Briefsfromshittu

Friday, October 14, 2016

'Hard Brexit' is the only Brexit warns EU president Donald Tusk

"Hard Brexit" is the only offer on the table, European Council president Donald Tusk has warned, unless the UK changes its mind and decides to stay in the EU.

In a strongly-worded intervention, Mr Tusk insisted the UK would not be able to retain the benefits of European Union membership whilst also blocking free movement of people and ending contributions to the Brussels budget.

Mr Tusk said it was "useless to speculate about soft Brexit", which would enable the UK to retain the closest possible ties to the bloc after leaving.

He also told the European Policy Centre that the Leave campaign's demand to "take back control" would ultimately be "painful for Britons".

He said: "This approach has definitive consequences, both for the position of the UK Government and for the whole process of negotiations.

"Regardless of magic spells, this means a de facto will to radically loosen relations with the EU, something that goes by the name of 'hard Brexit'."

:: Theresa May has no legal power to start Brexit, High Court told

He dismissed Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson's "cake" comments during the referendum about being "pro-having it and pro-eating it".

Mr Tusk said: "The words uttered by one of the leading campaigners for Brexit and proponents of the cake philosophy was pure illusion that one can have the EU cake and eat it, too.

"To all who believe in it, I propose a simple experiment: Buy a cake, eat it, and see if it is still there on the plate."

However, the council president added that the UK Government "would find allies" if it wanted to reverse the Brexit decision after article 50 had been triggered.

"In my opinion, the only real alternative to a 'hard Brexit' is 'no Brexit'," said Mr Tusk.

"Of course it is and can only be for the UK to assess the outcome of the negotiations and determine if Brexit is really in their interest."

:: Race or religious hate crimes up 41% after Brexit vote

His comments came as Mr Johnson suggested Britain can get a trade deal that is "of greater value" to the UK economy than access to the EU single market, which he described as "increasingly useless".

Giving evidence to the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, Mr Johnson said: "It doesn't mean that we are going to be hostile to people of talent who want to live and work here.

"I think it is extremely important that we continue to send out a signal of openness and welcome to the many brilliant people who help to drive the London economy and the UK economy."

Mr Johnson conceded that negotiations could take longer than the two years set under Article 50, but he insisted he was "absolutely confident" that a good deal would eventually be reached.

Critics have warned that loss of access to the single market would harm British businesses by denying them a marketplace of 500 million consumers free of tariffs.

Thursday, October 13, 2016

Sky Views: Who are Donald Trump's 'deplorables'?

Hannah Thomas-Peter, US Correspondent

Arguably, one of Hillary Clinton's biggest mistakes this election was saying this:

"You know, to just be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump's supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. Right? The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic - you name it."

She quickly apologised.

But what she meant was lost in the buzz caused by what people heard, which was something along the lines of (and I paraphrase):

"Liberal elites like me will never understand or prioritise the needs and concerns of the vast majority of white working class America because we are instinctively contemptuous of poor, uneducated people."

Unfair? Yes.

Did it happen anyway? Yes.

The Clinton camp must have been tearing their expensive hair out.

Mr Trump knows a political gift when he sees one, and the effect was electric at campaign events across the country.

Without a hint of irony, the billionaire property mogul started arriving on stage to the theme of Les Miserables.

Memes populated Instagram and Facebook feeds.

"Deplorables" became a rallying cry, a call to arms, and a very effective way of selling T-shirts.

At a recent rally in Philadelphia, a woman wearing a hat that read "Deplorable and Proud" said to me: "They don't like me and my cheap clothes and my cigarettes and what I believe in? I've found a man who does."

"We are done!", another woman joined in. "Fed up with the Establishment and that snob Hillary Clinton. What has she done for us?"

Mrs Clinton's tone deaf misstep has been so damaging because it further exposed one of the deepest fault lines running through this country, and put her on the wrong side of it.

Mr Trump's increasingly erratic and possibly failing campaign has managed to unite a relatively disparate group of people who are fed up with being told that what they believe is somehow offensive or politically incorrect.

Yes, some of them are racist, sexist bigots.

I've spoken to lots of them.

But most people who've embraced the "deplorables" name are simply fed up residents of middle America.

They might come from struggling former industrial towns.

They might come from union families and have only ever voted Democrat.

But they will tell you they feel tired, frustrated and marginalised in a country their families helped to build.

They cannot shake the feeling that they have not and never will benefit from the global recovery following the 2008 financial crisis.

The shiny new jobs in tech and science are not for them.

Heroin stalks their streets.

The school system is a future-defining lottery.

They don't read The New York Times or drink matcha lattes.

They do worry about crime, immigration and identity.

They distrust and disbelieve encouraging statistics about employment and rising incomes.

Now, suddenly, they are a force to be reckoned with, considered and courted, and their effect on politics will remain whether Mr Trump wins or not.

If Mrs Clinton finds herself elected, she's got a lot of work to do to win them over. That's a good thing.

Nigeria's President Buhari warned by first lady

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari's wife has warned him that she may not back him at the next election unless he shakes up his government.

In a BBC interview, Aisha Buhari said the president "does not know" most of the top officials he has appointed.

She suggested the government had been hijacked, saying a "few people" were behind presidential appointments.

Mr Buhari was elected last year with a promise to tackle corruption and nepotism in government.

His wife's decision to go public with her concerns will shock many people, but it shows the level of discontent with the president's leadership, says the BBC's Naziru Mikailu in the capital, Abuja.

The president famously remarked at his inauguration that he "belongs to nobody and belongs to everybody".

In the interview with Naziru Mikailu, Mrs Buhari said: "The president does not know 45 out of 50, for example, of the people he appointed and I don't know them either, despite being his wife of 27 years."

She said people who did not share the vision of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) were now appointed to top posts because of the influence a "few people" wield.

"Some people are sitting down in their homes folding their arms only for them to be called to come and head an agency or a ministerial position."

Asked to name those who had hijacked the government, she refused, saying: "You will know them if you watch television."

On whether the president was in charge, she said: "That is left for the people to decide."

Mrs Buhari said her husband had not told her whether he would contest the 2019 election.

"He is yet to tell me but I have decided as his wife, that if things continue like this up to 2019, I will not go out and campaign again and ask any woman to vote like I did before. I will never do it again."

Asked what she regarded as the government's major achievement, she said it was to improve security in the north-east where militant Islamist group Boko Haram has waged an insurgency since 2009.

"No-one is complaining about being attacked in their own homes. Thankfully everyone can walk around freely, go to places of worship, etc. Even kids in Maiduguri have returned to schools," Mrs Buhari said, referring to the city which was once the headquarters of the militant group.

Coolio charged after 'gun found in bag at Los Angeles airport'

US rapper Coolio has been charged after a handgun was allegedly found in his rucksack at Los Angeles international airport.

The 53-year-old could be jailed for up to three years if convicted after the weapon was apparently discovered while his bags were being X-rayed in September.

Coolio, whose real name is Artis Leon Ivey, faces one count of possession of a firearm by a felon with two priors.

He was scheduled to appear in court in LA on Thursday, but reportedly did not turn up.

His lawyer told the judge his client had a performance in St Louis and could not get back in time, according to TMZ.

The rapper, who is probably most famous for his 1995 track Gangsta's Paradise, now has to appear at court on 26 October, it added.

TMZ claimed the gun had been loaded when he was detained in September.

In 2001, he was convicted of carrying a concealed weapon in a vehicle and in 2009 he was convicted of possessing cocaine.

Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej dies, aged 88

Thailand has started a year of mourning after the death of the world's longest-reigning monarch King Bhumibol Adulyadej, aged 88.

The palace did not give a reason for his death, but said in a statement: "Although the team of doctors treated him to the best of their ability, his condition deteriorated.

"His Majesty has passed away at Siriraj Hospital (in Bangkok) peacefully."

Bhumibol ascended the throne in 1946 as an 18-year-old, after the death of his brother King Ananda Mahidol from a gunshot wound in a palace bedroom.

The circumstances of that death remain unexplained.

He was crowned in 1950, a week after he married Sirikit, and together they visited nearly 30 countries during his reign.

During a 70-year reign, the US-born king became his nation's one constant, as a long line of governments rose and fell.

He was remembered as a gentle leader, a frail-looking and softly-spoken man who used his influence to unite the nation and rally troops through the Cold War as Thailand's neighbours fell to communism.

But he was also down to earth - hiking to remote rice paddies and poor villages to examine the state of the country beyond the palace steps and to resolve various disputes.

King Bhumibol became the world's richest monarch during his heyday and lived the life of a modern king, racing yachts and wearing ornate clothing.

But he spent most of his final years in hospital, rarely seen in public and remaining silent on the upheaval and protests that have shaken Thailand in recent years.

The king's son and heir apparent, the 64-year-old Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, is expected to succeed to the throne.

Many commentators say he does not have the influence of his father, however.

:: Monday 10 Oct - Fears for Thai king Bhumibol Adulyadej's health see stocks plunge

Thailand's prime minister Prayut Chan-o-Cha said: "The government will proceed with the succession.

"The government will inform the National Legislative Assembly that His Majesty the King appointed his heir on 28 December, 1972."

This is the date that Vajiralongkorn was made crown prince and it is expected that he could be made king later this afternoon, UK time.

He also urged Thais to love one another and to preserve "the father's land".

Sky's Bangkok Correspondent Tom Rayner said that "several thousand" people were outside the hospital where the king had been receiving treatment "for the best part of 10 years".

"There are people wailing, crying...this is a country that will now be in shell-shock."

He added: "The king was loved by many in this country...a leader who led their country through turbulent political times, a unifying figure."