Category Archives: POLITICS

Trump Arrives In Miami For First Court Appearance Over Documents Charges

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Former President Donald Trump arrived in Miami on Monday, a day ahead of his first court appearance on 37 felony charges accusing him of illegally taking highly classified documents from the White House to his Florida club and refusing to return them.

Upon arrival, he headed to Miami’s Trump National Doral, where he’s expected to spend the night before his court appearance. A crowd of about 40 supporters lined the route to his golf club, reporters on the scene said, but Trump did not roll down his window or acknowledge them.

Trump has said that Tuesday’s court session will take place at 3pm (8pm UK time) and he will plead not guilty on all charges. It’s not yet clear whether the former president will appear before Judge Aileen Cannon, the federal judge assigned to the case, or a magistrate judge, as often happens in this kind of initial hearing.

Trump is expected to go through an arraignment ― the formal reading of charges before a defendant ― and enter his not guilty plea on Tuesday, though it’s possible the judge may save that for a later date.

The ex-president is expected to head to Miami’s Wilkie D. Ferguson Courthouse ahead of his appearance before the judge, for processing and ― most likely ― electronic fingerprinting. But reporters covering Miami courts say it’s unlikely Trump will be visible to the public.

“The public won’t see him,” Jay Weaver, who covers federal courts for the Miami Herald, told NPR on Sunday. “I mean, the reality is that when he surrenders, it’ll probably be done through an underground garage.”

Despite that, large crowds are expected at the courthouse on Tuesday.

“Make no mistake about it, we’re taking this event extremely serious,” the city’s police chief, Manny Morales, said during a press conference. “We’re ready. Ready for it to be over and done.”

There was a chaotic scene outside of Trump’s arraignment on separate state charges in April. That event, in New York City, drew hundreds of supporters and detractors, some dressed in orange jumpsuits and Trump masks. Republican representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene and George Santos showed up outside the courthouse to support Trump.

Cameras are generally not allowed in federal courts, so the public likely won’t get a glimpse of Trump in court for this indictment.

After the court hearing, Trump is expected to fly to his club in Bedminster, New Jersey, where he’s said he will deliver remarks at 8.15pm (1.15am UK time).

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Nadine Dorries Evokes Class Struggle In Attack On ‘Posh Boys’ Amid Peerage Row

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Nadine Dorries has drawn from her working-class upbringing as she claimed “posh boys” blocked her from taking a seat in the House of Lords.

The outgoing Tory MP hit out at prime minister Rishi Sunak and one of his closest advisers, James Forsyth, after she did not appear on ally Boris Johnson’s resignation nominations, prompting the former cabinet minister to announce she was quitting parliament.

Johnson also dramatically announced on Friday he was resigning after Dorries and others had apparently been shorn from the list.

The row has since descended into a public slanging match between Sunak and his predecessor in Downing Street, with the current PM making clear the decision was made by the House of Lords appointment commission and that he refused Johnson’s request to intervene.

On Monday, Dorries added to the din when she spoke to Piers Morgan on TalkTV, and said she was “broken-hearted” that a woman from her background had had the appointment taken away from her.

She told Morgan “This story is about a girl from Breck Road in Liverpool who worked every day of her life since she was 14 years old, had something offered to her … people from that background don’t get offered … removed by two privileged posh boys who went to Winchester and Oxford, and taken away duplicitously and cruelly because they have known for months that it wasn’t the case. And yet they let me and they let Boris Johnson continue to believe that was the case.”

She added: “It was upsetting and it’s upsetting for everybody who thinks that one day they could be that person because you know what if you come up against someone like Rishi Soak and James Forsyth, from privileged backgrounds, who have it all very easily, given to them on a plate … you’re in trouble.”

Johnson’s own background is not a fair comparison because he attended Eton on a scholarship and has “no money”, she claimed.

Dorries also claimed she had been “bullied” by No. 10 and decided she “can’t allow that to happen”.

She denied “knifing the party” by triggering a by-election in her constituency, telling TalkTV: “I think you come to a point in life when you have to stop, when you can’t just be pushed around, when you can’t allow people to bully you, as I’ve just been bullied by No 10. You can’t allow that to happen, you have to stand up for yourself, and that’s what I did.”

The former culture secretary added: “It was a painful decision … I didn’t want to cause a by-election.”

Dorries was born in 1957 in Liverpool and grew up on a council estate.

She has previously referred to David Cameron and George Osborne as “arrogant posh boys”, while describing herself as “a normal mother who comes from a poor background and who didn’t go to a posh school”.

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Nicola Sturgeon Says She Is ‘Innocent Of Any Wrongdoing’ Following Arrest

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Nicola Sturgeon has insisted she is “innocent of any wrongdoing” following her arrest as part of a police probe into the SNP’s finances.

The former first minister was quizzed by detectives for seven hours before being released without charge.

Police Scotland have launched an investigation into the whereabouts of £660,000 donated to the SNP for a second independence referendum campaign

Sturgeon’s husband, former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell, and the party’s former treasurer, Colin Beattie, have previously been arrested as part of the probe, known as Operation Branchform.

Following her release this evening, Sturgeon issued a statement on Twitter in which she said it was “beyond doubt” that she was innocent.

She said: “To find myself in the situation I did today when I am certain I have committed no offence is both a shock and deeply distressing.

“I know that this ongoing investigation is difficult for people, and I am grateful that so many continue to show faith in me and appreciate that I would never do anything to harm either the SNP or the country.”

Ms Sturgeon went on: “Obviously, given the nature of this process, I cannot go into detail.

“However, I do wish to say this, and to do so in the strongest possible terms. Innocence is not just a presumption I am entitled to in law. I know beyond doubt that I am in fact innocent of any wrongdoing.”

Sturgeon thanked “the many people who have sent messages of support over these past difficult weeks – including since today’s news broke”.

She added: “Thank you also to my close circle of family and friends who are giving me much-needed strength at this time.”

Police Scotland are investigating claims that the donations from activists to support the campaign for a second independence referendum were used for other purposes.

The inquiry was launched following allegations that the money, which was meant to be in a ring-fenced fund, had been misappropriated.

An SNP spokesperson said: “These issues are subject to a live police investigation.

“The SNP have been co-operating fully with this investigation and will continue to do so, however it is not appropriate to publicly address any issues while that investigation is ongoing.”

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Nicola Sturgeon Has Been Arrested By Police Probing The SNP’s Finances

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Nicola Sturgeon has been released by police after being arrested as part of their investigation into the SNP’s finances.

Scotland’s former first minister was questioned for seven hours by detectives investigating the whereabouts of £660,000 donated to the party for a second independence referendum campaign.

She was released without charge pending further investigations.

Sturgeon’s husband, former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell, and the party’s treasurer, Colin Beattie, have previously been arrested as part of the probe, known as Operation Branchform.

In a statement, Police Scotland said: “A 52-year-old woman has today, Sunday, June 11, been arrested as a suspect in connection with the ongoing investigation into the funding and finances of the Scottish National Party.”

A spokeswoman for Sturgeon said: “By arrangement with Police Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon attended an interview where she was to be arrested and questioned in relation to Operation Branchform.

“Nicola has consistently said she would co-operate with the investigation if asked and continues to do so.”

Police Scotland are investigating claims that the donations from activists to support the campaign for a second independence referendum were used for other purposes.

The inquiry was launched following allegations that the money, which was meant to be in a ring-fenced fund, had been misappropriated.

An SNP spokesperson said: “These issues are subject to a live police investigation.

“The SNP have been co-operating fully with this investigation and will continue to do so, however it is not appropriate to publicly address any issues while that investigation is ongoing.”

Labour’s shadow Scottish secretary Ian Murray saying: “This is a deeply concerning development and the Police Scotland investigation must be allowed to proceed without interference.

“For too long, a culture of secrecy and cover-up has been allowed to fester at the heart of the SNP.”

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Sunak Hails ‘Atlantic Declaration’ Despite Abandoning UK-US Free Trade Deal

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Rishi Sunak and Joe Biden have agreed a new partnership that the British prime minister said cements the “indispensable alliance” between the UK and US – but the deal fell well short of a prized and full-blown free trade deal.

The Atlantic Declaration, announced as the PM and US president met in the White House, includes commitments on easing trade barriers, closer defence industry ties and a data protection deal.

UK officials insisted the new, “targeted” approach was a better response to the economic challenges posed by China and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine than a trade deal – which has long been hailed by Brexiteers as one of the potential benefits of leaving the EU.

During a joint press conference in Washington DC where the declaration was announced, Sunak was pressed by the BBC’s political Chris Mason on whether the lack of a free trade deal represented “failure” to deliver on a 2019 manifesto promise.

Sunak replied the declaration was a response to the “particular opportunities and challenges we face right now and into the future” and that the UK-US relationship is “strong and booming”.

For the president’s part, Biden said: “It’s a testament to the depth, breadth and I would argue the intensity of our co-operation and coordination which continues to exist between the United Kingdom and the United States.

“There’s no issue of global importance – none – that our nations are not leading together.”

What’s in The Atlantic Declaration?

The deal mitigates some of the issues cause by Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), with proposals for a critical minerals agreement to remove barriers which affected trade in electric vehicle batteries.

An agreement would give buyers of vehicles made using critical minerals processed, recycled or mined by UK companies access to tax credits in line with the IRA.

The Inflation Reduction Act provides a $3,750 incentive for each vehicle, on conditions including that the critical minerals used in its production – principally used in the battery – are sourced from the US or a country with whom the US has a critical minerals agreement.

An agreement could help companies all over the UK, including firms carrying out nickel production in Wales and lithium processing in Teesside.

Biden has committed to ask Congress to approve the UK as a “domestic source” under US defence procurement laws, allowing for greater American investment in British firms.

Work will be carried out to improve the resilience of supply chains and efforts will be stepped up to shut Vladimir Putin’s Russia out of the global civil nuclear market.

The agreement will also include a push for mutual recognition of qualifications for engineers, although this could require state-by-state approval in the US.

A deal on data protection will ease burdens for small firms doing transatlantic trade, potentially saving £92 million.

The two nations will also collaborate on key industries – artificial intelligence, 5G and 6G telecoms, quantum computing, semiconductors and engineering biology.

It also commits the UK and US to partnership across all forms of space activity, including on communications and space nuclear power and propulsion.

Why not a proper trade deal?

Officials believe the deal is a less sentimental and more pragmatic approach to the UK-US “special relationship”, based on the need to ensure the allies can maintain their economic power and security.

The global energy shock caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine illustrated the vulnerability of major economies reliant on supply chains beyond their political allies.

There are fears that a Chinese invasion of Taiwan could cause a similar economic meltdown due to the disputed territory’s significance in global semiconductor supplies.

Labour said the absence of a trade deal in the Atlantic Declaration represented a “failure”.

Shadow foreign secretary David Lammy said: “This statement shows the Conservative government has failed to deliver the comprehensive trade deal they promised in the 2019 manifesto, or to secure the ally status under the Inflation Reduction Act that is so important for the automotive sector and for the green transition.

“While the Biden administration have enacted the Inflation Reduction Act to de-risk its economy from China and create jobs at home, the Conservatives have left Britain’s cupboards bare. Instead of taking similar action, the chancellor has attacked the US approach as ‘dangerous’ and ‘not the British way’.”

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‘You Couldn’t Run A Whelk Stall’: BBC Question Time Audience Member Blasts Politicians

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A BBC Question Time audience member has let rip at Britain’s political class – claiming it is so “incompetent” the two main parties “couldn’t run a whelk stall”.

This week’s show, which came from King’s Lynn in Norfolk, came against the backdrop of more partygate revelations, a backlash to Boris Johnson’s resignation honours list and tensions over the Covid-19 public inquiry.

One question – what could the Tories could do to turn around their fortunes and win at the general election next year – prompted a diatribe from one member of the audience, who appeared dissatisfied with the way the country is being run regardless of who is charge.

He said: “We’ve heard it all before from both of you, from both parties. You’re absolutely incompetent. Those that are not incompetent and corrupt.

“I have no idea why any of us bothered to vote for any of you. You couldn’t run a whelk stall, let alone the country. Either of you.

“And all you can do is bat off each other and not make any sense whatsoever. Stay behind afterwards. Both of you. Have a word from me, I’ll give you some home truths.“

He added: “I’m sick to death of you. The only person who went in parliament with good intentions was Guy Fawkes.”

Both Conservative Lee Rowley and Labour’s Jonathan Ashworth – on the panel – agreed to meet the man afterwards to discuss his concerns. He claimed the recent local elections was the first time he has not voted.

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Sunak To ‘Clear The Decks’ By Nodding Through Johnson Resignation Honours List

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Rishi Sunak is expected to accept Boris Johnson’s long-awaited resignation honours list in a move that could prompt crunch by-elections when Labour are well ahead of the Tories in the polls.

The Times newspaper reported that official confirmation of who will receive peerages and sit in the House of Lords could be published in a matter of weeks, with the current prime minister hoping to “clear the decks”.

The move comes amid acrimony between Sunak and Johnson over the Covid-19 public inquiry and whether the former-PM’s unredacted WhatsApp messages during the pandemic should be handed over.

Also, according to The Times, it could prompt by-elections for seats held by former cabinet ministers Nadine Dorries and Alok Sharma, who have long been thought to be on the 50-strong list.

Two other former ministers – Nigel Adams and Alister Jack – are also expected to be enobled, but will stay on as MPs until the end of this parliament.

“We strictly do not comment on honours,” Johnson’s spokesman said.

A poll this week showed the Labour Party is on track to win a 140-seat majority at the next election.

The bombshell MRP analysis suggests Keir Starmer is heading for 10 Downing Street on the back of a landslide victory in 2024.

<img class="img-sized__img landscape" loading="lazy" alt="Former prime minister Boris Johnson and wife Carrie.” width=”720″ height=”486″ src=”https://www.wellnessmaster.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/sunak-to-clear-the-decks-by-nodding-through-johnson-resignation-honours-list-2.jpg”>
Former prime minister Boris Johnson and wife Carrie.

Kirsty O’Connor via PA Wire/PA Images

Meanwhile, Johnson and his wife Carrie hosted a close friend at Chequers in May 2021 for an overnight stay while some Covid-19 restrictions were still in place, according to reports.

A spokesman for the former prime minister said that the visit was “entirely lawful”, after The Guardian newspaper reported that events organiser Dixie Maloney stayed at the grace and favour country residence on May 7 2021.

At that stage, indoor mixing between different households was not permitted.

Exceptions to this included gatherings “reasonably necessary” for work purposes and childcare. The Guardian cited sources suggesting that Maloney was permitted to be there for childcare reasons given Symonds was pregnant.

Under the rules at the time, a gathering could be seen as reasonably necessary “to provide care or assistance to a vulnerable person” – a definition that under the legislation included anyone pregnant.

A spokesman for the former prime minister said: “This was entirely lawful, and it was covered by relevant provisions in the Covid regulations, as The Guardian’s report makes clear.

“To suggest otherwise is totally untrue.”

There had been some speculation that Maloney was involved in some of the planning behind the couple’s wedding.

A decision last month to pass to the police concerns over events in Chequers and Downing Street, following a review of the former prime minister’s official diary, led to renewed questions for Johnson and the ministers.

Entries in the former prime minister’s official diary reportedly revealed visits by friends to Chequers during the pandemic and new allegations about his behaviour in Downing Street.

Cabinet Office officials passed concerns to the Metropolitan Police and Thames Valley Police after the new information came to light during a review by taxpayer-funded lawyers ahead of the Covid public inquiry.

Johnson, who believes he is the victim of a stitch-up, ditched the government-appointed lawyers representing him in the Covid inquiry after the referral.

It came as he awaits the verdict of the Commons privileges committee, which is conducting an inquiry into whether Johnson lied to parliament about the partygate scandal.

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Prince Harry: Government At ‘Rock Bottom’ And ‘In Bed’ With The Media

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Prince Harry has described the state of the British press and the government as both being at “rock bottom” and accused them of being “in bed” with one another.

The Duke of Sussex’s made the outspoken attack on the serving government – breaking royal protocol – as he entered the witness box in his claim against the publisher of the Daily Mirror.

Harry gave evidence on Tuesday at the high court in London in his lawsuit against the Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which he accuses of phone-hacking and other unlawful acts.

In a witness statement, the prince said: “Democracy fails when your press fails to scrutinise and hold the government accountable, and instead choose to get into bed with them so they can ensure the status quo.

“In my view, in order to save journalism as a profession, journalists need to expose those people in the media that have stolen or highjacked the privileges and powers of the press, and have used illegal or unlawful means for their own gain and agendas.

“I feel that I need to make sure that this unlawful behaviour is exposed, because obviously I don’t want anybody else going through the same thing that I’ve been going through on a personal level.

“But also on a national level as, at the moment, our country is judged globally by the state of our press and our government – both of which I believe are at rock bottom.”

Sunak has refused to be drawn into a war of words with the Duke of Sussex over his claim.

The prime minister told reporters travelling with him to Washington: “As you know, we have a long-standing convention that prime ministers don’t comment on members of the royal family.”

Prince Harry alleges that about 140 articles published between 1996 and 2010 by MGN titles contained information gathered using unlawful methods, and 33 of these have been selected to be considered at the trial.

Andrew Green KC, for MGN, questioned Harry on about 20 of the 33 articles over the course of the hearing, which lasted nearly five hours.

Harry’s claim is being heard alongside three other “representative” claims during a trial which began last month and is due to last six to seven weeks.

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Tory London Mayor Hopeful Says The Conservatives ‘Must Modernise To Survive’

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The Conservative Party has to undergo “another period of modernisation if it’s going to survive”, the frontrunner in the race to be its candidate for London mayor has warned.

Samuel Kasumu, a former aide to Boris Johnson, said he was the only Tory in the contest who was able to reach out to a city as cosmopolitan as the capital.

In an interview with HuffPost UK, the 35-year-old also called on the party to have a “much more nuanced conversation about immigration”.

His comments will be viewed as a swipe at home secretary Suella Braverman, who has been criticised for saying the UK faces an “invasion” of immigrants.

Labour’s Sadiq Khan is hoping to win a third term as London’s mayor in May next year.

His Conservative rival will be chosen by party members from a shortlist of three on July 19.

Kasumu is up against technology minister Paul Scully, veteran London Assembly member Andrew Boff and David Cameron’s former deputy head of policy, Daniel Korski.

Kasumu – currently a councillor in Welwyn Hatfield – quit Downing Street in April 2021 amid a row over the government’s Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities report, which was branded a “whitewash” by some anti-racism campaigners.

He said the party had to “appeal to folks you might not even be ideologically aligned with” if it wanted to win.

“The first thing you have to say is, London is the most cosmopolitan city in the world,” he said.

“How do you reach all these groups? I think I am best place to do that. There are probably only two or three people in the whole Conservative movement who are able to do that.

“I’m the only one who is going to make the shortlist who can do that job.”

He added: “The Conservative Party is going to have to undergo another period of modernisation if it’s going to survive.

“Even if you shut the borders today, there are an increasing number of people from minority ethnic backgrounds, and in London specifically, nearly half the population were born outside the country.”

Rishi Sunak has made stopping asylum seekers crossing the Channel one of his five pledges to voters amid concerns that the government has lost control of the immigration system.

Braverman has also come in for severe criticism over the language she has used when talking about the issue.

“I can’t tell the home secretary what to say or how to articulate that,” Kasumu said. “But I think we need to have a much more honest conversation about immigration… a much more nuanced conversation about the subject.

“Most people are quite sensible about immigration. They recognise that immigrants can and will continue to play a role in allowing us to function as a society.”

Sadiq Khan is hoping to win a third term as mayor.
Sadiq Khan is hoping to win a third term as mayor.

Aaron Chown – PA Images via Getty Images

Kasumu also warned Sunak that time was running out for him to set out his vision of the kind of country he wants to build.

The prime minister set out his five pledges to voters in January – stopping the boats, halving inflation, cutting waiting lists, growing the economy and reducing the national debt.

But Kasumu said: “If I’m advising the prime minister – which I’m not anymore – I would say, I get it, five pledges, you need to demonstrate competence, you need to earn the right to be heard again.

“It’s a bit like what I’m saying in London, you’ve got he earn the right to be heard and then at some point, sooner rather than later, we need to have a very clear vision about what the next iteration of a Rishi Sunak premiership could look like.”

“They don’t have a lot of time,” he added. “We have got party conference after the summer. Maybe that’s the time to start to articulate what a Rishi Sunak vision looks like.”

Just as the national polls show Labour ahead, the Conservatives are fighting an even stepper uphill battle in London, with a YouGov poll in April suggesting Labour holds a 40-point lead in the capital.

But Kasumu said: “If we win in London then all bets are off.”

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Oh Good – AI Could ‘Kill Many Humans’ Within Two Years, Says Rishi Sunak’s Adviser

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Rishi Sunak’s adviser on artificial intelligence has warned there’s just two years to save the world from AI systems.

Matt Clifford said AI could have the capability to be behind advances that “kill many humans” within that timeframe.

He said that unless producers are regulated on a global scale then there could be “very powerful” systems that humans could struggle to control.

Even the short-term risks were “pretty scary”, he told TalkTV, with AI having the potential to create cyber and biological weapons that could inflict many deaths.

The comments come after a letter backed by dozens of experts, including AI pioneers, was published last week warning that the risks of the technology should be treated with the same urgency as pandemics or nuclear war.

Senior bosses at companies such as Google DeepMind and Anthropic signed the letter along with the so-called “godfather of AI”, Geoffrey Hinton, who resigned from his job at Google earlier this month, saying that in the wrong hands, AI could be used to harm people and spell the end of humanity.

Clifford is advising the prime minister on the development of the UK government’s Foundation Model Taskforce, which is looking into AI language models such as ChatGPT and Google Bard, and is also chairman of the Advanced Research and Invention Agency (Aria).

He told TalkTV: “I think there are lots of different types of risks with AI and often in the industry we talk about near-term and long-term risks, and the near-term risks are actually pretty scary.

“You can use AI today to create new recipes for bio weapons or to launch large-scale cyber attacks. These are bad things.

“The kind of existential risk that I think the letter writers were talking about is… about what happens once we effectively create a new species, an intelligence that is greater than humans.”

While conceding that a two-year timescale for computers to surpass human intelligence was at the “bullish end of the spectrum”, Clifford said AI systems were becoming “more and more capable at an ever increasing rate”.

Asked on the First Edition programme on Monday what percentage chance he would give that humanity could be wiped out by AI, Clifford said: “I think it is not zero.”

He continued: “If we go back to things like the bio weapons or cyber (attacks), you can have really very dangerous threats to humans that could kill many humans – not all humans – simply from where we would expect models to be in two years’ time.

“I think the thing to focus on now is how do we make sure that we know how to control these models because right now we don’t.”

The technology expert said AI production needed to be regulated on a global scale and not only by national governments.

AI apps have gone viral online, with users posting fake images of celebrities and politicians, and students using ChatGPT and other “language learning models” to generate university-grade essays.

But AI can also perform life-saving tasks, such as algorithms analysing medical images such as X-rays, scans and ultrasounds, helping doctors to identify and diagnose diseases such as cancer and heart conditions more accurately and quickly.

Clifford said that AI, if harnessed in the right way, could be a force for good.

“You can imagine AI curing diseases, making the economy more productive, helping us get to a carbon neutral economy,” he said.

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