Markus Andrews

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster email Peter Pellegrini, a close ally of  populist Prime Minister Robert Fico, is considered a favorite in the race for the largely ceremonial post of Slovakia’s president.A victory for Pellegrini, who currently serves as Parliament speaker, would cement Fico’s power by having his allies control key posts in the country. It would also deprive Slovakia and the European Union of a key pro-Ukrainian voice. Pellegrini hopes to succeed Zuzana Čaputová, a staunch backer of Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s two-year invasion. Čaputová announced she won’t seek reelection. A former liberal environmental activist, she has repeatedly come under attack from Fico over her support for Kyiv. Fico won last year’s elections on a pro-Russian and anti-American platform, and has also accused Čaputová of being a U.S. agent.Pellegrini leads a field of nine candidates in the first round of the presidential election on Saturday. If no candidate gets a majority, which is expected, the top two finishers will face in a runoff on April 6. WHO IS PELLEGRINI? Pellegrini, 48, who favours a strong role for the state, heads the left-wing Hlas (Voice) party that finished third in the Sept 30 parliamentary election. His party joined a ruling coalition with Fico’s leftist Smer (Direction) party and the ultranationalist Slovak National Party.Critics worry Slovakia under Fico will abandon its pro-Western course and follow the direction of Hungary under populist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. The new government immediately halted arms delivery to Ukraine, even as thousands have repeatedly taken to the streets across Slovakia recently to rally against Fico’s pro-Russian and other policies, including plans to amend the penal code and take control of the public media.Pellegrini, who was Fico’s former deputy in Smer, became prime minister in 2018, after Fico was forced to resign following major anti-government street protests over the killing of journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancee.Pellegrini had temporarily parted ways with Fico after the scandal-tainted Smer lost the previous election in 2020. OTHER CHALLENGERS Polls have predicted Pellegrini would beat other candidates in the second round.They include former Foreign Minister Ivan Korčok, 59. a pro-Western career diplomat. He had also served as the ambassador to the United States and Germany, and firmly supports Slovakia’s EU and NATO memberships.A former justice minister and judge, Štefan Harabin, 66, has openly sided with Russia in its war against Ukraine. Another former foreign minister and career diplomat, Ján Kubiš, and far-right leader Marian Kotleba are among other notable candidates. THE PRESIDENT’S POWERS The president is elected for a five-year term. The president picks the prime minister after parliamentary elections, swears in the new government and appoints Constitutional Court judges. The president can also veto laws, though Parliament can override the veto with a simple majority. The president also has the right to pardon convicts. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailThe UK government has warned Israel that it could withhold weapons if the Red Cross is not given access to imprisoned Hamas fighters, according to Israeli media.Foreign secretary Lord Cameron is said to have warned Israeli officials that an “arms embargo” could be declared in Europe if Israel continue to withhold access to prisoners, according to the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper on Thursday.The caution follows reports that the UK government was considering withholding arms if Israel invaded the Gazan city of Rafah, after Lord Cameron wrote to parliament’s foreign affairs select committee saying that he could not see how an offensive in Rafah could go ahead without harming civilians and destroying homes.The former prime minister expressed his “deep concern” about the prospect of an offensive.“We do not underestimate the devastating humanitarian impacts that a full ground offensive, if enacted, would have in these circumstances,” he said.He added: “We continue to urge Israel to ensure that it limits its operations to military targets and take all possible steps to avoid harming civilians and destroying homes.”British officials have now reportedly demanded that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) be allowed to visit Hamas prisoners in Israel to ensure adherence to international law. The Foreign Secretary said Israel had an ‘obligation to ensure significantly more humanitarian aid reached the people of Gaza’Yedioth Ahronoth also reported that British lawyers visited Israel to examine the issue and issued advice that all prisoners in Israel, including the Hamas suspects, should be allowed a visit by the Red Cross.Chair of the foreign affairs committee Alicia Kearns told LBC she expected the government to publish a decision on whether or not Israel is still upholding international law and whether it would continue to provide weapons “within the week”.She said: “I pushed the government last week and again this week on whether or not our assessment has changed or whether or not international law is being upheld by Israel. And the answer was that we are currently undertaking the assessment and we will go back to the house shortly.”She added: “If we don’t hear that within the week, I would be very surprised.”Lord Cameron’s alleged challenge to the Israeli government comes amid mounting pressure on Western nations to prevent the unfolding humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. Canada’s house of commons moved to halt future arms sales to Israel following a non-binding vote earlier in the week.Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has warned Israel it had a legal responsibility to address the “urgent and monumental” humanitarian needs of Palestinians in Gaza.The Most Rev Justin Welby said international law called for the “rapid and unimpeded” passage of humanitarian relief for civilians but he accused the Israeli government of preventing access.The archbishop warned that if nothing changes then “famine is imminent”, with children already dying from starvation and dehydration.He said: “Israel’s prosecution of this war has destroyed large parts of the Gaza Strip – decimating infrastructure essential to human survival.”The UK will not disclose the arms export licences granted to Israel in the final quarter of last year until later this year. In 2022 the UK granted export licences to Israel worth £42m. A FCDO spokesperson said: “We keep advice on Israel’s adherence to International Humanitarian Law under review and will act in accordance with that advice.“All export licence applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis against the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailBritain risks “sliding into global irrelevance” on artificial intelligence (AI) if the Government does not introduce new laws to regulate the sector, according to a Conservative peer.A new body, known as the AI Authority, would be established under a proposal tabled in Parliament by Lord Holmes of Richmond.His Artificial Intelligence (Regulation) Bill, to be debated at second reading on Friday, would require the authority to push forward AI regulation in the UK and assess and monitor potential risks to the economy.We need leadership, right-sized regulation, right nowLord Holmes of RichmondSecurity, fairness, accountability and transparency are among the principles that the AI Authority must take into consideration, according to the Bill.The Government believes a non-statutory approach provides “critical adaptability” but has pledged to keep it under review.Lord Holmes said: “The current Government approach risks the UK sliding into global irrelevance on this hugely important issue of protecting citizen rights and ensuring AI is developed and deployed in a humanity-enhancing, rather than a society-destroying, way.“The Government claims that their light-touch approach is ‘pro-innovation’ but innovation is not aided by uncertainty and instability.“AI offers some of the greatest opportunities for our economy, our society, our human selves.“It also, if unregulated holds obvious existential harms. Self-governance and voluntary agreements just don’t cut it.“We need leadership, right-sized regulation, right now.“The UK can, the UK must lead when it comes to ethical AI.“This Bill offers them that very opportunity. I hope they take it.”The Bill would also seek to ensure any person involved in training AI would have to supply to the authority a record of all third-party data and intellectual property (IP) they used and offer assurances that informed consent was secured for its use.Lord Holmes added on the labelling system: “People would know if a service or a good had used or deployed AI in the provision of that service.”Speaking in November last year, Rishi Sunak said Britain’s AI safety summit would “tip the balance in favour of humanity” after reaching an agreement with technology firms to vet their models before their release.The Prime Minister said “binding requirements” would likely to be needed to regulate the technology, but now is the time to move quickly without laws.Elon Musk, the owner of social media platform X, described AI as “one of the biggest threats” facing humanity.The Government announced in February that more than £100 million will be spent preparing the UK to regulate AI and use the technology safely, including helping to prepare and upskill regulators across different sectors.Minister have chosen to use existing regulators to take on the role of monitoring AI use within their own sectors rather than creating a new, central regulator dedicated to the emerging technology.A Government spokesman said: “As is standard process, the Government’s position on this Bill will be confirmed during the debate.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailA government minister tasked with identifying wasteful spending has been charging the taxpayer tens of thousands of pounds in expenses to rent a flat in London despite her fellow MP husband owning a property nearby.Esther McVey has over the past two years received more than £30,000  in taxpayers’ money to rent the flat where she lives with her husband Phillip Davies, the MP for Shipley.Ms McVey, who represents Tatton and was last year appointed minister for ‘common sense’, is paid £86,584 for being an MP but will be earning thousands of pounds more from her additional role as Cabinet Office minister without portfolio.She and her husband have been claiming expenses on a property in Westminster since 2017, according to The Daily Telegraph and campaign group Led By Donkeys.Esther McVey, the so-called minister for common sense, has criticised wasteful government spending According to the report, Mr Davies owns a property in Waterloo, which is about a 25-minute walk away. The property is rented out and the MP  has declared an annual income of more than £10,000 from this property.Mr Davies, who has also earned thousands of pounds from media work over the past two years, said he would have been happy to continue claiming mortgage costs on the flat he owns, “but that option was removed from me”.MPs can no longer claim their mortgage payments back from the taxpayer following changes to the rules in the aftermath of the 2009 expenses scandal.The couple is not breaking any rules but their arrangement raises questions about value for money, particularly given Ms McVey’s role at the top of government in charge of tacking wasteful spending.Ms McVey’s husband is Philip Davies MPMs McVey, a self-declared low-tax Thatcherite who often rails against the ‘big state’, wrote in the Daily Mail last year that she did not “want you to see a single penny of your hard-earned cash wasted on unnecessary public spending”.Her duties as Cabinet Office minister without portfolio include delivery of government priorities and ensuring effective communication of Downing Street’s objectives.Ms McVey, who previously served as secretary of state for work and pensions from January to November 2018, also earned thousands of pounds for media work.In February she told GB News she had written to independent government agencies asking them to spend more efficiently.“We want to make sure there isn’t any waste … You can’t put up taxpayers’ bills and ask the government for more money, and yet not get rid of wasteful spending yourself,” she said.Mr Davies told Led By Donkeys: “If I owned the flat outright and I could stay there without incurring any cost then I would agree that I should do that, but that doesn’t remotely apply in my case.“As far as I am aware, all workplaces cover the accommodation costs of people working away from home, and I am surprised … [you] … think that should no longer be the case. That, of course, will lead to only the wealthiest people in the country being able to become MPs.”Ms McVey has been contacted for comment. More