Senin, 30 September 2019

On Brexit, Boris Johnson and the U.K. Attorney General Refuse to Surrender - National Review

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson outside Downing Street in London, England, September 25, 2019. (Henry Nicholls/Reuters)
Johnson doesn’t regret ‘using the word surrender to describe the surrender act.’

On the afternoon of this past Wednesday — following the U.K. supreme court’s ruling that the prorogation of Parliament by Her Majesty’s Government was unlawful, null, and void, had never happened at all legally, and would have to be reversed — the U.K’s chief legal officer, Attorney General Geoffrey Cox, rose to speak to a largely hostile House of Commons. In addition to feeling the government’s general travails, Cox seemed to be in a sticky position personally because it was he who had advised the cabinet that prorogation was indisputably legal — to the point that anyone who denied it could have only political motives for so doing.

Cox was therefore defending himself as much as the government.

When he sat down a short time later, the Tory benches were buoyant, cheering for the first time in weeks. Cox had knocked Labour MPs, ex-Tory dissidents, Liberal Democrat scolds, and the entire anti-Brexit Coalition of Incompatibles around the Commons chamber with the kind of robust theatrical performance that only a top Queen’s counsel (a kind of super-lawyer) can put across with easy conviction.

While respecting the supreme court’s judgment, he said he did not agree with it. He refused to apologize for the legal advice he had given the cabinet, which reflected what the law was before the supreme court’s judgment. He responded forcefully and even dismissively to successive critics on the Opposition benches, telling one Labour MP that he ought to beg the forgiveness of his voters for betraying them over Brexit. And overall, he denounced the opposition parties for cowardice and obstructionism:

Let me tell them the truth, they can vote no confidence at any time, but they are too cowardly. They could agree to a motion to allow this House to dissolve, but they are too cowardly. This parliament should have the courage to face the electorate, but it won’t, because so many of them are really all about preventing us leaving the European Union — but the time is coming, the time is coming, Mr. Speaker, when even these turkeys won’t be able to prevent Christmas.

Twice he delivered a line that had the Opposition benches screeching like the demonically possessed from an Exorcist movie: “This parliament is a dead parliament. It should no longer sit. It has no moral right to sit on these green benches.”

It was a great barnstorming performance. It gave fresh heart to the Tories by making clear that the government would not roll over in response to its recent constitutional reverse but would stick to its policy of leaving the EU by October 31. It was interpreted as proof that the government was preparing to fight — indeed to provoke, if possible — an election on a People versus Parliament ticket. And it turned out to be trailer for a performance by Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the following day when, with similar boldness, he denounced the Opposition’s bill to prevent Brexit, calling it a “surrender” to the EU.

On both occasions, the Opposition benches exploded in anger and indignation. Not unmixed with calculation, however.

What their reaction revealed was that the anti-Tory coalition was extremely nervous that this populist appeal could well be seriously popular and that the Opposition already testing ways to hinder and obstruct it. The first such test was launched against the attorney general. When he was asked at what point he became aware that his legal advice on prorogation was “not true,” he replied, “When did you stop beating your wife?”

Labour MP Emma Hardy was at once on her feet, warning that Cox should “moderate his language” and not make a “joke” of domestic violence. He apologized amiably (and needlessly) that it was an old legal joke showing he had been asked an accusation rather than a question. But the tut-tutting from the Opposition would probably be continuing still if Guido Fawkes (a leading conservative blogger) had not unearthed footage of Hardy using exactly the same phrase in an earlier debate.

That was too late, however; the meme was out of the gate. John Bercow, the first openly non-impartial speaker, had already intoned sententiously:

It is a matter of extreme sensitivity and it is incredibly important that we are sensitive to the wider implications and interpretation of what we say. Society’s mores change, and sometimes one can find that things that one has freely said in the past without causing offence can no longer be said without causing offence.

Mr. Pecksniff could not have said it better. Partisans posing as referees had the broad outlines of the script handed to them.

Next day, therefore, the same tactic was deployed in a more thorough and ruthless way. When the prime minister attacked a bill amending the Brexit legislation — the so-called Benn bill after its main proposer, Hilary Benn — as a “surrender” bill because, among other things, it allows the EU to select the date for the U.K.’s departure, a Labour MP, Paula Sherriff exploded with indignation. She was angered that Johnson was using “offensive, dangerous, and inflammatory language” that in addition to being bad in itself, was likely to provoke physical attacks on MPs and others like herself. In this context, she referred obliquely to the murder of an MP, Jo Cox, during the referendum campaign by a deranged extremist. And she alleged that people were telephoning her with death threats and using words such as “surrender” and “treason” — or as she put it, “quoting the prime minister.”

“I’ve never heard such humbug in all my life,” responded Boris Johnson.

As if to prove him correct, there then followed an outburst of hysteria and indignation on the Labour side.

Another female MP, who had been elected for the constituency previously held by Jo Cox, now rose and, again referring to the murdered MP, appealed almost tearfully to Johnson not to use wounding words to describe the opinions of people who merely disagreed with him. Johnson replied that it was perfectly fair to describe a piece of legislation as “a surrender bill, a capitulation bill” if it greatly reduced the ability of the government to negotiate the terms of Britain’s departure from the EU. This did not mollify Johnson’s critics.

He then made a small mistake of taste. Up to this point, Labour female MPs were the only speakers who had referred to the murder of Jo Cox in relation to words that wound. In replying to Jo Cox’s successor, however, Boris said that the best way to pay tribute to Cox would be to get Brexit passed and out of the way. It was seemingly intended as a pacifying sentiment that might damp down the reigning hysteria on the opposite benches. Instead, the prime minister was accused of exploiting her death to advance his political agenda.

If you doubt my account — and I would sympathize with you for doing so — see this parliamentary footage courtesy of the Guardian:

In principle, of course, half the people denouncing Johnson for advancing Brexit claim that they too want to see Brexit passed; in reality, they are trying to delay it until the Greek calends, which a classical scholar like Boris Johnson would know means “until the day of never.” And because most of reporters and commentators share this hope, much of their coverage reduced the incident to the capsule message “Boris exploits death of Labour MP in defense of his Wounding Words.”

Thus, the prime minister having enjoyed something like a first-night triumph at Westminster, with Tory MPs giving him an ovation like that enjoyed by Geoffrey Cox the day before, woke up the next morning to decidedly mixed reviews (which I think Noel Coward defined as “one or two kind and the rest insulting.”) Over the next few days, Boris was doused in a cascade of moralistic sermonizing from other politicians, some of them former or marginal Tories, all anxious to keep the language of British politics clean, inoffensive, and extraordinarily dull in the great cause of handicapping his pursuit of Brexit.

Not that everyone was restrained — or intended to be restrained. Former Tory prime minister John Major, an old Europhile, denounced Boris’s robust rhetoric in, er, extremely robust terms: “Words such as ‘saboteur,’ ‘traitor,’ ‘enemy,’ ‘surrender,’ ‘betrayal’ have no place in our party, our politics, nor in our society.” He also thought they were un-Conservative.

Of course, as now often happens in the age of the Internet and Google, anyone who strikes a noble pose of opposition to lies and obscenity is almost immediately presented with evidence of his own wicked words or bad behavior on tape or film. Major was soon reminded that he had described his former cabinet colleagues who defied him over the Maastricht treaty in the 1990s as “bastards.” Nor did it help that the Sunday Telegraph serialization of the final volume of Charles Moore’s Margaret Thatcher biography, just out, depicts him as scheming to replace her while affecting to support her. A particularly nice touch was that he signed Mrs. Thatcher’s nomination papers for the second leadership ballot on condition that they be given to her campaign team only if she decided not to run. They would then be useless except as evidence of his loyalty.

I would call that low cunning of a high order, but perhaps such words have no place in our elevated and sanitized political life.

The attacks on Boris Johnson’s rhetoric — in particular those that traced the murder of Jo Cox forward to his use of “surrender” and “sabotage” — were meant to make it impossible for the Tories to wage a vigorous and effective campaign against MPs who had promised to support Brexit but had since done all they could to obstruct and prevent it. (A secondary bonus is that Labour MPs will be positioned to blame the Tories if any physical attacks do occur.) Naturally, if you’re secretly aiming to obstruct something, you will loudly condemn the pejorative use of the word “obstruction” as offensive, dangerous, or inflammatory. The solution is to back off from deceptive obstruction, however, rather than to police language

Speaker John Bercow has reached the opposite conclusion — inevitably, I suppose, since he’s seeking to obstruct Brexit, though not very secretly — and is calling the party leaders together to discuss some new code of linguistic conduct. Some insulting words such as “liar” are already prohibited as “un-parliamentary terms.” If the list of such terms goes further to include words such as “capitulation” and “surrender” as descriptions of a rival policy or as metaphors for appeasing policies, that would be a ludicrous restraint on truth as well as on clear and honest language. It’s not clear to me that Westminster’s famously combative politics could even be carried on under such puritan verbal restraints. Would Bercow’s list of forbidden terms reduce two politicians across the dispatch box to an embarrassed silence, in P. G. Wodehouse’s words, “as between two Trappist monks who have met unexpectedly at the dog races”?

Fortunately for political life, this latest Bercow exercise in vanity seems unlikely to progress far. Boris Johnson told the BBC Sunday, at the start of the Tory party’s annual conference, that while he deplored physical threats, he did not regret “using the word ‘surrender’ to describe the surrender act.” He also suggested that everyone should keep calm and carry on, and when asked whether that included him, he said: “I think I’ve been the model of restraint.”

It’s not an unreasonable claim. Plainly, however, Boris does not intend to adopt the policy of unilateral rhetorical disarmament that his enemies were trying to impose on him. That makes him a more formidable opponent to Remainers and a bigger threat to their hopes of blocking Brexit. They are starting to realize that and to worry that Boris might be too wily and determined an operator to leave in possession of the formidable powers of a PM. Though he seems to have no face cards in his hand, he might produce four aces from his sleeve or, worse, a razor. Their minds are turning to evicting him from Downing Street sooner rather than later. At the beginning of a week in which the Tory party is holding its annual bean-feast in Manchester, the other parties at Westminster will be trying to put together a coalition to oust him from Downing Street and to replace him with a Remain Unity prime minister. . . . But as yet they can’t agree on who that might be.

Postscript: In the course of his barnstorming address, Attorney General Cox also let slip a remark that few people noticed. The constitutional consequences of actions such as the supreme court’s decision, he said, and their importance, usually take time to become apparent. They are now becoming apparent, and they point to a burgeoning crisis even more significant to democracy than Brexit. More on that in due course.

Let's block ads! (Why?)


https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/09/brexit-boris-johnson-geoffrey-cox-refuse-to-surrender/

2019-09-30 10:30:00Z
52780396784013

UK weather forecast – ‘Danger to life’ warning in place with ‘BEAST’ Hurricane Lorenzo set to bring more miser - The Sun

TORRENTIAL downpours over the last three days have left much of Britain mired in floodwater - and more deluges are on the way with Hurricane Lorenzo set to bring more misery towards the end of this week.

The Met Office has issued warnings of a "danger to life" weather warning as "persistent" rain shows no signs of stopping soon.

 The route of the Road World Championships in North Yorkshire was altered so riders could battle on through the rain

16

The route of the Road World Championships in North Yorkshire was altered so riders could battle on through the rainCredit: Getty - Contributor
 Walkers on the promenade in Dover, Kent, got a thorough soaking

16

Walkers on the promenade in Dover, Kent, got a thorough soakingCredit: PA:Press Association
 Intense downpours in Horwich, Greater Manchester yesterday, with drivers battling inches of floodwater

16

Intense downpours in Horwich, Greater Manchester yesterday, with drivers battling inches of floodwaterCredit: Mercury Press
 Beach huts being washed away in a storm at St Leonards-on-Sea on Sunday

16

Beach huts being washed away in a storm at St Leonards-on-Sea on Sunday
 River Calder in West Yorkshire burst its banks on Sunday, forcing this driver to collect his belongings from his car.

16

River Calder in West Yorkshire burst its banks on Sunday, forcing this driver to collect his belongings from his car.

Organisers changed the route of the Road World Championships in North Yorkshire on Sunday due to concerns for rider safety.

Flood warnings remain in place nationwide today with roads closed and trains disrupted.

A man, 23, died when a car hit a tree in a downpour near Fontwell, West Sussex, late on Saturday.

And waves whipped up by strong winds crashed over the promenade in Dover, Kent.

Yellow weather warnings have been put in place for the next two days, with more than 200 flood warnings and alerts enforced around the country.

Two campers and their dog had to be rescued from torrential rain from Laughter Hole, Dartmoor.

SPONSORED CONTENT: How to save £219 a year off your energy bills

BEAT energy price rises year after year with Switchcraft. It's free and it could save you an average of £219 a year.

  • Sign up, easily compare tariffs and switch
  • Once you sign up, Switchcraft will automatically find you a cheaper deal when a better tariff comes up, saving you time, hassle and money.
  • It takes just 3 minutes. That's it!
  • Get £5 cashback and never worry about switching again
  • Click here to get saving!

News UK has a brand partnership with Switchcraft. The £5 will be paid into your bank account within four months of completing the switch. Prepayment meter customer customers will receive a £5 Amazon voucher. Open to those 18 and over. UK residents only. Click here for full T&Cs.

Inland there were floods in the Conwy Valley and the Dyfi bridge which links Machynlleth in mid Wales to the north became impassable.

And forecasters have said Hurricane Lorenzo will bring more misery towards the end of this week.

Gusts from around 50mph to over 70mph are expected in the west of the UK, with 16ft waves forecast on South-West coasts, according to magicseaweed.com.

Some parts of the country could even see as much as 70mm of rain.

Winter's first snow is due on Wednesday, with a covering on Scotland's higher mountains, amid an Arctic plunge bringing -2C nights, frost and a chilly Wednesday with 13C highs in the South.

'REAL BEAST'

Hurricane Lorenzo, a maximum Category 5 storm, is the most powerful hurricane ever recorded so close to Europe.

Only one hurricane or tropical storm has ever made landfall on Europe's mainland at tropical storm strength – Vince in Spain in 2005.

Met Office forecaster Steven Keates said: “Lorenzo is a real beast of a storm.

"It will be one of Europe's strongest ever tropical storms, as the Azores are part of Europe.

“After reaching the Azores on Tuesday, Lorenzo is expected to move to the UK by Thursday - bringing a couple of days with potentially worse conditions than this weekend.

“There are scenarios from gales to storm-force 70mph-plus gusts, but there's uncertainty."

RAIL CHAOS

Railways were also plunged into chaos with trains between Blackpool North and Preston suspended due to flooding and stretches of track in Cheshire also hit.

Speed restrictions were put in place between Wigan and Southport, and Leeds and Harrogate.

There was no service from Sheffield to Manchester due to water on the tracks, and there were speed restrictions in the opposite direction.

The rail operator warned it had imposed speed restrictions on many parts of its network due to safety concerns.

The Environment Agency has 61 localised flood warnings across England and Wales, plus 169 alerts for possible flooding.

Ex-BBC and Met Office forecaster John Hammond of weathertrending said: “Another bout of stormy weather follows into Tuesday.

“And could a wintry start to October be cold enough for snow on Scottish mountains?

“Then Hurricane Lorenzo and tropical disturbances may see further stormy weather.”

 Dorset was battered by heavy rain and strong winds on Sunday, leaving Weymouth Harbour surrounded by inches of floodwater

16

Dorset was battered by heavy rain and strong winds on Sunday, leaving Weymouth Harbour surrounded by inches of floodwaterCredit: Bournemouth News
 Floodwater surges around this car in Crovie, north east Scotland

16

Floodwater surges around this car in Crovie, north east ScotlandCredit: Adventure Girl
 Dorset was battered by heavy rain and strong winds on Sunday, with roads completely flooded surrounding Weymouth Harbour

16

Dorset was battered by heavy rain and strong winds on Sunday, with roads completely flooded surrounding Weymouth HarbourCredit: Bournemouth News
 Biblical floods have hit Britain after three days of heavy downpours

16

Biblical floods have hit Britain after three days of heavy downpours
 A woman wraps up against the elements on the promenade in Dover, Kent

16

A woman wraps up against the elements on the promenade in Dover, KentCredit: PA:Press Association
 Flood water covers the fairways and greens of the Mond Valley golf course in Clydach near Swansea

16

Flood water covers the fairways and greens of the Mond Valley golf course in Clydach near SwanseaCredit: Alamy Live News
 Heavy rain and wind brought a high amount of floodwater to the South Wales area

16

Heavy rain and wind brought a high amount of floodwater to the South Wales areaCredit: Alamy Live News
 A family runs through sea spray on the South Coast as strong winds batter Brighton

16

A family runs through sea spray on the South Coast as strong winds batter BrightonCredit: © Southern News & Pictures Ltd.
 Bournemouth beach, where the wind produced masses of spume

16

Bournemouth beach, where the wind produced masses of spumeCredit: Alamy Live News
 After heavy rain on Saturday and Sunday, the river Wye bursts its banks in the small Welsh market town of Builth Wells

16

After heavy rain on Saturday and Sunday, the river Wye bursts its banks in the small Welsh market town of Builth WellsCredit: London News Pictures
 Heavy and 'persistent' rain is expected to batter Britain for another two days, with this weather map showing heavy showers for Monday

16

Heavy and 'persistent' rain is expected to batter Britain for another two days, with this weather map showing heavy showers for Monday
Weather forcast for Monday September 30 2019 - Wet and windy


We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368 . You can WhatsApp us on 07810 791 502. We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours.

Let's block ads! (Why?)


https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/10029056/uk-weather-forecast-hurricane-lorenzo-latest/

2019-09-30 09:09:00Z
52780395420287

UK weather warning: Britain faces first SNOW of winter as October plunges into deep freeze - Express.co.uk

The first ‘significant snow’ of the season is expected to fall across parts of the country towards the end of October, according to some long-range forecasts. Britain could be facing another record winter chiller with early long-range forecasts pointing to a repeat of last year’s Beast from the East. Warnings come as strong winds and torrential rain continue to hammer the nation with more bad weather forecast this week.

Torrential rain and strong winds will bring further flood misery before Arctic air arrives mid-week sending temperatures plummeting.

Brits are  on alert for a major change in the weather to unleash bitter winds and even snow through the second half of October.

Exacta Weather forecaster James Madden said: “Brits should make the most of the milder weather as next month is showing the potential for some cooler weather and significant night time frosts.

“These will start to set in during the second half of the month, when the first significant snow of the season is likely to occur across higher ground.

“Low-pressure systems pushing in off the Atlantic will give the potential for some early winter weather in the late October to November period.

“These will clash with cold air over the country bringing significant snow events across higher ground in the north with the potential for some wintry water to lower levels across parts of the country.”

This winter could join some of the coldest on record with temperatures and snowfall set to rival the historic chiller of 2010/11 and last year’s Beast from the East.

Low solar activity and its knock-on effect on the Gulf Stream will drive changes in the position of the jet stream to drive the cold weather.

Cooler than normal Gulf Stream waters which run along the east coast of America and up the west coast of the UK will impact the weather, according to Mr Madden.

He said: “Weather systems pushing in off the Atlantic will be responsible for the significant snow events from November onwards as they clash with the colder and stagnated air across our shores on multiple occasions.

“This is in part due to the period of low solar activity that we currently reside within and how much solar energy is emitted to heat important ocean currents such as the Gulf Stream circulation.

“This process alters the behaviour of our jet-stream to bring about these weather patterns, we can apply such factors to long-range weather indications with some success.

“Similar methods have allowed us to identify, several weeks in advance, previous record-breaking cold weather events including the extreme cold which hit Britain in December2010 and the exceptionally cold March of 2013.

“This winter is giving off the right signals for some potentially record-breaking cold and snow from November onwards this year.”

Britain’s weather is being given an autumnal shake-up with further bouts of wind and rain on the cards this week.

Temperatures will nosedive from Wednesday when Arctic air descends across the country, the Met Office warned.

Meteorologist Alex Burkill said: “Another low-pressure system will move across the country during the start of the week bringing further wet and windy weather.

“It quietens down a little bit on Wednesday when we go into a northerly flow of Arctic air, so it will feel chillier.

“There is the potential for another spell of unsettled weather from Thursday although there is still some uncertainly around this.”

Let's block ads! (Why?)


https://www.express.co.uk/news/weather/1184069/BBC-weather-warnings-forecast-this-week-snow-north-west-london-rain-October-freeze

2019-09-30 06:52:55Z
CBMigQFodHRwczovL3d3dy5leHByZXNzLmNvLnVrL25ld3Mvd2VhdGhlci8xMTg0MDY5L0JCQy13ZWF0aGVyLXdhcm5pbmdzLWZvcmVjYXN0LXRoaXMtd2Vlay1zbm93LW5vcnRoLXdlc3QtbG9uZG9uLXJhaW4tT2N0b2Jlci1mcmVlemXSAYUBaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZXhwcmVzcy5jby51ay9uZXdzL3dlYXRoZXIvMTE4NDA2OS9CQkMtd2VhdGhlci13YXJuaW5ncy1mb3JlY2FzdC10aGlzLXdlZWstc25vdy1ub3J0aC13ZXN0LWxvbmRvbi1yYWluLU9jdG9iZXItZnJlZXplL2FtcA

Minggu, 29 September 2019

U.S. Businesswoman Admitted Affair With Boris Johnson, U.K. Report Says - The New York Times

LONDON — An American businesswoman who received thousands of pounds from a government agency that Boris Johnson controlled when he was mayor of London told friends that she and Mr. Johnson were having a sexual affair, according to a British news report this weekend.

The revelation in The Sunday Times of London intensifies the scandal hanging over Mr. Johnson as he tries to navigate an impasse in Parliament over his Brexit plans. Several agencies are investigating accusations that he gave favorable treatment to the businesswoman, Jennifer Arcuri, now 34, by helping her secure sponsorship money and taking her on trade missions that she was not qualified for.

On Friday, a monitor at London’s City Hall referred Mr. Johnson to a police watchdog for a possible investigation into the case, saying that the accusations, if true, could amount to misconduct in public office.

Both Mr. Johnson and Ms. Arcuri have denied any wrongdoing. And a government minister from Mr. Johnson’s Conservative Party dismissed that as “an obviously politicized complaint.” The monitor was a career official who also worked at City Hall during Mr. Johnson’s tenure as London mayor, from 2008 to 2016.

The new revelations were published as Mr. Johnson arrived with his girlfriend, Carrie Symonds, in Manchester this weekend for the opening of the Conservative Party conference. The conference has been overshadowed by a Supreme Court ruling on Tuesday that Mr. Johnson’s suspension of Parliament at the height of the Brexit crisis was “unlawful.”

Mr. Johnson was forced to return to the House of Commons three weeks earlier than planned to face defiant lawmakers who are determined to stop him from pulling Britain out of the European Union without a deal governing future relations.

The Sunday Times article this weekend fills in some details of an episode that has hounded Mr. Johnson during what has already been a wobbly start to his leadership.

The newspaper reported that Ms. Arcuri had confided to four friends that she was having an affair with Mr. Johnson when he was mayor, a relationship that began soon after they met in 2012, while he was campaigning for his second term as mayor. Mr. Johnson was 47 and in his second marriage at the time. Ms. Arcuri was 27 and finishing a graduate program in business in London.

The newspaper quotes as one of its sources David Enrich, who was an employee of The Wall Street Journal in 2013 when, he said, he interviewed Ms. Acuri for an article about her business partner. He said he had been told by her friends about the alleged relationship between her and Mr. Johnson. Mr. Enrich is now a business editor at The New York Times.

Earlier, The Sunday Times reported that Mr. Johnson often paid afternoon visits to the apartment where Ms. Arcuri lived in East London while on breaks from his duties as mayor. The article was illustrated with a photograph of Ms. Arcuri using a dancing pole fitted in her home.

Mr. Johnson gave Ms. Arcuri’s first venture a major lift by appearing at four networking events for entrepreneurs and policymakers that her company had organized, the newspaper said.

She received 11,500 pounds, or around $14,000, in sponsorship money from an organization that was overseen by Mr. Johnson as mayor. And she was given coveted spots on trade missions with the mayor to Malaysia, New York, Singapore and Tel Aviv. In some instances, Mr. Johnson’s office intervened to add her to the roster even though she did not meet the criteria for trade delegates, the report said.

Another business later set up by Ms. Arcuri, Hacker House, was awarded a central government grant of £100,000, about $120,000, in February, before Mr. Johnson became prime minister.

An unnamed Conservative Party activist told the newspaper that Ms. Arcuri had acknowledged the affair and that, even when other people were around, played along with jokes about their status.

After initially declining to discuss the accusations, Mr. Johnson told a reporter from the broadcaster ITV, “Absolutely everything was done with full propriety and in accordance with proper procedures.”

Mr. Johnson’s serial philandering has frequently made headlines in Britain. Earlier in his career, he was fired from the Conservative Party’s leadership team after falsely denying reports of an extramarital affair.

But the new accusations have put Mr. Johnson under a level of scrutiny that he has rarely received during his turbulent career.

Let's block ads! (Why?)


https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/29/world/europe/boris-johnson-jennifer-arcuri.html

2019-09-29 15:13:00Z
52780396784013

U.S. Businesswoman Admitted Affair With Boris Johnson, U.K. Report Says - The New York Times

LONDON — An American businesswoman who received thousands of pounds from a government agency that Boris Johnson controlled when he was mayor of London told friends that she and Mr. Johnson were having a sexual affair, according to a British news report this weekend.

The revelation in The Sunday Times of London intensifies the scandal hanging over Mr. Johnson as he tries to navigate an impasse in Parliament over his Brexit plans. Several agencies are investigating accusations that he gave favorable treatment to the businesswoman, Jennifer Arcuri, now 34, by helping her secure sponsorship money and taking her on trade missions that she was not qualified for.

On Friday, a monitor at London’s City Hall referred Mr. Johnson to a police watchdog for a possible investigation into the case, saying that the accusations, if true, could amount to misconduct in public office.

Both Mr. Johnson and Ms. Arcuri have denied any wrongdoing. And a government minister from Mr. Johnson’s Conservative Party dismissed that as “an obviously politicized complaint.” The monitor was a career official who also worked at City Hall during Mr. Johnson’s tenure as London mayor, from 2008 to 2016.

The new revelations were published as Mr. Johnson arrived with girlfriend, Carrie Symonds, in Manchester this weekend for the opening of the Conservative Party conference. The conference has been overshadowed by a Supreme Court ruling on Tuesday that Mr. Johnson’s suspension of Parliament at the height of the Brexit crisis was “unlawful.”

Mr. Johnson was forced to return to the House of Commons three weeks earlier than planned to face defiant lawmakers who are determined to stop him from pulling Britain out of the European Union without a deal governing future relations.

The Sunday Times article this weekend fills in some details of an episode that has hounded Mr. Johnson during what has already been a wobbly start to his leadership.

The newspaper reported that Ms. Arcuri had confided to four friends that she was having an affair with Mr. Johnson when he was mayor, a relationship that began soon after they met in 2012, while he was campaigning for his second term as mayor. Mr. Johnson was 47 and in his second marriage at the time. Ms. Arcuri was 27 and finishing a graduate program in business in London.

The newspaper quotes as one of its sources David Enrich, who was an employee of The Wall Street Journal in 2013 when, he said, he interviewed Ms. Acuri for an article about her business partner. He said he had been told by her friends about the alleged relationship between her and Mr. Johnson. Mr. Enrich is now a business editor at The New York Times.

Earlier, The Sunday Times reported that Mr. Johnson often paid afternoon visits to the apartment where Ms. Arcuri lived in East London while on breaks from his duties as mayor. The article was illustrated with a photograph of Ms. Arcuri using a dancing pole fitted in her home.

Mr. Johnson gave Ms. Arcuri’s first venture a major lift by appearing at four networking events for entrepreneurs and policymakers that her company had organized, the newspaper said.

She received 11,500 pounds, or around $14,000, in sponsorship money from an organization that was overseen by Mr. Johnson as mayor. And she was given coveted spots on trade missions with the mayor to Malaysia, New York, Singapore and Tel Aviv. In some instances, Mr. Johnson’s office intervened to add her to the roster even though she did not meet the criteria for trade delegates, the report said.

Another business later set up by Ms. Arcuri, Hacker House, was awarded a central government grant of £100,000, about $120,000, in February, before Mr. Johnson became prime minister.

An unnamed Conservative Party activist told the newspaper that Ms. Arcuri had acknowledged the affair and that, even when other people were around, played along with jokes about their status.

After initially declining to discuss the accusations, Mr. Johnson told a reporter from the broadcaster ITV, “Absolutely everything was done with full propriety and in accordance with proper procedures.”

Mr. Johnson’s serial philandering has frequently made headlines in Britain. Earlier in his career, he was fired from the Conservative Party’s leadership team after falsely denying reports of an extramarital affair.

But the new accusations have put Mr. Johnson under a level of scrutiny that he has rarely received during his turbulent career.

Let's block ads! (Why?)


https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/29/world/europe/boris-johnson-jennifer-arcuri.html

2019-09-29 08:48:00Z
52780396784013

Hurricane Lorenzo: Strongest hurricane in history in Eastern Atlantic sets sights on UK - Express.co.uk

Hurricane Lorenzo is an incredibly powerful hurricane according to the National Hurricane Center, and it is continuing to strengthen as it tracks through the eastern Atlantic Ocean. Packing maximum sustained winds of 155mph, Lorenzo was located around 1360 miles south-west of the Azores. Lorenzo is continuing to track across the Atlantic after being declared by experts as "the strongest hurricane east of 45 degrees west longitude in the Atlantic on record". Now One chart has revealed the winds could begin to impact the UK next week as it tracks through the Atlantic.

Satellite imagery of Lorenzo shows a thick core surrounding a big clear eye as it packs maximum sustained winds of 155mph.

Hurricane Lorenzo is on the cusp of becoming a category five hurricane, as wind speeds of 156mph and higher are classified as category five.

The last storm to reach wind speeds of 145mph in this area of the Atlantic was Hurricane Helene in 1988, however, this didn’t achieve peak intensity until it was 400 miles west of Lorenzo’s current location.

The NHC reports the eye of dangerous Hurricane Lorenzo “is now completely surrounded by a ring of convection with cold cloud tops less than minus 70 degrees Celsius.”

Lorenzo is a large hurricane, with hurricane-force winds extending outward up to 50 miles from the centre of the weather system and tropical-storm-force winds extending outward up to 290 miles.

Read More: Hurricane Humberto: Storm hits Britain-how will it affect travel plans

The hurricane is forecast to continue on its track northwest, before gradually turning to the north and then northeast.

This direction could put winds on course to reach the UK and Ireland by next week.

Irish Weather Online forecaster Prof Peter O’Donnell said: “This hurricane is slowly gathering strength well to the south of the Azores where it could hit as a hurricane of diminishing intensity (after reaching major hurricane status in the meanwhile).

“Too early to say with much confidence where Lorenzo’s remnants will actually head although most models seem to favour a track several hundred miles west of Ireland towards the Icelandic region with a loop around the northern Atlantic.

“Associated fronts and disturbances could then reach Ireland later even if Lorenzo never does.”

Weather graphics from WXCharts show maximum wind gusts of approximately 38.5mph could impact the UK and Ireland in some areas on Thursday, October 3.

Heavy rainfall could also be an impact of the remnants of Hurricane Lorenzo reaching the UK.

The Met Office reports for Sunday through to Thursday the weather will feel “unsettled with showers and spells of rain, windy at times.

Read More: Tropical Storm Karen update: Karen could loop towards Florida

“Heaviest rain and strongest winds across central and southern areas; best of any drier, brighter weather across parts of Scotland.”

Met Office rain warnings not associated with Lorenzo are in force for the UK across this weekend - September 28 and 29. 

Elsewhere in the Eastern North Pacific, tropical storm Narda has formed close to Mexico with 46mph winds. 

According to the NHC, "satellite imagery and data from coastal stations in Mexico indicate that the centre of Narda is northwest of the previous advisory position and it is now located close to the coast of Mexico near Zihuatanejo."

Let's block ads! (Why?)


https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1183386/hurricane-Lorenzo-path-tracker-satellite-images-Lorenzo-UK-Ireland

2019-09-29 14:16:44Z
CBMib2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmV4cHJlc3MuY28udWsvbmV3cy93b3JsZC8xMTgzMzg2L2h1cnJpY2FuZS1Mb3JlbnpvLXBhdGgtdHJhY2tlci1zYXRlbGxpdGUtaW1hZ2VzLUxvcmVuem8tVUstSXJlbGFuZNIBc2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmV4cHJlc3MuY28udWsvbmV3cy93b3JsZC8xMTgzMzg2L2h1cnJpY2FuZS1Mb3JlbnpvLXBhdGgtdHJhY2tlci1zYXRlbGxpdGUtaW1hZ2VzLUxvcmVuem8tVUstSXJlbGFuZC9hbXA

Sabtu, 28 September 2019

Hurricane Lorenzo: Strongest hurricane in history in Eastern Atlantic sets sights on UK - Express.co.uk

Hurricane Lorenzo is an incredibly powerful hurricane according to the National Hurricane Center, and it is continuing to strengthen as it tracks through the eastern Atlantic Ocean. Packing maximum sustained winds of 115mph, Lorenzo was located around 1660 miles south-west of the Azores. One chart has revealed the winds could begin to impact the UK next week as it tracks through the Atlantic.

Satellite imagery of Lorenzo shows a thick core surrounding a big clear eye.

Despite weakening to a category three with winds of 115mph, Lorenzo was previously recorded at category four status with 145mph winds.

The last storm to reach wind speeds of 145mph in this area of the Atlantic was Hurricane Helene in 1988, however, this didn’t achieve peak intensity until it was 400 miles west of Lorenzo’s current location.

The NHC reports the eye of dangerous Hurricane Lorenzo “is now completely surrounded by a ring of convection with cold cloud tops less than minus 70 degrees Celsius.”

Lorenzo is a large hurricane, with hurricane-force winds extending outward up to 50 miles from the centre of the weather system and tropical-storm-force winds extending outward up to 290 miles.

Read More: Hurricane Humberto: Storm hits Britain-how will it affect travel plans

The hurricane is forecast to continue on its track northwest, before gradually turning to the north and then northeast.

This direction could put winds on course to reach the UK and Ireland by next week.

Irish Weather Online forecaster Prof Peter O’Donnell said: “This hurricane is slowly gathering strength well to the south of the Azores where it could hit as a hurricane of diminishing intensity (after reaching major hurricane status in the meanwhile).

“Too early to say with much confidence where Lorenzo’s remnants will actually head although most models seem to favour a track several hundred miles west of Ireland towards the Icelandic region with a loop around the northern Atlantic.

“Associated fronts and disturbances could then reach Ireland later even if Lorenzo never does.”

Weather graphics from WXCharts show maximum wind gusts of approximately 38.5mph could impact the UK and Ireland in some areas on Thursday, October 3.

Heavy rainfall could also be an impact of the remnants of Hurricane Lorenzo reaching the UK.

The Met Office reports for Sunday through to Thursday the weather will feel “unsettled with showers and spells of rain, windy at times.

Read More: Tropical Storm Karen update: Karen could loop towards Florida

“Heaviest rain and strongest winds across central and southern areas; best of any drier, brighter weather across parts of Scotland.”

Met Office rain warnings not associated with Lorenzo are in force for the UK across this weekend - September 28 and 29. 

Elsewhere in the Atlantic, Tropical Storm Karen has begun to weaken and is forecast to degenerate into a remnant low by Saturday.

Karen is located approximately 350 miles south-southeast of Bermuda and has wind speeds of 40mph.

Let's block ads! (Why?)


https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1183386/hurricane-Lorenzo-path-tracker-satellite-images-Lorenzo-UK-Ireland

2019-09-28 13:37:01Z
CBMib2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmV4cHJlc3MuY28udWsvbmV3cy93b3JsZC8xMTgzMzg2L2h1cnJpY2FuZS1Mb3JlbnpvLXBhdGgtdHJhY2tlci1zYXRlbGxpdGUtaW1hZ2VzLUxvcmVuem8tVUstSXJlbGFuZNIBc2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmV4cHJlc3MuY28udWsvbmV3cy93b3JsZC8xMTgzMzg2L2h1cnJpY2FuZS1Mb3JlbnpvLXBhdGgtdHJhY2tlci1zYXRlbGxpdGUtaW1hZ2VzLUxvcmVuem8tVUstSXJlbGFuZC9hbXA