Dominic Raab has dismissed a whistleblower’s revelations about the chaotic Afghan evacuation as coming from a “junior desk officer” and insisted it was a success. The former foreign secretary hit back at the devastating evidence from Raphael Marshall – but did not deny that only 5 per cent of people at risk from the Taliban takeover received help. Mr Raab called the evacuation a “heroic and herculean effort” which got out 15,000 people and argued any delays were because of the situation in Kabul, not blunders at home. “We did everything we could,” he insisted, describing the UK effort as “a record that those involved, particularly those working on the ground, should be proud of”. He denied he was demoted to justice secretary because of his dismal handling of the crisis in August, or that his job was at risk again because of the whistleblower’s revelations. Recommended Where did Dominic Raab go on holiday? Raab insists he won’t quit …
What voters actually want levelling up to achieve is pretty simple
Just what is “levelling up”? The question of how to reduce the profound differences between the affluent southeast and more deprived areas of the north of England and West Midlands has been the biggest policy challenge – Covid-19 notwithstanding – since the 2019 election. After nearly two years of dithering, Boris Johnson used the last cabinet reshuffle to finally focus his government on the problem. It now falls to Michael Gove , he of the famously wide-ranging education reforms, and Neil O’Brian – surely the best ministerial team Johnson has at his disposal – to come up with something tangible before the " red wall " gets to decide whether double down on its 2019 electoral gamble – or to flip back to Labour at the next election. Although another delay in publishing the White Paper on levelling up until January 2022 is not encouraging. Surely answering the “what” question before the “how” would be sensible for Gove et al. Best to ask what would success for …
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Conservatism has wrecked this country – just as it was designed to
It isn’t often that life presents us with second chances. Whether it’s not breaking up with that girl who in hindsight you could have married, not flunking that crucial exam, or not crippling your country’s economy and health services with your mismanagement of a pandemic, there are lots of things we would do differently, given the chance. Well, Stacy married Craig, and you didn’t get into Oxford, but for one man, Boris Johnson , that second chance may have just presented itself. The omicron variant is here , but unlike its older cousin it hasn’t taken us by surprise. We haven’t been caught on the back foot this time; no, the omicron variant has announced its presence with all the fireworks and spectacle of an American gender reveal party. The conditions for this new variant to wreak havoc on the UK are close to perfect: it’s winter, right before Christmas, most places are open, and the anti-mask crowd have really stepped up their game in the past few months. But …
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A no-deal Brexit would be twice as damaging for the UK economy as coronavirus in the long term
Will Covid-19 mean that we don’t notice a no-deal Brexit ? The continuing effects of the pandemic may mitigate or obscure – politically or economically – the impact of no deal. Whatever the headline growth figures in early 2021, it will be very difficult to attribute economic outcomes to Brexit. However, assuming a reasonably strong recovery, and that government policies succeed in avoiding persistent mass unemployment, Brexit is likely to have a more significant impact in the long run. Our modelling with the London School of Economics of the impact of a no-deal Brexit suggests that the total cost to the UK economy over the longer term will be two to three times as large as that implied by the Bank of England’s forecast for the impact of Covid-19. No deal will result in immediate and substantial tariff and non-tariff barriers on UK exports to the EU. And the UK will apply the new UK Global Tariff to imports from the EU and other countries with which it does …
Theresa May’s Sunday Times interview leaves us with as little understanding of the Prime Minister as we have of Brexit
Has any Prime Minister in the memory of anyone alive inherited a more petrifying, insomnia-causing, ‘what-in-the-name-of-sweet-Lord-Jesus-have-I-got-myself-into-here?’ legacy than Theresa May ? She has only one rival and whether she or Winston Churchill deserves the title is less self-evident than it might appear. Obviously, Britain faced a clearer cut existential threat from forces massing on the other side of the Channel in May 1940, when Churchill slid into No 10 much as May did in July, albeit without the black comedy of several other contenders collapsing like kamikaze dominoes. Yet in some ways the old boy had it easier than May. Firstly, within days of taking office, he had illuminated the path ahead by persuading the inner Cabinet to fight to the death, rather than deal with Hitler to cut an Empire-preserving deal. From that history-shaping moment, whether it led to victory or defeat, he knew in outline what had to be done. ✕ Theresa May backs …
Biden to tell Putin he’ll face toughest sanctions yet if he invades Ukraine
WASHINGTON/MOSCOW (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden will tell Russian President Vladimir Putin in a video conference later on Tuesday that Russia and its banks could be hit with the toughest economic sanctions yet if it invades Ukraine, U.S. officials said. They said the sanctions, which one source said could target Russia's biggest banks and Moscow's ability to convert roubles into dollars and other currencies, were designed to dissuade Putin from using tens of thousands of troops massed near the Ukrainian border to attack its southern neighbour. The Kremlin, which said before the meeting it did not expect any breakthroughs, has denied harbouring such intentions and has said its troop posture is defensive. But it has also said it is increasingly vexed by Western military aid to Ukraine and what it calls creeping NATO expansion. It has likewise queried Ukrainian intentions and said it wants guarantees that Kyiv will not use force to try to retake territory lost in 2014 to …
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Team Biden Straining to Avoid Repeat Russia Invasion of Ukraine
During his campaign for the White House, President Joe Biden pitched himself as an elder statesman whose decades of foreign policy experience could guide the United States back to its place at the head of the international order. On Tuesday, Biden may face the most important test yet of that promise. A video call with President Vladimir Putin of Russia, the second bilateral meeting between the two leaders, is expected to focus on the growing Russian military presence on its border with Ukraine—and on the potential for swift American action should Putin invade its southern neighbor for the second time since 2014. But Biden, contending with multiple political crises domestically and still politically bruised from the debacle in Afghanistan, may not have as much room to maneuver as he might need to prevent Putin from attempting another smash-and-grab annexation or invasion of Ukrainian territory. U.S. officials have attempted to tamp down speculation that a Russian invasion of …
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Biden, Putin summit: 4 things to know
close Video Biden is playing right into Putin’s hands Victor Davis Hanson: You don’t want to be loud and carry a twig like the Biden admin is doing. NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles! Ukraine’s borders are a parking lot for Russian tanks, trucks, and artillery ready for a three-pronged blitzkrieg. President Joe Biden will see updated imagery of those military vehicles and snowy parking tracks before his video call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday. PRESIDENT BIDEN COULD MAKE RUSSIA PAY IF IT INVADES UKRAINE It’s Putin’s move. Russia can invade Ukraine "on short order should he so decide," Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Dec. 1. Don’t forget over 13,000 have died in the fighting in eastern Ukraine since 2014, according to the UN. Here’s what Biden must understand. Putin’s tactics come straight from Russian revolutionary V.I. Lenin who said in 1917: "Probe with a bayonet; if you meet steel, …
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Under-fire Dominic Raab rejects claim he ‘did fully not understand’ Afghan crisis
Under-fire Dominic Raab has tried to distance himself from explosive whistleblower revelations over the "dysfunctional" and "chaotic" evacuation from Afghanistan. The top Tory, who was criticised for holidaying in Crete as the Taliban swept through the country, said the evidence from Raphael Marshall was "inaccurate in some respects" and dismissed him as a "relatively junior desk officer". Allied forces withdrew from the war-torn country as Taliban fighters advanced - sparking a refugee emergency as worried Afghans tried to flee. Foreign Office chiefs will be grilled about string of alleged failings at the department during this summer’s Afghan crisis later. Mr Marshall, who worked for the Foreign Office during the Operation Pitting evacuation effort, claimed just 5% of Afghan nationals who applied to leave under one UK scheme received help. Members of the British and US Armed Forces working at Kabul Airport in August ( Image: MOD/AFP via Getty Images) Some were …
Scotland Vaccine Passport System a ‘Disaster’, Say Hospitality Leaders
The first official weekend of enforcement of Scotland’s vaccine passport system has been described as an “unmitigated disaster” with foot traffic falling by as much as 40 per cent at some venues. While the left-separatist Scottish National Party (SNP) enacted vaccine passports in Scotland at the beginning of the month, businesses were granted a two week grace period in order to establish verification systems. The British government of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, which sets health policy for England, has so far shied away from imposing health passes. Nevertheless, the devolved governments of Wales and Scotland — countries that make up integral parts of the United Kingdom but have local powers similar to those granted to states in America — have been able to unilaterally impose vaccine passports on people in their jurisdiction. The SNP-led government in Scotland has argued that the vaccine passports are a “proportionate” response to the Chinese coronavirus. However, the …
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