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Tag: Boris Johnson

  • JUST IN: UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson’s pregnant fiancee tests positive for coronavirus

    JUST IN: UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson’s pregnant fiancee tests positive for coronavirus

    Carrie Symonds, the pregnant fiancee of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson revealed today she spent the past week fighting coronavirus.

    Her revelation came days after Johnson went into isolation with the deadly pathogen.

    ‘I’ve spent the past week in bed with the main symptoms of Coronavirus”, she said.

    “I haven’t needed to be tested and after seven days of rest, I feel stronger and I’m on the mend”, she added

    ‘Being pregnant with Covid-19 is obviously worrying. To other pregnant women, please do read and follow the most up to date guidance which I found to be v reassuring,’ she said in a second tweet.

    Read her tweets:

  • Boris Johnson sends letter to Britons, warns ‘things will get worse’

    Boris Johnson sends letter to Britons, warns ‘things will get worse’

    Prime Minister Boris Johnson has urged Britons to stay home and outlined stricter measures yet to come in the fight against the coronavirus.

    “It’s important for me to level with you – we know things will get worse before they get better,” Johnson wrote in a letter issued by Downing Street.

    The missive is to be delivered to 30 million households this week.

    “We are making the right preparations, and the more we all follow the rules, the fewer lives will be lost and the sooner life can return to normal,” Johnson asserted.

    “At this moment of national emergency, I urge you, please, to stay at home, protect the NHS (National Health Service) and save lives,” he added.

    Stay-at-home and strict social distancing rules must be obeyed, warned Johnson, who has himself contracted the coronavirus.

    “These rules must be observed. So, if people break the rules, the police will issue fines and disperse gatherings,” he added.

    The number of deaths from the coronavirus in Britain has risen to more than 1,000 with over 17,000 infections.

    Britain delayed imposing social-distancing measures on its population to stem the spread of coronavirus until last week.

    On Friday, both Johnson and Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced they had tested positive for the virus.

    Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne, also has the virus.

    Johnson, 55, has said he has mild symptoms including a temperature and a persistent cough.

    He is self-isolating and working from home.

  • BREAKING: UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson tests positive for coronavirus

    BREAKING: UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson tests positive for coronavirus

    United Kingdom Prime Minister, Boris Johnson has just tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19) disease.

    In a video posted on Twitter minutes ago, the prime minister, Boris Johnson, confirmed he had developed mild symptoms – “a temperature and persistent cough” – over the last 24 hours and, on the advice of the chief medical officer, he took a test which returned positive for coronavirus.

    Johnson said he was now self-isolating and working from home. He said thanks to “the wizardry of modern technology” he would continue to lead the national fightback against the virus.

    He thanked the NHS and everybody working to keep the country going through the pandemic and reiterated that staying at home was fundamental to stopping the spread of the virus.

  • Boris Johnson signs deal for Britain to quit EU

    Boris Johnson signs deal for Britain to quit EU

    British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson has signed agreement for the nation to leave the European Union next week Friday.

    Johnson, on Friday hailed “a new chapter” in Britain’s history as he signed its divorce deal with the EU, clearing another hurdle ahead of the country’s departure from the bloc next Friday.

    Johnson signed the agreement in Downing Street in front of European and British Foreign Office officials who had brought it from Brussels.

    EU chiefs Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel had put their names to the treaty at a ceremony held behind closed doors in the dead of night.

    “The signing of the withdrawal agreement is a fantastic moment, which finally delivers the result of the 2016 referendum and brings to an end far too many years of argument and division,” Johnson said in a statement.

    “This signature heralds a new chapter in our nation’s history,” he added on Twitter.

    The treaty would now return to Brussels, where the original would be kept in EU archives along with other international treaties, while three copies would be dispatched back to London.

    On Wednesday next week, the text will go to the European Parliament for ratification and on Thursday diplomats from the EU member states will approve the deal in writing.

    Then, on Friday, January 31, Britain spends its last day in the EU before leaving the bloc at 2300 GMT as clocks strike midnight in Brussels.

    “Charles Michel and I have just signed the agreement on the withdrawal of the UK from the EU, opening the way for its ratification by the European Parliament,” European Commission president Von der Leyen tweeted.

    In a separate tweet, European Council president Michel said: “Things will inevitably change but our friendship will remain. We start a new chapter as partners and allies.”

    The former Belgian premier, whose council represents EU member governments, added, in French: “I’m keen to write this new page together.”

    In another move to prepare Brussels for relations with Britain as an outside power, the European Commission named an ambassador — veteran diplomat Joao Vale de Almeida — to London.

    Johnson signed with a Parker fountain pen, as is traditional for ceremonial signings in Downing Street, with staff including the prime minister’s chief Brexit negotiator David Frost present.

    Earlier in Brussels, the signg was conducted before dawn in the European Council’s headquarters, as chief EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier looked on.

    No reporters or photographers were allowed to witness the low key ceremony, despite news agencies offering to organise a pool.

    British voters backed leaving the European Union in a June 2016 referendum, and after lengthy negotiations and several delays Johnson’s new government plans to “get Brexit done” next week.

    Queen Elizabeth II gave her formal assent to the British withdrawal legislation on Thursday and the EU is now expected to complete the final formalities in the coming days.

  • Buhari congratulates Boris Johnson on electoral victory

    Buhari congratulates Boris Johnson on electoral victory

    …seeks better cooperation in trades and economic matters

    President Muhammadu Buhari has sent a congratulatory message to the British Prime Minister, Mr. Boris Johnson, over his at the just-held United Kingdom general election.

    President Buhari, in a statement issued on Friday by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, expressed his anticipation for a stronger diplomatic relationship with the United Kingdom under Boris watch.

    Recalling that the United Kingdom has been a reliable and unique ally of Nigeria over the years, which had been supportive of his administration in various ways, especially in terms recovery of stolen assets, President Buhari called for more of UK’s collaboration, especially in areas of trades and economic partnership.

    “President Muhammadu Buhari congratulates Prime Minister Boris Johnson on his resounding election victory in the United Kingdom general election.

    “The President notes that Britain has been a reliable and historically unique ally of Nigeria, and has particularly supported this administration’s efforts at improving security and recovering stolen assets held in the UK.

    “President Buhari looks forward to continue working with the Prime Minister to forge a stronger Nigeria-UK relationship, especially in the area of trade and economic partnerships which greatly benefits the citizens of both countries.

    “The President wishes Prime Minister Johnson the best of luck as he navigates the people of Britain through the decisive period of leaving the European Union”, the statement said.

  • Boris Johnson vows to disobey Parliament, insists on Brexit

    Boris Johnson vows to disobey Parliament, insists on Brexit

    British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is bent on not complying with the decision of Parliament to seek Brexit delay.

    According to Daily Mail, Johnson will tell EU leaders not to delay Brexit and will refuse to negotiate an extension – after MPs passed up the opportunity for a fourth time to vote for a deal.

    The Commons voted 322 to 306 in favour of an amendment postponing a decision on the PM’s deal, and activating the Benn Act – a Remainer law that compels him to send a letter by 11pm tonight asking Brussels for a delay.

    But Johnson was defiant in the Commons, sparking confusion over whether he will comply with the legislation or try to find a loophole to keep his ‘do or die’ promise to sever ties by October 31.

    Responding to the result, he defiantly insisted he would not change his stance. ‘The best thing for the UK and for the whole of Europe is for us to leave with this new deal on October 31,’ he said.

    ‘I will not negotiate a delay with the EU and neither does the law compel me to do so.’

    He added: ‘No delays, and I will continue to do all I can to get Brexit done on October 31.’

    The Conservative Party also tweeted: ‘Parliament has voted to delay Brexit again. The Prime Minister will not ask for a delay — he will tell EU leaders there should be no more delays and we should get Brexit done on October 31st with our new deal so the country can move on.’

    The defiant Johnson was apparent in the three letters sent to the EU on Saturday night.

    The first was the letter demanded by the Benn Act, which asks the EU to delay Brexit beyond the October 31 deadline – but not signed by Boris Johnson – using the exact wording specified in the legislation.

    The second was a covering letter, written by Sir Tim Barrow, the UK’s Permanent Representative in Brussels, which made clear that the first letter was from Parliament, not the Government.

    And the third was a letter from Mr Johnson, which was also sent to the leaders of the other 27 EU nations, in which he disavowed the first letter by making clear that he does not want any delay to Brexit.

    In it, the PM said any further hold-up would be ‘deeply corrosive’, and would ‘damage the interests of the UK and our EU partners’.

    He said UK would continue to ratify the deal and urged Brussels to do the same.

    The historic batch of correspondence, which were sent by Sir Tim in both hard copy and electronically, represents the Prime Minister’s defiant riposte to the ‘rebel alliance’ who scuppered his attempt to finally secure Commons support for Brexit today.

    Mr Johnson is also steeling himself for an instant legal challenge from pro-Remain groups to his three-letter ploy on the grounds that he did not sign the Benn missive.

    However, No 10 lawyers have pointed out that the Benn Act only orders the PM to ‘send’ not ‘sign’ a letter.

    ‘Our lawyers have allowed a narrow interpretation of the terms. We are completely entitled to do that,’ a senior Government source said last night.

    The fate of Mr Johnson’s deal now lies in the hands of Speaker John Bercow – who today hinted that he might not allow a meaningful vote on it – the rebel MPs and other EU leaders, especially French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

    European Council president Donald Tusk has confirmed he has received the extension request from Boris Johnson. He said on Twitter: “The extension request has just arrived. I will now start consulting EU leaders on how to react”.

  • Details of new Brexit deal Boris Johnson struck with EU

    Details of new Brexit deal Boris Johnson struck with EU

    The European Union has agreed a new Brexit deal with Britain.

    Here are the initial details.

    Northern Ireland

    Northern Ireland remains in the United Kingdom’s customs territory but all EU procedures will apply to goods arriving there in this complex system. There will be no customs checks on the island of Ireland – they will be done in ports.

    For goods crossing from Great Britain to Northern Ireland that are deemed to be staying there, no EU tariff will apply.

    No EU tariffs would be paid on personal goods carried by travellers across the Irish frontier and for a second category of exempted goods that can only be for immediate consumption rather than subsequent processing.

    An EU-UK body called the Joint Committee will define this second group of goods more precisely after Brexit.

    The UK will be allowed to reimburse excise duties for companies in Northern Ireland as long as it does not undercut EU state aid rules.

    Northern Ireland will be able to benefit from future UK trade deals around the world. As long as the goods do not cross to Ireland and the EU’s single market, only UK customs tariffs will apply.

    CONSENT
    The Northern Irish assembly will have to give consent after Brexit for the region’s continued alignment with the EU regulatory regime.

    Four years after Brexit, the assembly will have to decide by simple majority of those taking part in the vote whether to apply it. If the vote is positive, the system is extended for another four years.

    If another vote then is positive with cross-community support, the system is extended by another eight years until another vote.

    If consent is not granted, there is a two-year cooling off period during which sides need to find a new solution to prevent the return of a hard border on the island of Ireland.

    If the regional assembly does not sit or vote, the system continues as the default position.

    Unlike the “backstop” solution in the original deal, rejected by the British parliament, this system would not be replaced by a new free-trade deal between Britain and the EU. That marks a big concession from the EU side.

    FUTURE TRADE DEAL, LEVEL-PLAYING FIELD

    Sides aim at an ambitious free-trade agreement after Brexit with no tariffs and unlimited quotas. It comes together with a statement that sides will uphold high standards on environment, climate, workers’ rights and other rules.

    REST REMAINS AS IN PREVIOUS AGREEMENT
    Previously agreed settlement on citizens’ rights after Brexit and Britain’s divorce bill stay as they were. That also goes for a transition period of 14 months until the end of 2020, which can be extended by one year or two years.

  • Boris Johnson and the Supreme Court, By Hope Eghagha

    I was amused to no end the other week when the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom showed its temerity and displayed absolute impudence to the executive arm of government. That arcane body, chaired by a woman of all human species, declared that the imperial and impetuous Prime Minister Boris Johnson acted illegally when he ‘prorogued’ parliament for an unprecedented five-week period. The eleven Justices were unanimous in their verdict that the unelected, precocious and bombastic PM broke the law. Can you beat that? A court declaring the action of a PM illegal, null and void! World leaders have a lot to learn from Nigeria and her ways with the judiciary. In other words, according to the revered Justices, Boris Johnson misled HRM the Great Queen of England! I wonder what could have happened to Johnson if this incident had occurred in the 16th or 17th century! Misleading the Queen of England!

    Why didn’t Johnson arrange things to go his way? Like appointing conservative judges as Trump has triumphantly done in America! Like ensuring that the President of the Supreme Court was an amenable fellow; or removing a recalcitrant judge by digging into his anal cavity for traces of financial mess and finally inviting the judges to dinner, assuring that continuity of the government is paramount to national security and that the PM must not be wrong in any circumstances, whether now or in the hereafter! You know; there are ways and there are ways like King Henry of England who wedded six wives, one died, two were divorced and two were beheaded! You see, divorce could be messy as Brexit has shown to us!

    ‘Prorogue! I was never comfortable with that word right from when I first heard it. Perhaps it has to do with the ‘rogue’ in the word. Pro means ‘for’, in support of. A rogue is a thief. For example, a government could be pro-rogues, that is, in favour of rogues in power. As we well know, there is a form of government called ‘kleptocracy’, a government of thieves; thieves who simply loot the state treasury for their own benefit. So how can such an important convention of the British be associated with the filthy word ‘rogue? I am still wandering! Lest I be accused of trivializing such an important matter as a Supreme Court verdict, let me move on to the heart of the main matter, which is the ruling by the Supreme Court that suspending parliament was unlawful. For added measure, the learned justices affirmed that parliament was never ‘prorogued’ and the diminutive and comic Speaker Bercow put it succinctly when he asserted that the MPs should return, not resume legislative duties after Johnson roguishly tried to prorogue parliament! Some parliaments do have them!

    Brexit or no-Brexit has got the British people into some mess. Parliament is looking right while the people insist on going left, metaphorically speaking. The heads of two prime ministers have rolled under the Brexit guillotine and except Johnson treads carefully his head will also join the victims’ before long. David Cameron who started it all surrendered without a wimp once the pro-Brexit people won the referendum. His successor whom Boris Johnson and all MPs made seem incompetent, licked the dust after several defeats in the House of Commons. Johnson took over with a lot of swag, gusto, verve and braggadocio. Indeed, the swag was the message. His swag would swing United Kingdom out of the EU. His deal with the British people through one hundred and sixty electors was that come October 31 the UK would leave the EU, deal or no deal. Of course, alarm bells went up in some places. Deal or no deal? Not so fast. Labour dug in and was able to steal the shine when some conservative MPs quit the party and stood against Boris Johnson. Johnson’s own sibling quit the government sending a strong message that he did not like the roller-coaster type of government his brother was running. Can you beat that? Your blood brother resigning from your cabinet after your nepotically appointed him to some cabinet position. That would be the day if it ever happens in Nigeria!

    For Johnson October 31 is sacrosanct and he is determined to bulldoze his way without respect for the niceties of democracy. Perhaps he thinks he is an African leader, steeped in the tradition of riding roughshod over institutions. Were it in Africa, the judges would be shown dirty things which they had done in the past and advised to play ball! Or they would simply collect heavily padded envelopes and give judgment in a peculiar manner. You know, sometimes we hear, (God save us if it is true) that some African judges write two judgments and finally deliver the one in favour of the highest bidder. This must be a joke, an exaggeration in order to make mincemeat of honourable men and women who are already down in the dust of public insults!

    What has come out the Brexit mess is a test of institutions in the United Kingdom. We may mock the excesses of the politicians yet the basis for orderliness, without a written constitution, continues to thrill us. That is the essence of tradition, of convention and respect for history. The persons may be clownish or may be outright buffoons. Jeremy Corbyn may not be ‘fit to be PM’ (who said?), yet he remains a popular leader with Labour. But a buffoon in power where institutions work is soon shown the way out or he must reform his character. Former PM Theresa May may be having the last laugh somewhere over the country that she loves; David Cameron may be nursing his wounds in a quiet corner and the Queen may be quietly distressed that she was misled and the Supreme Court has obliquely said she ought not to have been misled. But we know that on this matter there was no way she could have said no to the ebullient and rascally occupant of No 10. In the end, if UK does not kill Brexit, Brexit will kill UK! There is a feeling that the Brexit option was wrong, not clearly thought out, that democracy could be wrong sometimes, that a second referendum is needed to close the matter, that Britain is not ready for a no-deal exit and that a deal is not feasible under current circumstances. Whatever conclusion October 31 will bring, the old empire, now shrunk to one little island in a corner in Europe will summon the will of Winston Churchill and face the world with, courage and hope and glory! I hope!

  • UK PM Boris Johnson unveils final Brexit offer today

    UK PM Boris Johnson unveils final Brexit offer today

    UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will on Wednesday unveil his final Brexit offer to the European Union and make clear that if Brussels does not engage with the proposal, Britain will not negotiate further and will leave on Oct. 31.

    In his closing speech to his governing Conservatives’ annual conference, Johnson will stick to his hard line on Brexit, offering the party faithful the first details of what he will describe as his “fair and reasonable compromise”.

    With less than a month until Britain is due to leave the EU, the future of Brexit, the country’s biggest trade and foreign policy shift in more than 40 years, is uncertain. Britain could leave with a deal, without one or not exit at all.

    Johnson, who says Britain will leave the bloc on Oct. 31 no matter what, will tell the conference he will send his proposal to Brussels, an attempt to secure a deal to smooth the country’s departure and avoid a potentially damaging no-deal Brexit.

    “My friends, I am afraid that after three-and-a-half years people are beginning to feel that they are being taken for fools. They are beginning to suspect that there are forces in this country that simply don’t want Brexit delivered at all,” he will say, according to extracts released by his office.

    “Let’s get Brexit done on October 31 so in 2020 our country can move on.”

    More than three years after Britain voted to leave the EU in a 2016 referendum, Brexit talks are at an impasse.

    Johnson has been firm that the Oct. 31 deadline will be met, but parliament has put roadblocks in his way – passing a law that requires the prime minister to request a Brexit delay if he fails to secure an acceptable deal at an EU summit on Oct. 17.

    The EU has repeatedly asked Britain to come up with “legal and operational” proposals for the changes Johnson wants to a deal his predecessor negotiated with the bloc last year.

    ‘NOBODY WILL WORK ON A DELAY’
    Following its rejection three times by parliament, Johnson has demanded changes to the Withdrawal Agreement, especially over new arrangements with the bloc for the border between the British province of Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland.

    But after weeks of talks since Johnson took power that have made little headway to break the Brexit stand-off, the prime minister will make his last gambit – a new proposal which British officials describe as a final offer.

    The Telegraph newspaper cited a briefing to European capitals that Britain was suggesting a plan that would leave Northern Ireland in a special relationship with the EU until 2025, after which Belfast would decide whether to remain aligned to the bloc or return to following British rules.

    The proposal would be aimed at replacing the so-called backstop — an insurance policy to prevent the return of a hard border on the island of Ireland — that has become the biggest hurdle to securing an agreement with Brussels.

    A senior British government official said: “The government is either going to be negotiating a new deal or working on no deal — nobody will work on delay.”

    “We will keep fighting to respect the biggest democratic vote in British history. The EU is obliged by EU law only to negotiate with member state governments, they cannot negotiate with parliament, and this government will not negotiate delay.”

  • BREXIT: Another minister resigns from Boris Johnson’s cabinet

    BREXIT: Another minister resigns from Boris Johnson’s cabinet

    Britain’s Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd resigned from the government and the ruling Conservative Party on Saturday in a protest over Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s handling of the country’s departure from the European Union.

    She was the second cabinet member to quit, after Jo Johnson, brother of Boris also quit.

    Johnson says he wants to take Britain out of the EU on Oct. 31 with or without a deal with the bloc. But he lost his parliamentary majority this week and expelled 21 lawmakers from his Conservative Party’s group in parliament after they supported an opposition plan to try to block a no-deal exit.

    Rudd, also a former interior minister who voted remain in the 2016 Brexit referendum, said the ousting of the rebel lawmakers, who included the grandson of Britain’s wartime leader Winston Churchill and two former finance ministers, was an “assault on decency and democracy.”

    “I have resigned from Cabinet and surrendered the Conservative whip,” Rudd said on her Twitter account.

    “I cannot stand by as good, loyal moderate Conservatives are expelled. I have spoken to the PM and my association chairman to explain,” she said.

    Brexit remains up in the air more than three years after Britons voted to leave the EU. Options range from a turbulent no-deal exit to abandoning the whole endeavour.

    In her resignation letter to Johnson, who succeeded Theresa May as prime minister in July, Rudd said: “I joined your cabinet in good faith: Accepting that ‘no deal’ had to be on the table, because it was the means by which we would have the best chance of achieving a new deal to leave on 31 October.

    “However I no longer believe leaving with a deal is the government’s main objective.”

    The Sunday Times reported that at least six cabinet members share Rudd’s views, with at least one also considering resigning.

    Rudd’s resignation caps a tumultuous week for Johnson that has also seen his own brother Jo quit the government, saying he was “torn between family loyalty and the national interest.”

    “The prime minister has run out of authority in record time and his Brexit plan has been exposed as a sham,” said Ian Lavery, chair of the main opposition Labour Party.

    “No one trusts Boris Johnson. Not his Cabinet, not his MPs, not even his own brother.”

    Johnson says the only solution to the Brexit impasse is a new election, which he wants to take place on Oct. 15, allowing him to win a new mandate with two weeks left to leave the bloc on time. He needs two-thirds of parliament’s lawmakers to back an early election.

    But opposition parties, including Labour, said they would either vote against or abstain on calls for an election until a law to force Johnson to seek a Brexit delay is implemented.

    On Saturday it emerged lawmakers are preparing legal action as they believe Johnson could try to defy the legislation compelling him to seek a further delay to Brexit.

    The Sunday Telegraph reported that Dominic Cummings, Johnson’s top aide, is creating a shadow team of advisors to work on plans to fight an expected emergency judicial review in Britain’s highest court, the supreme court, next month if Johnson is unable to secure an election next week.

    An opinion poll on election voting intentions carried out by YouGov for the Sunday Times put the Conservatives on 35%, Labour on 21%, the pro-remain Liberal Democrats on 19% and the Brexit Party on 12%.