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Thursday, April 27, 2017

Boris Johnson launches attack on 'mugwump' Jeremy Corbyn

Boris Johnson has cemented his intervention in the General Election campaign with a savage attack on Jeremy Corbyn, describing him as a "benign herbivore".

His colourful assault on the Labour leader suggests voters are tempted to feel compassion when they see his "meandering and nonsensical" performances.

But the Foreign Secretary writes in The Sun that voters should not feel sorry for the "mutton-headed old mugwump" as, he says, Mr Corbyn poses an extreme danger to the country.

:: Sky Views: It's game on for Crush Corbyn

He says the Opposition leader's long record as a peace campaigner and his anti-military stances actually mean "the consequences would be calamitous" if he ever became Prime Minister.

"Have you ever thought the Leader of the Opposition is an essentially benign Islingtonian herbivore?" the Foreign Secretary writes. "Have you felt a pang of sympathy for his plight? If so, fight it.

"The biggest risk with Jeremy Corbyn is that people just don't get what a threat he really is."

Mr Johnson concludes his article with a warning on Brexit. "Corbyn's approach would be a recipe for paralysis and uncertainty - and for Britain to get totally stiffed in the negotiations," he writes.

Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry said: "It seems Boris Johnson has finally been allowed out of hiding, on the condition he only talks delusional nonsense.

"He talks about creating a 'global Britain', yet the Tories have overseen the greatest diminution of British influence on the world stage in a generation.

"With his crass and offensive remarks Boris Johnson has single-handedly damaged Britain's chances of getting a good deal with the EU.

"And after his broken promise of £350m a week for the NHS, why should anyone believe a word he says?"



Brexit: Theresa May wants 'deep and special partnership' with EU

Britain wants a "deep and special partnership" with the EU after Brexit, Theresa May has told Brussels chiefs in talks at 10 Downing Street.

The Prime Minister held a "working dinner" lasting an hour and 45 minutes with European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker and the EU's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier.

After the meeting, a No 10 spokesperson said: "The PM had a constructive meeting this evening with President Juncker of the European Commission.

"Following the UK's letter of notification under Article 50, she reiterated the UK's commitment to achieving a deep and special partnership with the European Union."

The meeting appeared to begin in cordial fashion as Mrs May greeted Mr Juncker with a kiss on both cheeks as she greeted him in Downing Street.

But the PM and Brexit Secretary David Davis, who was also at the dinner, soon began putting the UK's case on a number of key areas of dispute at the start of Brexit negotiations.

These are contained in a blueprint drawn up by European Council president Donald Tusk, who was not present, ahead of a summit of the other 27 EU leaders in Brussels on Saturday.

They include:

:: Demands by Brussels for a "divorce bill" of up to €50bn when the UK leaves the EU

:: The rights of EU citizens living in the UK and British ex-pats living in Europe after Brexit

:: The threat of a veto for Spain on the future status of Gibraltar after Brexit.

The Downing Street dinner came at Mrs May's invitation after she called the General Election. She wanted the Brussels chiefs to be aware of the UK's position before Saturday's meeting of EU leaders.

One Government insider said the dinner was an attempt to improve the atmosphere before Brexit talks start in earnest in June after the General Election. "It was the first stage in the negotiations," one of those present told Sky News.

Also present at the talks were other key figures in the Brexit negotiations.

From Brussels were Mr Juncker's right hand man Martin Selmayr, Mr Selmayr's diplomatic adviser Richard Szostak, Mr Barnier's deputy Sabine Weyand.

From the UK Government were No 10 joint chief of staff Nick Timothy and the chief Brexit department official Olly Robbins.

Earlier, addressing a conference in London, Mr Davis said of the Brexit negotiations: "The UK has a very good reason to feel optimistic.

'"The discussions I have had confirmed to me that on both sides, negotiations with our European partners will be conducted in a spirit of sincere cooperation. It is a spirit we have shared through our common history.

"Indeed, one of my key messages on my visits to the four countries over the past couple of days, and more than a dozen over a longer period, is that the UK wants to see the European Union succeed and prosper, politically, socially and economically.

"And when it comes to it, our European partners know - even those that were most dismayed by our departure after the UK referendum result - that it will be in their interests for the UK to do the same."

Mr Davis said he was confident of a "very early" deal on the Irish border and reciprocal rights for EU nationals in Britain and UK citizens on the continent.

He said he was optimistic about the opportunities for the future and added: "The Government will do its best to ensure that those opportunities are available to everybody."

Zac Goldsmith to fight for seat he quit over Heathrow runway row

Zac Goldsmith is to re-contest his old seat for the Conservatives after quitting the party over its policy on Heathrow.

His comeback comes just months after he left the Tories in protest at their backing of expansion at the UK's largest airport.

He lost the constituency to Sarah Olney from the Liberal Democrats in a by-election last December.

The Liberal Democrats' chief whip, Tom Brake, said: "By standing as a Conservative after resigning over Heathrow, Zac Goldsmith has just lost his last shred of credibility.

"Zac Goldsmith couldn't stand on a Conservative platform last time, so what's changed?

"Sarah Olney beat him once, she will beat him again."

Mr Goldsmith had forced the by-election so that he could run as an independent, opposing Heathrow becoming bigger.

But despite his re-emergence for the party in Richmond Park, he will still be opposing its policy on Heathrow.

Nevertheless, constituency chairman Georgina Butler said she was "delighted" that Mr Goldsmith had been reselected.

Meanwhile, former employment minister Esther McVey has been selected by the Conservatives to fight George Osborne's old seat in Tatton.

The former chancellor tweeted his "huge congratulations", describing Ms McVey as "a real star", adding that he "couldn't have a better successor".

Mr Osborne, who was in charge at the Treasury from 2010-2016, also referenced one of his key projects, saying that Ms McVey was a "one-woman Northern Powerhouse".

Sky's Chief Political Correspondent Jon Craig said: "Esther McVey, who is from Merseyside, had told friends she was keen to return to the Commons for a seat in the north, preferably the north west. So Tatton is perfect for her.

"She will have had George Osborne's backing, as the two worked closely when she was an employment minister and he was chancellor.

"But she was in demand. She was wanted in Chester, also in the north west, which is held by Labour with a majority of under 100, and Hornchurch and Upminster, a safe seat in east London where the veteran MP Angela Watkinson is retiring.

"Her only problem now is that Tatton is due to disappear in boundary changes before the next election, but she will be well placed to fight a new seat in Cheshire."

The Conservative majority she will be defending in Tatton stands at more than 18,000.

Before deciding to step down, Mr Osborne had been criticised for staying on as an MP while also becoming editor of the London Evening Standard.

But even after leaving the Commons, he will be kept busy with a variety of positions.

Joshua and Klitschko bring fight fascination to Sky campus

It's partly the journeys of the two pugilists; it's partly the pull of young meeting old and, let's be honest, it's partly because no sport does self-promotion quite like boxing.

But the result is that when Britain's Anthony Joshua defends his world heavyweight title against the former champion Wladimir Klitschko on Saturday, the 90,000 crowd at Wembley Stadium will break a UK record.

And even for the pre-fight news conference, being held in Sky's flagship London building, Sky Central, workers are preparing to abandon their desks and watch the two 6ft 6in giants engage in verbal combat before their fists are called upon.

Three hundred journalists from around the world are expected to gather beneath the new glass-walled Sky News studio in Osterley to hear from the two Olympic champions.

"It promises to be an amazing day here in Osterley and it's a great opportunity for the outside world to see our new campus," said a Sky spokesman.

The reporters and the onlookers will get a chance to look into the eyes of the 41-year-old Ukrainian, whose Soviet Air Force colonel father died of a cancer the family attribute to the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

Does Klitschko still have the hunger and the fitness to wrest the title back from the 27-year-old Londoner?

Joshua won Olympic gold in London in 2012, 16 years after watching in awe as his opponent on Saturday achieved the same feat in Atlanta.

If local support counts for anything, Joshua will be fine.

A man who once spent two weeks on remand in Reading Jail ("for fighting, crazy stuff") has turned his life round to the extent that children at his old school in Watford talked this week of his giving them "something to aspire to".

Is he - as some experts contend - still too raw as a boxer? He has won all 18 fights as a professional by knockout, but Klitschko's trainer Johnathon Banks warns: "You can't buy experience."

Britain's former world champion Lennox Lewis, who retired after winning a bloody battle against Klitschko's brother Vitali, is among the media throng here, working for German TV.

"You don't want to be learning in big fights like this," he says, while finding himself unable to predict which way it will go.

Is the fight too early for Joshua or too late for Klitschko?

There is an undeniable fascination.

Hence the crowds.

Trump has 'no intention' of releasing his tax returns, despite clamour

President Donald Trump "has no intention" of releasing his tax returns to the public, the US treasury secretary has said.

Mr Trump has repeatedly refused to make his past returns public, breaking a decades-long tradition adhered to by his predecessors in the White House.

He has claimed the decision is because his taxes are being audited by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Steve Mnuchin, treasury secretary, made the claim during a news conference on the President's new proposed tax plan on Wednesday.

He said: "The president has released plenty of information and I think has given more financial disclosure than anybody else.

"I think the American population has plenty of information."

It comes as Mr Trump proposed slashing the US tax rate on corporate tax from 35% to 15% as he looks to boost economic growth and bring jobs to America.

:: Trump administration proposes corporate tax cuts of 20%

Mr Trump also wants to reduce the number of tax brackets from seven to three, double the standard deduction that Americans can claim on their tax returns and repeal the estate tax and alternative minimum tax.

Under those proposals, Mr Trump's family would stand to save significantly in future years. Mr Mnuchin declined to comment on any potential conflict of interest the changes could raise.

Under US law, only Congress can make major tax law changes.

A petition launched in January calling for Mr Trump's full tax returns to be released received more than one million signatures, meaning the White House has to make a formal response to it.

The wording of the petition read: "The unprecedented economic conflicts of this administration need to be visible to the American people, including any pertinent documentation which can reveal the foreign influences and financial interests which may put Donald Trump in conflict with the emoluments clause of the Constitution."

Protests have taken place across the US asking for the returns to be published, but earlier this month Mr Trump claimed those taking part had been "paid" to do so.

Mr Trump's tax returns dating from 2005 were leaked last month, and revealed he had paid $36.5 or roughly 25% on the $153m he earned that year.

That figure is well above the 10% rate the average American taxpayer is faced with, but below the average of 27.4% of those earning more than $1m a year.

Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Lib Dems drop 'anti-Semitic' candidate David Ward

A former Liberal Democrat MP branded "anti-Semitic" has been dramatically sacked as a candidate only hours after being condemned by Theresa May in the Commons.

David Ward, MP for Bradford East from 2010-15, was selected by party activists in the constituency as their General Election candidate in a bid to win back the seat from Labour.

But just two hours after the Prime Minister hit out at his "questionable views", the Lib Dem leader Tim Farron - in an abrupt and spectacular U-turn - announced that he had sacked him.

"I believe in a politics that is open, tolerant and united," said Mr Farron. "David Ward is unfit to represent the party and I have sacked him."

Yet two hours before PMQs, Mr Farron - despite saying Mr Ward had said things that were "wrong, offensive and above all anti-Semitic" - had declared: "It is not the job of the leader to impose who and who isn't the candidate."

Mr Ward's dismissal by his party leader came after he was attacked during the final Prime Minister's Questions before the election by the former Tory Cabinet minister Sir Eric Pickles.

Sir Eric, a former leader of Bradford City Council who is quitting as an MP, said party leaders must do more than "pay lip service" to tackling anti-Semitism.

And he asked the PM: "Do you share my disgust that a former member of this House, criticised by the Home Affairs Select Committee for his anti-Semitic utterances, is now the official candidate in Bradford East for the Liberal Democrats?"

Mr Ward has been a controversial figure since accusing Jews of "inflicting atrocities on Palestinians" in a 2013 blog in which he compared Jewish suffering in the Holocaust with Israel's treatment of the Palestinians.

In 2014 he was forced to apologise after suggesting he might be ready to fire rockets from Gaza into Israel. A year later he lost his seat to Labour in the 2015 general election.

But when Mr Farron gave evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee's anti-Semitism inquiry last year, he said the ex-MP had "served his time".

Replying to Sir Eric's question, Mrs May said: "People will be, I think, rightly disappointed to see the Liberal Democrats re-adopt a candidate with a questionable record on anti-Semitism.

"It is important that all parties maintain the strongest possible censure on all forms of intolerance and send that message to our communities."

Jurassic Park: Jeff Goldblum reprises role in sequel

Jeff Goldblum will reprise his Jurassic Park role in the upcoming sequel to the 2015 spin-off Jurassic World.

The 64-year-old actor will play sarcastic mathematician Dr Ian Malcolm for the third time in his career, after starring in the sequel The Lost World: Jurassic Park in 1997.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Goldblum will appear alongside Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard in the upcoming spin-off, directed by JA Bayona.

The Spanish filmmaker was behind the 2016 fantasy film A Monster Calls and the 2012 disaster movie The Impossible.

Colin Trevorrow, who directed Jurassic World, wrote the script for the sequel with Derek Connolly.

Jurassic World earned $1.67bn worldwide in 2015 and is the fourth-highest-grossing film in history.

It comes after Goldblum said he had not been asked to appear in Jurassic World and he was "entirely satisfied" with his work on the franchise.

"If I never did any more, I'd be entirely nourished and happy and fulfilled from having done these," he said.

"They're doing spectacularly well without me."

Later this year, Goldblum will appear in Marvel's Thor: Ragnarok as the Grandmaster - the first film since his latest box-office flop Independence Day: Resurgence.

The as-yet-untitled Jurassic World sequel - the fifth instalment in the franchise - is due to be released in June 2018.