Babak Belurs

Senin, 10 Juni 2019

Site of biggest ever meteorite collision in the UK discovered - Phys.org

Evidence for the ancient, 1.2 billion years old, meteorite strike, was first discovered in 2008 near Ullapool, NW Scotland by scientists from Oxford and Aberdeen Universities. The thickness and extent of the debris deposit they found suggested the impact crater—made by a meteorite estimated at 1km wide—was close to the coast, but its precise location remained a mystery.

In a paper published today in Journal of the Geological Society, a team led by Dr. Ken Amor from the Department of Earth Sciences at Oxford University, show how they have identified the crater location 15-20km west of a remote part of the Scottish coastline. It is buried beneath both water and younger rocks in the Minch Basin.

Dr. Ken Amor said: 'The material excavated during a giant meteorite impact is rarely preserved on Earth, because it is rapidly eroded, so this is a really exciting discovery. It was purely by chance this one landed in an ancient rift valley where fresh sediment quickly covered the debris to preserve it.

'The next step will be a detailed geophysical survey in our target area of the Minch Basin.'

Using a combination of field observations, the distribution of broken rock fragments known as basement clasts and the alignment of magnetic particles, the team was able to gauge the direction the meteorite material took at several locations, and plotted the likely source of the crater.

Dr. Ken Amor said: 'It would have been quite a spectacle when this large meteorite struck a barren landscape, spreading dust and rock debris over a wide area.'

1.2 billion years ago most of life on Earth was still in the oceans and there were no plants on the land. At that time Scotland would have been quite close to the equator and in a semi-arid environment. The landscape would have looked a bit like Mars when it had water at the surface.

Earth and other planets may have suffered a higher rate of meteorite impacts in the distant past, as they collided with debris left over from the formation of the early solar system.

However, there is a possibility that a similar event will happen in the future given the number of asteroid and comet fragments floating around in the solar system. Much smaller impacts, where the meteorite is only a few meters across are thought to be relatively common perhaps occurring about once every 25 years on average.

It is thought that collisions with an object about 1 km (as in this instance) across occur between once every 100,000 years to once every one million years—but estimates vary.

One of the reasons for this is that our terrestrial record of large impacts is poorly known because craters are obliterated by erosion, burial and plate tectonics.

Explore further

Britain’s biggest meteorite impact found

More information: Kenneth Amor et al, The Mesoproterozoic Stac Fada proximal ejecta blanket, NW Scotland: constraints on crater location from field observations, anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility, petrography and geochemistry, Journal of the Geological Society (2019). DOI: 10.1144/jgs2018-093

Michael J. Simms et al. A reassessment of the proposed 'Lairg Impact Structure' and its potential implications for the deep structure of northern Scotland, Journal of the Geological Society (2019). DOI: 10.1144/jgs2017-161

Provided by University of Oxford

Citation: Site of biggest ever meteorite collision in the UK discovered (2019, June 10) retrieved 10 June 2019 from https://phys.org/news/2019-06-site-biggest-meteorite-collision-uk.html

This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.

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2019-06-10 07:29:57Z
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The Post-Brexit Paradox of ‘Global Britain’ - The Atlantic

LONDON—Brexit is an all-consuming maelstrom of political dysfunction, one that has compelled Britain’s eyes inward. Yet amid the chaos, Prime Minister Theresa May has been steadfast in her determination that the country’s international role should not succumb to the same myopic fate as its departure from the European Union has.

In the febrile early months following the June 2016 referendum when Britain voted to leave the EU, its allies were fearful that the vote would see the country’s drawbridges snapping upward. Sensing the urgent need for optimism, May and her then–foreign secretary (and now possible successor), Boris Johnson, gave bold speeches, setting out ambitions for what they called a “truly global Britain.” Conjuring an image of a triumphant, swashbuckling nation retaking its rightful place on the world stage, a global Britain embodies the promise of a Brexit dividend, one in which the country is no longer hemmed in by what Brexiteers see as a European cage.

Almost three years on—through failed parliamentary votes, cabinet resignations, and May’s announcement that she will step down as prime minister—this mantra of internationalism remains one of the few legacies of May’s premiership. So far, however, a global Britain has been nothing more than a hollow promise.

With British diplomats struggling to convince their international peers of the phrase’s fundamental purpose and meaning, a cross-party group of lawmakers leading the parliamentary Foreign Affairs Select Committee warned last year that “Global Britain” had only succeeded thus far as “a superficial rebranding exercise.”

At the heart of the global Britain promise is a great paradox: Those who are most naturally inclined to support such an idea—young, university-educated, well-traveled Britons—fundamentally resent the notion that any project forged on the back of Brexit could be truly internationalist.

Foreign policy has often served only as a sideshow to British domestic politics. However, with Brexit sparking complex new conversations about trade, diplomacy, and defense policy—as well as more elemental questions about Britain’s role in the world—foreign affairs may well become one of the most active battlegrounds of Britain’s deepening social fault lines.

And with about a dozen contenders lining up to replace May as Britain’s prime minister, the future of the ”global Britain” catchphrase and the strategy it was intended to inspire will become central to the Conservative Party’s, and the country’s, future. False silos that have long separated domestic and foreign policy will have to come down.

Read: The race to replace Theresa May: a cheat sheet

“Foreign policy isn’t about foreigners,” Tom Tugendhat, a Conservative member of Parliament and the chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, told me. “It’s about us, and how we shape the world around us in the interest of our people, our friends and partners.”

It won’t be easy: New research I have conducted with the British Foreign Policy Group, an educational think tank, and the pollster BMG makes clear that Britain is phenomenally divided on the country’s international identity, spearheaded by a government unable to make the trade-offs necessary to truly achieve the idea of a global Britain. The notion that citizens will instinctively support the costs necessary to become a more prominent military, diplomatic, and trading power does not stand.

Political momentum is instead building behind those who see more downsides than upsides in our changing world, and for whom liberalism and internationalism inspire suspicion, mistrust, or even fear. These Britons generally have lived less mobile lives, hold identities more closely rooted in their communities, and are less bothered by events outside the confines of the nation. For example, just 6 percent of those who traveled abroad frequently last year consider immigration to be an important issue, compared with 44 percent of those who didn’t leave Britain. Among those who never stray abroad, there is, to be sure, a significant degree of distinction between people whose socioeconomic circumstances have hampered their access to international opportunities and the older, wealthier Britons who have chosen to prioritize an exclusive national identity.

Read: The EU’s one-sided love affair with Britain

May herself supported remaining in the EU ahead of the 2016 referendum. But after the vote, while many of her colleagues in the Conservative Party espoused a so-called Liberal Leave argument—that Brexit would allow Britain to secure new free trade deals and to better work with fast-growing developing countries—she recognized the role that concerns about the economic and social consequences of globalization had played during the referendum. At the first Conservative Party conference following the vote, she spoke to the growing reticence toward internationalism and the clamor for a strong expression of national pride, telling the audience, “If you believe you are a citizen of the world, you are a citizen of nowhere.”

This extraordinary moment broke with 20 years of political consensus behind a form of loose cosmopolitanism, beginning with Tony Blair’s election victory in 1997, signifying the radical early ambitions of May’s premiership. It also pitted her government’s two core messages against each other—at once pushing for a global Britain while denouncing globalism. Ultimately, her efforts to promote a global Britain without the support of global citizens were always doomed to fail.

In a divided Brexit Britain, only one issue provides space for common ground: trade. Those who voted to leave the EU and those who cast ballots to remain differ on many issues—only a quarter of Leave voters support increases to Britain’s overseas spending, and Remain supporters are twice as likely to care about climate change and global conflicts—but all agree that trade should be at the heart of the country’s global priorities.

Although Matthew Elliott, who led the Vote Leave campaign, recognizes that the “liberal, internationalist, free-trading” argument for Brexit was not the primary driving force for core Leave voters, he told me he was certain that it was decisive in persuading swing voters. In this way, the Leave campaign was incredibly effective at mustering diverse constituencies to support the vision of a sovereign, global Britain, unshackled from the EU.

Nonetheless, there is little appetite to stomach the compromises of free trade: Only 26 percent of Leave voters we surveyed would be willing to accept any increases in immigration from, for example, India, one of Britain’s priority markets—even if they were crucial to securing a free-trade agreement.

It can be difficult to reconcile the pulsating tribalism of post-referendum Britain with the immense popularity of the flagrant internationalism promoted by the successive Blair governments. At the 2005 Labour Party Conference in Brighton, the then–prime minister forcefully rebuked the growing disquiet around globalization, announcing, “You might as well debate whether autumn should follow summer”.

Read: Britain’s distrust of Europe helped cause Brexit. Now it could stop it.

Blair’s political fortunes were not evergreen, though. His decisions on economic policy, immigration, and the Iraq War would crucially challenge the public’s trust in an increasingly connected world order and the institutions that seek to uphold it. As Britons cast ballots more than a decade later in the EU referendum, voters had begun to reject the sense of inevitability they had been sold around the nation’s trajectory. Indeed, by 2016, Blair would launch his own policy institute in London, its mission—“Making globalisation work for the many”—hinting at a degree of regret.

Westminster will undoubtedly continue to debate Blair’s legacy for many years to come. It is clear, however, that no other leader in this political generation is likely to inherit the fortuitous climate for internationalism that he enjoyed.

With the clock ticking on May’s premiership, the paradox of a global Britain she unwittingly exposed will need to be reconciled by her successor. The candidates jostling to replace her as the Conservative Party leader and, by extension, prime minister, appear committed to championing a global Britain, but have not yet articulated any means of persuading the large swaths of the country skeptical of internationalism to fall in line.

If her successor calls for a general election and the opposition Labour Party comes to power, it will face its own reckoning around the discord between its membership’s broad support for international institutions and its leadership’s radical positions on unilateral nuclear disarmament, NATO, and the military.

For now, however, the challenge falls to the party that has made itself the party of Brexit and a global Britain, without delivering either.

We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to letters@theatlantic.com.

Sophia Gaston is a visiting research fellow at the London School of Economics.

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2019-06-10 05:00:00Z
CAIiENR39vf3ySwvZOVkzUvUMIgqFggEKg0IACoGCAowm_EEMKAiMMSWmwM

Sabtu, 08 Juni 2019

Trump reveled in visit with Queen, history and his family - CNN

For a man who would rather remain in his own bedroom than venture abroad, President Donald Trump this week appeared to savor the sightseeing aspects of his visit to Europe, where foreign counterparts eager to instill a sense of weighted history in the President (and his extended family) played tour guide and docent.

Trump's inner-tourist emerged as he slowly paced Buckingham Palace's Picture Gallery with the 93-year-old monarch, lingering over displays of old maps and a strategically selected swatch of yellow fabric -- a piece of MacLeod tartan, the family of Trump's mother.

He made a stop at the warren of rooms from which Winston Churchill directed the war effort, a must-stop in every London guidebook and a pilgrimage of sorts for a President who's sought to emulate the man, at least in photographs.

Trump flashed an excited grin as the Red Arrows flew overhead in Portsmouth Harbor, disgorging red, white and blue jet trails.

And he appeared floored by his first visit to Omaha Beach, later narrating with awe the tour he received.

"They call them the 'guides.' And they were guiding us. They were telling us what happened and when," Trump recounted. "It was so incredible and so fascinating."

In preparing his educational itinerary, Trump's counterparts seemed intent on inducing respect and support for the institutions and leaders who helped mend Europe after the horrors of war -- never more overtly than when outgoing British Prime Minister Theresa May gifted him a copy of the Atlantic Charter, the document drafted by the US and UK to map out a postwar order.

It's far from clear the efforts will succeed in wooing an unpredictable leader into accepting the bodies and relationships he's denigrated previously. Nor is it evident the weight of history that hung over this trip moved Trump beyond an immediate sense of wonder.

Sense of relief

Trump's children make play for royal treatment

Still, in the palaces and cabinet rooms the President leaves behind, there is relief among foreign officials that Trump's European adventure ended without the kind of embarrassing episode that have colored some of his past jaunts abroad.

Not to say it was all smooth cruising. Trump lashed out at left-leaning politicians in London and made little attempt to mask his preferences in the race to become Britain's next prime minister.

At times he seemed less-than-fully-aware of the issues that are being debated here, whether it is the UK health service's role in a new trade deal or Ireland's future border with Northern Ireland after Brexit is complete.

And like many an American tourist, Trump was disappointed to learn his favorite television channels weren't available when he arrived to his accommodations (in this case, the neo-Georgian mansion where the US ambassador lives).

But in his public appearances with royalty and politicians alike, Trump appeared more gracious than hostile, eagerly willing to return the flattery that had been directed his way at nearly every opportunity since he touched down in Britain Monday.

May, felled by Brexit and once the subject of Trump's mockery, is now "a tremendous professional and a person that loves your country dearly."

Queen Elizabeth II, a point of fascination for the President dating back to his childhood, is a "a fantastic person, fantastic woman."

And French President Emmanuel Macron, who Trump castigated during and immediately after his last visit to France in November, appears to be enjoying a tentative return to good graces.

"It's been good sometimes, and sometimes it hasn't been. But, right now, it's outstanding," Trump said of their relationship.

A trip of fascination

As Trump's visit to Europe drew to a close Friday, White House officials were exuberant at how the President was received in Britain and France, believing his public appearances presented a man in command of his office and respected by America's closest allies.

Often, Trump complains when abroad about packed itineraries and asks if he can depart early. His schedules include long stretches of downtime. He also avoids the type of cultural interactions that were trademark features of the trips his predecessor, President Barack Obama, took overseas.

Trump's visit to Europe was still a distant cry from Obama strolling the streets of a Laotian mountain village or hiking through Patagonia with his children. His interactions were all official engagements designed by his foreign hosts. And the United Kingdom and France are hardly the kind of exotic locales where Trump could experience a new culture.

Over and over this week, however, Trump seemed like a visitor to a new land, expressing a certain fascination at what he saw -- whether it was the harrowing facts of the D-Day landings or the quiet majesty of Queen Elizabeth.

The presence of his adult children -- Donald Jr. and Eric, who pulled pints at the village pub near their father's golf course; Tiffany, who joined her siblings for the state banquet; and White House advisers Ivanka and Jared Kushner, who carried out their own meetings -- also lent the trip the feeling of a Trump family vacation.

Part of the White House's rationale for scheduling rapid-pace foreign travel this summer -- Trump will venture abroad three times in the span of the month -- was to project an image of a commanding incumbent leader as Democrats scramble among themselves to become his general election rival.

In Britain, the images of Trump greeting the Queen in white-tie-and-tails (however ill-fitting) and reading from a prayer originally delivered by President Franklin Roosevelt fit that bill.

Taken with the history

What to get a queen? Inside the Trumps' gifts for Royals

Even an accommodation designed to prevent Trump from confronting protesters -- flying his Marine One helicopter short distances in London -- provided the White House ample footage of Trump stepping from his green military helicopter.

Trump has cherished the military trappings on the job, and at the White House the President is said to be taken with the history of his surroundings, offering tours of the Lincoln Bedroom to both his close personal friends and to large groups of relative strangers.

People who have discussed the building's history with him say Trump appears genuinely attentive to his home's past, at least the parts he's learned about through discussions with presidential historians and conversations with people who work in the building.

However, interest in history and reverence for it are separate sentiments. Just as Trump has thought little of shattering political norms at the White House, his time in Europe this week was marked by jarring juxtapositions of solemnity and insolence, often at the same moment.

When he was telling interviewer Laura Ingraham that special counsel Robert Mueller -- himself a war veteran -- made a "fool of himself," he was seated with the white marble crosses of the Normandy American Ceremony in soft focus behind him, the weight of the setting doing little to temper his mindset.

As he was preparing to depart London for Portsmouth, where American troops were barracked before the Normandy landings and later treated if they made it out alive, Trump found time to deem the actress Bette Midler a "psycho" on Twitter.

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2019-06-08 14:21:00Z
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UK monarch marks official birthday with pomp and parade - aol.com

LONDON (AP) — Queen Elizabeth II is marking her official birthday with the annual Trooping the Color parade, a traditional display of British pageantry.

About 1,400 soldiers in ceremonial scarlet coats and bearskin hats march past the queen in a ceremony on Horse Guards Parade in Westminster.

Royals taking part included Prince Charles, Prince William and his wife Kate, and Prince Harry and his wife Meghan.

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Duchess Kate and Queen Elizabeth step out at Bush House

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Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Britain's Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge arrive to visit Kings College, to open Bush House, the latest education and learning facilities on the Strand Campus, in central London on March 19, 2019 (Photo by Niklas HALLE'N / AFP) (Photo credit should read NIKLAS HALLE'N/AFP/Getty Images)

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Britain's Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge arrive for a visit to Kings College, to open Bush House, the latest education and learning facilities on the Strand Campus, in central London on March 19, 2019 (Photo by Niklas HALLE'N / AFP) (Photo credit should read NIKLAS HALLE'N/AFP/Getty Images)

LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 19: Queen Elizabeth II and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge visit King's College to officially open Bush House, the latest education and learning facilities on the Strand Campus on March 19, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty Images)

LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 19: Queen Elizabeth II and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge visit King's College London on March 19, 2019 in London, England to officially open Bush House, the latest education and learning facilities on the Strand Campus. (Photo by Samir Hussein/WireImage)

LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 19: Queen Elizabeth II and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge visit King's College London to officially open Bush House, the latest education and learning facilities on the Strand Campus on March 19, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Karwai Tang/WireImage)

LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 19: Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge visits King's College London on March 19, 2019 in London, England to officially open Bush House, the latest education and learning facilities on the Strand Campus. (Photo by Samir Hussein/Samir Hussein/WireImage)

LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 19: Queen Elizabeth II accompanied by and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge visit King's College London on March 19, 2019 in London, England to officially open Bush House, the latest education and learning facilities on the Strand Campus. (Photo by Joe Maher/Getty Images)

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Britain's Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, are met by (L-R) Lord Mayor of Westmnster, councillor Lindsay Hall, former British prime minister Sir John Major, president and principal of Kings College Professor Edward Byrne and chairman of council, Lord Geidt, on their arrival to visit Kings College, to open Bush House, the latest education and learning facilities on the Strand Campus, in central London on March 19, 2019 (Photo by Niklas HALLE'N / AFP) (Photo credit should read NIKLAS HALLE'N/AFP/Getty Images)

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Thousands of spectators have lined the parade ground and gathered in nearby St. James's park to watch the spectacle.

The ceremony originated from traditional preparations for battle. The colors — or flags — were "trooped," or carried down the lines of soldiers, so they could be seen and recognized in battle. The regimental flag being paraded this year is from the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards.

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2019-06-08 11:17:31Z
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Jumat, 07 Juni 2019

Diligent Theresa May failed to solve the UK's Brexit puzzle - Fox News

FILE - In this Friday, May 24, 2019 file photo, British Prime Minister Theresa May reacts as she turns away after making a speech in the street outside 10 Downing Street in London, England. May formally steps down as Conservative Party leader on Friday, June 7, 2019 defeated by the Brexit conundrum. No public event is planned to mark the occasion as May’s time at the helm ends, not with a bang but a whimper. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, File)

LONDON – If all had gone to plan, Britain would be starting its first summer out of the European Union and Prime Minister Theresa May would be looking forward to a well-earned vacation.

Instead, May steps down Friday as leader of a Conservative Party in turmoil and a country in limbo — half in, half out of the EU. She will remain as caretaker prime minister for a few weeks during a party leadership contest to choose her successor.

May will be remembered as the latest in a long line of Conservative leaders destroyed by the party's divisions over Europe, and as a prime minister who failed in her primary mission: to lead Britain out of the EU. But history may also see her as a leader who faced a devilishly difficult situation with stubborn determination.

The daughter of a rural Anglican vicar, May attended Oxford University and worked in financial services before being elected to Parliament in 1997.

She was quiet and diligent, but also ambitious. One university friend later recalled that May hoped to be Britain's first female prime minister, and "was quite irritated when Margaret Thatcher got there first."

She was not a natural political campaigner; her stiff public appearances as prime minister landed her the nickname "The Maybot." Her only touches of flamboyance are a fondness for bold outfits and accessories like brightly patterned kitten-heel shoes.

But she soon established a reputation for solid competence and a knack for vanquishing flashier rivals.

May served for six years in the notoriously thankless job of home secretary, responsible for borders, immigration and law and order. In 2016, she beat flashier and better-known politicians to become Britain's second female prime minister.

May was the surprise winner of a Conservative leadership contest triggered when Prime Minister David Cameron stepped down after voters rejected his advice to remain in the EU, instead voting 52%-48% to leave.

In her first speech as prime minister in July 2016, May sketched out plans for an ambitious policy agenda. She spoke of giving the poor a helping hand and lifting barriers to social mobility.

But Brexit soon crowded out almost all other policies.

Like Cameron, May had campaigned to remain, but in office she became a champion of Brexit. "Brexit means Brexit" became her mantra — a meaningless one, said her detractors, as it emerged that undoing 45 years of ties with the bloc would be a fraught and complex process.

Attempting to win the support of Conservative Brexiteers suspicious of her past pro-EU leanings, May set out firm red lines in negotiations with the EU: Britain would leave the bloc's single market and customs union and end the right of EU citizens to live and work in the U.K.

For a time, May's resolve helped her unite the warring factions of her party, which for decades has been divided over policy toward Europe.

But she then gambled on a snap election in June 2017, in an attempt to bolster her slim majority in Parliament and strengthen her hand in Brexit negotiations with the EU.

The move backfired. May ran a lackluster campaign on a platform that included plans to cut benefits to pensioners and change the way they pay for long-term care — quickly dubbed a "dementia tax." The Conservatives lost their majority, and May had to strike a deal with 10 lawmakers from Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party to stay in power.

The DUP's support became a complication when the border between Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland emerged as a major issue in Brexit negotiations. The unionist party strongly opposed special measures to ensure the border remained free of customs posts and other barriers, worrying they might weaken the bonds between Northern Ireland and the rest of the U.K.

May pressed on and in November 2018 struck a divorce agreement with the EU, setting out the terms of Britain's departure and establishing a transition period of almost two years for the two sides to work out their future relations.

All that remained was for the British and European Parliaments to ratify it. And that is where May's best-laid plans came undone.

Her careful compromise of an agreement was rejected by both sides of the Brexit debate. Brexiteers felt it gave too much away and left Britain bound to EU rules. Pro-EU lawmakers wanted a softer Brexit that kept close economic ties to the bloc. In January, May's deal was rejected by 230 votes, the biggest government defeat in British parliamentary history.

Whatever her flaws, May was no quitter. Late last year she likened herself to Geoffrey Boycott, a cricketer who was famous for his dull but effective batting style.

"Geoffrey Boycott stuck to it and he got the runs in the end," she said.

She tried again to get her Brexit deal approved, losing by 149 votes. A third attempt narrowed the margin of defeat to 48.

She tried talks with the Labour Party about securing a compromise, but managed only to further alienate her own lawmakers with her concessions to the opposition. A promise to let Parliament vote on whether to hold a new EU membership referendum was the final straw.

Most Conservatives, even those sympathetic to her plight, concluded that May was the problem and would have to leave before Brexit could be sorted out.

Now almost a dozen Conservative lawmakers are competing to succeed her as Conservative leader and prime minister. Party members and lawmakers are scheduled to choose the winner by the end of July.

The leading candidates, including Brexit champion Boris Johnson, Environment Secretary Michael Gove and Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, all vow to succeed where she has failed and lead Britain into the sunlit uplands outside the EU.

Only May, perhaps, knows how hard that will be.

"To succeed he or she will have to find consensus in Parliament where I have not," May said in her May 24 resignation statement. "Such a consensus can only be reached if those on all sides of the debate are willing to compromise."

___

Follow AP's full coverage of Brexit at: https://www.apnews.com/Brexit

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2019-06-07 11:47:15Z
CBMiWGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmZveG5ld3MuY29tL3dvcmxkL2RpbGlnZW50LXRoZXJlc2EtbWF5LWZhaWxlZC10by1zb2x2ZS10aGUtdWtzLWJyZXhpdC1wdXp6bGXSAVxodHRwczovL3d3dy5mb3huZXdzLmNvbS93b3JsZC9kaWxpZ2VudC10aGVyZXNhLW1heS1mYWlsZWQtdG8tc29sdmUtdGhlLXVrcy1icmV4aXQtcHV6emxlLmFtcA

Theresa May officially steps down as Tory leader - BBC News

Theresa May will officially step down as the leader of the Conservative Party on Friday, but will remain as prime minister until her successor is chosen.

She announced her resignation two weeks ago, saying it was a matter of deep regret that she had been unable to deliver Brexit.

Eleven Conservative MPs are vying to replace her as party leader and, ultimately, prime minister.

The winner of the contest is expected to be announced in the week of 22 July.

Mrs May remains acting party leader during the leadership election process.

Meanwhile, the Conservatives fell to third place in the Peterborough by-election, behind winners Labour and the Brexit Party in second place, in what is traditionally a Tory-Labour marginal seat.

Theresa May outside Number 10 Downing Street

Theresa May at the top

6 yearsbefore that, as home secretary
Failed to win 2017 general election outright, but stayed PM
Remainvoter in the 2016 EU referendum
Brexit dominated her time at 10 Downing Street

BBC

Mrs May's time as leader has been dominated by Brexit, with her party divided over the issue, and the failure to get her deal through Parliament.

The UK was originally meant to leave the European Union on 29 March but that was then pushed back to 12 April and eventually 31 October.

When Mrs May announced her resignation, she said it was time for a new prime minister to try to deliver Brexit.

The end of her time as party leader will come in a private exchange of letters with Charles Walker and Dame Cheryl Gillan, the joint acting chairmen of the 1922 Committee of backbench Conservative MPs.

There will then be a call for candidates issued at 17:00 BST, with nominations opening on Monday from 10:00 and closing at 17:00 BST that day.

What powers does Theresa May still have?

By Tom Edgington, BBC Reality Check

Constitutionally speaking, Theresa May keeps the same powers. But in the eyes of MPs she may lack the authority to introduce any radical policies between now and handing the reins over to a new prime minister.

While Mrs May is still free to make policy or funding announcements, any pledges would eventually need to made into law. According to Catherine Haddon, from the Institute for Government think tank, there's no guarantee MPs would give Mrs May's announcements the green light - especially with such a small working majority.

Aside from policy, Mrs May will continue to represent the UK abroad and she is still free to make public appointments and make changes to her team of ministers.

She will be able reward some of those she has worked with - including knighthoods and appointments to the House of Lords. But the resignation honours list has been controversial in the past - so it will be interesting to see how many appointments Mrs May makes.

Leadership candidates need eight MPs to back them. MPs will then vote for their preferred candidates in a series of secret ballots held on 13, 18, 19 and 20 June.

The final two will be put to a vote of members of the wider Conservative Party from 22 June, with the winner expected to be announced about four weeks later.

While the contest does not officially start until Mrs May steps down, candidates have already been jostling for position.

How the next prime minister gets a Brexit deal through Parliament and whether they would countenance a no-deal exit has been the dominant question of the campaign so far.

Who will replace Theresa May?

The winner of the contest to lead the Conservative Party will become the next prime minister.

Dominic Raab's suggestion at a hustings on Wednesday that he would be prepared to shut down Parliament - the process known as prorogation - to ensure the UK leaves the EU on 31 October has been criticised by his rivals. And Commons Speaker John Bercow said on Thursday it was "simply not going to happen".

Conservative leadership contender Michael Gove has said the UK must not be bound by a "fixed" date if it needs slightly more time to get a deal.

Others, such as Mr Raab and Boris Johnson, insist the UK must leave on 31 October, whether it has approved a deal with Brussels or not.

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Former trade minister Lord Digby Jones has called on Mrs May's successor to provide more "stability" for UK businesses over Brexit.

He told the BBC's Wake Up to Money programme that they should ensure the UK leaves the EU on 31 October, "preferably with a deal - but without a deal rather than not coming out".

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: "I don't know who the new leader is going to be, but it seems to be a choice between no deal, no deal and no deal, as far as I can understand it."

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https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-48550452

2019-06-07 02:15:24Z
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