Babak Belurs

Rabu, 01 Juni 2022

Queen's Birthday Honours list: Famous faces include Rio Ferdinand, Damian Lewis and Stella McCartney - Sky News

Famous figures from showbiz, sport and politics - as well as some of the nation's COVID heroes - have been honoured in the Queen's Birthday Honours list to mark her Platinum Jubilee.

This year's recipients are said to reflect the monarch's "invaluable" qualities as she celebrates 70 years on the throne, with organisers giving more consideration to certain themes including sustained public service, the environment and youth engagement.

Among those awarded are actor Damian Lewis - who raised £1.5m to provide meals for NHS workers during the pandemic with his late wife Helen McCrory - fashion designer Stella McCartney and broadcaster Clare Balding, who all earn CBEs.

Former England footballer Rio Ferdinand receives an OBE, while Wales star Gareth Bale and Liverpool midfielder James Milner get MBEs.

From the world of politics, former Northern Ireland first minister Arlene Foster receives a damehood, and ex-cabinet minister Jeremy Wright - who called for Boris Johnson to resign over partygate this week - is given a knighthood.

Labour MP Stephen Timms, who was stabbed by a woman in an attempted murder in 2010, is also knighted.

There are top honours for author Sir Salman Rushdie and illustrator Sir Quentin Blake who are made Companions of Honour.

The Order of the Companions of Honour is limited to just 65 members at any one time and recognises those who have made a long-standing contribution to arts, science, medicine or government.

Sir Quentin hailed his award as "an enormous privilege", while Sir Salman said: "It was with great surprise and delight that I learned of this extraordinary honour. It's a privilege to be included in such illustrious company, both past and present."

COVID workers honoured

This year's Birthday Honours list once again features those involved in the fight against the coronavirus outbreak.

There are knighthoods for AstraZeneca's chief executive Pascal Soriot - after the company developed a successful vaccine with Oxford University - and Stephen Powis, national medical director for NHS England.

England's chief nursing officer Ruth May receives a damehood, while Andrew Goddard, president of the Royal College of Physicians, is knighted.

Dr Raghib Ali, a consultant in acute medicine, is made an OBE after he took leave from his university work to volunteer unpaid in hospitals on the COVID frontline.

And 22-year-old carer Alex Griffiths, from Dudley in the West Midlands, who provided end-of-life care for patients unable to see their loved ones due to COVID restrictions, receives a British Empire Medal.

Sport

Britain's women curlers are recognised for their gold-medal winning performance at the Winter Olympics in Japan.

Skip Eve Muirhead, who finally won gold at her fourth Games, is made an OBE, while MBEs go to her teammates Jennifer Dodds, Hailey Duff, Mili Smith and Victoria Wright, along with coach David Murdoch.

England cricketer Moeen Ali is made an OBE, saying of his award: "It's an honour to be recognised... more than anything, I know it makes my parents happy."

Former England and Watford striker Luther Blissett and Manchester City legend Mike Summerbee receive OBEs.

Snooker players Judd Trump and Mark Selby have been recognised with MBEs, while Sean O'Loughlin, the former Wigan and England rugby league player, gets an OBE.

Husband and wife Neil and Lora Fachie, who each won para-cycling gold at the Tokyo Olympics last summer, receive OBEs.

Visually impaired para-skier Neil Simpson gets an MBE after winning gold at the Winter Games, with his brother Andrew, who acts as his guide, receiving the same recognition.

Arts and entertainment

MBEs are served up to Masterchef presenters John Torode and Gregg Wallace for services to food and charity.

Wallace said: "From a council estate in Peckham to being recognised by the Queen is for me something akin to a fairytale story. I am incredibly, incredibly proud."

Ian Rankin, author of the Inspector Rebus novels, is knighted for services to literature and charity.

Call The Midwife creator Heidi Thomas receives an OBE and said her honour will be going "straight on the mantelpiece" in Nonnatus House, the fictional convent in the hit TV show.

Coronation Street stars Helen Worth, who plays Gail Platt, and Antony Cotton, known for his role as Sean Tully, receive MBEs.

Singer Bonnie Tyler receives an MBE and said the honour shows that "anyone from any background can become a success".

Former TV reporter Alexis Bowater receives an OBE for spending the past decade working to combat violence against women after she was terrorised by a cyber stalker who was jailed in 2009.

Politics

Commenting on her damehood, former DUP leader Ms Foster told Sky News it was a "huge thrill" because she is a "big royalist".

She added: "I follow the Royal Family closely, particularly Her Majesty the Queen, so to receive the letter on Her Majesty's Service, as I did to inform me, it was really lovely."

Former culture secretary Maria Miller receives a damehood, while fellow Tory MP Tracey Crouch gets a CBE for her work on the fan-led review of football governance in the wake of the European Super League fiasco.

Nia Griffith, Labour MP for Llanelli, is also made a dame.

And there is a second successive honour for the Blair family following former prime minister Sir Tony's knighthood at New Year. His son Euan is named an MBE for services to education in his role as founder of Multiverse, which provides apprenticeship programmes.

Youngest and oldest honourees

The oldest recipient in this year's list is 104-year-old Angela Redgrave who - like the Queen - is celebrating 70 years of public service as the founder and principal of Bristol School of Dancing.

The youngest honourees are 11-year-old twins Elena and Ruben Evans-Guillen who have raised more than £46,000 for the NHS over the past three years.

All three have received British Empire Medals.

A total of 1,134 people received an award in the Queen's Birthday Honours list, with a record proportion going to women.

The percentage of women this year - 51.5% - is slightly higher than the previous record of 51.2% set in 2015.

The proportion going to people from ethnic minority backgrounds, 13.3%, is down from a record 15% last year.

The percentage of LGBT recipients is down slightly from last year, from 5% to 4.6%.

PM: Honour recipients are 'inspiration to us all'

Prime Minister Mr Johnson said: "This historic Platinum Jubilee is not only a celebration of the monarch but of the qualities she possesses.

"The honours she confers this week reflect many of those qualities that have been invaluable from all different walks of life and to communities across the UK.

"I pay tribute to all of this year's winners. Their stories of courage and compassion are an inspiration to us all."

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2022-06-01 21:32:09Z
1456281079

Queen says she is 'inspired by goodwill' as new portrait unveiled ahead of the Platinum Jubilee - Sky News

The Queen has said she is "inspired by the goodwill shown to me" and thanked the nation as a new portrait of her was unveiled for the Platinum Jubilee.

In a special message to the country, Her Majesty said "many happy memories will be created" over the next four days.

The 96-year-old monarch is celebrating 70 years as the Queen and said she hopes the festivities will provide people with an opportunity to reflect on the country's achievements since 1952, adding that she is looking to the future with "confidence and enthusiasm".

"Thank you to everyone who has been involved in convening communities, families, neighbours and friends to mark my Platinum Jubilee, in the United Kingdom and across the Commonwealth," she said.

"I know that many happy memories will be created at these festive occasions.

"I continue to be inspired by the goodwill shown to me, and hope that the coming days will provide an opportunity to reflect on all that has been achieved during the last seventy years, as we look to the future with confidence and enthusiasm."

Along with her remarks, a Platinum Jubilee portrait was unveiled, showing the Queen in Windsor Castle wearing a dusk dove blue Angela Kelly coat.

The image was taken by photographer Ranald Mackechnie in the Victoria Vestibule in the Queen's private apartments at Windsor.

The Queen, who at the age of 96 has mobility problems, has been pacing herself ahead of the commemorations.

The extended weekend begins with the traditional Trooping the Colour military spectacle on Thursday, involving more than 1,500 officers and soldiers and 350 horses from the Household Division.

In the evening, more than 3,000 beacons will be set ablaze across the UK and the Commonwealth.

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2022-06-01 21:01:46Z
1446185294

Travel disruption continues as 150 flights cancelled - BBC

Travellers queue to check in for their flights at Gatwick Airport in London

Holidaymakers are continuing to face disruption at airports, with more than 150 flights cancelled on Wednesday.

Airlines including EasyJet and Tui were among those to make cancellations, although most customers will have been given advance notice.

There have also been long queues at terminals ahead of the Jubilee weekend.

The transport secretary said airlines and operators, which are struggling with staff shortages, had "seriously oversold flights and holidays".

EasyJet has cancelled at least 31 flights at Gatwick, to destinations including Bologna, Barcelona, Prague, Krakow and Edinburgh.

Last week the airline said around 24 flights a day would be cancelled from the airport between 28 May and 6 June.

Tui Airways is also continuing to cancel six daily flights at Manchester Airport, representing a quarter of its schedule and affecting around 34,000 travellers.

The company said all customers affected had been contacted, but some people told the BBC their flight had vanished from schedules and they had not heard from Tui.

British Airways has cancelled 124 short-haul flights at Heathrow, although the airline said these were pre-planned and passengers were told in advance.

Airlines UK, which represents the major British airlines, said the "vast majority" of flights would be operating as scheduled.

Up to two million people are preparing to fly over the next few days, with the Jubilee bank holiday coinciding with half-term.

Mr Shapps said the government had been clear that it was up to industry leaders to tackle travel disruption, which was also seen at Easter.

'Absolute chaos'

Michael Turner, a nurse from Shoreham, is currently on his third attempt to go on holiday with his family to Tenerife.

Due to fly from Gatwick last Thursday, Mr Turner was told his EasyJet flight had been cancelled 20 minutes before departure.

He rebooked a Tui flight which was all that was available and said he experienced "absolute chaos" in the departure lounge at Manchester Airport.

After boarding the plane, Mr Turner said they spent three hours waiting only to be then escorted off to collect their baggage.

They were put on a coach without being told where they were going and then waited to be taken back to the airport for a flight on Tuesday evening.

The transport secretary said he would meet with airports, airlines and ground handlers to "find out what's gone wrong and how they are planning to end the current run of cancellations and delays".

"Despite government warnings, operators seriously oversold flights and holidays relative to their capacity to deliver. This must not happen again and all efforts should be directed at there being no repeat of this over the summer - the first post-Covid summer season," he added.

'Missing in action'

But Labour accused the government of being "missing in action".

Shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh called on ministers to "take responsibility" for tackling the disruption by addressing the backlog in security checks for new staff and working with industry to address "chronic low-pay".

The aviation industry is suffering from staff shortages as it struggles to recruit replacements for the thousands of workers it laid off during the pandemic when international travel was halted.

Before Covid, airports and airlines across Britain employed around 140,000 people, but since then thousands of jobs have been cut, including around 30,000 for UK airlines alone.

Paul Charles, chief executive of travel consultancy The PC Agency and a former Virgin Atlantic director, said the industry had been "overwhelmed" since demand for flights returned after the pandemic but argued the government itself was "responsible for this chaos".

"[The transport secretary] has got a bit of a nerve I'm afraid," he told the BBC. "It's because of government restrictions that changed so much during the pandemic, and then the shutdown of the industry with the Omicron variant last December, that has created this problem."

He added that without certainty over when travel restrictions would be eased, the industry was not able to recruit more staff.

Kelly Sandhu, from the Aviation Recruitment Network, said the process of hiring new workers took a long time so there was "not a quick fix" .

Airlines UK said the sector had "only a matter of weeks to recover and prepare for one of the busiest summers we've seen in many years" but, despite this, "the vast majority" of flights this week would be operating as scheduled.

The final Covid restrictions for people travelling to the UK were lifted on 18 March.

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2022-06-01 09:22:39Z
1441647274

Lord Geidt threatens to resign as Boris Johnson's ethics chief over parties - The Times

Boris Johnson’s ethics adviser has threatened to quit over the Downing Street parties scandal after concluding that there were “legitimate” questions about whether the prime minister breached the ministerial code.

Lord Geidt, the independent adviser on ministers’ interests, said Johnson’s breach of the law threatened to undermine the role and risked leaving the system open to ridicule.

The Times has been told that Geidt threatened to quit during a discussion with the prime minister on Tuesday morning unless he issued a public explanation about his conduct.

Johnson responded with a public letter to Geidt explaining his actions and claiming that his breach of the rules was “unwitting”. He said his claim in parliament that there had been no parties was “conveyed in good faith” and

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2022-06-01 08:35:00Z
1448946630

Partygate: No Boris Johnson leadership vote next week, says Deputy PM Dominic Raab - Sky News

The deputy prime minister has insisted there will not be a Boris Johnson leadership vote next week, saying the "Westminster bubble whips this stuff up".

Dominic Raab downplayed any threat to Mr Johnson's premiership as the number of Conservative MPs publicly calling for him to go reached 41 in the wake of the Sue Gray report on lockdown-breaking parties in Number 10 and Whitehall.

Politics live: Number 10 to go on 'war footing' over cost of living

Asked by Sky News' Kay Burley if there will be a leadership vote next week - as predicted by former leader William Hague - he said: "No. I think the Westminster bubble, village, whips this stuff up and I'm not saying it's not serious and significant but we dealt with all those issues, the prime minister has dealt with all those issues.

"It does feel like a lot of commentary building up this issue when actually, when I talk to MPs and across the House of Commons on the issues I'm taking forward... they want to see us driving forward that agenda.

"To be honest, votes of no confidence, leadership contests, all of that is yet more of Westminster talking to itself, not talking to the public, our constituents and the vast majority of MPs respect, recognise and agree with that."

John Stevenson became the 28th MP to call for Mr Johnson to go and revealed on Tuesday he had submitted a letter of no confidence in the PM to Sir Graham Brady, chair of the 1922 Committee of Conservative backbenchers.

A total of 54 letters - 15% of Tory MPs - need to be handed over to trigger a leadership vote, with only Sir Graham knowing how many letters have been submitted.

Currently, the number of MPs who have publicly revealed they have handed in a letter has not reached that threshold but more may have done privately.

In 2018, only 24 MPs publicly said they had handed in a letter of no confidence in Theresa May, but a leadership vote was triggered as more than the 48 needed at the time had actually been submitted.

Mr Raab also defended the PM after his ethics adviser, Lord Geidt, asked the PM to explain why he believes he has not broken the ministerial code after being fined by the Metropolitan Police for a lockdown breach.

Lord Geidt reportedly tried to resign as he feared if he asked Mr Johnson for permission to investigate the matter, the proposal would be rejected.

A Downing Street source told Sky News: "It was a misunderstanding, we don't expect a resignation."

Mr Johnson wrote to Lord Geidt to tell him: "Taking account of all the circumstances, I did not breach the code."

The PM said he had apologised for attending the birthday party he was fined for and insisted "at the time I did not consider that the circumstances in which I received a fixed penalty notice were contrary to the regulations".

Mr Raab said: "Lord Geidt raised that issue, the PM responded to it and he has been clear in relation to the single fixed penalty notice he hadn't intentionally broken the law and his attendance at that gathering has been well-rehearsed, was inadvertent.

"I think these answers have been answered both in general, but also now specifically in the letter the PM has sent."

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2022-06-01 08:15:00Z
1448946630

Selasa, 31 Mei 2022

Partygate: Boris Johnson's ethics adviser asks PM to explain why he believes he has not broken the ministerial code - Sky News

Prime Minister Boris Johnson's own ethics adviser has asked him to explain why he believes he has not broken the ministerial code after being fined for a lockdown breach.

Lord Geidt said there was a "legitimate question" over whether the code has been broken - which would normally mean a minister would have to resign.

"It may be that the prime minister considers that no such breach of his ministerial code has occurred. In that case, I believe a prime minister should respond accordingly, setting out his case in public," he added.

Twenty-eight MPs now want Boris Johnson out immediately - follow latest updates

In an exchange of letters the prime minister replied that there was "no intent to break the [COVID] regulations".

"I did not consider that the circumstances in which I received a fixed-penalty notice were contrary to the regulations," Mr Johnson replied.

"I have accepted the outcome and paid it in compliance with legal requirements. Paying a fixed-penalty notice is not a criminal conviction."

Lord Geidt said he had repeatedly told the prime minister to publicly explain why he thought incurring a fixed-penalty notice would not be in breach of the code of conduct for ministers, but said: "That advice has not been heeded."

He said the prime minister had "made not a single public reference to the ministerial code".

Lord Geidt also criticised the prime minister for refusing to give him the freedom to launch his own inquiries into possible breaches and said he would still need the prime minister's consent before proceeding.

Last week, Mr Johnson was accused of watering down the ministerial code after the government said it was being updated to make clear that ministers will not necessarily have to resign for more minor violations.

Instead the prime minister will have the option of imposing lesser sanctions such as "some form of public apology, remedial action or removal of ministerial salary for a period".

Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner said there was a "legitimate question" over whether the prime minister broke the ministerial code after he was fined over partygate.

"The prime minister's second ethics adviser has now threatened to quit, in the latest sign of the rampant sleaze engulfing Downing Street," she said.

"This is a prime minister who changed the rules while being investigated for breaking those same rules. He has made himself judge and jury in his own trial, giving himself a free pass to ride rough shod over British values of decency.

"However much he tries to rig the rules and evade scrutiny, the prime minister has been found out and his days are numbered."

Liberal Democrat chief whip Wendy Chamberlain said: "This scathing criticism shows even Boris Johnson's own ethics adviser no longer trusts him to tell the truth. He is not fit to hold public office.

"It's no wonder the prime minister has been trying to water down the ministerial code and rewrite the rules. The only person he cares about is himself.

Application of ministerial code called into question

By Elizabeth Bates, political correspondent

The ministerial code has been in the spotlight since the Sue Gray report was released last week.

It is central to upholding standards in public life and its ultimate arbiter is the prime minister – even if he is the one suspected of breaking it.

But at the very moment that it is needed most, when the behaviour of those in power is under scrutiny – its application has been called in question by the government’s ethics advisor Lord Geidt.

He has publicly called out Boris Johnson, saying if the prime minister believes he hasn’t broken it by being fined for his Downing Street birthday party he must explain why.

This comes after it emerged last week that the code is set to be watered down.

The convention has always been that any breaches are a resignation matter but that will now be changed to allow for minor infringements to be dealt with in other ways – an apology, for example.

Like many aspects of the British political system, it only works if those in power respect it and enforce it. If they don’t it becomes just a wish-list of rules that are free to be ignored.

"The net really is closing in around Johnson. He's missed the boat to do the decent thing and resign, now Conservative MPs must give him the sack."

It comes after 28 Tory MPs have publicly called for the prime minister to step down over the partygate scandal.

A total of 41 Tory MPs have voiced their displeasure at the PM's handling of partygate, according to a Sky News tally, but 28 have actually called for him to resign.

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2022-05-31 20:37:30Z
1448946630

More flights cancelled ahead of Jubilee break - BBC

A busy Terminal 5 Heathrow Airport - 31 May 2022

Holiday giant Tui is cancelling more flights as air passengers face ongoing disruption ahead of the Jubilee bank holiday weekend.

Tui will cancel six flights a day until the end of June, affecting around 34,000 travellers in all.

Other airlines have also cancelled flights, as around two million people prepare to fly over the next few days.

One family, whose flight was cancelled with less than two days notice, said their children were "devastated".

Joanna Chandramani said she, her husband and their seven-year-old twin girls had been set to fly to Turkey on Wednesday, but she got a text on Monday evening telling her their holiday was cancelled.

She said Tui had now offered them vouchers but the family did not want to re-book with them so were flying with Jet2 to Mallorca instead.

"We have lost all faith in Tui," she added.

Tui said customers affected by cancellations would receive a full refund for their holidays "as well as an extra gesture of goodwill".

The company said the cancellations represented about 4% of its flights.

Tui said it understood the cancellations would be "disappointing" but added: "We believe this is necessary to provide stability and a better customer service at Manchester Airport."

What are my rights if my flight is cancelled?

Thousands of passengers across the UK have had their flights cancelled or faced delays at airports when checking in and collecting baggage as the half-term break began.

Before the Covid pandemic, airports and airlines across Great Britain employed around 140,000 people, according to Airlines UK. However, since then thousands of jobs have been cut, including around 30,000 for UK airlines alone, due to the restrictions on international travel.

The industry has struggled to cope with a surge in flyers as demand picked up again, with many finding it difficult to recruit and train new staff quick enough.

Prospect, the union which represents staff across air traffic control and in aviation engineering, warned that things could "get worse before they get better".

The Airport Operators Association, which represents the industry, said big recruitment campaigns had been under way since before the start of this year and additional staff were now being deployed.

It said most passengers were getting through security smoothly and the association would continue to work with the government to be ready for the summer.

Have you been affected by travel issues?

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Around 10,000 flights are set to leave the UK between Thursday and Sunday, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak said the government was working with the travel industry to tackle the problems.

"We put in place billions of pounds of support for the travel industry, in particular during the pandemic," he said.

"Right now there are conversations happening between the industry and ministers to make sure disruption can be eased."

But Garry Graham, deputy general secretary of the Prospect union, said: "The government point to the furlough scheme but ignore that it ended well before the majority of international restrictions on travel came to an end."

Trade unions say airlines are struggling to recruit staff because jobs in the industry are not well-paid or secure enough and training new staff takes time. As a result the problems are likely to continue for some time.

'Absolute chaos'

Michael Turner, a nurse from Shoreham, is currently on his third attempt to go on holiday with his family to Tenerife.

Due to fly from Gatwick last Thursday, Mr Turner was told his EasyJet flight had been cancelled 20 minutes before departure. He re-booked a Tui flight which was all that was available and said he experienced "absolute chaos" in the departure lounge at Manchester Airport.

After boarding the plane, Mr Turner said its pilot called the police as no-one was able to get off for three hours.

The family was then escorted to collect their baggage and put on a coach without being told where they were going and are now waiting to be taken back to the airport for a flight this evening.

Manchester Airport said Tui and Swissport, which provides ground services such as baggage handling, "are experiencing temporary staff shortages, in common with other aviation and travel companies".

A spokesperson for Swissport apologised for its part in any disruption, adding that the return of demand for flights was "exacerbating resource challenges across the aviation industry.".

A number of other airports reported high traffic on Tuesday.

Queues outside Edinburgh Airport on 31 May

Glasgow Airport said queues at security were "longer than usual" in the morning, though passengers moved through at a "steady pace".

A spokesperson said the airport was "busier than it has been for more than two years" but urged people not to arrive early.

At Edinburgh Airport some passengers had to wait outside the terminal building to check in luggage.

Meanwhile, Stansted is forecasting 80,000 passengers a day over the next week.

There were also long waits for Eurostar train services at London's St Pancras station, with queues extending outside the building.

Eurostar said one train was taken out of service earlier due to a technical fault, leading to delays of 30 to 60 minutes.

A spokeswoman said queues were moving and staff were working hard to ensure check-in was as smooth as possible.

Meanwhile, the RAC predicts drivers will make 19.5 million trips by car over the Jubilee bank holiday weekend, potentially clogging the roads.

The motoring group said Friday is expected to be the busiest day, with the M25 forecast to be a hotspot.

Graphic showing roads to avoid over the bank holiday weekend

Southbound M5, A303 and A720 Edinburgh city bypass are all also being flagged as roads to watch for potential delays, with transport experts Inrix predicting traffic conditions could be worst in the mornings of the bank holidays.

Inrix are advising drivers to start their journeys as early as possible or wait until later in the day to avoid any jams.

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2022-05-31 16:35:49Z
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