Jonathan Fairfield

Trump to Putin - Please don't meddle in U.S. elections

By Roberta Rampton

 

 

OSAKA (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Friday sardonically asked his Russian counterpart to please not meddle in U.S. elections, appearing to make light of a scandal that led to an investigation of his campaign's contact with the Kremlin during 2016 elections.

 

A two-year investigation into a Moscow-run influence campaign during the election has hung over Trump's presidency, frustrating the Republican president who has said he seeks better relations with Russia.

 

Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin were speaking to reporters in Osaka, Japan, ahead of their first formal face-to-face meeting since a controversial high-profile summit in Helsinki last July.

 

Asked by reporters whether he would raise the issue during their meeting, held on the sidelines of a Group of 20 (G20) summit, Trump said: "Yes, of course I will," drawing a laugh from Putin.

 

Trump then turned to Putin to give the directive twice, as he pointed a finger at the Russian leader.

 

"Don't meddle in the election, please," Trump said.

 

Trump's critics have accused him of being too friendly with Putin and castigated him for failing to publicly confront the Russian leader in Helsinki after U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that Russian operatives had hacked into Democratic Party computers and used fake social media accounts to attack his opponent, Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.

 

A U.S. special counsel, Robert Mueller, spent two years investigating whether there were any ties between Trump's campaign and Moscow.

 

Mueller found that Russia did meddle in the election but found no evidence that the Trump campaign illegally conspired with it to influence the vote.

 

 

'POSITIVE THINGS'

 

Relations between the two countries have been sour for years, worsening after Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and backed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the Syrian war.

 

In a recent television interview, Putin said that relations between Moscow and Washington were "getting worse and worse."

Trump has sought to turn the page to work with Putin on issues such as reining in North Korea's nuclear ambitions. On Friday, he emphasised the positive.

 

"It's a great honour to be with President Putin," he told reporters. "We have many things to discuss, including trade and including some disarmament."

 

Trump and Putin had been scheduled to meet at the end of November at the last G20 in Buenos Aires, but Trump cancelled the meeting as he flew to Argentina, citing Russia's seizure of Ukrainian navy ships and sailors. The two spoke informally at the event, and at a lunch in Paris earlier that month.

 

In May, they had their first extensive phone conversation in months. Trump said they talked about a new accord to limit nuclear arms that could eventually include China.

 

"We've had great meetings. We've had a very, very good relationship," Trump said on Friday. "And we look forward to spending some very good time together. A lot of very positive things going to come out of the relationship."

 

In a further attempt to lighten the mood, Trump sought common ground with Putin at the expense of the journalists gathered to catch the leaders at the outset of their meeting.

 

"Get rid of them. Fake news is a great term, isn't it. You don't have this problem in Russia but we do," Trump said.

 

To which Putin responded, in English: "We also have. It's the same."

 

(Additional reporting Maria Vasilyeva in MOSCOW; Writing by Chang-Ran Kim; Editing by Clarence Fernandez, Robert Birsel)

 

 

 

CNRP Chief Kem Sokha Breaks Silence in Message to Supporters Marking Birthday in Captivity

 

In a rare public message while under house arrest, opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) president Kem Sokha on Thursday thanked supporters for wishing him well on his 67th birthday and vowed to continue working to serve their interests, despite facing charges widely seen as politically motivated.

 

Full story: https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1108745-cnrp-chief-kem-sokha-breaks-silence-in-message-to-supporters-marking-birthday-in-captivity/

Cambodia Promotes Former Governor of Sihanoukville Who Resigned Over Fatal Building Collapse

 

Cambodia’s King Norodom Sihamoni on Thursday appointed the former governor of Preah Sihanouk province as secretary of state to the Ministry of National Defense, days after he resigned over a fatal building collapse, drawing condemnation from observers who called the promotion a “slap in the face.”

 

Full story: https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1108748-cambodia-promotes-former-governor-of-sihanoukville-who-resigned-over-fatal-building-collapse/: 

 

 

 

Cambodia deports 63 Chinese arrested for telecom extortion scams

Sixty-three telecom fraud suspects, repatriated from Cambodia, arrive at an airport in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, June 26, 2019, under the escort of police.

 

Read more: https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1108746-cambodia-deports-63-chinese-arrested-for-telecom-extortion-scams/

 

Set locations revealed as "Fast and Furious 9" fever heats up

 

 

Thai media said that interest in Thailand about the filming of "The Fast and the Furious 9" was hotting up. 

 

Full story: https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1108774-set-locations-revealed-as-fast-and-furious-9-fever-heats-up/

 

Brake Failure on a field trip: Dozens of young students end up in ravine in Kanchanaburi

 

 

Dozens of students, parents and teachers on a field trip to the Sai Yok area of Kanchanaburi in Thailand's west hurtled down a ravine after their bus experience a braking problem.

 

Full story: https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1108773-brake-failure-on-a-field-trip-dozens-of-young-students-end-up-in-ravine-in-kanchanaburi/

 

Set locations revealed as "Fast and Furious 9" fever heats up

 

 

Thai media said that interest in Thailand about the filming of "The Fast and the Furious 9" was hotting up. 

 

Sanook had managed to find out that a production crew of 300 personnel would be filming at three quarries in Phangnga.

 

Equipment had arrived and the sets were being prepared at the "secret location" that they described as being in  Ban Bang Toei, a beautiful area of the southern Thai province. 

 

 

77kaoded came up with pictures of a racing car arriving and produced a video. 

 

Filming for the ninth edition of the franchise will take place over the next four weeks in Krabi, Phangnga, Phuket and Surat Thani. 

 

Thaivisa notes that it was earlier reported that the film would bring 340 million baht into Thai coffers and showcase the country. 

 

Furthermore Thais had been asked not to do their own filming of the locations, something that Sanook and 77kaoded seemingly couldn't resist.  

 

Images: 77kaoded 

 

Brake Failure on a field trip: Dozens of young students end up in ravine in Kanchanaburi

 

 

Dozens of students, parents and teachers on a field trip to the Sai Yok area of Kanchanaburi in Thailand's west hurtled down a ravine after their bus experience a braking problem.

 

Police at the scene found a crushed motorcycle in the road, four poles snapped and the bus in the ravine.

 

The vehicle was part of a convoy of six vehicles taking primary students from the Wat Phokharam school in U-Thong district of Suphanburi to the scenic Sai Yok area. 

 

Driver of the third vehicle in the convoy, 67 year old Withoon Padungrotwit said he was slowly going down the hill when there was a toppled motorcycle in his way. 

 

 

He said he slowed further but there was a problem with his brakes. He ordered his helper to put chocks made from logs under the wheels but this did no good. 

 

The bus went over the chocks, flattened the motorcycle then plunged through the poles and down into the ravine ending up next to a drainage ditch. 

 

Thirty two students, parent and teachers were injured but only one, a female teacher who was sitting at the front was kept in hospital after being transferred from Sai Yoke hospital that is just 500 meters from the crash site.

 

Source: TNews

 

Big Oud's rogues' gallery: Five Thais fined for not reporting whereabouts of foreigners

 

Image: naewna

 

Naew Na published five pictures of Thais who had been fined yesterday for not reporting foreigners at their properties within 24 hours of their arrival. 

 

Full story: https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1108768-big-ouds-rogues-gallery-five-thais-fined-for-not-reporting-whereabouts-of-foreigners/

 

Big Oud's rogues' gallery: Five Thais fined for not reporting whereabouts of foreigners

 

Image: naewna

 

Naew Na published five pictures of Thais who had been fined yesterday for not reporting foreigners at their properties within 24 hours of their arrival. 

 

The media said that the fines were issued under orders from new immigration chief "Big Oud" also known as Lt-Gen Sompong Chingduang.

 

The miscreants were named as the following:

 

1. Wanphen Hunlamphu fined 3,200 baht for two cases 

2. Nawakarn Loithian fined 1,600 for one case

 

3. Pornsurirat Jerng fined 12,800 for eight cases.

 

4. Mr Aksana Aksornsarasit fined 3,200 for two cases

and

 

5. Khannaphat Rinjaturat fined 3,200 baht for two cases.

 

Naew Na said the fines were in line with Article 38. 

 

Lt-Gen Sompong - still officially the acting chief of the Thai Immigration Bureau - took over from Big Joke Lt-Gen Surachate Hakparn who was abruptly transferred to clerical duties at the PM's office in April.

 

Source: Naewna

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bike stops but pick-up is not so smart at railway crossing in Thailand

 

Image: Screenshot

 

CCTV made into a short video by Thai Rath showed the moment a motorcyclist looked on perplexed as a pick-up driver went straight through a railway crossing with the barrier down. 

 

Full story: https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1108765-bike-stops-but-pick-up-is-not-so-smart-at-railway-crossing-in-thailand/

 

Video: Abusive minivan driver suspended for a week after altercation with heart patient

 

Image: TNews

 

Thai media has reported that a rude and abusive minivan driver has been fined and suspended after he packed his vehicle with passengers. 

 

Full story: https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1108764-video-abusive-minivan-driver-suspended-for-a-week-after-altercation-with-heart-patient/

 

Video: Abusive minivan driver suspended for a week after altercation with heart patient

 

Image: TNews

 

Thai media has reported that a rude and abusive minivan driver has been fined and suspended after he packed his vehicle with passengers. 

 

The van was so overloaded that a man who had had major heart surgery just six months ago wanted to get off.

 

The driver threatened him and used foul language. 

 

"Song Rattanapanya" said on Facebook where a video was posted that she and her friend had taken the Suphanburi to Ban Rai service at the start of a journey to hospital in Bangkok.

 

They were obliged to stand as there were no seats and then when yet more passengers were picked up they requested to get off but were still asked to pay. 

 

The driver became abusive and threatening. Spring News said to the passenger" "Don't travel on my van and speak like a dog".

 

The poster said that was the last time they were travelling on this minivan service.

 

TNews reported that the Suphanburi Department of Land Transport soon caught up with the driver who was named as Thongchai Singha. 

 

He was fined 5,000 baht for overloading his vehicle, 2,000 baht for being impolite and had his licence suspended for a week. 

 

Source: TNews

 

Myanmar Migrants Released as Murder Convictions Overturned in Thailand
By NYEIN NYEIN

 

 Three of the four convicted migrants sit down during a crime reenactment staged during the investigation of the 2015 murder by Thai police. / Htoo Chit / Facebook

 

YANGON—Two Myanmar migrants serving six- and eight-year sentences for the alleged murder of a Thai woman in Ranong, Thailand in 2015 won their appeal in a southern Thailand court Wednesday.

 

Full story: https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1108762-myanmar-migrants-released-as-murder-convictions-overturned-in-thailand/

 

Myanmar Migrants Released as Murder Convictions Overturned in Thailand
By NYEIN NYEIN

 

 Three of the four convicted migrants sit down during a crime reenactment staged during the investigation of the 2015 murder by Thai police. / Htoo Chit / Facebook

 

YANGON—Two Myanmar migrants serving six- and eight-year sentences for the alleged murder of a Thai woman in Ranong, Thailand in 2015 won their appeal in a southern Thailand court Wednesday.

 

Sein Kadone and Wai Lin—who received eight- and six-year sentences, respectively—had been in prison for three years and eight months. They were finally released on Thursday.

 

On Oct. 28, 2015, four Myanmar citizens—Sein Kadone, Wai Lin, Moe Zin Aung and Kyaw Soe Win—were arrested and charged on five counts for the gruesome murder of Orawee Sampaotong, a 17-year-old Thai woman, a month prior. The Ranong provincial court handed down guilty verdicts in April 2018.

 

Full story: https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/myanmar-migrants-released-murder-convictions-overturned-thailand.html

 

— The Irrawaddy

Grab driver hits Chinese teacher in the face with a golf club in Bangkok

 

Caption: Chinese teacher hit in the face

 

A Chinese teacher was whacked on the nose with a golf club as an argument with a Grab taxi driver turned violent in Pak Kret, Bangkok, yesterday. 

 

Full story: https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1108760-grab-driver-hits-chinese-teacher-in-the-face-with-a-golf-club-in-bangkok/

 

Grab driver hits Chinese teacher in the face with a golf club in Bangkok

 

Caption: Chinese teacher hit in the face

 

A Chinese teacher was whacked on the nose with a golf club as an argument with a Grab taxi driver turned violent in Pak Kret, Bangkok, yesterday. 

 

Two Chinese men - Yew, 30, a Chinese language teacher in Bangkok, and Lee 23 his friend - had called the white car using the Grab application. They were on their way to apply for a course at a Bangkok university. 

 

Pak Kret police arrived in Soi Wat Salak Neua where they found Yew with an injury to his nose. 

 

His friend Lee told officers in Thai: "When the car arrived Yew opened the front passenger door but was told very impolitely to sit in the back. The driver was fierce.

 

"There was then a disagreement about where to place a water bottle and a bad atmosphere developed".

 

He said that Yew spoke some Thai and the driver reacted angrily saying: "Why are you speaking so loudly?".

 

The driver then aborted the journey and told them to get out of the car. 

 

As Yew did he slammed the door which enraged the Grab driver who went and got a golf club out of the boot of the car and hit him. 

 

Only the intervention of a military man nearby succeeded in calming the situation. 

 

The Chinese formally pressed charges at the Pak Kret police station after this. 

 

Sanook said police know the identity of the driver and are now looking for him.

 

Thaivisa notes that the incident will come as a blow to people who believe that many Bangkok taxi drivers are sinners and that Grab drivers are mostly saints. 

 

Source: Sanook

 

U.S. Democrats go after Trump, differ on healthcare in debate

By James Oliphant

 

Democratic U.S. 2020 election presidential candidates including author Marianne Williamson, former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, entrepreneur Andrew Yang, South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, former Vice President Joe Biden, Senator Bernie Sanders, Senator Kamala Harris, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Senator Michael Bennet and Rep. Eric Swalwell debate during the second night of the first Democratic presidential candidates debate in Miami, Florida, U.S. June 27, 2019. REUTERS/Mike Segar

 

MIAMI (Reuters) - Top Democratic presidential contenders launched repeated attacks on President Donald Trump during a debate on Thursday, but for a second consecutive night there was sharp disagreement over the best way to boost access to healthcare insurance coverage.

 

Full story: https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1108758-us-democrats-go-after-trump-differ-on-healthcare-in-debate/

 

U.S. Democrats go after Trump, differ on healthcare in debate

By James Oliphant

 

Democratic U.S. 2020 election presidential candidates including author Marianne Williamson, former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, entrepreneur Andrew Yang, South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, former Vice President Joe Biden, Senator Bernie Sanders, Senator Kamala Harris, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Senator Michael Bennet and Rep. Eric Swalwell debate during the second night of the first Democratic presidential candidates debate in Miami, Florida, U.S. June 27, 2019. REUTERS/Mike Segar

 

MIAMI (Reuters) - Top Democratic presidential contenders launched repeated attacks on President Donald Trump during a debate on Thursday, but for a second consecutive night there was sharp disagreement over the best way to boost access to healthcare insurance coverage.

 

Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders trained their sights on Trump immediately as the second night of Democratic debates began.

 

"The American people understand that Trump is a phony, that Trump is a pathological liar and a racist and that he lied to the American people during his campaign," said Sanders, a U.S. senator running second to Biden in opinion polls among Democrats vying to challenge the Republican president in the November 2020 election.

 

Biden, the former vice president making his third run for the White House, said Trump's tax cuts for the wealthy and other economic policies were increasing economic inequality in the United States.

 

"Donald Trump has put us in a horrible situation. We do have enormous income inequality," Biden said. "The one thing I agree on is we can make massive cuts in the $1.6 trillion in tax loopholes out there, and I would be going about eliminating Donald Trump's tax cuts for the wealthy."

 

Sanders and Biden shared the stage with eight other Democrats, including two other top-tier candidates: Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and U.S. Senator Kamala Harris of California.

 

The debate also included U.S. Senators Michael Bennet and Kirsten Gillibrand, former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, U.S. Representative Eric Swalwell, self-help guru Marianne Williamson and entrepreneur Andrew Yang. All six are polling nationally around 1% or less.

 

But like the Democrats who debated on Wednesday, the contenders disagreed on the best way to expand healthcare coverage. Asked who would back a plan that eliminated private insurance, only Sanders and Harris raised their hands.

 

Like the previous night, the Democrats frequently talked over one another, shouting to get their points across as some of the lesser-known contenders tried to get noticed.

 

"Americans don't want to witness a food fight. They want to know how we're going to put food on their table," Harris said at one point.

 

Sanders defended his big-spending plans for a Medicare-for-All healthcare plan, saying it would reduce premiums for many but that some in the middle class might pay more.

 

"Yes, they will pay more in taxes but less in healthcare for what they get," Sanders said.

 

Representative Eric Swalwell, 38, urged Biden, 76, to pass the torch to younger candidates.

 

"I was 6 years old when a presidential candidate came to the California Democratic convention and said it’s time to pass the torch to a new generation of Americans," Swalwell said. "That candidate was then-Senator Joe Biden."

 

"He was right when he said that 32 years ago. He is still right today,” Swalwell said.

 

Biden responded: ""I'm still holding onto that torch. I want to make it clear."

 

(Additional reporting by Doina Chiacu; Writing by John Whitesides; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Peter Cooney)

 

Genius or joker? British PM favorite Johnson set to face the world

 

 

LONDON (Reuters) - Loose cannon or influential statesman - what kind of British prime minister would Boris Johnson make on the world stage? Judging by his time as foreign secretary, possibly both.

 

Full story: https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1108756-genius-or-joker-british-pm-favorite-johnson-set-to-face-the-world/

 

Genius or joker? British PM favorite Johnson set to face the world

 

 

LONDON (Reuters) - Loose cannon or influential statesman - what kind of British prime minister would Boris Johnson make on the world stage? Judging by his time as foreign secretary, possibly both.

 

When Johnson was given the foreign job in 2016, after Britain voted to leave the EU, he was viewed as an unlikely choice by politicians and public alike given his tendency to court controversy with gaffes, oddball jokes and off-the-cuff remarks.

The early days seemed to confirm the worst fears of those who saw the Conservative lawmaker as an unsuitable diplomat, at a critical time when Britain needed to forge new political and commercial ties with a slew of countries.

 

What should have been a routine conference in Italy, the “Mediterranean Dialogues Forum” aimed at building relations with leading envoys from the West and Middle East, instead turned into something of a diplomatic incident.

 

Johnson made headlines by going off-script and accusing Saudi Arabia, an important regional ally, of acting as a puppeteer in proxy wars under the guise of religion.

 

The backlash was swift from Prime Minister Theresa May, who said his comments did not reflect “actual policy”, dishing out what a government source described as a shocking and very public “cuffing” for a senior minister.

 

Now May is stepping down over her failure to extract Britain from the European Union. Johnson, a leader of the Brexit campaign, is the overwhelming favorite to become leader of the governing Conservative Party next month, which would also make him prime minister.

 

The 55-year-old, famous for his messy mop of blond hair and disheveled style, has turned upper-class English eccentricity into a political asset in Britain and perfected a personal brand based on a comic talent and a seemingly shambolic style.

 

His critics say this robs him of statesman-like gravity, arguing that it’s difficult to take seriously a man who once said the chance of him becoming prime minister was about as likely as finding Elvis on Mars.

 

However two of Johnson’s aides and another veteran Conservative who knows him said that he was often misunderstood and that beneath his blustering, self-confident demeanor was a shy, serious man focused on his goals.

 

He is a natural introvert, two sources close his team told Reuters, adding that his shyness is often construed as arrogance, and he needs a lot of time alone before speaking in public - distinctively at odds with the public perception of Johnson being a natural, unscripted showman.

 

“Before speaking to a room, he needs to corral himself,” said the veteran Conservative. “It’s not a performance but it saps him of energy. He just needs to summon up the energy.”

 

One aide, a government source and an EU diplomat also pointed to an influential, but behind-the-scenes, role he played as foreign secretary following the poisoning of a former Russian spy, Sergei Skripal, by a nerve agent last year in England.

 

One government source said Johnson had put his “shoulder to the wheel” to win international support for sanctions and Russian diplomatic expulsions from a long list of countries.

 

A senior European diplomat agreed that he was “professional” in this role, which attracted little publicity.

 

“People in Brussels didn’t take Boris seriously back then,” the diplomat said. “In March last year, he showed he could drop the clownish personality, he showed a will to discuss the Skripal affair in the most serious terms and to make the point to his counterparts that they needed to back Britain on this.”

 

IRREVERENT INSURGENT

 

Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, to give his full name, is something of an enigma at home and abroad.

 

He is man of apparent contradictions, with his privileged background and bursts of Latin phrases seemingly at odds with his popular appeal when elected mayor of left-leaning London in 2008 with the biggest personal mandate in British history.

 

He is one of those rare politicians to be most commonly referred to by most members of the public by their first names.

Like U.S. President Donald Trump, he can emerge unscathed from gaffes and scandals that would sink any normal public figure. Other offensive remarks he has made include calling black people “piccaninnies” and saying Muslim women wearing burkas “look like letter boxes”.

 

“Boris is a flawed character and flaky but most politicians are underneath,” said Ed Costelloe, chair of the campaign group Conservative Grassroots. “It would be lovely to have Mother Theresa as prime minister, but it ain’t going to happen.”

 

In fact, some people love him all the more because he appears to be an irreverent insurgent who defies the media training of polished politics, shooting from the hip with comic timing and flair. Others seem to give him more leeway.

 

After his incendiary comments on Saudi Arabia, for example, two British officials said his words had not in fact gone down badly in Riyadh. “The Saudis appreciated his buffoonery, they understand his kind of humor,” said one of the officials.

The biggest task ahead, should he become leader, would be withdrawal talks with the EU, which has said it will not reopen the

 

Withdrawal Agreement agreed by May in November - a deal that was repeatedly rejected by British lawmakers and led to the original Brexit date of March 29 being pushed back.

 

Johnson has offended many in Europe, with remarks such as suggesting Italy should help with a Brexit deal to avoid losing out on sales of Prosecco sparkling wine and declaring it was “bollocks” to say that freedom of movement was a founding principle of the EU.

 

Yet the British government sources said his ability to wrestle changes to the deal from Brussels, as he has demanded, would come down to whether he can carry the support of British lawmakers and end a stalemate that has incensed EU officials.

 

“His success depends on whether the EU believes he can actually command a majority,” said one of the sources. “The thing about the

 

PM was that they just didn’t believe she could ever get it through so were never going to give any more ground. If they think Boris can get it through, they might shift.”

 

IT’S ALL ABOUT BREXIT

 

Johnson has cast himself as the only leadership candidate who can deliver Brexit on the next deadline of Oct. 31 - with or without a deal.

 

The sources close his team said he was approaching his bid in a similarly quiet way to the Skripal maneuvering. He has built support through behind-the-scenes talks with lawmakers rather through media appearances and speeches - and had been conspicuously absent from public sight until this week.

 

He has been listening closely to the counsel of his closest aides and veteran election strategist Lynton Crosby, who is not officially on the payroll but is offering advice.

 

Johnson’s strategy of steering clear of the airwaves and avoiding public head-to-head debates has been carefully thought through as part of a leadership campaign in the works for months in anticipation of May’s announcement five weeks ago that she would step down, said the sources.

 

The plan appeared uncharacteristic for a man who made his name by being highly visible, including appearing in comedy shows and one of Britain’s best-loved TV soap operas.

 

He even drew accusations from his only remaining leadership rival, Jeremy Hunt, of being a coward for avoiding head-to-head debates. Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd said she found Johnson’s decision to ignore live TV debates “very odd”.

 

The strategy was partly borne of the fact that Johnson is widely viewed as a near-certainty to win the party leadership, and become prime minister, barring an unforeseen catastrophe.

 

Foreign Secretary Hunt voted to stay in the European Union in 2016, which is likely to count against him among the around 160,000 party members who will choose the winner and are mainly pro-Brexit.

 

However Johnson was forced to veer from the gameplan and break cover this week when he was faced with exactly the kind of negative publicity his team had hoped to avoid, after a neighbor called the police upon hearing Johnson and his girlfriend shouting and smashing plates.

 

Police found no cause for action, but the story dominated the front pages of Britain’s newspapers, with some questioning Johnson’s character and past - he is divorcing his second wife and has had several reported affairs.

 

Following the furor, he changed gear and launched into a media blitz on TV and radio.

 

Nonetheless, few in his party believe anything can seriously impede his cruise to 10 Downing Street.

 

“Boris is still well ahead with the membership who will ultimately decide who the next prime minister is,” said Conservative lawmaker and Johnson supporter Andrew Bridgen.

 

“The overriding issue is Brexit and unfortunately Jeremy voted remain.”

 

Reporting by Elizabeth Piper; Additional reporting by Robin Emmott in Brussels, and Andrew MacAskill and William James in London; Editing by Pravin Char

 

 

 

 

MPs seek to block no-deal Brexit by stopping government funds

 

FILE PHOTO: Former Attorney General Dominic Grieve speaks at a rally to discuss how to conduct a potential second referendum, in London, Britain, January 11, 2019. REUTERS/Simon Dawson

 

LONDON (Reuters) - Pro-European Union lawmakers will seek next week to block a new prime minister from taking Britain out of the European Union without a deal and against the will of parliament by trying to cut off some of the government’s funding.

 

Full story: https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1108755-mps-seek-to-block-no-deal-brexit-by-stopping-government-funds/

 

MPs seek to block no-deal Brexit by stopping government funds

 

FILE PHOTO: Former Attorney General Dominic Grieve speaks at a rally to discuss how to conduct a potential second referendum, in London, Britain, January 11, 2019. REUTERS/Simon Dawson

 

LONDON (Reuters) - Pro-European Union lawmakers will seek next week to block a new prime minister from taking Britain out of the European Union without a deal and against the will of parliament by trying to cut off some of the government’s funding.

 

Former Conservative Attorney General Dominic Grieve and former Labour Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett have tabled an amendment to routine finance legislation – dubbed estimates - that was set to be nodded through early next week.

 

Senior veteran Conservative lawmaker Ken Clarke added his influential weight to their bid, saying he would vote for the amendment.

The change aims at denying funds to certain government departments unless parliament has ratified a deal, or Withdrawal Agreement, with the EU, or lawmakers have agreed to Britain leaving without a deal.

 

“The suggestion that we could or should be taken out of the EU without the consent of the House of Commons is fundamentally wrong, and frankly unconstitutional,” Grieve told The Sun.

 

Clarke, 78, asked by reporters if he would vote with Grieve, said: “Yes, I have always voted with all those votes ... and I hope they eventually find some procedural device (to stop no deal).”

 

He added: “It is just unthinkable that the government could take us out with no deal, without a majority and we’ve slowly got more people to pluck up courage on no-deal. We have a majority of about 100 in the (650-seat) House of Commons against leaving with no deal.”

 

A spokeswoman for Prime Minister Theresa May said such a funding block would be “grossly irresponsible”.

 

“This is government spending for this financial year and funds crucial areas like schools, housing and welfare,” the spokeswoman said, adding that it was not yet clear whether the amendment would be selected for debate.

 

The move comes after both candidates to replace May as prime minister have said they would oversee a no-deal Brexit if forced to.

 

Boris Johnson has pledged to leave the EU with or without a deal on Oct. 31 if he wins. His rival Jeremy Hunt has said he would, if

absolutely necessary, go for a no-deal Brexit.

 

Reporting by Elizabeth Piper and Guy Faulconbridge; editing by Stephen Addison