Boris Johnson has used a Downing Street meeting with Belarus’ exiled opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya to assure her that the UK government is “very much on your side” and is “committed to supporting human rights and civil society” in the eastern European nation.
Ahead of the meeting, Ms Tikhanovskaya spoke to the BBC about the plight of Olympian Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, saying that Alexander Lukashenko’s dictatorial regime was similar to Joseph Stalin’s. She said: “You have to play for your country but when you understand that country doesn’t take care about you, it’s difficult.”
As pro-democracy demonstrators gathered in central London, Ms Tikhanovskaya added that her aim was for “the British government to keep Belarus on the agenda, taking into consideration all the violence that’s going on inside the country and the threat that the regime now is for the international community”.
More under-18s could be cleared for Covid vaccines within days, says Nicola Sturgeon
“Invitations for vaccines are now going out to 12 to 17 years olds, with specific health conditions that make them more vulterable to Covid,” said Ms Sturgeon in her address.
Scotland to lift most coronavirus restrictions next Monday, Nicola Sturgeon announces
In the wake of Boris Johnson’s decision to axe nearly all Covid restrictions in England, Nicola Sturgeon has said that most measures will be lifted in Scotland next Monday, as the country moves “beyond Level 0”.
Notably, the first minister diverges from Westminster in saying that face masks will continue to be mandated in indoor settings, with a move to free double-jabbed people from isolation requirements coming sooner than in England, somewhat in line with Sir Keir Starmer’s proposals.
Our political editor Andrew Woodcock has the details here:
As highlighted by our chief political commentator John Rentoul, polling from Redfield & Wilton shines a light on a number of hypothetical prime ministerial races.
With Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak, Keir Starmer and Andy Burnham thrown into a number of two-horse races, the current prime minister appears to emerge victorious, comfortable defeating all three opponents.
The prime minister’s greatest chance of victory looks to be against the Greater Manchester mayor, while the polling sees chancellor Rishi Sunak clinch a win over the current Labour leader.
Non-piracy ‘incident’ underway in the Gulf, UK says
With the UK, US and Israel currently accusing Iran of carrying out a fatal drone strike on an oil tanker in the Gulf, an offshoot of the Royal Navy has now warned of an ongoing non-piracy “incident” off the coast of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates.
The warning notice from the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations – based on a third party source – advised vessels in the area to exercise extreme caution.
You can refresh our breaking story below for live updates:
With Gavin Williamson’s proposal that Latin be added to the state school curriculum sparking debate, LBC decided to test Jacob Rees-Mogg on his Latin skills.
While the Tory Commons leader manages to interpret the Etonian school motto, he fares less well in other questions – and admits that his various public uses of the language have been aided by a dictionary of quotations.
While the proposals sparked ridicule in some corners, Jordan Tyldesley offers this robust defence of the idea:
Public has been consistently ahead of the government on Covid, scientist claims
The British public has consistently been ahead of the government in terms of their awareness of the dangers of Covid-19, a leading behavioural scientist has claimed.
Stephen Reicher, a member of the government’s Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Behaviours (Spi-B), told Sky News: “The remarkable thing when you look at the data is that people have always been ahead of the government in being aware of the dangers.
“The problem, to some extent, is that the government is not matching the public with its own responsibilities.”
Prof Reicher cited YouGov polling which suggests the majority of the public support mandatory face coverings in indoor settings despite the government scrapping the measure a fortnight ago – and suggested that recently stabilising case rates can be attributed to public caution.
“If the government showed the same responsibility the public is showing, I think we’d be in a far better place in the autumn,” Prof Reicher added.
Following Boris Johnson’s meeting with Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tsikhanovskaya, a Downing Street spokesperson said the prime minister had outlined the steps the UK has taken to hold Alexander Lukashenko’s regime to account, including placing sanctions on the dictatorial president himself.
“He stressed the UK’s commitment to the Belarusian people, in particular through tripling our financial support to Belarusian civil society this year,” the spokesperson said.
“The prime minister and Mrs Tsikhanovskaya agreed that the British and Belarusian people share fundamental values such as a belief in democracy, human rights and rule of law. The prime minister said the UK stands in solidarity of the people of Belarus and will continue to take action to support them.”
Politics Explained: Should we be concerned about lobbying within parliamentary groups?
In The Independent’s latest ‘Politics Explained’ article, our associate editor Sean O’Grady writes of the latest twist in the lobbying allegations saga:
“Given that they are one of the few places where MPs and peers from different parties and with radically different philosophies can learn to work together, it seems a bit of a shame that the system of All-Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs) is the latest institution to be brushed with the taint of sleaze.
“However, the current inquiry by the standards committee suggests that something rather more serious than the occasional complimentary bottle of single malt may be at stake.”
Read more of his analysis with Independent Premium:
Iran ‘must end its destabilising actions immediately’, Raab says
Dominic Raab has welcomed Nato criticism of Iran, amid allegations that the Middle Eastern nation is responsible for a fatal drone strike on an oil tanker near Oman – which Tehran denies.
Echoing the language used earlier by Nato, the UK foreign secretary said: “We believe this was a deliberate, targeted attack by Iran – it must end its destabilising actions immediately.”
European Commission spokeswoman Nabila Massrali was somewhat more cautious in blaming Tehran outright, telling reporters: “The exact circumstances of this attack have to be clarified and we take note of investigations carried out by the United States, the UK and Israel – this is an action that was against freedom of navigation in this area, and of course unacceptable.
“We oppose any action that would be detrimental to peace and stability in this area and the EU will continue to follow developments closely.”
Here’s some more detail on this story:
SNP and Greens ‘close to cooperation agreement’
The SNP and the Scottish Greens are close to a cooperation agreement, reports suggest.
Both parties had ruled out a formal coalition after the SNP fell just one seat short of an overall majority at the Holyrood elections, but have been locked in negotiations over a cooperation agreement since May – which could even see some Green MSPs appointed as ministers in Nicola Sturgeon’s government,
First reported by the Daily Record, a source familiar with the negotiations has now told the PA news agency that there has been “good progress” made, with a deal “95%” done.
An announcement could come as early as the end of this week, the source reportedly claimed.
