson shared with officials a YouTube video of the dryer being used…
WE DON’T hear very much these days about Boris Johnson making a comeback to 10, Downing Street. He has decided making money is the better option. Boris earned £4.8 million in five months after leaving office as prime minister, mostly for speaking at events and for securing a deal to…
FORMER prime minister Boris Johnson's ex-senior adviser on Tuesday (31) criticised his handling of the Covid pandemic, as an inquiry heard he believed claims that the virus was "nature's way of dealing with old people". Dominic Cummings, his former-top aide, painted a troubling picture of Johnson's attitude and response to…
The Covid pandemic was the "wrong crisis" for the skill set of the scandal-ridden former prime minister, Boris Johnson, one of his most senior ex-advisers told the UK Covid inquiry on Tuesday (31). Lee Cain, Downing Street's ex-communications chief, said he became "exhausted" by Johnson's indecision and oscillation in dealing…
BORIS JOHNSON’S sister, Rachel Johnson, who has a weekend slot on LBC, spent an hour last Sunday (22) discussing how families can be split by politics. She revealed that when Boris came to dinner, Brexit was off the menu. Boris’s siblings didn’t agree with him. One man rang LBC to…
DO not expect any more parties in Downing Street this week to mark the anniversary of Rishi Sunak becoming prime minister. It was an understated moment of British social history, as Britain’s first Asian prime minister walked into Number 10 alone, with a few words about fixing mistakes to get…
A first anniversary in office is normally a moment for a leader to celebrate, but Rishi Sunak hits the milestone this week with a mountain to climb to retain power in a general election expected next year. Two by-election losses to the main opposition Labour on Thursday (19) underscored how…
The Conservative Party lost two parliamentary seats to Labour on Friday (20), marking another ominous setback for prime minister Rishi Sunak and his party in the lead-up to the expected general election next year. The by-election results -- the latest in a string of traditionally safe Tory seats lost to…
VOTERS went to the polls in elections to fill two vacant parliamentary seats on Thursday (19) that will be a test of how prime minister Rishi Sunak's Tories are faring in his party's heartlands before a national election expected next year. The by-elections were triggered by high-profile resignations of two…
A media report on Wednesday (18), indicated that the optimism surrounding the ongoing 13th round of negotiations for an India-UK free trade agreement (FTA) is fading. Hopes of concluding the deal in time for prime minister Rishi Sunak to sign off before the India versus England World Cup cricket clash…
THE Supreme Court said on Wednesday (11) it would be a couple of months before it gives its decision on whether the government could go ahead with its plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda. Lawyers for the government have been arguing over three days this week that the court…
MINISTERS and the media are contributing to hate crime against British Muslims, according to politicians and community leaders. Last week (5) saw a nine per cent year-on-year increase in reported religious hate crime figures. Politicians, religious leaders and campaigning groups are urging them to stop demonising Muslims. Of the almost…
PROMINENT barrister and former spouse of prime minister Boris Johnson is set to take on a pivotal role as Labour's adviser on protecting women against workplace harassment. Marina Wheeler KC will assist the party in enhancing employment rights to protect women from hostile coworkers, reports said. Labour's initiative aims to…
THE government has insisted that Rwanda is an appropriate place to deport failed asylum seekers, as it tried to overturn a court ruling that the policy is unlawful. Three Appeal Court judges in London blocked the controversial plan in June, assessing that the African nation could not be considered a…
BRITAIN and India are looking at a possible visit to New Delhi by prime minister Rishi Sunak soon, but it may depend on whether the two sides can resolve the remaining differences to firm up the free trade agreement (FTA), people familiar with the matter said on Monday (9). Both…
A LEADING Tory parliamentarian has accused home secretary Suella Braverman of “betraying” her own culture and background with her claim that multiculturalism in Britain has “failed”. Braverman, in a speech last week at the American Enterprise Institute, in Washington DC, described multiculturalism as a “misguided dogma” that had allowed people…
LABOUR gathers this weekend for its annual conference, with the centre-left party currently on course to return to power in a general election expected next year. Labour, led by Keir Starmer, goes into the four-day event -- which starts on Sunday (8) in Liverpool, northwest England -- well ahead of…
THE British government said on Thursday (5) that contested statues should be kept in place but complemented with a comprehensive explanation, in guidance reacting to a spate of statue removals during anti-racism protests that swept the world in 2020. What to do about statues of historical figures such as colonialists…
PRIME MINISTER Rishi Sunak portrayed himself as a tough decision maker and an agent of change on Wednesday (4), seeking to break with the scandals and chaos of his Tory predecessors and show the party he can help it win an upcoming election. In a speech lasting more than an…
PRIME MINISTER Rishi Sunak has scrapped the HS2 high-speed rail line from the West Midlands to Manchester during his Conservative Party conference speech on Wednesday (4). The cancellation includes everything beyond the London-Birmingham route, with the £36 billion saved set to be reinvested in transport initiatives across the North, Midlands,…
A PROMINENT Conservative party commentator believes the Tories have become “complacent” in reaching out to ethnic minority politicians and voters. With Rishi Sunak as prime minister and ministers such as Suella Braverman, Kemi Badonech and James Cleverly, the Tory administration has one of the most diverse cabinets in history. However,…
PRIME MINISTER Rishi Sunak is set to fire the starting gun Wednesday (4) on Britain's next general election campaign, with a much-anticipated keynote speech closing his ruling Tories' annual conference. He faces a daunting challenge rallying his beleaguered Tories to win the election -- due some time in 2024 --…
BRITAIN's ruling Tories are gathered for their annual conference, with splits surfacing and leadership hopefuls jockeying -- just as the party needs unity heading into a general election as underdogs. The Tories, in power since 2010, kicked off four days of main stage speeches, fringe events and political networking on…
CONSERVATIVES opened their annual conference on Sunday (1), with the party's chairman conceding they were "the underdogs" heading into a general election expected next year amid widespread economic woes. The gathering in Manchester will be prime minister Rishi Sunak's first since he became Tory leader last October, and likely the…
TORIES started its annual conference Sunday (1), bidding to kickstart a resurgence before a general election expected next year that it is currently on track to lose. The four-day gathering in Manchester, northwest England, will be prime minister Rishi Sunak's first since he became Tory leader last October, and likely…
Almost a year into his role as prime minister, Rishi Sunak faces a shrinking timeframe to achieve an increasingly challenging endeavour: securing the Conservatives' continuation in power during the upcoming election. He will conclude the party's annual conference with a keynote address next Wednesday, aiming to galvanise the ruling Tories…
LIZ TRUSS comes across as a “vengeful” character in Lord Michael Ashcroft’s new book, All To Play For: The Advance of Rishi Sunak, a sequel to his first biography, Going for Broke: The Rise of Rishi Sunak, which was published in 2020. Last summer, Truss beat Sunak in the Tory…
RISHI SUNAK was not at last year’s Conservative Party conference. Having lost the party leadership election, he kept a low profile in his Yorkshire constituency to not distract from then prime minister Liz Truss’s chance to set out her vision. A chaotic week of u-turns trying to contain the implosion…
THIS could feel like a long year for Keir Starmer. The Labour leader seems ever more likely to emerge as prime minister once the general election is eventually held, but whether he can seal the deal with the British public is unlikely to be put to the test any time…
France extended a warm welcome to King Charles III on Wednesday (20), as he begins a rescheduled three-day visit designed to underscore the enduring strength of the cross-Channel alliance, even in the face of numerous political tensions following Brexit. The originally scheduled trip was set for March and was intended…
Rishi Sunak is set to announce the delay of certain government policies aimed at achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 in an upcoming speech this week, citing the need for a more "proportionate" response to climate change. In a highly unusual late-night statement after reports that he was planning to row…
HEADING to New Delhi for the G20 summit might have felt like a great escape for Rishi Sunak, leaving behind crumbling concrete in classrooms and damning opinion polls for his first visit to India as Prime Minister. The Sunaks were greeted enthusiastically by the Indian media. A British Prime Minister…
PRIME Minister Rishi Sunak said he had spoken with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi about the continued detention of a British Sikh human rights campaigner in the south Asian country. Jagtar Singh Johal was arrested in the northern state of Punjab when he was shopping with his wife in November…
G20 leaders, including US president Joe Biden, UK prime minister Rishi Sunak and UN secretary general António Guterres, paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at his memorial Rajghat on Sunday (10). Prime minister Narendra Modi received the leaders at the rain-drenched Rajghat. Modi welcomed his guests to the site where the…
Rishi Sunak finds himself confronted with another challenging vote to fill a vacant parliamentary seat, following an announcement by a lawmaker who had been handed an eight-week suspension for groping two men at a London club last year, revealing his intention to resign. Chris Pincher, who now sits as an…
Prime minister Rishi Sunak emphasised the significance of India's diversity and its remarkable achievements, asserting that it is the opportune moment for the nation to assume the G20 presidency. He praised prime minister Narendra Modi's leadership over the past year and highlighted that India's leadership in the G20 comes at…
WHAT does prime minister discuss at the dinner table with his Indian parents-in-law? Is it Indian politics or the challenges of running Britain? Neither. It's cricket. "The most political we tend to get is in our discussion of cricket. I've agreed that my daughters can support India when it comes…
Rishi Sunak has dismissed the possibility of a swift trade agreement with India, effectively ruling out the likelihood of securing a deal before this week's G20 summit in Delhi or even before next year's elections, The Guardian reported. Multiple sources familiar with the negotiations have reported that the prime minister…
LABOUR MP Shabana Mahmood said she was honoured to be appointed shadow secretary of state for justice after party leader Sir Keir Starmer carried out a reshuffle on Monday (4). Days after prime minister Rishi Sunak’s mini reshuffle last week, Sir Keir named Birmingham Ladywood MP Mahmood to the shadow…
WITH Tharman Shanmugaratnam winning Singapore's presidential election, he joins a long list of Indian-origin leaders who are dominating politics at important world capitals. Shanmugaratnam, 66, received 70.4 per cent of the votes in the presidential election held on Friday (1). "Singaporeans have chosen Tharman Shanmugaratnam to be our next president…
THE government on Thursday (31) named Claire Coutinho as secretary of state for energy security and net zero, replacing Grant Shapps who was named defence secretary. Coutinho, who is the first member of parliament elected in 2019 to be promoted to the cabinet, was previously a junior minister in the…
THE new Eton Star College in Oldham will “remove barriers” for students previously unlikely to have a chance of a university education, the borough’s council leader has said, writes Chris Gee. Last week, the government gave approval for the expansion of the elite boarding school Eton to open a sixth…
IT was a speech that showed how much words can matter. America has been marking the sixtieth anniversary this week of Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech, delivered to the quarter of a million people who had marched on Washington in 1963 to demand civil rights. The moment…
TORY lawmaker Nadine Dorries has delivered a scathing attack on her party's leader Rishi Sunak in her formal resignation letter, accusing the prime minister of running a "zombie parliament" and lacking any political vision. Dorries, a close ally of former leader Boris Johnson, had announced in June she would quit…
MINISTER for children, families and wellbeing, Claire Coutinho, could be made chief secretary to the Treasury next month when prime minister Rishi Sunak is expected to reshuffle his cabinet, a media report suggested. Coutinho MP would be a politically attractive appointment to succeed John Glen in the Treasury department, The…
“RAISE your hand if you are a racist.” This is a question Saira Rao, an Indian American campaigner, poses at the start of the documentary, Deconstructing Karen. It features the work of Race2Dinner, an initiative by co-founders Rao and Regina Jackson, a black American, whose aim is to ultimately dismantle…
‘THE United States versus Donald Trump’. The title of the 45-page indictment of the former President could be a TV mini-series title, though the third season plot of this Trump melodrama often seems stranger than fiction would dare. Trump is now set to spend a fair chunk of his Presidential…
LONDON's mayor announced increased financial support for owners of more polluting vehicles impacted by his contentious extension of a daily charge when driving them in the British capital. Labour's Sadiq Khan insisted the politically charged expansion of the Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) would go ahead as planned on August 29,…
BUSINESSWOMAN and anti-Brexit campaigner, Gina Miller, has said that access to banking for new parties needed in ‘functioning democracy’. Her comments came after Monzo informed Miller that a bank account for her political party, True and Fair party, would be closed in September. The bank initially refused to tell the…
PRIME MINISTER Rishi Sunak has backed plans to permit new fossil fuel exploration off Britain's coast, as he pledged to be "pragmatic and proportionate" about achieving net zero in an interview published Saturday (29). The stance is set to intensify criticism from environmental campaigners, who accuse the British leader of…
The climate change mitigation policies in Britain may face challenges due to the intersection of political worries about the cost-of-living crisis, soaring energy prices, and other factors, all while aiming to achieve decarbonization by the middle of the century, say observers. Last week's unexpected by-election outcome has raised concerns that…
LABOUR’S failure to take former prime minister Boris Johnson’s old parliamentary seat in the by-election last week shows the party still has a long way to go to win power, leader Sir Keir Starmer said last Saturday (22). The party won in Selby and Ainsty, a once-safe Conservative parliamentary seat…
LONDON mayor Sadiq Khan intends to expand the ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) to the whole of the city on August 29 – barring a last-ditch high court bid to stop it. The scheme – first introduced in inner London in 2019 and separate from the two-decades-old congestion charge – requires…
ONE traditional explanation of rival political philosophies is that progressives tend to be more optimistic and conservatives more pessimistic about human nature. Yet those psychological profiles are sharply reversed when the major parties consider their electoral prospects. The contrast between the Tory Tiggerish tendency and Labour’s Eeyore anxieties was rarely…
Sadiq Khan has vowed to press ahead with his expansion of the Ultra-low emission zone (ULEZ) on August 29, despite Labour losing a crucial by-election in Uxbridge and South Ruislip, an area affected by the plan. The mayor said he was “disappointed” by the result – which has been widely…
After the recent Uxbridge and South Ruislip byelection win, environmentally-minded Conservatives are urging Rishi Sunak to maintain his net zero commitments despite calls from others within the party to end "very unpopular" green policies. The controversial expansion of the ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) played a role in the Tories holding…
In the Uxbridge by-election, the Conservative Party narrowly retained Boris Johnson's former constituency, defeating Labour by a mere 495 votes. The expansion of London's Ultra Low Emission Zone (Ulez), proposed by Labour mayor Sadiq Khan, was cited as a contributing factor to the Tory victory, The BBC reported. The Ulez…
The ruling Conservatives on Friday (21) held the former seat of ex-prime minister Boris Johnson but saw hefty majorities in two other seats blown away as scandals and high inflation took their toll. Rishi Sunak was expected to become the first prime minister to lose three parliamentary seats on one…
PRIME minister Rishi Sunak faces voters in very different parliamentary seats on Thursday (20) and risks losing all three contests in what would be the worst one-day mid-term result for any British governing party in more than half a century. The votes are one of few remaining opportunities to gauge…
A REPORT in the Daily Telegraph is headlined: “Dorries to point finger at Sunak in tell-all book on fall of Johnson.” It says that Nadine Dorries – who has announced her decision to step down as the Tory MP for Mid Bedfordshire but hasn’t gone yet – “will point the…
THE LABOUR candidate to replace Boris Johnson as Conservative MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip has said the former prime minister played a part in ethnic minorities losing “trust in democracy and public life”. Danny Beales is the Labour candidate for the byelection in Uxbridge and South Ruislip, which became…
US president Joe Biden will arrive in Britain on Sunday (9) for a brief visit during which he will meet prime minister Rishi Sunak and discuss climate change issues with King Charles ahead of the upcoming NATO summit. The White House said the trip was designed "to further strengthen the…
MET POLICE will reopen an investigation into Covid-19 lockdown breaches at a December 2020 event held in the headquarters of the governing Conservative Party in London following an assessment of new evidence. However, police said other referrals, made to them by the government following an examination of former prime minister…
A SENIOR Conservative MP has accused the governing party’s major donor Mohamed Amersi of trying to suppress truth using legal threats.David Davis told the Commons that sections of a report, which alleged Amersi “mired in an international corruption scandal”, were withdrawn after the telecoms tycoon’s lawyers claimed they were defamatory.The…
WHEN Rishi Sunak first heard about the Rwanda plan, he had his doubts. Since he was Chancellor then, he had a responsibility to scrutinise the cost. But the bigger question was whether the plan would work. Though of questionable legality and significant expense, the scheme was limited in its scale.…
AN influential Tory minister has withdrawn support for home secretary Suella Braverman over her comments about British-Pakistani men, reported The Guardian. A close associate of Tory MP and Northern Ireland minister, Steve Baker, who backed Braverman when she stood to succeed Boris Johnson as party leader, said that he vehemently…
A group of Conservative MPs called on prime minister Rishi Sunak on Monday (3) to do more to cut immigration, saying he risked further eroding the trust of voters who lent the party their vote in 2019 if he failed to take action. The group of MPs, many elected for…
The UK government said it would challenge a court ruling issued on Thursday (29) that blocks its plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda, a set-back to its controversial bid to cut migrant numbers. Three Court of Appeal judges ruled that Rwanda could not be considered a safe third country,…
A panel of British MPs on Thursday (29) accused diehard supporters of former prime minister Boris Johnson, including former home secretary Priti Patel, in parliament of waging a campaign of abuse and contempt against his "Partygate" investigators. Eight Johnson loyalists, including former ministers Jacob Rees-Mogg, Nadine Dorries, were named and…
BRITAIN’S investment minister said on Tuesday (27) he would like to see strong investment protections in any future trade deal with India, and that the two countries could work more closely together on financial services even without a trade pact. Free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations between Britain and India were…
WHAT does it mean to be English? This is the question that Dear England, a new play at London’s National Theatre, sets out to explore. It has been written by James Graham and directed by Rupert Goold – with the actor Joseph Fiennes playing the lead role of the England…
BRITAIN's investment minister said on Tuesday (27) he would like to see strong investment protections in any future trade deal with India, and that the two countries could work more closely together on financial services even without a trade pact. Free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations between Britain and India were…
The 30,000-word report from the Commons privileges committee, finding the former prime minister Boris Johnson guilty of deliberately “misleading parliament”, was entirely predictable. That Boris should throw his toys out of the pram and call the committee a “kangaroo court” was also predictable. He didn’t want to defend his seat,…
Prime minister Rishi Sunak and home secretary Suella Braverman were among prominent Asian Conservatives who did not take part in the vote on Monday (19) on a report that concluded Boris Johnson deliberately lied about rule-breaking parties during the pandemic. MPs voted 354 to seven to endorse the Privileges Committee's…
BRITISH MPs vote on Monday (19) on a damning report that found former prime minister Boris Johnson deliberately lied to parliament about lockdown-breaking parties, in what the government hopes will be the final chapter in the damaging "Partygate" scandal. The parliamentary vote is being held on Johnson's 59th birthday as…
Michael Gove, a senior British minister on Sunday (18) expressed his dismay over a video showcasing a party that took place at the headquarters of the ruling Conservative Party during a Covid-19 lockdown in 2020, describing it "terrible." The government continues to grapple with the repercussions of rule-breaking gatherings, as…
FORMER British prime minister Boris Johnson, who quit parliament last week over a finding that he misled lawmakers about Covid lockdown parties, was accused of a new breach for taking a newspaper columnist job without waiting for required ethics vetting. Nine months after he left the premiership, Johnson's ethics record…
THE SUCCESSOR to Boris Johnson's seat in Britain's parliament will be chosen in a by-election vote on July 20, the local council said on Thursday (15), after the former prime minister quit over an investigation into his conduct. The Conservatives selected Steve Tuckwell to be their candidate for the vote,…
Former prime minister Liz Truss acknowledged "mistakes" on her part but attributed the failure of her policies to the economic "establishment" in her first televised interview since her short-lived tenure as prime minister last year. Truss, who was ousted after a mere 49 days in office, cautiously expressed regrets while…
Enoch Powell once said: “All political lives, unless they are cut off in midstream at a happy juncture, end in failure, because that is the nature of politics and of human affairs.” This is sadly true for Boris Johnson, who, to give him due credit, brought in the most diverse…
Newly appointed member of the House of Lords, Kulveer Singh Ranger, told Eastern Eye he will use his position to leverage his expertise in transport and technology and help deliver better public services. Ranger was last Friday (9) rewarded by former prime minister Boris Johnson in his resignation honours list,…
Former home secretary Priti Patel has been rewarded with a damehood as Boris Johnson awarded his political aides and allies with some of Britain’s highest honours to mark his resignation last year as prime minister. Kulveer Ranger, who served as director of transport when Johnson was the mayor of London,…
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak standing up to Boris Johnson could be the making of him as a leader, an Asian parliamentarian told Eastern Eye. Sunak on Monday (12) revealed that his predecessor had asked him to “do something that I wasn't prepared to do,” in relation to the latter’s resignation…
The inquiry into the UK government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic is set to begin on Tuesday (13), but it has already been marred by controversy even prior to the first witness testimony. Heather Hallett, the retired senior judge appointed as the inquiry chair, has requested the unredacted WhatsApp messages…
In a dispute concerning political honours for allies of the former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak expressed his criticism towards his predecessor on Monday (12). It is customary for outgoing prime ministers to propose honours or appointments to the House of Lords for their aides and…
OLD rifts resurfaced in Tory party on Saturday (10) following former prime minister Boris Johnson's abrupt resignation from parliament, while the opposition Labour party sensed opportunity ahead of a general election next year. Johnson quit late on Friday (9) in protest against an investigation by lawmakers into his conduct as…
FORMER home secretary Priti Patel has been rewarded with a damehood as Boris Johnson awarded his political aides and allies with some of Britain's highest honours to mark his resignation last year as prime minister. Kulveer Ranger, who served as director of transport when Johnson was the mayor of London,…
Former Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, made a sudden decision to resign as a member of parliament on Friday (09). His departure came as a strong and passionate protest against the lawmakers who were conducting an investigation into his conduct, reigniting deep divisions within the ruling Conservative Party just before the…
The US and Britain unveiled a fresh strategic pact on Thursday (08), reaffirming their commitment to the "special relationship" in order to counter the challenges posed by Russia, China, and economic instability. During a summit held at the White House, US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak…
The UK government declared its intention on Thursday (01) to launch a legal challenge concerning the disclosure of documents to a public inquiry investigating its management of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Cabinet Office revealed that it would pursue a judicial review of the directive issued by inquiry chair Judge Heather…
Former British prime minister Boris Johnson has submitted his pandemic-era notebooks and messages to the government and has encouraged officials to transfer them to an independent Covid-19 inquiry, his spokesperson said on Wednesday (31). A stalemate has arisen between the inquiry and the Cabinet Office, the governmental body responsible for…
British ministers have been granted an extension to provide unredacted messages from ex-prime minister Boris Johnson to a public inquiry investigating the management of the Covid-19 crisis. Initiated in 2021, the inquiry was tasked with examining the nation's readiness, as well as the response to public health and economic challenges,…
Boris Johnson has been referred to police over further potential breaches of lockdown rules during the Covid-19 pandemic, a charge the former prime minister's office portrayed as "yet another politically motivated stitch up". The Cabinet Office, which is responsible for overseeing the operation of government, said it had made a…
Britain must “up its game” when it comes to trading with India, the co-founder and chair of Cobra Beer, Lord Karan Bilimoria has told Eastern Eye. The peer has written to Rishi Sunak, urging him to lead the first cross-party UK prime ministerial delegation to Delhi, Mumbai and other major…
How much is immigration mainly a question of numbers? Record levels of net migration certainly create a political headache for the Prime Minister. The figure was just over half a million, when the statistics were last published six months ago. This week’s statistics, published on Thursday, will be higher still. They…
BRITAIN on Tuesday (23) announced a package of measures aimed at international students, including a ban on some family members, as ministers come under growing pressure to cut immigration. After a drop during the pandemic, net migration has been steadily on the rise and is reportedly expected to hit a…
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spoke to his ethics adviser regarding the handling of a speeding offence by home secretary Suella Braverman, his spokesperson said on Monday (22), after calls for an investigation into whether she broke ministerial rules. Suella Braverman, who oversees the police and law enforcement, said on Monday…
India and Britain are struggling to make progress in free trade talks due to differences on some key tariff lines and investment protection rules, making a deal unlikely during prime minister Narendra Modi's second term ending next year, Indian sources said. The two nations are unable to agree on concessions…
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said he is “committed” to reducing legal migration into the UK although he did not set any target for his government. The annual net migration into Britain was 226,000 in 2019 which Sunak’s predecessor Boris Johnson pledged to reduce. But the figure is expected to…
Rishi Sunak was accused by Boris Johnson loyalists of stabbing the then prime minister in the back when he resigned from the cabinet – but dramatic new evidence suggests the chancellor was acting in self-defence and was also morally in the right when he quit government. What exactly happened between…
The Conservatives suffered high-profile losses as results poured in Friday (6) in what is seen as prime Minister Rishi Sunak's first major electoral test since he took office last year. Local council elections held across swathes of England on Thursday (4) with Britons experiencing the worst cost-of-living crisis in decades. …
Early results of the local elections in England on Friday (05) have indicated that Rishi Sunak's Conservative party lost a considerable number of seats. Voters have reportedly expressed their discontent over political scandals, sluggish economic growth, and high inflation. This result marks the largest, and potentially final, test of voter…
The Conservatives, led by prime minister Rishi Sunak, are anticipating significant losses in Thursday's (4) local council elections, marking their first major electoral challenge since Sunak assumed leadership in the midst of a tumultuous period last year, which saw the UK with its third leader in a matter of weeks.…
LABOUR is "institutionally, structurally and systematically racist” and taking south Asian voters for granted, councillors and party members have told Eastern Eye. They are urging the Labour leadership at national level to investigate why Hindus and Muslims have been barred from standing in next week’s [4 May] local elections. Labour’s…
Rishi Sunak faces his first big electoral test as the Prime Minister next week in local polls where the opposition Labour Party hopes to capitalise on a year of chaos for the governing Conservatives, ahead of a national election expected next year. Sunak has tried to restore the credibility of…
Nationalist movements within the British Asian community have become more prevalent in recent years and could “destabilise British society”, a major independent faith review in the UK has stated. The report by the government’s faith adviser, Colin Bloom, added that the change can be seen in small mobilisation of Hindu…
A cross-party Parliament committee has criticised the lack of information on Britain's ongoing negotiations with India for a free trade agreement (FTA). The House of Commons International Trade Committee said on Friday (21) that in many cases, it gleaned more detail on the talks from reports in the Indian media…
Deputy prime minister Dominic Raab on Friday (21) announced his resignation following allegations of bullying that were confirmed in a report. This has come as a surprise for Tories, creating a new political setback. Raab's resignation creates a challenge for prime minister Rishi Sunak, who now has to deal with…
HOW low should you go when campaigning to govern? Westminster’s Easter weekend was dominated by a fierce arguments about campaign ethics after both major parties sought to make political capital from child sexual abuse. “Do you think adults convicted of sexually assaulting children should go to prison? Rishi Sunak doesn’t”…
An ethics adviser to prime minister Rishi Sunak has said he found no clear evidence of Islamophobia to back up allegations by MP Nusrat Ghani that she was sacked from her ministerial job in 2020 partly because of her Muslim faith. Ghani, 50, who has now been reinstated in the…
THE home secretary is pandering to right-wing racists and putting south Asian lives in danger, MPs and experts have told Eastern Eye. It follows Suella Braverman’s comments over the weekend (2) that “vulnerable white girls living in troubled circumstances have been abused, drugged, raped, and exploited”. She highlighted cases in…
Ishwar Sharma, a 12-year-old yoga prodigy from Sevenoaks, Kent, has emerged victorious in the 5th Yoga World Cup & Festival held in Canada, securing three gold medals. The competition, organised by the Yoga Ministry of Canada, attracts the world's most talented and skilled yoga practitioners, showcasing their incredible abilities. Ishwar,…
Prime minister Rishi Sunak is expected to receive parliamentary approval for a crucial component of a post-Brexit agreement on Northern Ireland on Wednesday (22). However, this triumph is marred by the lack of support from the province's largest unionist party and some members of his own party. Sunak aims to…
Former prime minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday (22) will face tough questioning in parliament about the 'Partygate', the political scandal that led to his resignation from the post. The outcome of this inquiry could have a significant impact on his political future. In July, as Johnson's three-year tenure at 10…
While showering current Labour leader Keir Starmer with compliments, former prime minister Tony Blair acknowledged that a shock win for Rishi Sunak's Tories in the next general election cannot be completely ruled out, despite their current poor standing in the polls. However, Blair firmly believes that the UK will not…
The UK government declared a security ban on the Chinese-owned video platform TikTok for official devices, following similar measures taken by the European Union and the US. Cabinet office minister Oliver Dowden on Thursday (16) announced that this ban would be implemented immediately. Concerns have been raised by western countries…
First, he broke lockdown law. Then he was fined for not wearing a car seatbelt. Now Britain's prime minister is again in trouble with the police - because of his dog. Rishi Sunak and his family were filmed walking Nova the Labrador in central London's Hyde Park, where signs clearly…
Prime minister Rishi Sunak and French president Emmanuel Macron on Friday (10) agreed a new pact to stop illegal cross-Channel migration after a summit in Paris aimed at overcoming years of Brexit tensions. Both leaders hailed a new start in relations between the two neighbours, after intense talks in Paris…
ANYONE arriving illegally in Britain will be prevented from staying, prime minister Rishi Sunak said in an interview published on Sunday (5), ahead of new legislation which is expected to be set out next week. Under pressure from his own lawmakers to find a solution to the flow of migrants…
A NEW law to crack down on migrants arriving in Britain in small boats from Europe across the English Channel will be unveiled on Tuesday (7), with a senior minister saying "enough is enough", the Sun on Sunday newspaper reported. The British government has been promising to step up action…
BORIS JOHNSON slammed Rishi Sunak's new post-Brexit deal with the European Union for Northern Ireland, saying the prime minister had given the EU too much power in the UK. Sunak reached a new agreement on Monday (27) to ease trade restrictions in the British-run province, partially undoing Johnson's previous agreement,…
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Tuesday (28) urged pro-UK politicians in Northern Ireland to grab the economic "prize" on offer after he secured a breakthrough reform deal with the European Union. On a visit to the tense province, Sunak said he was "over the moon" at clinching the pact…
RISHI SUNAK had the best day of his premiership to date on Monday (27), unveiling his renegotiated Brexit deal in Windsor. It is just over a century since the Royal proclamation of 1917 rebranded the House of Saxe-Coburg as the House of Windsor and Sunak clearly took inspiration from that…
Britain and the European Union were on Monday (27) poised to agree to a crucial overhaul of trade rules in Northern Ireland, in a breakthrough aimed at resetting strained relations since Brexit. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen were set to hold "final talks"…
BRITISH prime minister Rishi Sunak said he was "giving it everything" to strike a new post-Brexit deal with the European Union on Northern Ireland's trade arrangements, calling it vital to ensuring a return to power-sharing in the province. "There's unfinished business on Brexit and I want to get the job…
The investigation into Conservative MP Nus Ghani’s claims of religious bias in the government is back on track after being stalled during the political turmoil last year.Prime minister Rishi Sunak's ethics adviser Sir Laurie Magnus will now carry on the inquiry, the BBC reported.Ghani who was made transport minister in…
British-Sri Lankan tycoon Allirajah Subaskaran, owner of international phone call business Lycamobile, has found himself at odds with accountants after tax authorities demanded £100m from his company over alleged VAT anomalies, The Telegraph reported. According to auditors to Lycamobile UK Limited, they were “unable to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence”…
Britain’s financial regulatory body is monitoring “potential links” between the investment firm Elara Capital and India’s Adani Group, a media report has said.Adani’s flagship firm Adani Enterprises last week abandoned its follow-on public offer (FPO) amid a crash in the share prices of the group companies triggered by American short-seller…
PRIME MINISTERS are rarely short of advice. Few can ever have received quite so much of it as Rishi Sunak as he completes 100 days in office. There are now seven living former prime ministers, for the first time ever, compared to just three when Gordon Brown was in power.…
Indian external affairs minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday (7) spoke to his British counterpart James Cleverly focusing on various aspects of bilateral ties and India's G-20 presidency. The phone conversation came ahead of the British foreign secretary's likely visit to India to attend a meeting of the G-20 foreign ministers…
Former UK prime minister Liz Truss on Sunday criticised her successor Rishi Sunak's "detrimental" tax policies, as the current leader also faced pressure from another predecessor Boris Johnson over his Ukraine strategy. Truss came to power in September, immediately implementing a radical tax-slashing agenda. But her plans spooked the markets…
As many as 40 Afghan families with 150 children in Kensington, west London,were asked to settle over 200 miles away in Wetherby, Leeds, the Guardian reported. These refugees have been living in London for the past 18 months after fleeing the Taliban. The latest Home Office order came as a…
Lord Jo Johnson, younger brother of former British prime minister Boris Johnson, has resigned his non-executive directorship of a UK-based investment firm linked with the now-withdrawn Adani Enterprises Follow-on Public Offer (FPO). 'The Financial Times' newspaper referenced UK Companies House records to reveal that 51-year-old Lord Johnson had been appointed…
Rishi Sunak marked his 100th day in office as the first non-white British Prime Minister on Thursday with a slick new video for social media pledging to deliver change, amidst multiple challenges, including spiralling inflation. The UK's first Indian-origin Prime Minister took charge at 10 Downing Street a day after…
Rishi Sunak said on Monday he had acted "pretty decisively" by sacking Conservative Party chair Nadhim Zahawi over his personal tax affairs, moving to quell criticism that he had acted too slowly. In the latest scandal to involve one of his ministers and just months after he entered Downing Street…
The Kremlin on Monday dismissed as a "lie" accusations from former British prime minister Boris Johnson that Russian President Vladimir Putin personally threatened him with a missile attack. "What Mr Johnson said is not true. More precisely it's a lie," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. "Moreover, this is either…
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak fired the Conservative Party chair Nadhim Zahawi from government on Sunday (29) after an investigation found he had been insufficiently open about a tax probe which he settled while finance minister. In an embarrassing episode for Sunak, he initially stood by Zahawi before ordering an…
Rishi Sunak has defended the appointment of his Conservative Party chairman, saying he was not aware of any tax issues at the time but had launched an investigation as soon as questions were raised. Questions over the tax affairs of Nadhim Zahawi have dogged the prime minister for a week,…
Britain's trade minister in charge of negotiating a free trade agreement (FTA) with India says clinching a high-quality deal is among her top priorities for the year, while admitting the talks had hit a "bit of an impasse” which she broke by flying to New Delhi last month. In a…
Rishi Sunak on Monday ordered an independent investigation into the tax affairs of scandal-hit Conservative Party chairman Nadhim Zahawi amid mounting pressure from the Opposition. After days of headlines over the Iraqi-born minister without portfolio in his Cabinet’s alleged penalty settlement with His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) department, Sunak…
The India-UK free trade agreement (FTA) is expected to be clinched this year but it won't involve any boost of free movement visa offers for Indians, British trade minister in charge of the negotiations has said. Kemi Badenoch, who was in New Delhi last month to kick off the sixth…
Prime Minster Rishi Sunak is seen as more trustworthy, more economically competent and more likely to win votes than his former boss, Boris Johnson, in a new survey of voting intentions that was released on Saturday.The Savanta ComRes survey for The Independent newspaper found that Johnson’s perceived popularity as the Conservative…
Sunak, who apologised on Thursday (19) for a "brief error of judgement", had uploaded the video to Instagram during a trip to north west England. It was widely shared by other users who noticed that he had not buckled up. Local police had said later that day they would investigate,…
Scottish National Party MP Martin Docherty-Hughes has urged the UK government to secure the release of a Sikh campaigner who has been in the custody of Indian authorities for more than five years. Jagtar Singh Johal was arrested in Punjab when he was shopping with his wife in November 2017.…
Conservative Party chairman Nadhim Zahawi has agreed to pay several million pounds in tax to settle a dispute with authorities over his family’s financial affairs, media reports said.His move follows questions raised over whether the former chancellor avoided tax by using his family’s offshore trust to hold shares in the…
She-Hulk actor Jameela Jamil on Friday (6) came up with an explosive post on her Instagram account where she blasted UK prime minister Rishi Sunak calling him "Unelected, out of touch, right wing, TOSSER". She started off the post with "I cannot stress this enough... F*CK RISHI SUNAK" before taking…
Akshata Murty, the Indian wife of Rishi Sunak, plans to make 10 Downing Street a more accessible place during her tenure as UK First Lady and has offered a peek into the official residence of the British Prime Minister, according to a magazine feature released on Wednesday (28). The February…
The sixth round of negotiations between India and the UK to finalise a free trade agreement (FTA) concluded last week with detailed draft treaty discussions across 11 policy areas over 28 separate sessions, the British government said on Thursday. The UK's Department for International Trade (DIT) issued a joint outcome…
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak appointed Laurie Magnus, chairman of Historic England, as his independent adviser on ministers' interests on Thursday, filing a role that has been vacant since Boris Johnson's ethics adviser quit in June. Sunak, who became prime minister in October with a pledge to maintain "integrity, professionalism,…
Sadiq Khan will seek re-election as the mayor of London as the Labour party has chosen him as its candidate for the 2024 election. If the incumbent succeeds in his bid to win a third term, he will be the first person to achieve the feat in the history of…
Prime minister Rishi Sunak has said he is “determined” to tackle the migrant crisis which is eating into the UK’s taxpayers’ money.As the number of migrants and asylum seekers illegally crossing the English Channel in small boats has already reached record levels, the government’s policy to deport them to Rwanda…
Leo Varadkar takes over for the second time as Ireland's prime minister this weekend, in a handover of power between the two main political partners in the three-party governing coalition. Varadkar, who is mixed race, openly gay and is still one of Ireland's youngest-ever leaders even in his second stint…
Former health secretary Sajid Javid has called for an “honest debate” on funding the NHS to make the health organisation sustainable for the future.He did not specify how it should be funded but suggested the UK should emulate Germany and France which run hybrid health systems.In Germany, employees pay seven…
Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited the famous Amber fort and Jaigarh fort in Jaipur on Thursday, an official said. He and other delegates reached Amber fort and visited places like Diwan-e-Aam hall, Sheesh Mahal and other parts of the fort. Johnson also went to Jaigarh fort, which is…
Britain’s governing Conservative Party is facing a rout in the next general election expected in 2024, according to a new poll which shows prime minister Rishi Sunak is on course to lose his home constituency. Keir Starmer’s Labour will win 482 seats in the House of Commons if a vote…
Indian minister of commerce and industry Piyush Goyal, held a meeting with UK secretary of state for international trade, Kemi Badenoch in New Delhi on Tuesday (13). Badenoch, who began her official India visit on Monday (12), is scheduled to address both teams of negotiators before the sixth round of…
2022 was a year when decades happened. The year of three Prime Ministers and a Royal funeral, war in Europe and recession at home could fill many pages in the future history books. Boris Johnson was sure he could survive the pressure over rule-breaking in Downing Street. For six months,…
UK Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch arrives in New Delhi on Monday to “kickstart” the sixth round of free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations and hold bilateral talks with her Indian counterpart Piyush Goyal. The new round marks the first formal meeting between the India-UK negotiating teams since July and the first…
British Conservative politicians on Sunday launched two campaigns to address concerns about the direction of the party and the government, the latest challenge to new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s attempts to unite a fractured party. The Conservative Party has already ousted two prime ministers in 2022 – Boris Johnson and…
An Indian environmentalist who won a special award from then prime minister Boris Johnson has started a 30 city clean-up tour across UK. Vivek Gurav and his volunteers have picked up 5,000kg of rubbish, including 3,000kg of plastic while out running in Bristol in the past year. Gurav began plogging…
Britain's opposition Labour Party retained a parliamentary seat in the northwest of England on Friday, comfortably winning the vote in the first electoral test for Rishi Sunak as prime minister. Labour candidate Samantha Dixon won the City of Chester constituency, securing 61% of the vote, compared to 22% for the…
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Monday that the so-called "golden era" of relations with China was over, saying Beijing's systemic challenge to Britain's interests and values was growing more acute. In his first major foreign policy speech, Sunak said Britain's approach to China needed to evolve and Beijing…
Westminster City Council has adopted the phrase “global majority” in place of the term BAME has often been used to represent black, Asian and minority ethnic. The Labour-run local authority’s commitment at the recent annual general meeting of its black, Asian and multiple ethnic staff network came after wider questions…
Eight-year-old Indian-origin girl Aleesha Gadhia won the Rushcliffe Council's Young Person of the Year 2022 Award at an event in Rushcliffe Arena on Thursday (24). Nominated by the Lady Mayor of Rushcliffe, Aleesha, who is from West Bridgford in Nottinghamshire, works on raising awareness to tackle climate change and save…
Former cabinet minister Alok Sharma has joined a growing number of Conservative MPs calling for an end to the moratorium on onshore wind farms in England.Sharma, who led the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow last year, has backed an amendment to the Levelling UP bill to reverse the ban…
One month on since Rishi Sunak took charge as Britain’s first Indian-origin Prime Minister, indications on Friday are that his popularity with the UK electorate remains on stronger ground than that of the governing Conservative Party. The 42-year-old former chancellor had pitched himself as a steady hand to steer the…
This week marks the first anniversary of the biggest human tragedy in the English Channel for decades. On 24th November last year, a fishing boat spotted dozens of bodies floating in the icy water. A rubber dinghy had left the French coast the previous evening but capsized before reaching England.…
RISING hate crime against Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs need to be tackled through tougher punishments for internet trolls and more action taken by social media giants, experts have urged. They have also called for further work in schools on racist speech and for the government to address poisonous rhetoric in…
Britain to offer 3,000 places annually to 18–30 year-old degree-educated Indians to come to the UK to live and work for up to two years. The reciprocal route will open in early 2023. It is reported that India will be the first visa-national country to benefit from the new visa…
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said a new deal with France to tackle illegal migration across the Channel would "make a difference", but the numbers making the perilous crossing would not go down overnight. "I'm confident that we can get the numbers down but I also want to be honest…
Ties between the United Kingdom and India will remain on a “phenomenal upward trajectory” under Indian-origin UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, that country’s former premier Boris Johnson said on Saturday. The two countries need each other now more than ever as “we live in dangerous and turbulent times”, he said.…
Ten million people who were born abroad live in Britain today. The Office of National Statistics tells the story of the ten million in numbers. Foreign-born residents rose from 7.5 million, 13.4% of the population, to 16.8%, almost one in six. Just over a third, 3.6 million, came from the…
The government must embrace immigrants who take risks setting up businesses, create jobs, and contribute billions of pounds to Britain’s economy. That is the call from MPs and business leaders who have spoken to Eastern Eye. They have told this newspaper that the home secretary, Suella Braverman, should be ashamed…
An India-based computer hacking gang targeted critics of the Qatar World Cup, an investigation by British journalists said on Sunday, as the Qatari government furiously denied it had played any part in commissioning the eavesdropping. A database leaked to Britain's Sunday Times and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism revealed the…
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said people cannot expect the state to "fix everyone's problems" as he looks to regain public trust by being honest about the extent of the economic difficulties ahead. In an interview with The Times, Sunak said he recognised people's anxiety about soaring mortgage repayments…
Having begun his premiership with a public pledge to put integrity, professionalism and accountability at the heart of his government, Rishi Sunak’s decision to reappoint Suella Braverman as his Home Secretary, just a week after her resignation, plunged his government into its first major controversy. This was the deal that…
Britain's trade negotiations with India should prioritise reducing tariffs on manufactured goods to benefit sectors like the automotive industry, the mayor of England's second biggest metropolitan area told Reuters. Britain and India are seeking to strike a comprehensive free trade agreement (FTA), but missed a late October deadline set by…
LABOUR does not take the British south Asian vote for granted, party leader Sir Keir Starmer told Eastern Eye. He also revealed his determination to work as “grown up” partners with the communities and his ambition to be the next prime minister. In an exclusive and wide-ranging interview prior to…
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced on Wednesday (2) that he will attend the COP27 climate summit in Egypt next week, reversing his previous decision to skip the meeting in Sharm El Sheikh to focus on domestic issues and the economic crisis in the UK. Sunak took to Twitter to…
Liz Truss succeeded Boris Johnson as the prime minister of Britain on September 6 with a promise to kick off a new era of growth by shaking up the country's economy. But the Conservative leader instead faced turmoil -- both on the economic and political front -- and it eventually…
Rishi Sunak’s decision to skip the upcoming Climate Summit in Egypt and the government preventing King Charles III from attending it has been criticised by many across the world who have accused the new UK Prime Minister of washing his hands of Britain’s commitment to tackle the climate crisis. COP27…
Britain is prioritising reaching a free-trade agreement with India, its foreign minister told Reuters on Saturday in his first visit to the country, but declined to give a new deadline after missing one this month.James Cleverly said after a meeting with his Indian counterpart S. Jaishankar in New Delhi that…
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Thursday (27) came under fresh pressure on the re-appointment of Indian-origin Suella Braverman as home secretary after two Conservative MPs questioned his decision, days after she quit over data breaches Braverman, 42, resigned from the Cabinet of former prime minister Liz Truss last week,…
Newly-appointed British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his family will be returning to live in a smaller flat above No 10 Downing Street as they were “very happy there,” his spokesperson has said. No 10 Downing Street has been the residence of British prime ministers since 1735, says the government’s…
Being the first ethnic minority in any job brings a lot of pressure and becoming Prime Minister, particularly in the current climate, is no easy feat. As the first woman of colour in the Welsh Parliament, I have no qualm in saying that any role where a person bears the…
The BBC has described British prime minister Rishi Sunak as ‘t**t’ and ‘c***’ in a 'word cloud' to show public opinion about the leader, according to reports. The word cloud was created by polling research company Savanta ComRes after Britons were asked how they felt about Sunak becoming the prime…
Rishi Sunak is already a marmite prime minister, writes Barnie Choudhury. Feted by his MP colleagues but rejected by the Conservative grass roots just six weeks ago (September 5). They accuse Sunak of causing Johnson’s downfall, rather than accept that it was the fault of his once next-door Downing Street…
In a momentous day, Britain’s first south Asian prime minister, who became the Conservative Party leader on Diwali day [24], has vowed to unite the country and his riven party. Speaking on the steps of Number 10, Rishi Sunak, a practising Hindu, told the country that he would be a…
WHAT should you give a man who has got almost everything for Diwali? Most of Rishi Sunak’s parliamentary colleagues decided, after all, that the answer was the leadership of the Conservative party, unopposed, and the chance to be Prime Minister of his country. There are rarely many political rewards for…
Indian-origin Rishi Sunak on Tuesday witnessed both bricks and bouquets from the UK media as he scripted history by becoming the first person of colour to become the Prime Minister of Britain, which in the past had colonised most of the world, with some news outlets acknowledging his leadership as…
Rishi Sunak made his first speech as Britain's prime minister on Tuesday (25), acknowledging the mistakes of his predecessor Liz Truss while vowing to fix the economy, lead with integrity and fulfil the promises of the Conservative Party's 2019 manifesto. Below are the highlights from Sunak's speech: ON THE ECONOMY…
As Rishi Sunak takes over as Britain’s first Indian-origin Prime Minister on October 25, 2022, there is renewed hope that the India-UK free trade agreement (FTA) will get a much-needed impetus after the Diwali deadline for draft completion was missed amid political turmoil in the U.K. While the October timeline…
Rishi Sunak becoming UK's Prime Minister is "our Barack Obama moment," said the leader of a Hindu temple that was set up by the Indian-origin leader's grandfather. Rishi Sunak, 42, on Monday won the race to lead the Conservative Party and is now set to become Britain's first prime minister…
Rishi Sunak will face one of the greatest challenges of any new leader when he becomes British prime minister on Tuesday, needing to tackle a mounting economic crisis, a warring political party and a deeply divided country. The 42-year-old former finance minister becomes Britain's third prime minister in less than…
Many Indians are delighted at the prospect of Rishi Sunak becoming the first person of Indian origin to become British prime minister, just as Hindus like him celebrated Diwali across the world on Monday. Sunak was set to take the top job after his rivals Boris Johnson and Penny Mordaunt withdrew…
British Conservative Rishi Sunak was on Monday (24) poised to become prime minister and the country's first leader of colour, after a dramatic decision by Boris Johnson to abandon a political comeback bid. Just weeks after he lost out to Liz Truss to lead the ruling Tories, Sunak could pull…
Priti Patel, a loyalist of former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, on October 24 came out in support of Rishi Sunak to take over at 10 Downing Street as the Conservative Party leader after her former boss withdrew from the leadership contest. The Indian-origin former Home Secretary, who resigned from…
Rishi Sunak looked set to become Britain's next prime minister after Boris Johnson withdrew from the contest on Sunday (23), saying that although he had enough support to make the final ballot he realised the country and the Conservative Party needed unity. Johnson had raced home from a holiday in…
Britain's former finance minister Rishi Sunak confirmed on Sunday (23) he was standing to replace Liz Truss as prime minister. "The United Kingdom is a great country but we face a profound economic crisis," he said on Twitter. "That's why I am standing to be leader of the Conservative Party…
Conservative rivals Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak held face-to-face talks late Saturday (22), reports said, as the feuding pair who once headed Britain's government were poised to battle for the leadership of their fractured ruling party. Former prime minister Johnson, who returned from a Caribbean holiday earlier in the day…
Priti Patel, who served as British Home Secretary in former prime minister Boris Johnson’s Cabinet, on Saturday endorsed her ex-boss as the best-placed candidate to replace Liz Truss at 10 Downing Street. The Indian-origin MP, who had remained conspicuously silent over her choice of Conservative Party leader in the last…
Former British finance minister Sajid Javid endorsed Rishi Sunak to be the next leader of the Conservative Party and the country's next prime minister. "It is abundantly clear that Rishi Sunak has what it takes to match the challenges we face - he is the right person to lead our…
Conservative British politician of Indian descent Rishi Sunak is quick off the mark to bid for the leadership of the Conservative Party and the British Prime Ministership having secured more than a hundred nominations - which is the minimum requirement to contest for the post. Sunak, late Friday became the…
As the runner-up of the leadership election which concluded last month, the former finance minister who had forecast much of the economic crisis unleashed by Truss' mini-budget is seen as a safe pair of hands to take charge at 10 Downing Street. The 42-year-old is holding a solid 55 per…
A British Pakistani hair transplant surgeon flew to Karachi to meet an acid attack victim he helped recover.Asim Shahmalak, who works at Crown Clinic in Manchester, teamed up with other doctors to remodel the disfigured face of Kanwal Qayyum. The Pakistani woman, who had dreamt of becoming an air steward,…
Boris Johnson and former finance minister Rishi Sunak were leading the potential contenders to replace British Prime Minister Liz Truss on Friday, with candidates canvassing support to become Conservative Party leader in a fast-tracked contest. After Truss quit on Thursday, ending her six weeks in power, those who want to…
Liz Truss said on Thursday she would resign as British prime minister just six weeks after she was appointed. A leadership election will be completed within the next week to replace Truss, who is the shortest serving prime minister in British history. George Canning previously held the record, serving 119…
British Prime Minister Liz Truss is fighting for her political survival after only six weeks in the job. Below is a timeline: SEPT. 5 - TRUSS WINS LEADERSHIP CONTEST Truss is elected Conservative Party leader by the party's membership, winning 57% of the vote to succeed Boris Johnson. SEPT. 6…
British Prime Minister Liz Truss has enjoyed the shortest of political honeymoons -- her chaotic premiership apparently mortally wounded despite having barely begun. Discounting 10 days of mourning for the late Queen Elizabeth II, Truss had only a week before her political programme imploded, leading to the sacking of her…
British Prime Minister Liz Truss is fighting to remain in power after the collapse of her economic programme shattered her authority just over six weeks into the job. The sight of Truss sitting expressionless in parliament on Monday as her new finance minister ripped up the programme of tax cuts…
The free trade agreement (FTA) talks between India and the UK are "progressing well" and a deal that works for both sides is more important than the date when it is signed, Britain’s Trade Policy Minister Greg Hands said with reference to the now abandoned Diwali deadline for a draft…
UK Prime Minister Liz Truss has vowed to lead Britain's Conservatives into the next election - due within two years - but after a disastrous six weeks in Downing Street many doubt, she will remain leader long. Here are the main contenders who could take over. Rishi Sunak Truss easily…
Home Secretary Suella Braverman has said the UK is eager to secure a trade deal with India to boost both economies and that Brexit has meant that Britain no longer has a Eurocentric mindset towards trade or visas. Addressing a Diwali event organised by UK-based India Global Forum (IGF) in…
Former Indian-origin chancellor Rishi Sunak would beat his rival Liz Truss if the Conservative Party leadership election is held now as a result of what is dubbed as "buyer's remorse" among the voting Tory members, according to a new poll on Tuesday. A YouGov poll of Tory members found 55…
The Truss experiment is over. Her premiership may now prove the shortest in modern history. Yet its legacy in shifting the tectonic plates of British politics might endure for much longer. The mini-budget, pitched as an audacious break with Treasury orthodoxy, proved a reckless gamble. Its result was the triple…
British Prime Minister Liz Truss, just over a month into the job, is already seen as increasingly unlikely to ride out the turbulence within her own Conservative Party and the financial markets, with her former leadership rival Rishi Sunak the odds-on favourite to make a comeback for 10 Downing Street.…
Kwasi Kwarteng became the second shortest-serving British finance minister, paying the price for weeks of UK market tumult prompted by his controversial tax-slashing mini-budget. His sacking represents a humiliation for the Cambridge- and Harvard-educated former Chancellor of the Exchequer -- who as recently as Thursday insisted that he was "not…
The free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations with India are no longer working towards a Diwali deadline, UK Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch has confirmed. During a visit to a Scotch whisky distillery on Thursday, the Cabinet minister in charge of the FTA negotiations at the Department for International Trade (DIT) said…
Intensive negotiations are ongoing to meet the target to conclude the majority of the India-UK free trade agreement (FTA) talks by Diwali, UK government sources said on Thursday. Officials said that both countries continue to negotiate a “high-ambition free trade agreement” that could boost the UK economy by more than…
British Prime Minister Liz Truss faced growing pressure on Thursday from lawmakers in her own party to rethink tax-cut plans that sent markets into turmoil, with one ally saying it would be a "disastrously bad idea" to oust her a month into the job. Truss's economic package, announced last month,…
The India-UK free trade agreement (FTA) is reportedly on the verge of collapse after the Indian government was angered by comments made by UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman questioning action over visa overstayers from the country, a UK media report claimed on Wednesday. The Times' newspaper quoted government sources to…
British Prime Minister Liz Truss on Monday (10) handed a junior trade minister's job to an ally of her leadership rival Rishi Sunak, in a move seen as an attempt to rally the governing Conservative Party behind her and curb rebellious moves on the backbenches. Greg Hands, a vocal supporter…
Data localisation and UK companies being allowed to bid for Indian government contracts are among the issues causing a possible deadlock in the final stages of the India-UK free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations towards a Diwali draft completion deadline, according to a UK media report on Sunday (9). 'The Daily…
Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson met Indian leader Narendra Modi in April and set an ambitious target to sign the free trade agreement (FTA) by Diwali later this month. Recently, Braverman said that she had doubts regarding the deal as it would increase immigration to the UK even as Truss…
Britain’s Indian-origin Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, has cast doubts over a proposed free trade agreement (FTA) with India over the issue of migration and branded Indians as the “largest group of people who overstay” their visas in the UK. Expressing concerns over what she feared would be an “open borders”…
A trade deal between Britain and India might not contain everything that the services sector wants, UK trade minister Kemi Badenoch said on Tuesday as a deadline to complete the deal approaches. Before stepping down, former prime minister Boris Johnson set a target with Indian leader Narendra Modi to complete…
British interior minister Suella Braverman will set out plans on Tuesday for new powers which would ban migrants who cross the English Channel from claiming asylum, a government source said. The government has been under pressure to deal with the rising number of people making dangerous journeys despite plans to…
New UK Prime Minister Liz Truss's early missteps have prompted turmoil in her personal poll ratings, as well as financial markets, with a survey Friday finding half of Britons think she should resign. Less than four weeks into the top job, and a week after the disastrous unveiling of a…
MPs, peers, religious and civic leaders are urging Hindus and Muslims to stand together after disturbances and protests in Leicester and the West Midlands. They are also calling on the police to communicate and better engage with south Asian communities to stop religious tensions from rising. Last week [20], hundreds…
IDENTITY politics is infecting our communities in the UK. Last week, some hate preacher decided it would be a good idea to try to organise a demonstration against a Hindu temple in my constituency. I responded immediately, pointing out that their inflammatory post was incitement to religious hatred and was…
In a speech to Labour’s annual conference in Liverpool, shadow international aid secretary Preet Preet Gill confirmed the party’s commitment to restore the requirement for 0.7 per cent of national income to go to aid, after it was slashed to 0.5 per cent by Boris Johnson. "The world faces energy,…
The Rt. Hon. Shailesh Vara MP has paid tribute to HM Queen Elizabeth II in a speech to Parliament. Mr. Vara spoke of the Queen’s extraordinary sense of duty and commitment to public service and her impact on the UK, the Commonwealth, and the world. Mr. Vara also spoke of…
Outsiders are coming to Leicester to cause tensions among the city’s south Asian communities, sources have told Eastern Eye. In the past three weeks, police arrested 47 people following violence in the city. Last weekend (16-17), they arrested 18 suspects, and some of those were from outside the city, sources…
Two watchdogs in UK have been criticised for halting investigations into alleged misconduct by MPs and parliamentary staff following the demise of Queen Elizebath, according to media reports. The Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS), set up after the bullying scandal that rocked Westminster in 2018, has already stopped operations.…
A popular UK recruitment website has started an advertisement campaign poking fun at former chancellor Rishi Sunak, who was defeated by his party colleague Liz Truss to become the prime minister, media reports said. Job search company CV-Library displayed an ad with Sunak's photo across the country after he was…
Nusrat Ghani, the Muslim Conservative member of the parliament (MP) from Wealden who was allegedly sacked as transport minister in the past because of her faith, was on Wednesday (7) appointed as the minister of state at the department for business, energy and industrial strategy as the new government of…
Britain's new leader Liz Truss will cap soaring consumer power bills on Thursday and promote new sources of energy in an expected 100 billion pound ($115 billion)-plus package designed to limit the economic shock caused by the war in Ukraine. With Britain facing a lengthy recession sparked by a near…
New UK interior minister Suella Braverman is admired by the right for her attacks on "woke" politics but her legal acumen will be put to the test when tackling one of the government's toughest jobs. Braverman, 42, was appointed attorney general a year ago, serving as the government's principal legal…
Britain's new prime minister Liz Truss convenes her senior ministers for an inaugural cabinet meeting on Wednesday on her first full day in office, before she faces a barrage of questions in parliament. Truss, who officially became leader Tuesday at an audience with the head of state Queen Elizabeth II…
The new British Prime Minister Liz Truss has selected a cabinet where for the first time a white man will not hold one of the country's four most important ministerial positions. Truss appointed Kwasi Kwarteng – whose parents came from Ghana in the 1960s – as Britain's first Black finance…
SENIOR TORIES have urged the new prime minister, Liz Truss, to continue “engaging, consulting, and listening to” south Asian communities. They have told Eastern Eye that they are concerned the new PM will undo the progress made by her predecessors. “The problem with Liz is that she doesn’t listen,” said…
Rishi Sunak never failed at anything before. At 42 years of age, the Winchester head boy who won glittering prizes at Oxford and Stanford, earning millions in finance before marrying into the billionaire classes, and who was Britain’s most popular Chancellor for half a century, has finally hit a professional…
Only one in seven Britons say that Liz Truss will be a better Prime Minister than Boris Johnson, according to a snap poll by YouGov on Monday, with around a quarter of people feeling she will be worse. Truss, who will formally take over from Johnson on Tuesday, faces a…
Britain's Priti Patel and Nadine Dorries both stepped down ahead of a Cabinet reshuffle on Monday as Liz Truss formally takes over as the country's prime minister. Patel said she will stand down as Britain's Home secretary, or interior minister. A lawmaker belonging to the Conservative Party told Reuters that…
Boris Johnson on Tuesday promised unswerving support for his successor Liz Truss, as he left Downing Street for the final time as British prime minister to tender his resignation. Johnson, whose tenure was dominated by Brexit and Covid and cut short by scandal, bid farewell to cheers and applause from…
Liz Truss won the ruling Conservative Party's leadership contest on Monday and will become Britain's new prime minister after replacing the ousted Boris Johnson. Below are key quotes from her victory speech: "I campaigned as a conservative and I will govern as a conservative. My friends, we need to show…
Liz Truss will become Britain's next prime minister after winning a leadership race for the governing Conservative party on Monday, vowing to press ahead with promises of tax cuts and to deal with a growing energy crisis. After weeks of an often bad-tempered and divisive leadership contest, Truss, currently the…
British foreign minister Liz Truss said on Sunday (4) she would set out immediate action to tackle rising energy bills and increase energy supplies if she is, as expected, appointed prime minister this week. Writing in the Sunday Telegraph newspaper on the eve of the announcement on who will replace…
BRITAIN will not get its first Asian prime minister next week, unless every prediction and poll has got it wrong. Former chancellor and Tory leadership candidate Rishi Sunak found himself in the wrong economy at the wrong time. Though he was Britain’s most popular chancellor earlier in the pandemic, the…
British Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi has said that he is 'deeply concerned' that people could freeze this winter, media reports said. He revealed that the Treasury has been finalising plans to extend support to people to help pay their energy bills. Meanwhile, Liz Truss, the frontrunner to replace Boris Johnson as…
Rishi Sunak struck a personal note in the final hustings event before the election for a new Conservative Party leader and British Prime Minister concludes, as he thanked his parents and wife Akshata Murty for their support. Addressing a teeming concert venue at Wembley in London on Wednesday night, the…
Liz Truss the frontrunner to replace Boris Johnson as Britain's prime minister said she would deliver "immediate support" to ensure people are not facing unaffordable fuel bills going into the winter. "I will also deliver immediate support to ensure people are not facing unaffordable fuel bills. I will be robust…
BRITAIN is ready for an Asian prime minister, Rishi Sunak has said, as the prime ministerial hopeful revealed he was “stung” by racism as a child, but now believes Conservative voters will judge him on his policies, rather than his ethnicity, in the leadership race. In a wide-ranging, exclusive interview…
Rishi Sunak pledged to work "night and day" for the “best country in the world” as the election campaign to take over from Boris Johnson as the Conservative Party leader and the new British Prime Minister entered its final stage on Wednesday, with the very last hustings event set for…
Last month, Indian-origin yoga prodigy Ishwar Sharma was honoured by the government of the southern Indian state of Karnataka at the Yogathon 2022 event held at the Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru, the state capital. He was honoured by the state's sports minister, C Narayanagowda. At 12, Ishwar is already an…
Gibraltar finally joined the official list of British cities on Monday, after 180 years in which its status, granted by Queen Victoria, had been overlooked due to an administrative error. The British overseas territory bid to become a city earlier this year as part of the celebrations for Queen Elizabeth's…
British Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi is visiting New York and Washington this week to discuss global economic challenges and collaboration in areas such as energy security and financial services, his office said on Monday. Britain and Europe are facing a sharp rise in power bills driven by sky-rocketing gas prices, as…
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar slammed the UK’s “zombie government” for its failure to reign in household energy bills, saying the “inaction” by Westminster angered him. He also reminded the devolved administration of Scotland of its “moral duty” to help people whose savings were squeezed by the high cost of…
Just under 200,000 people will decide who becomes the new leader of Britain's ruling Conservative party and prime minister. The following on the Tory electorate is largely based on a research initiative -- the Party Members Project (PMP) -- by Queen Mary University of London and Sussex University, published in…
The race to become Britain's next prime minister is in its final week, with Liz Truss appeared poised to secure the top job, along with daunting challenges. Foreign Secretary Truss, 47, has consistently outrun 42-year-old former finance minister Rishi Sunak by wide margins in polls of Conservative party members who…
Around half the backers of Britain's governing Conservative Party support renationalising the country's energy industry, according to a survey published on Monday, as soaring energy prices put pressure on household budgets. The government has been facing growing calls to do more to help Britons facing energy bills which are set…
Britain's environment minister on Saturday defended government plans to tackle sewage releases into rivers and sea after opposition parties and environmentalists slammed the measures as insufficient and costly for consumers. Recent discharges of sewage into popular river and sea bathing areas have prompted widespread horror among the public, as well…
Only a few days are left for the election of the new British prime minister by the Conservative party. The new Tory leader will be announced on September 5. As expected, there will be major changes in the cabinet following the election of the new leader. Latest report suggests that…
Outgoing UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Friday (26) that the government will announce new measures to support the population next month amid the pressure of rising energy bills. "Don't forget that even more statements [on support measures] will follow next month. More funds will be received starting from…
British finance minister Nadhim Zahawi said more help was on its way for consumers and businesses struggling with the soaring cost of energy, after the regulator said on Friday (26) bills would rise by 80 per cent on average from October. Zahawi said he was working on support options for…
British energy bills will jump 80% to an average of 3,549 pounds ($4,188) a year from October, regulator Ofgem said on Friday, calling it a "crisis" that needed to be tackled by urgent and decisive government intervention. Ofgem CEO Jonathan Brearley said the rise would have a massive impact on…
Albanian police will be brought to the Kent coast to provide the UK authorities with intelligence and to help processing and removal of migrants. Britain on Thursday (25) said it would work with the southern European country to quickly process and repatriate the large number of Albanians who cross the…
Britain said on Thursday it would work with Albania to quickly process and repatriate the large number of Albanians who cross the English Channel in small boats, after a surge in the number of such migrants despite a plan to deport arrivals to Rwanda. The number of people arriving in…
LABOUR’S deputy leader Angela Rayner has defended the party’s decision to raise concerns over alleged human rights breaches in Indian Kashmir, saying, “we stand up for human rights and we will never shirk from that responsibility”. In an exclusive interview with Eastern Eye, Rayner said Labour would be respectful in…
Conservative leadership aspirant Rishi Sunak has slammed the “wrong” policies of the government during its pandemic response, including too much authority given to scientists.The former chancellor, a known critic of economically painful lockdowns, claimed he had been in favour of keeping schools open but his “emotional” argument was met with…
EVERYONE now expects Westminster’s Game of Thrones to end with foreign secretary Liz Truss wearing the crown. The former chancellor and her opponent, Rishi Sunak, embraces his underdog status and pledges to fight to the end. The candidates’ fates are now sealed in the returned but unopened ballot papers. Top…
UK home secretary Priti Patel has made it clear that she wants to stay on in the role under the new leader, media reports said. She claimed that her 'record speaks volumes', adding that it's up to the next prime minister to take the decision. Boris Johnson’s successor will be…
As the result of the UK Prime Minister race nears, Rishi Sunak made his last bit of efforts to salvage the contest for the Conservative party leadership that most surveys favour Liz Truss to win. During the 10th round of hustings in Birmingham, Sunak pitched values like patriotism, family, hard…
RISHI SUNAK, former chancellor and a candidate to be the next prime minister, received a hero’s welcome with loud cheering and Indian drums at a hustings event in north London on Monday (22). Sunak’s popularity in the community was evident as more than 650 British Asians from across the country…
A rights group has accused the UK’s intelligence agencies of sharing information with Indian authorities about a Sikh campaigner before his “unlawful arrest”. Jagtar Singh Johal, from Dumbarton in Scotland, was detained in the north Indian state of Punjab while he was shopping with his wife in November 2017. In…
Britain's prime ministerial candidate Rishi Sunak has said he wants to change the UK-India relationship to make it a more two-way exchange that opens up easy access to UK students and companies in India. Addressing a gathering of British Indian Conservative Party members who are voting in the election to…
Rishi Sunak's team on Monday launched a renewed attack on his Conservative Party leadership contest rival, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, for pushing through magic money tree promises to address the cost-of-living crisis faced by the British public. The British Indian former Chancellor's prime ministerial campaign headquarters and supporters highlighted that…
A large part of sewage discharged into the sea across the UK goes undetected as monitors are faulty or not installed by water companies, according to the country’s third largest political party.Liberal Democrats said the water companies could be guilty of gross negligence by failing to install functional sewage monitors…
Lawyers in England and Wales involved in criminal trials have voted to begin striking indefinitely next month in a dispute over government funding, the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) said on Monday, threatening widespread disruption to court cases. The barristers have been taking intermittent action for weeks, refusing to take on…
THE 1990s were a time of hope in India. One of my jobs at the Daily Telegraph was to travel regularly to India and do surveys of the Indian economy. While I would do the journalistic interviews, an accompanying colleague from advertising would try to persuade captains of industry to…
Former British cabinet minister Michael Gove on Friday endorsed Rishi Sunak for prime minister and announced an end of his frontline political career, he said in an op-ed in The Times. Gove wrote in the op-ed that he thinks Liz Truss' campaign for 10 Downing Street "has been a holiday…
PRIME MINISTER Narendra Modi said India will aim to become a developed nation within 25 years as the country marked 75 years of independence on Monday (15), with the leaders of Britain, the US and France sending congratulatory messages. In his traditional address to the nation from Delhi’s historic Red…
According to a report in The Sun, around 10,000 people die each winter from causes related to the cold. This winter, more than 10,000 Britons could freeze to death because of switching off their heaters, to curb the rocketing energy bills, warn NHS chiefs. With regard to what is being…
Britain's prime ministerial candidate, Rishi Sunak, took some time out of a hectic campaign schedule to make a visit to a Hare Krishna temple on the outskirts of London to celebrate Janmashtami. Sunak, 42, who swore his oath of allegiance on being elected member of Parliament in the House of…
Britain faces a "humanitarian crisis" this winter when the difficult choices forced upon low-income households by soaring energy bills could cause serious physical and mental illness, a healthcare lobby group said on Friday. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has resisted calls to provide more support to households struggling with higher bills,…
The UK government has blocked Hong Kong-based firm Super Orange from purchasing British electronic-design company Pulsic, citing security risks posed by China. A statement Wednesday said Britain's Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng "considers that the final order is necessary and proportionate to mitigate the risk to national security". Pulsic, a small-sized…
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss remains far ahead of leadership rival Rishi Sunak in the race to become Britain's next prime minister, a YouGov poll for Sky News showed on Thursday. The governing Conservative Party is voting by postal ballot to choose a new party leader after Boris Johnson said he…
Thousands of people in Britain infected with HIV and hepatitis C through contaminated blood transfusions will receive a compensation payment decades after the scandal, the UK government announced on Wednesday. The payment of £100,000 ($121,000) to each victim is an interim one after Brian Langstaff, the chairman of a public…
“CRISIS? What crisis?” James Callaghan never quite said those words, but they caught the gist of the prime minister’s response – “I don’t think other people in the world would share the view there is mounting chaos” – as he returned from a Caribbean island summit to the British winter…
British inflation surged to a new 40-year high in July on rising food prices, official data showed Wednesday, adding to a cost-of-living crisis as the country faces the prospect of recession. The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) accelerated to 10.1 percent last month from 9.4 percent in June -- a 40-year…
The two candidates battling to be Britain's next prime minister will vie to present themselves as defenders of Scotland's place in the UK on Tuesday (16) by promising more scrutiny of Scotland's government to undermine a new push for independence. The Scottish National Party, which heads Scotland's semi-autonomous government, wants…
The Royal Navy will stop migrant patrols on January 31 next year and will hand over operational control to Border Force, according to a media report. The Ministry of Defence has conveyed its plans in this regard to ministers, The Telegraph reported. Currently, the Navy coordinates Border Force and Coastguard…
Outgoing British prime minister Boris Johnson drew fresh criticism Monday (15) over his handling of multiple crises afflicting Britain, after taking a second summer holiday just weeks before he leaves office. The main opposition Labour party accused Johnson, who is due to leave office on September 6, of having "one…
Prime Minister Boris Johnson led India's 75th Independence Day celebrations in the UK on Monday with a throwback image from Sabarmati Ashram during his visit to Gujarat earlier this year. Congratulations to the people of India on 75 years of independence, he said. "During my recent visit to Gujarat and…
Silvana Fardos, mother of Hadi Matar, 24 who is accused of repeatedly stabbing Indian-born-British author, Sir Salman Rushdie in western New York State on Friday morning as he prepared to give a lecture, told the MailOnline in an interview that her outgoing American-raised son turned moody and introverted after he…
Housed in a detention centre in southern England, Aladeen says he risked his life to travel thousands of miles from his homeland of Syria to escape being forced to fight in the military of President Bashar al-Assad. Now the 21-year-old is battling to stay in Britain and avoid being sent…
Britain's energy crisis will push millions into destitution this winter unless the government hands out more cash to help struggling households pay fuel bills, Rishi Sunak, the trailing candidate in the contest to become Britain's next leader, said.Former finance minister Sunak is up against foreign minister Liz Truss to succeed…
British prime minister Boris Johnson hosted world activists across the UK at Downing Street including 7-year-old climate activist Aleesha Gadhia During the meeting on Tuesday (9), Johnson exuded confidence that his successor will have the fiscal firepower and the headroom to continue to look after people. Gadhia from Nottinghamshire, who…
Renowned author Salman Rushdie who faced death threats from Iran because of his novel "The Satanic Verses", was attacked in New York State on Friday morning during a lecture has left literary figures and public officials in shock. Here are reactions to Friday's attack on novelist Salman Rushdie: SUZANNE NOSSEL,…
WE ARE currently at a critical juncture for our country, living through arguably some of the most difficult challenges we have faced for a generation. There was great hope as we emerged from the tragic consequences of the pandemic, yet in February, a dark shadow was cast across our continent…
MEET Richie Saint, a capable, charming but ultimately imaginary politician bidding to be prime minister of this country. The son of a GP and a chemist was head boy at a top private school, with a first in PPE at Oxford followed up by a Stanford MBA. Saint met his…
Britain's prime ministerial candidate Rishi Sunak has insisted that he would rather lose the Conservative Party leadership race to replace Boris Johnson than win on a false promise on how he plans to tackle the economic crisis.In an interview with the BBC, the British Indian former Chancellor said he was…
Outgoing British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has defended leaving his successor, either former Chancellor Rishi Sunak or Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, to deal with the soaring inflation and cost-of-living crisis, saying he is confident the government will have the fiscal firepower and the headroom to look after people. Addressing a…
Politics has been a red-hot topic of conversation and takes centre-stage in the comedy sketch show NewsRevue, which is enjoying a run at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival until August 28. The satirical show, which looks at everything from climate change and disgraced royals to Vladimir Putin and party-gate, is…
A minority of racists among Conservative grassroots members could stop Rishi Sunak from becoming the first non-white prime minister. That is the concern among some south Asian Tories who have spoken to Eastern Eye. They are concerned that Britain is “not ready to take orders from a brown boy”. They…
Prime Minister Boris Johnson came under heavy criticism on Monday for allowing a political vacuum at the heart of his government to threaten an even deeper economic crisis in Britain before his successor takes office in September. Britain is bracing for a long recession as energy prices surge to unprecedented…
TRAFFICKERS are offering a TikTok 'summer sale' for a journey across the English Channel for migrants as the rate has been reduced to £3,500 per person from £5,000 earlier, it has emerged. This has resulted in an increase in channel crossings in recent weeks as another estimated 300 migrants reached…
The race to be the next leader of Britain's ruling-Conservative Party and the country's prime minister is into its final leg, with the September outcome likely to shape the fortunes of sterling, gilts and UK stocks in coming months. The contest between foreign minister Liz Truss and former finance minister…
Liz Truss, the front-runner to become Britain's next prime minister, plans to rush through tax cuts earlier than planned in an attempt to boost the country's flagging economy, the Sunday Telegraph reported. Truss was considering accelerating by six months her plan to reverse this year's increase in social security contributions…
Conservative leadership candidate Rishi Sunak said his party stood no chance of winning the next general election unless the surging inflation was tamed. The former chancellor of exchequer said at a hustings that the moderation of price rise would be his immediate priority if he became the prime minister succeeding…
A British cabinet member admitted Friday "I don't know where Boris is" as the prime minister checked out on holiday, in a week that saw the Bank of England warn a year-long recession is coming. Boris Johnson has since Wednesday been on a belated honeymoon with his wife Carrie, according…
Rishi Sunak on Thursday appeared to score a surprise win with a studio audience at a key debate with frontrunner Liz Truss in the race to become Britain's next prime minister. While opinion polls back Truss to win the vote among Conservative party members, those sitting in the audience at…
The Conservative party leadership results are just weeks away and it looks like Liz Truss's victory over Rishi Sunak is imminent. The result of the vote to decide who will replace Boris Johnson as the next British Prime Minister is due on September 5. The latest poll showed how a significant…
LIZ TRUSS has all the momentum in the race to be the next British prime minister. In theory, Rishi Sunak has five weeks and 10 more candidate debates before voting closes. In practice, this fortnight is crucial. Ballot papers drop through letterboxes from this week. Half of members may send…
Former Conservative health minister Sajid Javid announced Wednesday (3) his support for Liz Truss as the UK's next Conservative prime minister, adding to the roster of senior Tories backing her leadership bid. Javid resigned as health secretary in Boris Johnson's government in early July at the same time as Truss's…
Britain's ruling Conservative Party said on Wednesday it had enhanced security around the ballot process to decide its next leader, who will replace Boris Johnson as prime minister. The Telegraph reported on Tuesday that the vote had been delayed after warnings from the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC)that hackers could…
Almost 700 migrants and asylum seekers crossed the Channel to Britain in a single day this week, a new record for the year, the UK government said Tuesday. The latest arrivals suggest the government's controversial policy to deport those attempting the dangerous crossing to Rwanda has so far failed to…
Former British finance minister Rishi Sunak said it was still "early days" in the leadership contest to replace Prime Minister Boris Johnson, a day after an opinion poll showed him trailing rival Liz Truss by 34 points.The ruling Conservative Party is choosing a new leader after Johnson was forced to…
The frontrunner to become British prime minister, Liz Truss, said she would scrap plans to restrict multi-buy deals on food and drink high in fat, salt, or sugar and would not impose any new levies on unhealthy food. Britain already taxes sugar in soft drinks, and in May delayed until…
Foreign minister Liz Truss, the frontrunner to replace British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, has a smaller lead over her rival Rishi Sunak than previously thought, according to a poll of party members.Truss is backed by 48% of Conservative Party members compared with 43% for former finance minister Sunak, according to…
FOREIGN SECRETARY Liz Truss's bid to become Britain's next prime minister got a major boost on Monday (1) when she received the backing of a lawmaker she narrowly defeated to make it to the final two candidates vying to replace Boris Johnson. Junior trade minister Penny Mordaunt was the last…
The bruising race between Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss to become Britain's next prime minister steps up a gear on Monday with the mailing out of ballots to Conservative party members.With voting set to begin to find Boris Johnson's replacement, bookmakers have Foreign Secretary Truss as heavy favourite ahead of…
Rishi Sunak, trailing in the race to become Britain's next prime minister, has vowed to slash the basic rate of income tax by 20% by 2029 in a potentially make-or-break throw of the dice by the former finance minister.Sunak, once seen as the favourite to replace Boris Johnson when he…
Britain’s prime ministerial hopeful Rishi Sunak said he was playing catch-up to his rival Liz Truss but rejected the claims that “latent racism” could hinder his chances of becoming the next Conservative leader.The former chancellor of the exchequer insisted that “merit” would be the most prominent factor in the Tory…
UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is rated to have a 90 per cent shot over former chancellor Rishi Sunak to succeed Boris Johnson in the race for becoming the next Prime Minister, according to the latest estimate by betting exchange firm Smarkets. According to the Smarkets, Sunak's chance of becoming…
British defence secretary Ben Wallace has endorsed Liz Truss in the race to become prime minister, a fresh boost to the foreign secretary who is favoured to beat her rival Rishi Sunak. Truss was "authentic" and "straight" and could do the job from day one, said Wallace, who is regarded…
British Conservatives Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss Thursday underwent their first grilling in front of party members as they wage a bitter duel to succeed Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The hustings in Leeds, northern England, were the opening bout of 12 nationwide events as the grassroots members elect a new…
FOREIGN SECRETARY Liz Truss and ex chancellor Rishi Sunak are battling it out to become Britain’s next prime minister, setting up the last stage of the contest to replace Boris Johnson. Both candidates present a clean face to help restore the government’s integrity and reputation. Truss was against Brexit, so…
Rishi Sunak has vowed to hunt down and stamp out grooming gangs who prey on children and young women, and make their ringleaders subject to maximum life sentences as part of his campaign pledge to be elected Conservative Party leader and the next British Prime Minister. Under a government headed…
British businessman and Conservative donor Lord Ranger has warned that the UK will be perceived as a “racist” country if Tory members do not elect former chancellor Rishi Sunak as the party leader.The peer, whose company Sun Mark has donated £1.54 million to the Conservatives and its lawmakers since 2009,…
Around 40,000 British railway workers staged a walkout on Wednesday, a month after the largest strike in 30 years as the UK battles its worst cost-of-living crisis in decades. The nationwide walkout over pay and conditions brought the rail network to a virtual standstill with only one in five training…
Rishi Sunak, trailing in the race to become Britain's prime minister, pledged on Wednesday to temporarily scrap taxes on energy bills paid by households, part of a "winter plan" to ease the cost-of-living crisis.The year-long hiatus on paying value-added tax (VAT) on energy bills would save the average household 160…
LIZ TRUSS or Rishi Sunak will become Britain’s next prime minister in September. A fierce ‘blue on blue’ contest is underway, though the two candidates actually have much in common. As Boris Johnson’s foreign secretary and chancellor, respectively, they were the more experienced leadership candidates against insurgent rivals. Both are…
Outgoing prime minister Boris Johnson has washed his hands of an inquiry into MP Nusrat Ghani’s claims of religious bias for her being sacked as the transport minister, saying his successor would have to look into the matter.Ghani, 49, who was sacked as the transport minister in 2020, alleged that…
BORIS JOHNSON told former treasurer Peter Cruddas that he "does not want to resign" as U.K. prime minister and wishes he could "wipe away" his departure, The Telegraph reported on Monday (25). Johnson also told Cruddas over lunch on Friday that he "wants to fight the next general election as…
Britain's two prime ministerial contenders clashed fiercely over tax, China and character on Monday night in their first head-to-head televised debate, as Rishi Sunak seeks to peg back the frontrunner Liz Truss.The primetime debate kicked off a crucial 12-day period featuring three such live TV duels and four husting events…
18-month-old Layla Davis, a toddler in the UK is being compared to Albert Einstein and Boris Johnson for her messy blonde locks, a report in the Mirror stated. The child was formally diagnosed with Uncombable Hair Syndrome (UHS) earlier this month. This is reportedly a rare condition that leads to…
It has been dubbed a bruising blue on blue battle, a reference to attacks within different factions of the governing Conservative Party as they turn on each other in the leadership contest to replace Boris Johnson as Tory leader and British Prime Minister.Ahead of a key head-on televised BBC debate…
Rishi Sunak on Sunday promised to get tough on China if he becomes Britain's next prime minister, calling the Asian superpower the "number one threat" to domestic and global security.The former finance minister's pledge comes after his rival in the final two of the race to lead the ruling Conservative…
ELECTIONS divide – and the race to determine the next leader of the Conservative party is no different. Every candidate for prime minister has reminded the Tories they will need to unite around whoever emerges as leader. But calls for a clean contest have been honoured more in the breach…
Former British finance minister Rishi Sunak, one of two remaining candidates to become Britain's next prime minister, on Saturday described himself as the underdog in the contest. Sunak's resignation helped trigger a revolt that saw Prime Minister Boris Johnson agree to step down after a series of scandals. Members of…
Rwanda can accommodate up to 200 migrants from the UK, Kigali said, in contrast to the British government’s claim that thousands of asylum seekers illegally crossing the English Channel would be deported to the east African nation.Rwandan government spokesperson Yolande Makolo said Hope Hostel in Kigali was the only facility…
A U.K. parliamentary panel on Friday warned the government against accepting a "poor" deal to rush things through simply to meet a Diwali deadline set for the completion of a landmark free trade agreement (FTA) with India. The House of Commons International Agreements Committee, in a report entitled ‘UK-India free…
A political party whose membership skews white and male will decide in the coming weeks between an ethnic Indian and a woman to be its new leader, and hence Britain's next prime minister. The Conservative runoff between Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss means that Boris Johnson's successor in 10 Downing…
ONE of the hardest psychological lessons for anyone brought up outside the UK, to grasp about Britain, is how the natives of this land remain uniquely gifted in concealing what they really think. For example, if, in conversation, a Briton responds with the word ‘interesting’, to anything you just said,…
UK defence secretary has revealed that the country will supply scores of artillery guns, hundreds of drones and hundreds more anti-tank weapons to Ukraine soon, an official statement said. Ben Wallace told the British Parliament that more than 20 M109 155mm self-propelled guns and 36 L119 105mm artillery guns will…
Conservative leadership candidate Rishi Sunak revealed he rushed back home from the US in December last year to stop Britain from “sleepwalking into a national lockdown”.The Omicron variant of the coronavirus was raging around Christmas time last year triggering fears that the country would have to take harsh measures to…
Rishi Sunak warned Conservatives Thursday that choosing leadership rival Liz Truss to be UK prime minister risks losing the next election to the Labour party, as he bids to overhaul her huge polling lead among Tories.Former finance minister Sunak topped five ballots of Tory MPs over the last eight days…
DIFFERENCES over how to revive Britain's slow-growth, high-inflation economy could hardly be starker within the ruling Conservative Party as the two remaining contenders to become its new leader, and thereby prime minister, clash over tax. Rishi Sunak wants continuity of the economic policies he introduced as finance minister, promising to…
THE UK and India on Thursday (21) signed an agreement to recognise each other’s higher education qualifications in a move welcomed by British universities. The memorandum of understanding, which is part of the UK-India Enhanced Trade Partnership (ETP) agreed by British prime minister Boris Johnson and his Indian counterpart Narendra…
Rishi Sunak will claim credit for steering Britain's economy through the COVID-19 crash but must overcome accusations that he is too rich and too willing to raise taxes to win the race to be the next prime minister.After coming first in successive rounds of voting by Conservative Party lawmakers, Sunak…
If it's not the pictures of her standing atop a tank in a nod to Conservative leader Margaret Thatcher, it's the meme-defining moment when she vented her anger over cheese imports into Britain that made Liz Truss something of a household name.For many, she was a figure of fun, but…
The race to succeed Boris Johnson as British prime minister was on Wednesday (20) reduced to the final two candidates, Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss, who will go forward for a summer of campaigning to win over the around 200,000 Conservative Party members who make the final decision. Below is…
FORMER finance minister Rishi Sunak and foreign secretary Liz Truss will battle it out to become Britain's next prime minister after they won the final lawmaker vote, setting up the last stage of the contest to replace Boris Johnson. Sunak has led in all rounds of the voting among Conservative…
BRITISH Prime Minister Boris Johnson bowed out of his final showpiece parliamentary appearance with a round of applause from his party, jeers from opponents and an enigmatic exit line: "Mission largely accomplished ... hasta la vista, baby." Johnson was forced to announce his resignation earlier this month after a mass…
Britain's biggest public-sector pay increases in nearly 20 years will not fuel price pressures, finance minister Nadhim Zahawi said on Tuesday, in a speech where he said fighting inflation was "a moral imperative". Earlier on Tuesday, Britain's government announced pay rises of about 4% to 5% for more than 2…
Rishi Sunak, one of the final three candidates to become Britain's next prime minister, said he wanted to make the country energy independent by 2045 in response to the supply shock caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. "It has never been more important that our country achieves Energy Sovereignty so…
THE final two candidates to become UK prime minister will be decided Wednesday (20), with Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and Penny Mordaunt battling it out with frontrunner Rishi Sunak. Former finance minister Sunak was only two votes short of securing his place in the final two after Tuesday's (19) voting,…
BRITAIN recorded its highest ever temperature of 40C (104F) on Tuesday (19) as a heatwave gripping Europe intensified, forcing train tracks to buckle and fuelling a spate of fires across London. The Met Office said the provisional record, which still needs to be confirmed, was recorded at 12.50 pm (1150…
BRITAIN's former finance minister Rishi Sunak held on to his lead on Tuesday (19) among Conservative lawmakers in the race to replace Boris Johnson as prime minister, but his two remaining rivals were closing the gap, leaving the race wide open. In a vote among Conservative Party members of parliament,…
RISHI SUNAK, frontrunner in the contest to become Britain's next prime minister, would lose to any of his remaining opponents if he makes it through to the final stage of the contest when rank and file party members get to vote, polling showed on Tuesday (19). The YouGov poll of…
A fierce heatwave sweeping western Europe was on Tuesday set to smash Britain's all-time temperature record, as swathes of the continent wilted under a scorching sun which has fed ferocious wildfires and stretched emergency services. Forecasters in the UK have for days been predicting the current national record of 38.7…
Britain's government must focus on sound public finances and avoid further fuelling inflation by pumping up demand, new finance minister Nadhim Zahawi is due to say in his first major speech on Tuesday. Zahawi will address the City of London's annual Mansion House dinner, where he is set to confirm…
FORMER finance minister Rishi Sunak widened his lead in the latest round of voting Monday (18) by Conservative MPs to decide Britain's next prime minister, but the race to get in the final two tightened. Sunak won the support of 115 Tory lawmakers, followed by Penny Mordaunt on 82 votes,…
As Britain’s most successful male athlete revealed recently that his original name was not Mo Farah and that he had been trafficked into the European nation when he was young, the natural question is where is the ‘real’ Mo Farah now.Media reports said the ‘real’ Mo Farah is a student…
Britain’s climate minister Alok Sharma said Conservative leadership hopefuls should be mindful of the environment “emergency” and show their commitment to meeting the decarbonisation target.He said the extreme heat the UK is experiencing should alert the candidates to the enormity of the situation and they come up with a programme…
The five Conservative contenders still vying to be Britain's next prime minister clashed over tax cuts in a second televised debate on Sunday. With no clear candidate to succeed Boris Johnson who is stepping down after a series of scandals, the battle to be the next leader remains unpredictable and…
ELECTIONS divide – and the race to determine the next leader of the Conservative party is no different. Every candidate for prime minister has reminded the Conservatives that they will need to unite around whoever emerges as leader. But calls for a clean contest have been honoured more in the…
Barbs flew and derisive laughter rang out as the Conservative contenders battling to succeed UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson clashed in a live TV debate Sunday, heading into a pivotal week for the acrimonious race.Rising global temperatures were among the policy areas under contention after Britain's climate minister, COP26 president…
Public policy specialist Eleanor Shawcross has been drafted in to advise Conservative leadership hopeful Rishi Sunak.Regarded as “super-smart”, Shawcross had famously worked as a senior aide to George Osborne who was the chancellor of the exchequer between 2010 and 2016 including the months leading up to the Brexit referendum.She has…
Larry, the treasured tabby-and-white cat who lives in Downing Street, was dragged into Britain's political fray Friday after a leading candidate to be prime minister mused about moving in with her four felines.Penny Mordaunt, the bookmaker's favourite to replace Boris Johnson in the famous residence, revealed in an online forum…
BRITISH foreign minister Liz Truss clashed over tax policy with former finance minister Rishi Sunak on Friday (15), as the five remaining contenders to be Britain's next prime minister went head-to-head in the first of three televised debates. An initial field of 11 challengers has been whittled down following two…
UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has gained backing from former Brexit negotiator David Frost and British lawmaker Suella Braverman to become the next UK prime minister, British media reported on Thursday.Truss, who received 64 votes in the second round of the Conservative Party's leadership election on Thursday, pledged an "upward…
Downing Street has sensationally admitted to the existence of a “nasty, misogynistic culture” under prime minister Boris Johnson but blamed his former aides for the atmosphere.Its director of communications Guto Harri said, “previous aides who have devoted their lives to bringing down the PM did indeed preside over a nasty,…
THE Conservatives' contest to elect a new leader and British prime minister has been whittled down to five contenders after two rounds of voting by party MPs this week. Several further ballots of Tory lawmakers will be held next week, with the last-placed candidate and any others receiving fewer than…
The race to replace Boris Johnson as Conservative leader and Britain's prime minister is down to five candidates after the second round of voting among Tory MPs on Thursday.While former finance minister Rishi Sunak is leading the way with his MP colleagues, second-placed Penny Mordaunt is polling out front with…
FORMER finance minister Rishi Sunak cemented his lead over rivals to become Britain's next prime minister on Thursday (14) in an increasingly bitter race to replace Boris Johnson. Sunak, whose exit from the Treasury last week was one of the first in a cascade of resignations that forced Johnson to…
Senior Conservative parliamentarians have told Eastern Eye the country is ready for its first south Asian prime minister. They believe the days of the Tories being considered as the “nasty and racist” party are over. Four candidates of colour were among the eight nominated in the leadership race as Eastern…
ONE in four families in UK will get the first instalment of £326 in July as part of the £37 billion Cost of Living support package, the government announced on Thursday (14). The second part of the payment of £324 will be credited later this year. Millions of low-income households…
A British parliamentary committee has said that domestic security agency MI5 needs more funds to tackle the increasing threat of extreme-right terrorism, according to a report. The intelligence and security committee has said that the agency could not expand other activities since it is more focused on dealing with Islamist…
British former finance minister Rishi Sunak said his first economic priority if he becomes prime minister will be tackling high inflation, not the tax cuts pledged by some of his rivals in the race to replace Boris Johnson. British consumer price inflation hit a 40-year high of 9.1% in May,…
PENNY MORDAUNT has held several senior posts in the UK government and even appeared on a celebrity reality television show, but is still little known beyond Westminster and her ruling Conservatives. However, her ministerial experience -- including serving briefly as Britain's first female defence secretary -- her credentials as a…
FORMER finance minister Rishi Sunak won the biggest backing from Conservative lawmakers on Wednesday (13) in the first vote to choose who will succeed Boris Johnson as party leader and British prime minister, while two more rivals were eliminated. Sunak, whose resignation as finance minister last week helped precipitate Johnson's…
Indian business magnate Anand Mahindra’s meme on the ongoing political developments in the UK has amused social media users.The image he posted on Twitter shows the British prime minister’s official residence decorated in the traditional Indian way - a garland of mango leaves (toran) adorning the top of the front…
HALF a world away from the political drama in London, many Indians are closely following the twists and turns of who replaces Boris Johnson as British prime minister, curious to see how two candidates with Indian ancestry fare. Rishi Sunak, the bookmakers' favourite to prevail, and Suella Braverman are campaigning…
THE race to replace Boris Johnson as Conservative leader and Britain's prime minister is heating up, with eight candidates facing a first vote among Tory MPs on Wednesday (13). While several possible successors are seen as frontrunners, there is no clear favourite -- and such contests are notoriously volatile. Rishi…
Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday told a febrile UK parliament that he would leave office with his "head held high" despite the downfall of his scandal-hit leadership.Labour leader Keir Starmer took aim at his outgoing foe during the weekly Prime Minister's Questions session, calling him "totally deluded to the…
Britain's economy rebounded in May, official data showed Wednesday, dampening fears of a slowdown despite surging inflation and rising interest rates. Gross domestic product expanded 0.5 per cent, the Office for National Statistics said in a statement, beating expectations of zero growth. "The economy rebounded in May with growth across…
Frontrunning Conservative leadership aspirant Rishi Sunak has come under frontal attack from his rivals and prime minister Boris Johnson’s loyalists as the intra-party contest has hotted up.Brexit opportunities minister Jacob Rees-Mogg accused the former chancellor of damaging the reputation of the ruling party with his mismanagement of the country’s economy…
Conservative lawmakers will vote on Wednesday to narrow the field of eight candidates hoping to succeed Boris Johnson as party leader and prime minister, as rival camps trade barbs in an increasingly fractious contest for the leadership.Three of the 11 initial challengers for the premiership fell away on Tuesday after…
Priti Patel, widely expected to become another Indian-origin candidate in the race for the post of Conservative Party leader and the next British prime minister, on Tuesday ruled out a bid, saying she was "grateful" for the encouragement but her focus remains on her current job as Home Secretary. "I…
Britain's former finance minister, Rishi Sunak, set out his leadership campaign pitch on Tuesday, offering himself up as an "honest" prime minister who would balance the books, reduce the role of the state and grow the economy.A frontrunner who received a further boost from two senior ministers, Sunak said he…
BRITISH Sikh MP Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi, best known as Tan Dhesi, has met US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar in London. Last week, Tan Dhesi shared a picture of their meeting on Twitter. "When first hijab wearing woman elected to US Congress @IlhanMN meets first ever turbaned Sikh elected to any European…
Ex-finance minister Rishi Sunak and two others will start their campaigns on Tuesday to become Britain's next prime minister, battling for the support of a party deeply split over who should succeed Boris Johnson. So far 11 candidates have said they are bidding to become leader of the governing Conservative…
Promises of tax cuts from candidates to succeed British Prime Minister Boris Johnson pose another inflationary risk which could pressure the Bank of England to raise interest rates more aggressively, cancelling out any potential boost to the economy. Most of the 11 contenders, trying to portray themselves as defenders of…
Britain's new prime minister will be announced on Sept. 5, with the first votes to begin eliminating candidates in a crowded and increasingly unpredictable and divisive contest to replace Boris Johnson coming this week. So far 11 candidates have thrown their hats in the ring to succeed Johnson as leader…
The race to succeed Boris Johnson as British prime minister has begun, with 11 candidates so far putting themselves forward for a contest which will ultimately be decided by around 200,000 Conservative Party members.Below is what the bookmakers' top three favourites have said on key issues:RISHI SUNAK - Current favouriteOn…
Broadcaster Sky News is likely to hold the first live debate on July 18 for Conservative candidates vying for the party leadership.The evening programme to be hosted by Kay Burley will feature all prime ministerial hopefuls who will remain in the fray.The new chancellor of the exchequer, Nadhim Zahawi, has…
Prime minister Boris Johnson certainly went down fighting. Sajid Javid and Rishi Sunak had decided that enough was enough, resigning last week from the Cabinet over Downing Street’s inability to tell the truth. Fifty ministerial resignations later, the refusal of the prime minister to accept that the game was up…
It is always good to have a deadline to work towards while negotiating a free trade agreement (FTA) but the Diwali target set for the India-UK FTA by the outgoing British Prime Minister Boris Johnson does not have to be set in stone, according to strategic and industry experts here.…
Britain's finance minister Nadhim Zahawi, who is running to replace Prime Minister Boris Johnson, said on Monday he would publish his tax return annually if he becomes leader. "I will publish my accounts annually. That's the right thing to do," Zahawi told Sky News after newspapers reported his tax affairs…
While several possible successors are seen as frontrunners, there is no clear favourite -- and such contests are notoriously volatile. Rishi Sunak The UK's first Hindu finance minister, Sunak quit on Tuesday and declared he was standing three days later. Long seen as Johnson's most likely successor, his prospects were…
IN a major development, the Royal Navy has threatened to ‘walk away’ from Boris Johnson and Priti Patel’s plan to end Channel crossings, according to a report. The Guardian reported that defence chiefs are unhappy over the rapidly imploding plan of using the military to control small boats in the…
BRITAIN's former health secretaries have launched leadership bids to succeed Boris Johnson as prime minister, according to a report. Jeremy Hunt and Sajid Javid used interviews with the Telegraph newspaper to announce their intention. Both Hunt, who lost out to Johnson in the 2019 leadership race, and Javid, said as…
PRIME MINISTER Boris Johnson has called his promise to "level up and unite" Britain his government's "defining mission". But critics say it was a vague slogan lacking a coherent strategy for delivery -- even before Johnson announced his resignation as Conservative leader this week. What is levelling up? Broadly, it…
Former chancellor Rishi Sunak’s allies are believed to be trying to prevail upon his former cabinet colleague Sajid Javid to back his candidacy for the Conservative Party leadership.They have reportedly reached out to Javid’s friends to convince the former health secretary that it would not help either of them if…
Britain's Boris Johnson and his wife, Carrie, are changing the location of a planned wedding party, an ally of the prime minister said on Friday, denying allegations that he was staying on in a caretaker role because of it. The Mirror newspaper reported on Thursday that Johnson, who has said he will resign, wanted to stay on…
Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government is in suspended animation, including on economic policy, just as a cost-of-living crisis worsens for millions of Britons. But tax cuts are inevitable under a new leader, to confront the financial pain that is rapidly spreading in the world's fifth-largest economy, analysts say. Low taxes…
Japan's former prime minister Shinzo Abe, the country's best-known politician and longest-serving leader, died on Friday after being shot at a campaign event. Here is what we know so far: What happened? Abe was speaking at a campaign rally in the western region of Nara when the attack occurred. He…
Shailesh Vara, the UK’s new secretary of state for Northern Ireland, has vowed to work “tirelessly” to restore the Stormont institutions.The Uganda-born Conservative MP for North West Cambridgeshire succeeds Brandon Lewis who quit the Boris Johnson government in a mass resignation of ministers.His appointment comes at a time when the…
As many as a dozen candidates were on Friday eyeing up replacing Boris Johnson as British prime minister who is quitting after his Conservative Party turned on him, as opponents said they wanted him out of Downing Street immediately. Johnson said on Thursday that he would step down as Conservative…
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who said on Thursday he would resign, is due to throw a big wedding party to mark his marriage to wife Carrie at his official Chequers country residence later this month, the Mirror reported. Johnson, who will remain leader until a new prime minister is…
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's decision on Thursday to step down as leader of his Conservative Party, paving the way for a new premier to take over, drew a spectrum of reactions from leaders worldwide. Johnson, who quit as Tory leader following a series of scandals and an exodus of…
British Education Secretary James Cleverly said on Friday he did not agree with calls for Prime Minister Boris Johnson to stand down immediately, saying the Conservative Party needed to hold a full contest to find the best leader. "(Johnson) remains prime minister until a new prime minister is found, that's…
Scandal-ridden Boris Johnson announced on Thursday he would quit as British prime minister after he dramatically lost the support of his ministers and most Conservative lawmakers, but said he would stay on until his successor was chosen. Bowing to the inevitable as more than 50 ministers quit and lawmakers said…
BRITAIN's Boris Johnson will reportedly announce his resignation as Conservative leader, paving the way for an internal party contest to replace him and become prime minister. While several possible successors have been suggested, there is no clear favourite. Rishi Sunak The UK's first Hindu chancellor of the exchequer, who quit…
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to resign on Thursday.Below are some reactions:KEIR STARMER, LEADER OF OPPOSITION LABOUR PARTY"It is good news for the country that Boris Johnson has resigned as Prime Minister."But it should have happened long ago. He was always unfit for office. He has been responsible…
Boris Johnson lasted just three years as British prime minister. Weakened by scandals, he refused for months to resign but on Thursday was poised to quit, forced by his own colleagues.July 2019: triumphant victory After Theresa May's resignation, Brexit figurehead Johnson is elected head of the Conservative party in July…
UK stocks climbed, with the domestically focussed FTSE 250 index hitting a session high after media reports said Boris Johnson will announce his resignation as British Prime Minister on Thursday. The FTSE 100, which tends to benefit from a weaker pound, gained 1.2% by 0825 GMT. Meanwhile, the FTSE 250…
Embattled British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday finally agreed to step down as the Conservative Party leader, triggering a leadership election for a new Tory leader who will go on to become the new premier, according to reports from Downing Street. Johnson, 58, will remain in charge at 10…
BRITAIN's newly appointed chancellor of the exchequer, Nadhim Zahawi has urged prime minister Boris Johnson to 'go now' in a letter. He also clarified that he took the new role ‘out of loyalty', adding that he is willing to 'shoulder the criticism' for his decision. In his letter, Zahawi said…
A group of Boris Johnson's senior ministers were set to tell him to resign as British prime minister on Wednesday, media reports said, after he insisted he would not quit in the face of a mounting rebellion in his party. With a BBC report that a group of his most…
Stand-up comedian and television presenter Nish Kumar waded into a controversy with his tweet on the UK’s political developments reported for racism.After the chancellor of exchequer Rishi Sunak and health secretary Sajid Javid resigned from prime minister Boris Johnson’s cabinet on Tuesday, Kumar took to social media saying he would…
Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid were two of the biggest hitters in UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government until they quit on Tuesday in protest at his scandal-hit leadership. Sunak, 42, had been on a meteoric trajectory to power that could have made him Britain's first Hindu prime minister. Javid,…
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson faces what looked to be the final blow for his premiership as two senior ministers resigned after trying to apologise for his administration's latest scandal. Below May 28, 2020 - 'Minor' breach of lockdown by PM adviser British police say Johnson's senior adviser Dominic Cummings…
THIRTY million people across the UK will benefit from the biggest personal tax in a decade starting Wednesday (6) - with hard working Brits saving up to £330 per year. The £6 billion tax cut will see the level at which people start paying National Insurance rise to £12,570 –…
HERE are five facts about Britain's new finance minister Nadhim Zahawi, appointed by prime minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday (5) following the resignation of Rishi Sunak. Zahawi, 55, was born in Iraq and moved to Britain in the mid-1970s when his Kurdish family fled the rule of Saddam Hussein. A…
Britain's finance and health ministers resigned in quick succession on Tuesday, in moves that put the future of Prime Minister Boris Johnson in peril after a series of scandals that have damaged his administration.Below is a summary of some of those who could be in the frame to replace him…
Britain's finance and health ministers resigned on Tuesday, in what looked to be the final blow for Prime Minister Boris Johnson's premiership after he had tried to apologise for the latest scandal to dog his administration. Both finance minister Rishi Sunak and health minister Sajid Javid resigned in what appeared…
The leader of the Labour Party in Scotland on Monday ruled out any deal with the Scottish National Party (SNP) after the next British election, dismissing the idea that such a pact could lead to a new independence referendum. Scottish first minister and SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon last week said…
BRITISH prime minister Boris Johnson has said that he raised the issue of the arrest of Scotsman Jagtar Singh Johal alias Jaggi Johal with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi during his visit in April. He added that Johal has been “arbitrarily detained” in a Delhi jail, the Indian Express reported.…
Britain has proposed a cut in value-added tax, or VAT, to help households with the cost of living, The Times reported on Thursday. Prime Minister Boris Johnson's chief of staff Steve Barclay suggested reducing the 20% headline rate of the tax, the report said, adding a temporary cut would reduce…
