Markus Andrews

Aid charities have issued a plea to G20 leaders meeting in Rome this weekend, including Boris Johnson, to allow funding for humanitarian work into Afghanistan, where more than half the population are facing the danger of famine.Some 16 charities backed a joint letter warning that the impacts of drought and conflict have been compounded by a collapse in the country’s banking system, after western powers including the UK froze international assets in the wake of this summer’s Taliban takeover.They called on the G20 to establish “safe, efficient payment channels” to allow the flow of funds for aid work including the distribution of food and emergency supplies.Christian Aid chief executive Amanda Khozi Mukwashi, who was among the signatories, called on world leaders to “stop playing politics with people’s lives”.A report for the UN earlier this week warned that around 22.8m Afghans will face crisis or emergency levels of food security between November and March, requiring an urgent international response to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe.The report revealed a 37 per cent surge in acute hunger since April, leaving the country with the highest level of food insecurity recorded by the UN in 10 years of reports on Afghanistan.Among those at risk were 3.2m children under five, who are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition by the end of the year.The charity letter – also signed by Cafod, Care International, AfghanAid and International Rescue Committee UK – warned: “As Afghanistan’s harsh winter rapidly approaches, food and fuel prices are rocketing and people either simply can’t afford to buy essential supplies or have virtually no access to the money needed to buy them.“The situation is so desperate that many Afghans have sold their final possessions and some are resorting to desperate coping strategies such as child marriage.“NGOs have worked in Afghanistan for decades, including during the previous Taliban government. Our teams know how to ensure that aid gets directly to those who need it most. Without a functioning economy and banking system we remain restricted in what we can do.“Urgent international leadership is required. G20 members must act now to ensure cash is allowed back into Afghanistan via the banking system – inaction is punishing the Afghan people for the actions of the Taliban.”Subrata De, Christian Aid’s country manager for Afghanistan, said: “We’re doing all we can to distribute food and emergency supplies, but we cannot run humanitarian programmes well without a functional banking system.“The situation is desperate, people are without wages, and many are resorting to selling anything to buy food.”Ms Mukwashi appealed for action from the G20 leaders, who represent the world’s largest economies and include the UK, US, Russia, China, France and Germany.“Christian Aid, alongside partners, has been working in Afghanistan for over 30 years,” she said. “We continue to fight, but the banking system collapse is turning the lights off on what little hope there is.“Every minute G20 members wait to act is another innocent life threatened. People would expect urgent action to ensure cash is allowed back into Afghanistan via the banking system.“World leaders must stop playing politics with people’s lives. Millions will be at risk if they don’t.” More

Cop26 president Alok Sharma has swerved questions over the prospect of the Cambo oilfield receiving approval, saying: “That’s not my decision, that’s not my role.”It comes after Mr Sharma’s speech at the climate summit in Glasgow was interrupted by activists – branding him a “hypocrite” for the government’s support of the oilfield to the west of the Shetland islands.If approved, the project would produce up to 170 million barrels of oil between 2025 and 2050 and the government has faced intense pressure to scrap the plans, or risk damaging it’s efforts to lead the Cop26 conference.Appearing on the BBC’s Andrew Marr programme, Mr Sharma defended the UK’s efforts to decarbonise the economy as he dodged a question over whether giving the Cambo oil field the green light will help Britain demonstrate its “moral authority”.“In terms of oil and gas, we’ve been very clear, we’ve said in terms of granting any future licences there will be a climate compatibility checkpoint,” he stressed.“Any licences that are granted will have to be compatible with our legal requirement to be net zero by 2050.”Quizzed about an International Energy Agency (IEA) report that said no new oil or gas establishments could be set up after this year if the UK was to achieve its net zero target, Mr Sharma added: “The IEA report also makes clear that, even in a net zero scenario, there is some element of oil and gas in that.”When pressed on whether it was within his power to stop the development, Mr Sharma said his role, as Cop26 president, was to “bring together consensus” amongst 200 countries attending the summit for the next two weeks in Glasgow.“That is something that is being considered – there was a consultation and inquiry around all of that – I’m not going to go into that particular issue,” he added.“When there is an announcement, an agreement, I’m very happy to come back and talk to you.”Lord Deben, the chair of the UK’s Climate Change Committee (CCC), has previously suggested of Cambo: “We really do have to face up to the issue that there may be some occasions where we think that development could be of a kind which would help our move towards net zero to such a degree that it’s worth doing. “But we always have to remember that the moment you do any of that, you’re setting an example that will be quoted throughout the world as showing this kind of development is acceptable.”Asked about the remarks, Mr Sharma told the BBC: “Well, as I said, that’s no my decision, that’s not my role.“When a decision is made I’m very happy to come back and discuss it. They’ve [CCC] also said the net zero strategy that we have produced is a landmark strategy globally and it’s one other countries will look at and take head of.”Responding to the interview, senior Labour frontbencher David Lammy said: “Bullshit is a major contributor to climate change so it’s exasperating to see this response from Alok Sharma. “This crisis demands leadership and action, not more hot air. Labour would lead by example setting a hard-edged timetable to end oil and gas exploration.”The Green MP Caroline Lucas added: “Alok Sharma unable to defend the indefensible – he was doing well on Marr until he had to answer why his government is going ahead with a new oil field at Cambs.” More

The UK has rejected French claims of a deal to try to end the “fish wars” between the two countries, leaving Paris on course to launch reprisals in just 48 hours.France claimed Emmanuel Macron and Boris Johnson had agreed to work on “practical measures” to resolve the dispute – but No 10 insisted that was wrong and it is up to France to back down.The prime minister’s spokesman suggested Paris had given no indication it will drop its deadline of Tuesday to snarl up cross-Channel trade with port restrictions and border checks.As a result, the UK is standing by its threat to launch a legal battle and do “whatever is necessary to ensure UK interests”, Mr Johnson has said.“We stand ready to respond should they proceed to breaking the Brexit agreement,” his spokesman told reporters at the G20 summit in Rome.The UK had not agreed to take any different measures, such as relaxing the rules for issuing licences, after French boats were denied access to UK waters they say they have fished for decades.“Our position has not changed in regard to enforcing the Brexit deal as agreed by both sides.” the spokesman said.And he added: “It will be for the French to decide if they want to step away from the threats they have made in recent days.”The fresh clash leaves the UK and France still locking horns as the Cop26 climate summit gets underway in Glasgow, to the despair of environmental campaigners.London is “actively considering” triggering a dispute resolution mechanism in the post-Brexit trade deal that would send the dispute to independent arbitration – and a potential trade war if that fails.Mr Macron, meanwhile, has appealed to the EU for support, calling the row a test of the UK’s credibility and reliability in the eyes of the world.France has warned it will bar UK fishing boats from some ports and tighten customs checks on lorries entering the country with British goods – from Tuesday – unless more licences are released.Clement Beaune, France’s Europe minister, tweeted that Paris “stands ready to implement proportionate and reversible measures from November 2, as we have announced repeatedly since last April”.The 30-minute meeting also saw the two leaders continue the equally damaging stand-off over the Northern Ireland Protocol, where the UK is also threatening to invoke the dispute mechanism of Article 16.Mr Johnson’s spokesman said he had informed the French president that the Protocol “was the most important issue currently affecting UK-EU relations”“The prime minister stressed the need to urgently agree a solution in order to protect the Belfast [Good Friday] Agreement, including on governance,” a statement read. More

Prince Charles has warned the Cop26 summit is the “last chance saloon” to save the planet and keep global warming to 1.5 degrees, as he told world leaders they have an “overwhelming responsibility of to generations yet unborn”.The comments from the heir to throne came after Boris Johnson struck a pessimistic tone about the success of the conference, suggesting an agreement in Glasgow would be a “way station that allows us to end climate change”.The president of Cop26, Alok Sharma, also stressed on Sunday it would be a “tough ask” to reach the objective of persuading world leaders to sign up to prevent global temperatures from rising more than 1.5C above pre-industrial levels. The former business minister said he hopes political leaders emerge from the two weeks of talks with “credibility”, having “kept 1.5C alive”.But he warned that even if that ambition is achieved, it will not put a stop to rising sea levels caused by global warming swamping some countries.Speaking at the G20 summit in Rome, Prince Charles told delegates there was an “urgent need” to explore how to develop “a mechanism to provide sovereign risk guarantees that would help release the vast sums of money to make this public/private partnership a reality.“And that, in turn, is our only hope if we are to keep global warming to 1.5 degrees,” he stressed.He went on: “Cop26 begins in Glasgow tomorrow. Quite literally, it is the last chance saloon. We must now translate fine words into still finer actions. “And as the enormity of the climate challenge dominates peoples’ conversations, from news rooms to living rooms, and as the future of humanity and Nature herself are at stake, it is surely time to set aside our differences and grasp this unique opportunity to launch a substantial green recovery by putting the global economy on a confident, sustainable trajectory and, thus, save our planet.”The Prince of Wales added that “it is only too clear” trillions of dollars of investment will be required to reach the 1.5 degree climate target that will “save our forests and farms, our oceans and wildlife”.“No government has those sorts of sums – which is why I have spent so much time over the past nineteen months trying to form a global alliance amongst the private sector, as I have long believed it holds the ultimate key to the solutions we seek.” More

Rishi Sunak’s cut to tax on internal UK flights in Wednesday’s Budget was an example of the government trying to prove Brexit was a good idea, a top climate adviser has claimed.The big-spending chancellor, in whose largesse many observers detected the hand of his boss, Boris Johnson, cut air passenger duty for domestic flights and offset that by hiking charges on long-haul international trips.He was swiftly accused of undermining Britain’s climate credentials ahead of Cop26, with Friends of the Earth branding his decision “retrograde”.On Sunday the head of the government’s advisory climate change committee, Lord Deben, claimed the tax was calculated to cast the UK’s decision to leave the European Union in a positive light.He told Sky’s Trevor Phillips on Sunday: “I’m afraid the government is hung up in trying to prove that leaving the European Union was a good idea.“And that’s quite difficult. So one of the things it can do is to reduce the taxes internally and not across the whole of Europe. So, he decided to do that.“Actually, it doesn’t make any difference. As a matter of technicality, because the way that internal flights are accounted for under climate change will mean that they’ll just have to pay more in carbon.”The Conservative peer added: “So, it’s not carbon tax. So, actually, it’s not going to make all that difference. But it was perhaps not the right thing to do. I think it’s less important than remembering that they have increased the cost of long-haul flights.“And remembering also that the biggest mistake that was made was to cut our overseas aid to 0.5 from 0.7, which doesn’t give people confidence that we are going to help people in the way we’ve promised to do. That, for me, was a really deeply immoral and unacceptable act.”Lord Deben was speaking on the opening day of Cop26, the UN climate summit being hosted in Glasgow. Earlier on Sunday he had described the two-week convention as “the one chance we have to save the world”.Additional reporting by PA Media More

The Conservative Party has announced its candidate on Saturday for a by-election triggered by the death of James Brokenshire.Tory members selected Louie French in its campaign to hold on to the Old Bexley and Sidcup seat in south-east London after Mr Brokenshire, Cabinet minister and constituency’s MP since 2019, died of lung cancer earlier this month at the age of 53.The Conservative Party, which has held the seat since its inception in 1983, revealed its candidate after Labour and the Reform Party had already declared theirs. The date for the by-election has yet to be announced.Mr French is a councillor of eight years who also served as deputy leader of Bexley council from 2018 to this year.He said: “James Brokenshire was a friend and mentor to me and it’s an honour to have been selected as the Conservative candidate for Old Bexley and Sidcup, where I hope to carry on his excellent work.“I will campaign to ensure that outer London areas – like Old Bexley and Sidcup – are not forgotten or left behind by the mayor of London and City Hall.“I will work to improve access to GPs and healthcare services, building directly on James’ work with Queen Mary’s Hospital, so residents can get a face-to-face GP appointment at a time that suits them.”Labour has announced that Daniel Francis, a Bexley councillor and former leader of Bexley’s Labour group on the council, will contest the seat for the party.Mr Francis, in a message on Twitter, said he had lived in the area for 20 years and vowed to work “tirelessly” for the community if elected.Former Brexit Party chairman Richard Tice announced his candidacy in a bid to send Prime Minister Boris Johnson a “powerful message” about the impact of the Conservative government raising the tax burden to the highest level since the 1950s.The leader of the Reform Party – formerly known as the Brexit Party before it was – said he would be pledging low taxes and a campaign for a referendum on the target of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050.Describing the seat as “traditionally Conservative”, the former MEP said: “Voters here did not expect the Prime Minister to deliver Consocialism, a highly taxed, highly regulated nanny state.“We now have the highest overall taxes for 70 years and the lowest medium term growth forecasts for 60 years. It means authoritarian controls and record long waiting lists.“It means much higher energy costs even as we approach the foothills of the net zero cost mountain.”Mr Tice has also campaigned against what he describes as “woke nonsense” and the “erosion” of civil liberties as a result of lockdowns during the coronavirus pandemic. More

The Prime Minister has been accused by the leader of the opposition of “lowering expectations” in the run-up to the crucial Cop26 climate summit hosted by the UK in Glasgow.Sir Keir Starmer said he was “very frustrated” by Boris Johnson’s lack of leadership on tackling climate change.The Labour leader accused the PM of putting the targets of the United Nations conference in jeopardy. The summit is hoping to agree a plan to prevent global temperatures rising above 1.5C degrees against pre-industrial levels as outlined in the Paris Agreement of 2015.Sir Keir said that the UK, as chair of the G7 this year as well as host of Cop26, was in a strong position to spearhead efforts to cut global carbon emissions – but, he added, Mr Johnson “isn’t doing it”.He added that Mr Johnson was looking to downplay expectations, citing an interview in Rome on Saturday before his G20 meetings in which the PM said that he believed the gathering of world leaders has only a six out of 10 chance of success.Speaking in Rome, Mr Johnson also said: “Where we stand today, there is no chance of us stopping climate change next week.“There is no chance of us getting an agreement next week to limit climate change to 1.5 degrees.“What we could conceivably do if everybody gets their act together, what we could do, is get an agreement that means that Cop26 in Glasgow is a way station that allows us to end climate change.”In comments made to the Sunday Telegraph, Sir Keir said: “The Prime Minister has not been out there, on the front line, showing the international leadership that we need.“Therefore, we’ve got the position now, and you’re seeing it today, the Prime Minister is turning into a commentator, rather than a leader in relation to Cop26, lowering expectations by a commentary instead of leadership on the global stage, which is what he should be doing, or, frustratingly, he could be doing.“There is a risk to our international reputation because the lesson of Paris is that you need strong leadership into a big conference like this and that most of the hard work on international leadership is done before the conference.“It is a big risk and it’s a risk because our Prime Minister hasn’t shown that leadership when he has been in a position to do so.”Asked what his party would do differently to the government, Sir Keir said Labour would be urging the “big emitters” of carbon to pledge a target of running a net zero carbon economy by 2030, rather than 20 or 30 years later.He said the government’s decision to cut the foreign aid budget sent the “complete wrong signal to world” at a time when the UK is encouraging developed nations to commit about £70 billion a year to support poorer nations to deal with the impact of climate change.A future Labour government would invest £28 million per year for the rest of the decade to support transitioning the domestic economy away from using fossil fuels, Sir Keir told the newspaper. More

Activists have interrupted a speech by Alok Sharma, the government minister who is president of the Cop26 conference.He was speaking at the closing ceremony of the COY16 youth conference on Saturday evening when a group of delegates stood up and branded him a “hypocrite” for the UK Government’s support of the Cambo oil field.The young delegates led chants from the crowd before walking out of the auditorium at Strathclyde University.They held up a green “Fridays for Future” flag, while one read out a statement.“Alok Sharma and the UK government are hypocrites,” said the activist.“They are opening the new Cambo oil field, they subsidise billions into fossil fuels yet won’t look after the workers who need a just transition.“Where is the support for countries in crisis as a result of our colonial history?”Environmental campaigners have called for plans to begin extraction at the Cambo oil field, to the west of the Shetland Islands, to be scrapped.COY16 was the official youth event for Cop26, bringing together young climate delegates from around the world.It began on Thursday, and at the closing ceremony on Friday Mr Sharma was presented with a Global Youth Statement.During his speech, Mr Sharma said: “I do see myself as part of this collective movement with you.“What we are trying to achieve is to get world leaders to commit to limiting global warming.“In simple terms, that’s what we’re trying to do.” More