Markus Andrews

The government’s Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy is effectively Boris Johnson’s vision for a Global Britain following the UK’s departure from the EU.The most comprehensive overview of the UK’s interactions with the rest of the world for decades, the 114-page document sets out how the prime minister sees the UK’s place in a world that will probably be dominated by the rise of China, climate change, fast-developing technology and competition for resources.So what are the key promises, targets and ambitions set out in Mr Johnson’s plan?- Pledge to exceed the Nato spending commitment to devote 2 per cent of national wealth each year to defence.- Promise to remain a nuclear-armed power with “global reach” and military capabilities across all five operational domains – cyber, space, maritime, land and air.Read more:Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekday- Overturning a previous pledge to reduce the UK’s nuclear weapons stockpile to 180 warheads by the mid-2020s, lifting the cap instead to as many as 260.- Creation of a new Counter Terrorism Operations Centre and a Situation Centre on Whitehall to respond to emergencies.- Development of a National Cyber Force with a comprehensive strategy to build and deploy digital tools to “detect, disrupt and deter our adversaries”.- Ambition to secure the UK’s status as a science and tech superpower by 2030. The document sets out the target of remaining at least third in the world on measures for scientific research and innovation. And it promises to make Britain a “magnet” for international talent in scientific research.- Establishing a “leading edge” in critical areas such as artificial intelligence.- Consolidating the UK’s position as a global services, digital and data hub.- Making the fight against climate change and biodiversity loss the government’s “number one international priority” in the coming decade.- Return to the commitment to spend 0.7 per cent of GDP on international aid “when the fiscal situation allows”, with no target date set.- Aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth to lead a British and allied task group on “the UK’s most ambitious global deployment in two decades” to the Mediterranean, Middle East and Indo-Pacific to demonstrate the UK’s ability to project cutting-edge military power.- Aim to remain the US’s “leading European ally within Nato” and to enjoy “constructive relationships” with the EU.- Deepening UK interaction with Asia, with an “Indo-Pacific tilt” to policy over the years to 2030, along with the ambition to be “active” in Africa – particularly in Nigeria and on the east of the continent – and to foster “thriving relationships” in the Middle East, based on trade and technology collaboration.- Maintaining Britain’s position as a “global champion of free and fair trade”. More

Protests are to be permitted from 29 March in England without breaching coronavirus restrictions, Downing Street has said. Boris Johnson has come under intense pressure over the ban on demonstrations, following the use of force by police on women marking a vigil to murder victim Sarah Everard at Clapham Common on Saturday.Demonstrations of more than two people have been banned since the start of the second Covid-19 lockdown in December, but the rule was ignored by thousands of people taking part in a series of protests outside Parliament in the wake of Saturday’s scenes.The government’s roadmap out of lockdown, published on 22 February, makes no mention of the return of the right to take part in demonstrations.But it does state that from 29 March, the government will “enable people to meet up in limited numbers outdoors, where they are less likely to catch the virus or pass it on”.Read more:Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayThe prime minister’s official spokesman told reporters that this relaxation will apply to protests.He told reporters: “The stay-at-home order will lift on 29 March, which means it is no longer illegal to leave your home save for the exemptions which we are all aware of.“In line with that, as you saw under Tiers 1-3 previously, protests will also be able to resume from 29 March.“However, these will still be subject to the previous Covid-secure precautions we had, namely that organisers need to submit risk assessments and ensure there is appropriate social distancing.” More

Thousands of weddings will have to be cancelled, the industry is warning, accusing the government of crushing hopes of restrictions being lifted next month.A “weddings taskforce” had expected all venues to reopen from 12 April – but says it has been told that ceremonies will only be allowed in places of worship and a small number of public buildings.No fewer than 71 per cent of weddings take place in hotels and other venues, it is warning, suggesting 7,000 planned celebrations will have to be postponed or scrapped in a single month.“The roadmap indicated weddings and receptions could resume on 12 April,” said spokesperson Sarah Haywood.“We have now discovered, not by being offered the information but by analysing the small print and repeatedly seeking clarity, that this is not the case.”Read more:Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayDowning Street has been asked if the taskforce is correct to believe that most typical wedding venues will remain barred after 12 April, the next roadmap review date.The taskforce – set up by the government – said 60,000 businesses employing 400,000 people, in a £14.7bn industry, was “grappling with further uncertainty and growing unrest”.Many couples who had already been forced to postponed their weddings multiple times now faced further disappointment.“After a year of uncertainty for businesses, their employees and over half a million people whose weddings have been on hold, this is yet another major blow,” Ms Haywood added.“It will cost the industry – already on its knees – millions of pounds, lead to the loss of more jobs and leave an estimated 7,000 couples without a wedding.”The dispute appears to have blown up because documents published alongside last month’s roadmap are ambiguous and contradictory.It was announced that, “not before” 12 April, “the number of people able to attend weddings, receptions and commemorative events such as wakes will rise to 15”.It was also stated that “weddings, receptions, and commemorative events including wakes will be able to take place with up to 15 attendees (in premises that are permitted to open)”.The taskforce says this was widely interpreted as a reopening of all venues – and that the government has only now indicated, after weeks of being asked, that this will not be the case.Instead, weddings will be restricted to places of worship and some public buildings – putting 7,000 planned ceremonies in jeopardy before the next review date, of 17 May. Ms Haywood also attacked the absurdity of the rules, saying: “A couple could technically get married in a zoo, but not in a Covid-safe, purpose-built wedding venue.”After that date, it is anticipated that “up to 30 people will be able to attend weddings, receptions and wakes” and indoor hospitality will reopen. More

Boris Johnson will visit India at the end of April, making it his first major international trip after Britain’s exit from the European Union. Mr Johnson had planned a visit to India in January but cancelled it following a surge in the number of Covid-19 cases in the UK. A Downing Street statement at the time said he hoped to be able to visit India ahead of the UK’s G7 summit in June, which Indian prime minister Narendra Modi is due to attend.The announcement of the India visit came as Mr Johnson was due to publish the conclusions of his integrated review of security, defence, development and foreign policy. Downing Street said the review will set out some shifts such as a “tilt” towards the Indo-Pacific.It was also confirmed that the UK will dispatch an aircraft carrier strike group to the western Pacific. “This year the Queen Elizabeth Carrier will undertake its first operational deployment to the region, the UK is applying for partner status at the Association of South East Asian nations and at the end of April the Prime Minister will travel to India on his first major international visit following our departure from the EU,” the statement said.Read more:Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayThe UK hopes to develop broader trade ties with India as it eyes the prospect of new partnerships now that it is outside the EU – but there are many hurdles still to overcome before any kind of meaningful trade deal can be agreed between London and Delhi.The UK foreign secretary Dominic Raab visited India in December, and the government said he and India’s foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar reviewed progress in their bilateral relations this month.During his December visit, Mr Raab had said Britain wants to deepen its economic partnership with India. “We are committed to building a stronger defence and security partnership with India that will help us tackle shared issues related to terrorism and maritime security,” he said.He discussed with Mr Jaishankar an “Enhanced Trade Partnership” which could one day lead to a free trade agreement. Mr Jaishankar has welcomed the UK’s Indo-Pacific “tilt” and said India will cooperate closely on global issues and in multilateral organisations. More

New powers to crack down on protests are not needed and go “too far”, senior police and crime commissioners have said.MPs will vote on the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, which would lower the threshold at which police can impose legally-binding restrictions on protests, and make it easier to prosecute people for violating them.Human rights groups have called the plans “an all-out assault on our right to protest”, and demonstrations were being mounted outside parliament ahead of the vote.Read more:“These are local matters for chief constables in consultations with PCCs, and I was concerned to see the draft clauses in the bill,” he said.“I think politicians would be wise to leave decisions to the responsible people … they’ve got to leave people to make local decisions in local circumstances.”Martin Surl, vice-chair of the APCC, said police “have the laws needed already”.“When you make these laws, you can’t pick laws for the protests you like and don’t like,” he added. “If you’re protesting about Me Too, climate change, racism, the laws have got to be the same. Police constables are operationally independent and don’t have an agenda, which some politicians do.”Mr Surl, who is the politically independent PCC for Gloucestershire, said: “I don’t like law for law’s sake, especially on freedom of protest. More

Boris Johnson’s plan to increase the size of the UK’s nuclear weapons stockpile amounts to a violation of international law, campaigners and experts have warned. The government’s integrated defence review on Tuesday said the UK would be increasing the size of its nuclear arsenal by 40 per cent, to 260 warheads. The UK had previously been committed to cutting its stockpile to 180 warheads by “the mid-2020s”, but the review said this policy would be changed “in recognition of the evolving security environment, including the developing range of technological and doctrinal threats”.The announcement comes despite the UK being a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which commits the government to gradual nuclear disarmament under international law – a policy successive administrations have stuck to.Hans Kristensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project, described the UK announcement as “deeply disappointing”.”This will put Britain in violation of its Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Article 6 obligations,” he said. He pointed out that UK government ministers had as recently as 2015 publicly acknowledged that cuts in nuclear arsenal size were part of its obligations under the treaty.Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayIn a speech to the United Nations NPT conference on 27 April 2015, FCO minister Baroness Anelay had said the UK “remains firmly committed to step-by-step disarmament, and our obligations under Article 6”.She suggested action to meet these obligations included cutting “our total number of operationally available warheads to no more than 120” and reducing “our overall nuclear warhead stockpile to not more than 180 by the mid 2020s”.Reacting to the new policy, Beatrice Fihn, executive director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, stated: “A decision by the United Kingdom to increase its stockpile of weapons of mass destruction in the middle of a pandemic is irresponsible, dangerous and violates international law. “While the British people are struggling to cope with the pandemic, an economic crisis, violence against women, and racism, the government choses to increase insecurity and threats in the world. This is toxic masculinity on display.
This will put Britain in violation of its Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Article 6 obligationsHans Kristensen, director, Nuclear Information Project“While the majority of the world’s nations are leading the way to a safer future without nuclear weapons by joining the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, the United Kingdom is pushing for a dangerous new nuclear arms race.”In a further statement, the organisation suggestions the UK would face censure at the next NPT Review conference, which is due to take place in August at the United Nations.”The United Kingdom is legally obligated under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to pursue disarmament. States will meet soon to review the NPT’s success and when they do, the UK will have to answer for its actions,” the statement said. ICAN won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017 for its “ground-breaking efforts to achieve a treaty-based prohibition” of nuclear weapons.Article 6 of the NPT, to which Britain is a signatory, commits countries to “pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament”.Kate Hudson, the general secretary of the UK’s Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), said: “A decision to increase Britain’s nuclear arsenal absolutely goes against our legal obligations under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.”Not only is the UK failing to take the required steps towards disarmament, it is wilfully and actively embarking on a new nuclear arms race – at a time when Presidents Biden and Putin have renewed their bilateral nuclear reductions Treaty.”Britain must not be responsible for pushing the world towards nuclear war. This is a dangerous and irresponsible move, and must be reversed.”Speaking on Monday ahead of the review’s release, Dominic Raab described increasing the stockpile as the “ultimate insurance policy” against threats from hostile states. More

Mike Hill has been MP for the North-East town since 2017, and may have owed his victory in 2019 to the right-of-centre vote being split between Conservatives and the Brexit Party.He is facing an employment tribunal case over allegations – which he denies – of sexual assault against a former member of staff. He was suspended from the Labour Party in 2019 when the allegations first came to light, and it is understood that a parliamentary investigation is ongoing.No date is yet fixed for the by-election, but it is almost certain to be held on 6 May, when ballots are being held for the Scottish and Welsh parliaments and councils and mayors across England.Labour has already expressed fears that a “vaccine boost” will help Boris Johnson make advances on the night. Read more:Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayClaiming Hartlepool, which has been Labour since its creation in 1974, would be a major fillip for the prime minister.But reports suggest that Brexit Party founder Richard Tice is mulling another attempt to claim the seat by standing for the new Reform UK party. In 2019, Mr Tice came in third for the Brexit Party, as he was not caught by Nigel Farage’s promise not to stand candidates in seats which were winnable for Tories.He scooped 10,603 votes (26 per cent), ending marginally behind Tory Stefan Houghton on 11,869 (29 per cent), with Mr Hill the beneficiary of the split right-wing vote as victor on 15,464 (38 per cent).On a night when Labour strongholds across the north toppled to Tories, Mr Hill’s tally was almost 15 points down in a seat where Labour took more than half the vote in 2017 and where Peter Mandelson topped 60 per cent in the 1997 Labour landslide.Asked whether the upcoming by-election would be a key test in the “red wall” for Sir Keir’s leadership, shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds said: “Of course we have a whole range of elections coming up, very, very soon.“We have local elections and they don’t necessarily hit the headlines as much, but for their impact on people’s living standards they are absolutely critical. Elections in Wales, Scotland as well, of course in London, Manchester and many of other key cities also.“Of course Labour will be fighting for every single vote in those elections. They’ll be challenging — we’ve not had elections in these circumstances before. Obviously there is likely to be a strong impact on turnout. That will be a challenge for Labour because traditionally we often do better when there is higher turnout.“But certainly as I said we wouldn’t take any vote for granted and we’ll be fighting for every single one.”A former trade union official, 57-year-old Mr Hill was vice-chair of Labour North before his election. In parliament, he served on the Treasury Committee and Petitions Committee. More

The government plans to lift the cap on the number of the number of nuclear warheads in the UK’s stockpile, the foreign secretary has confirmed. Dominic Raab described the move as the “ultimate insurance policy” against threats from hostile states.The government’s defence review is expected to recommend lifting the cap on warheads from 180 to 260.Asked why the government wanted to end three decades of gradual disarmament, Mr Raab told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Because over time as the circumstances change and the threats change, we need to maintain a minimum credible level of deterrent.“Why? Because it is the ultimate guarantee, the ultimate insurance policy against the worst threat from hostile states.”It is not clear who the government thinks it might use the weapons against or who it thinks might consider launching a nuclear attack on the UK.Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayJust nine countries in the world still have nuclear weapons, putting the UK out-of-step with most of its European neighbours. More