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Fifth ex-prime minister opposes post-Brexit bill

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Fifth ex-prime minister opposes post-Brexit bill

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Media headlineDavid Cameron said he had “concerns about what is being offered.”

David Cameron became the fifth former prime minister to criticize a new bill trying to reverse the Brexit exit agreement.

The draft law on the internal market will be presented to MPs later, and the government will call it an “insurance policy”.

Mr. Cameron said he had “concerns” about this and that breaking an international treaty should be a “last resort.”

Former Tory prime ministers Theresa May and Sir John Major, as well as Labor’s Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, condemned the plan.

Earlier, Police Secretary Keith Malthouse called this a “practical” step.

He echoed comments made Sunday by Attorney General Robert Buckland, who said the bill was in place in case the UK and EU would not agree to a post-Brexit trade deal.

Boris Johnson was expected to speak to reporters at the event later, but Number 10 confirmed that the event was canceled due to urgent parliamentary affairs.

The government is expected to win the House of Commons vote later in the next phase of the bill, which takes place around 22:00 BST (21:00 GMT), but it is also expected to face more difficulties in later stages, especially when the law comes up for debate in the lords.

Former Attorney General Jeffrey Cox said he would vote no, accusing Johnson of ‘Shameless’ damage to the UK’s international reputation

A senior government source told the BBC that “there are all options” in terms of possible action against conservative MPs who do not support the bill.

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Tory MP Rehman Chishti, Special Representative of the Prime Minister for Freedom of Religion and Belief: resigned due to proposed lawsaying, “I have always acted in accordance with the principles of the rule of law … [and] voting for this bill as it stands would be contrary to my dearest values. ”

Labor secretary Ed Miliband also called the proposed law “legislative hooliganism.”

Britain left the EU on January 31, signing an exit agreement with the bloc.

Both sides are now in the final week of negotiating a post-Brexit trade deal before transition period ends December 31 – informal talks will take place in Brussels this week.

A key part of the withdrawal agreement, which is now an international treaty, was the Northern Ireland protocol designed to prevent the return of the hard border to the island of Ireland.

The government’s proposed internal market bill will take precedence over the goods part of the agreement and will allow the UK to change or rethink the “government aid” rules for subsidies to firms in Northern Ireland in the event the two parties fail to agree on a future trade deal …

Last week, Northern Ireland Secretary of State Brandon Lewis said the bill would “violate international law” in a “specific and limited manner.”leading to criticism from all sides of the political spectrum.

And here it is again … the Brexit deadline is approaching, there is a lot of buzz in Westminster, and the UK and EU cannot come to an agreement.

And yes, again, there is a swirling jargon soup in every other sentence.

Take a few steps back, however, and here’s what it all boils down to – how the UK will trade with its closest neighbors from next January and how different parts of the UK will trade with each other.

It matters both economically and politically.

The Brexit process has long exposed tensions between the UK and Brussels, but don’t underestimate the tensions it creates for the UK as well.

Those in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales who have long campaigned to free themselves from the shackles of London as they see it, argue that Brexit is the best example to illustrate their argument.

And so the Westminster government is facing the delicate task of pulling Britain out of one union, the EU, and at the same time keeping another, Britain.

All of these ranks have a central purpose.

Mr Cameron, who called the EU referendum when he was prime minister, said he had “concerns about what is being proposed.”

Addressing reporters, he said: “The adoption of a parliamentary act with the subsequent violation of obligations under an international treaty is the very, very last thing you should think about. This should be the absolute last resort. “

Mr Cameron said the “big picture” is an attempt to strike a trade deal with the EU, urging the government to “keep this context. [and] this big prize is in the mind. “

The comments followed stronger criticism from four other surviving former UK prime ministers.

Ms May, who is still a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons, said that breaking international law would harm Britain’s “credibility”, while Mr Brown said it would be akin to “self-harm” for the country.

Sir John and Mr Blair, who were both in power during key periods of the Northern Ireland peace process, wrote a joint article for the Sunday Times accusing Mr. Johnson of “embarrassing” Britain; and calling on MPs to reject the “shameful” attempt to revoke parts of the withdrawal agreement.

“The problem to be solved”

Mr Malthus defended the law, saying that it “solves the problem we face” regarding the future of trade with the EU.

He told BBC Breakfast: “We have made a transparent statement that this is a situation that we think could happen – this is certainly what the EU is hinting at. This is a problem that we have to solve, so here is a bill that addresses it.

“In the end, those people who oppose this bill must tell us what the resolution is about.”

Attorney General Buckland told the BBC on Sunday that he hopes the powers sought by ministers will never be needed and that he will step down if Britain ends up violating international law “in the way that I I consider it unacceptable. “

But Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer accused government ministers of spreading “disinformation” over the weekend and “spinning” the reasons why they were pushing the new bill.

He told LBC: “[Mr Johnson] makes the mistake of withdrawing from the contract, which would damage the reputation of the UK

“I would tell the prime minister: look, go, go back to the drawing board, drop these problems, don’t act so reckless and wrong, and we’ll take another look at the legislation.”

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Media headlineRobert Buckland: “If I see the rule of law being violated in a way that I find unacceptable, then of course I will leave.”

Opinions on the Tories were divided in the bill.

MP Sir Desmond Swain said he would support the bill, praising the government for preparations if no agreement on a trade deal is reached by the end of the year.

He told BBC News: “If the government had not taken precautions against this possibility, it would have been completely careless. It is right that it will arm itself with power just in case. ”

But his colleague and chairman of the Justice Ad Hoc Committee, Sir Bob Neal, said the government and its supporters needed to “calm the tongue.”

He said that there is already a mechanism for solving the problems of the government, but he is ready to “meet halfway” by amending the law, allowing the use of only those elements that violate international law, if the parliament signs it.

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Vladimir Putin has delayed the invasion of Ukraine at least three times.

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Putin has repeatedly consulted with Russian Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu about the invasion, Europa Press told Ukraine’s chief intelligence director Vadim Skibitsky.

According to Skibitsky, it was the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), which is responsible for counterintelligence and espionage work, that put pressure on Gerasimov and other military agencies to agree to launch an offensive. .

However, according to the Ukrainian intelligence services, the FSB considered that by the end of February sufficient preparations had already been made to guarantee the success of the Russian Armed Forces in a lightning invasion.

However, according to Kyiv, the Russian General Staff provided the Russian troops with supplies and ammunition for only three days, hoping that the offensive would be swift and immediately successful.

The head of Ukrainian intelligence also emphasized the cooperation of local residents, who always provided the Ukrainian authorities with up-to-date information about the Russian army, such as the number of soldiers or the exact location of troops.

The military offensive launched on February 24 by Russia in Ukraine caused at least 6.5 million internally displaced persons and more than 7.8 million refugees to European countries, which is why the UN classifies this migration crisis as the worst in Europe since World War II (1939-1945). gg.). ).

At the moment, 17.7 million Ukrainians are in need of humanitarian assistance, and 9.3 million are in need of food aid and housing.

The UN has presented as confirmed 6,755 civilian deaths and 10,607 wounded since the beginning of the war, stressing that these figures are much lower than the real ones.

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Life sentence for former Swedish official for spying for Russia

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A Stockholm court on Monday sentenced a former Swedish intelligence officer to life in prison for spying for Russia, and his brother to at least 12 years in prison. In what is considered one of the most serious cases in Swedish counterintelligence history, much of the trial took place behind closed doors in the name of national security.

According to the prosecution, it was Russian military intelligence, the GRU, who took advantage of the information provided by the two brothers between 2011 and their arrest at the end of 2021.

Peyman Kia, 42, has held many senior positions in the Swedish security apparatus, including the army and his country’s intelligence services (Säpo). His younger brother, Payam, 35, is accused of “participating in the planning” of the plot and of “managing contacts with Russia and the GRU, including passing on information and receiving financial rewards.”

Both men deny the charges, and their lawyers have demanded an acquittal on charges of “aggravated espionage,” according to the Swedish news agency TT.

The trial coincides with another case of alleged Russian espionage, with the arrest of the Russian-born couple in late November in a suburb of Stockholm by a police team arriving at dawn in a Blackhawk helicopter.

Research website Bellingcat identified them as Sergei Skvortsov and Elena Kulkova. The couple allegedly acted as sleeper agents for Moscow, having moved to Sweden in the late 1990s.

According to Swedish press reports, the couple ran companies specializing in the import and export of electronic components and industrial technology.

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The man was again detained at the end of November for “illegal intelligence activities.” His partner, suspected of being an accomplice, has been released but remains under investigation.

According to Swedish authorities, the arrests are not related to the trial of the Kia brothers.

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Ukraine admitted that Russia may announce a general mobilization

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“They can strengthen their positions. We understand that this can happen. At the same time, we do not rule out that they will announce a general mobilization,” Danilov said in an interview with the Ukrainska Pravda online publication.

Danilov believed that this mobilization would also be convened “to exterminate as many as possible” of Russian citizens, so that “they would no longer have any problems on their territory.”

In this sense, Danilov also reminded that Russia has not given up on securing control over Kyiv or the idea of ​​the complete “destruction” of Ukraine. “We have to be ready for anything,” he said.

“I want everyone to understand that [os russos] they have not given up on the idea of ​​destroying our nation. If they don’t have Kyiv in their hands, they won’t have anything in their hands, we must understand this,” continued Danilov, who also did not rule out that a new Russian offensive would come from “Belarus and other territories.” .

As such, Danilov praised the decision of many of its residents who chose to stay in the Ukrainian capital when the war broke out in order to defend the city.

“They expected that there would be panic, that people would run, that there would be nothing to protect Kyiv,” he added, referring to President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The military offensive launched on February 24 by Russia in Ukraine caused at least 6.5 million internally displaced persons and more than 7.8 million refugees to European countries, which is why the UN classifies this migration crisis as the worst in Europe since World War II (1939-1945). gg.). ).

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At the moment, 17.7 million Ukrainians are in need of humanitarian assistance, and 9.3 million are in need of food aid and housing.

The Russian invasion, justified by Russian President Vladimir Putin on the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russia’s security, was condemned by the international community at large, which responded by sending weapons to Ukraine and imposing political and economic sanctions on Russia.

The UN has presented as confirmed 6,755 civilian deaths and 10,607 wounded since the beginning of the war, stressing that these figures are much lower than the real ones.

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