Trump visit
It seems the US president is backtracking on earlier comments, reports the Independent.
Donald Trump has scrambled to repair bruised relations with Theresa May, using an extraordinary press conference to accuse the British media of “fake news” and hail US-UK links as “the highest level of special”.
The president tried to undo damage caused by an interview in which he questioned Ms May’s Brexit plans, suggesting they might torpedo a US trade deal, and exalted her political rival Boris Johnson.
But standing next to the prime minister at the awkward event, he ostentatiously lavished praise on her as “smart”, “tough”, “capable” and “incredible”.
The Telegraph tells us where Mr Trump gets his inspiration.
Margaret Thatcher is the inspiration for Donald Trump’s policies in the White House, the US President’s former chief strategist has said.
Steve Bannon also said now is the “the moment” for Boris Johnson, who quit as Foreign secretary over Theresa May’s proposed Brexit deal, to challenge the Prime Minister to lead the country.
Mr Bannon, who ran Mr Trump’s successful campaign to become President in 2016, said that Mr Trump’s policies were based on “pure Thatcherism”.
The Mirror tells us about the ‘baby Trump’ blimp.
A massive balloon depicting Donald Trump as a big baby has been launched in front of the Houses of Parliament.
The six-metre blow-up blimp, which features Trump clutching a phone while wearing a nappy, is flying above Parliament Square this morning during the US President’s visit to the UK.
A large crowd gathered to watch it take flight.
And the Mail reports that it came down as fast as it went up.
A much vaunted baby Trump blimp which flew above Parliament ahead of thousands of protesters marching through the capital has been labelled a damp squib by social media.
Anti-Trump protesters stirred controversy with the 20ft high inflatable caricature, which depicted the leader as an angry infant wearing a nappy and clutching a mobile phone and floated among statues of revered world leaders including Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela.
Breitbart claims some of the costumes worn by protesters were ‘bizarre’.
An international cast of left-liberal agitators protesting U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to the United Kingdom descended on London wearing bizarre costumes and waving obscene signs on Friday.
A much-promoted event earlier in the day featuring a ‘Trump Baby Blimp’ — crowdfunded to the tune of £30,000 — was something of a damp squib, with the “blimp” turning out to be a fairly small balloon which floated not far off the ground in front of a small crowd for only a couple of hours before being deflated.
Brexit
Closer to home, the Telegraph reports that the former Brexit secretary could become a rebel.
David Davis, the former Brexit Secretary, is prepared to join Eurosceptic MPs and vote against the Government next week in a move that could force ministers into a climbdown.
Mr Davis, who quit last week in protest at the Chequers compromise, is willing to back an amendment which will enshrine in law a commitment that there will be no customs border down the Irish Sea.
It is one of four amendments to the Government’s flagship trade bill that have been tabled by Eurosceptics in a bid to block the Prime Minister’s Chequer’s compromise over Brexit.
And Order-Order publishes a briefing note saying the Prime Minister’s Chequers agreement won’t work.
Guido can publish in full a briefing note being circulated by Tory Brexiteer MPs tonight that demolishes the Cabinet’s plan. It was produced by Martin Howe QC, a leading barrister and expert in EU law who has delivered around 10 presentations to the ERG over the last two years. His legal opinion is:
The Chequers proposals would involve the permanent continuation in the UK of all EU laws which relate to goods, their composition, their packaging, how they are tested etc etc in order to enable goods to cross the UK/EU border without controls.
The Guardian reports that just after Trump left, the Prime Minister invited a few softer Brexiteers to Chequers. Was she trying to turn them?
Theresa May summoned several pro-leave Tory MPs to Chequers on Friday, just after president Trump’s departure, as she embarked on a charm offensive aimed at avoiding embarrassing defeats in two key Brexit bills next week.
With a vocal section of the Conservative party in open revolt over Thursday’s white paper on the future relationship with the European Union, the prime minister is holding private meetings with backbenchers to try to win their support.
One senior Brexiter described it as “an effort to butter up the butterable”, claiming that a number of hardliners had turned down May’s invitation.
The Independent is one of the media to report Trumps comments that Mrs May did not take his advice on Brexit.
Donald Trump has claimed his suggestion for how to deliver Brexit was “too tough” for Theresa May – but she might have to take his advice if her plans failed.
The US president insisted he had given Ms May a “suggestion” on how to conduct the negotiations, but he refused to clarify further what his advice had been.
In a rambling hour-long press conference at Chequers, Mr Trump rowed back from his explosive critique of the prime minister’s Brexit strategy, claiming Ms May was a “tough negotiator” who was “doing a terrific job”.
Sky News says he told her to be tough.
Donald Trump told Theresa May to be “brutal” and “tough” in the Brexit negotiations, according to one of the president’s former advisers.
In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, Steve Bannon said Mr Trump told the PM she should demand much more from Brussels than she realistically expected to get.
The president told Mrs May she had to maintain “momentum” because “if it drags out the deal doesn’t get done”, according to Mr Bannon.
He added that his former boss offered the PM some of the suggestions contained in his book The Art of the Deal, which states: “Overshoot your target, be tough and get on with it.”
The Sun says she may have blown negotiations.
DONALD Trump today accuses the PM of wrecking Brexit — and warns she may have killed off any chance of a vital US trade deal.
The US President delivers his incendiary verdict on her negotiating strategy in a world exclusive interview with The Sun.
In an extraordinary intervention timed to coincide with his UK visit, Mr Trump said Theresa May ignored his advice by opting for a soft Brexit strategy.
And he warned her any attempts to maintain close ties with the EU would make a lucrative US trade deal very unlikely.
EU
Over on the continent, it seems the bloc is preparing for ‘no deal’, says Westmonster.
A leaked internal document reveals the EU has told member states they need to step up their preparations for a No Deal Brexit.
The report, seen by Irish broadcaster RTE, ‘issues strongly worded guidelines to the 27 member states to deepen contingency planning for the UK crashing out of the EU in March next year without a deal.’
The document says: “Drawing up contingency plans for the worst possible outcome is not a sign of mistrust in the negotiations…the (European) Commission hopes for an agreement and devotes very significant resources and committed efforts to achieve this goal.”
“Negotiations, on the other hand, can fail,” it continues.
The Independent has a similar story.
The European Commission has warned EU member states to step up planning for a ‘no deal’ Brexit following the publication of Theresa May’s Chequers deal with her cabinet.
The new 15-page document, seen by Ireland’s public broadcaster RTÉ, lays out contingency planning guidelines on preparing for Britain crashing out without an agreement in March.
The action plan, drawn up by a new EU “preparedness” taskforce, warns of long queues for lorries at ports, and potential serious consequences for pharmaceuticals, financial services and aviation.
Europe has received a warning from the Donald over immigration, says the Mirror.
Donald Trump has issued a stark warning to Germany saying “they’d better watch themselves” as he blamed terror attacks to European immigration.
Pressed on claims that immigration had damaged the cultural fabric of Europe, Mr Trump said: “I think it has been very bad for Europe. I think that what has happened is very tough. It’s a very tough situation.
“I mean, you see the same terror attacks that I do. We see them a lot.
“I just think it’s changing the culture. It’s a very negative thing for Europe. I think it’s very negative.”
Of the pictures of Jean-Claude Juncker stumbling as he walked, BBC News reports that he was not drunk.
The European Commission says its president Jean-Claude Juncker is taking medication for acute leg pain which made him stumble during a Nato summit – and it insists that he was not drunk.
It was “a particularly painful attack of sciatica, accompanied by cramps”.
Mr Juncker, 63, was filmed by news agency AP struggling to keep his balance before a gala dinner in Brussels on Wednesday.
Looking wobbly, he was helped by the Dutch and Portuguese leaders.
Trade
A post-Brexit trade deal with the US is on, says the Times.
President Trump lavished praise on Theresa May yesterday and said that a post-Brexit trade deal was “absolutely” possible as he sought to repair the damage caused by an incendiary interview.
He awarded the “highest level of special” to his relationship with Britain and saluted Mrs May as an “incredible woman” and “very tough negotiator”.
Mr Trump was responding to the fallout from a newspaper interview published yesterday in which he said that Mrs May had ignored his advice on dealing with Brussels.
BBC News also reports on the trade deal.
A US-UK trade deal “will absolutely be possible”, Donald Trump has said, hours after he told The Sun Theresa May’s Brexit plan could kill an agreement.
Speaking after talks at Chequers, Mr Trump said the US-UK relationship is “the highest level of special”, while Mrs May said they had discussed plans for an “ambitious” trade agreement.
Mr Trump and his wife, Melania, later had tea with the Queen at Windsor.
Thousands of people have protested in London against Mr Trump’s UK visit.
A large balloon, portraying the president as a baby, has been floated in Parliament Square as part of the demonstrations. Other protests are taking place across the UK on Friday and Saturday.
Westmonster reports the two countries’ special relationship.
President Trump attended a press conference with PM Theresa May today at Chequers, with the US President insisting that the relationship between the two countries is a “bond like no other” and expressed his support for Brexit Britain moving forward, telling May: “Make sure we can trade together.”
Trump talked of an “enduring relationship” between the two countries, “bound together” by “traditions of freedom and sovereignty”.
He talked of the importance of “border security” as well and a shared history of sacrifice “in defence of freedom”.
Theresa May insisted there will be “no limit” to trade deals. So why did her Trade Secretary say that the UK would have to ask the EU?
And the Mail said that after Brexit, trade could rocket.
Donald Trump has said a potential trade deal between his nation and the UK could ‘quadruple’ – as the US President insists an agreement remains possible after Brexit.
Speaking this evening he said: ‘The only thing I ask of Theresa is that we make sure we can trade and we don’t have any restrictions because we want to trade with the UK and the UK wants to trade with us.
‘We are by far their biggest trading partner and we have just a tremendous opportunity to double, triple, quadruple that.
London
Trump has heavily criticised the London mayor, reports the Independent.
Sadiq Khan has condemned Donald Trump’s “preposterous” comments that immigration has caused an increase in crime in London.
On the eve of visiting the UK, in a wide-ranging interview the US president criticised the mayor of London and blamed him for making him feel “unwelcome” in the capital, in light of huge anticipated street protests.
The pair have a history of clashes, and the animosity resurfaced when Mr Trump implied he believed Mr Khan was responsible for terror attacks that have taken place in the capital.
Mr Trump said the mayor had “done a very bad job on terrorism” as well as a “bad job on crime”.
But the mayor will not respond, says BBC News.
The mayor of London says he will not rise to Donald Trump’s “beastly” accusation that he did “a terrible job” after 2017’s terror attacks.
The US president used an interview ahead of his UK visit to attack Sadiq Khan over the wave of terror attacks in the capital.
He also blamed the mayor for a rise in immigration, saying “look at all the crime brought in”.
Mr Khan questioned why he was singled out as being responsible for terrorism.
The mayor was speaking as Labour MP David Lammy accused Mr Trump of being a “racist” who “hates that London chose a Muslim mayor”.
Breitbart calls it a ‘damning indictment’.
U.S. President Donald J. Trump has issued a damning indictment of London Mayor Sadiq Khan, saying he has done a “terrible job” on terrorism and crime.
“I think allowing millions and millions of people to come into Europe is very, very sad,” the President told The Sun, ahead of his working visit to the United Kingdom.
“I look at cities in Europe, and I can be specific if you’d like. You have a mayor who has done a terrible job in London. He has done a terrible job.
“Take a look at the terrorism that is taking place. Look at what is going on in London. I think he has done a very bad job on terrorism,” he added.
Health
The Times has a piece on organ transplants.
Organ transplants will be seen as a “barbaric” relic of the past within a generation thanks to scientific advances that could allow patients to regrow their own damaged tissue, one of the foremost authorities in the field has predicted.
Professor Sir Robert Lechler, president of the Academy of Medical Sciences, said he expected that over the next two decades researchers would find a way to regenerate organs through stem cells or changes to their genetic machinery. In an interview with The Times, Sir Robert also said he was firmly in favour of liberalising the laws on assisted dying, and had asked his children to “shoot” him if he lost “certain faculties”.
Novichok
Police may have found the source of the Wiltshire poisonings, says the Mail.
Police say they have found the source of the latest Novichok poisonings.
A small bottle discovered at victim Charlie Rowley’s Amesbury house on Wednesday has been found to contain the deadly substance.
It was rushed to the Defence laboratory at Porton Down for tests, which revealed that the vial does indeed contain Novichok.
The latest poisoning claimed the life of 44-year-old Dawn Sturgess while Mr Rowley remains in hospital.
The Star also reports the discovery.
THE SOURCE of the Novichok nerve agent that killed Dawn Sturgess in Amesbury was a small bottle, police believe.
Sturgess, 44, died in hospital last week after she was exposed to the poison.
The incident occured just miles from where ex-spy Sergei Skripal, and daughter Yulia, were attacked with the substance in Salisbury in March.
Met Police today released a statement saying they believe the source of the Novichok that killed Sturgess was a small bottle.
Sturgess’ partner Charlie Rowley, 45, remains in a critical condition but has regained consciousness.
ITV News also reports the discovery.
Counter terrorism detectives believe they may have found the source of the deadly nerve agent Novichok which left one person dead and another seriously ill.
Mother-of-three Dawn Sturgess, 44, and her partner Charlie Rowley, 45, were exposed to the substance last month. Ms Sturgess died, while Mr Rowley remains seriously ill in hospital.
On Friday, New Scotland Yard revealed that searches of Mr Rowley’s home in Amesbury had turned up a small bottle – and that lab tests carried out by the nearby Defence, Science and Technology Laboratory at Porton Down confirmed it contained Novichok.
Carers
In a blow to night carers, the Independent reports they will not get extra pay.
Low-paid carers are no longer entitled to a £400m settlement from the charities and care homes they work for after the Court of Appeal overturned a decision that those on sleep-in shifts should earn minimum wage.
The court said only hours spent awake counted as work, ruling in favour of an appeal by the social care sector, which is already predicting a £2bn funding deficit by 2020 in the face of growing demand.
Unions were considering going to the Supreme Court after the “disgraceful” ruling which reversed government guidance that meant care sector employers owed six years back pay to staff.
Farage
Reports of a return of our former leader are still circulating. The Times says:
Nigel Farage has threatened to return to frontline politics to lead Ukip for a fifth time if Theresa May backtracks on Brexit.
The hardline Eurosceptic MEP heaped censure yesterday on the prime minister’s new blueprint for Brexit, which proposes accepting EU rules on the sale of goods.
He said that while all negotiations entailed a degree of compromise, Mrs May’s plan represented a “complete, total, abject surrender” to Brussels, which he branded a betrayal of the EU referendum result.
Mr Farage boasted that President Trump’s language on Brexit was “very similar to the language that I’ve been using since the Chequers agreement”, indicating that the president’s view was closely aligned with his own.
The Express talks of a ‘betrayal’ of Brexit.
NIGEL Farage could seriously consider returning to frontline British politics if Theresa May’s “betrayal” of Brexit continues, it has been revealed in an explosive BBC interview.
The former UKIP leader first announced his intention on his LBC radio programme following the Chequers meeting last week.
A BBC reporter quizzed him on his comments, saying: “You told me a week ago that you were quite enjoying your retirement.
“You were brown, you were looking fitter, you said this political game was behind me.
“Then on your programme LBC this week you say, ‘look, if this is the Brexit plan we’re going to get, I’m coming back and I’m going to lead UKIP again.’
I went to see my friends in another midland city the other day.
For 2.5 hours we went through the full card including the 1998 Barcelona Declaration (Be nice to the Muslims) which I regard vital tour understanding as to why our political class/MSM/et al will not take it on, but we really went through the whole card.
My friend`s conclusion (and presumably his brother and four friends who voted LEAVE) was that Nigel is the only hope.
I agree with him, no need to be Leader GB is good enough, but make him Life President or whatever you will, but make him Spokesman with executive powers.
but……………………………………DO IT NOW.!!!!!!!!!!!!!
and
I do remember a year or so ago Nigel saying he would come back if it looked like Brexit was being compromised and by the cringe it is!
Evening Roger, your passengers on the 17th Fef J / U I do beg to differ on the Nigel Farage issue, we listen to him regular on LBC 5 times a week and plus other interviews we have yet to hear him say anything beneficial towards the party and Gerard Batten, the party is on the rise no doubt of that but not a peep from nigel and the perfect platform for doing so, the LBC show.
I have followed / supported Frage for years and hold much respect for him but to many cooks in conflict could very easily spoil the party as I am led to believe they “tolerate” each other.
After the bolton hard word we helped with, we come away from the EGM with a winner in Gerard Batten, a man for ALL reasons, and there are too many factions working against the EGM result already.
J / U.
Hi J/U,
I don
t disagree with you, Nigel is to say the truth elusive and slippery and completely Marmite.t support her Brexit will likely fail.I am also very enthusiastic for Gerard (after all I claim to have first suggested his name on UKIP Daily as a replacement for hopeless Henry, but I think we are at a watershed moment, the deal she is proposing is already opposed from both Conservative and Labour and to my mind has much of being "leaving in name only" and god alone knows what it will become when she negotiates and makes concessions.
Apparently she has written today in the Sunday Mail that if we don
People reviewing the papers for Sky News have said people are leaving the Cons and Labour for UKIP (bit late but….)
I don
t know what Nigelsbriefis at LBC, but I would guess while he can appear all out for Brexit, he cant hammer his UKIP leanings, in fact if he did return to active politics I dont think he would be able to keep his job there.I am only reporting what my friends said, but I do think they reflect the view of many from the 17.4 million (PLUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I maintain a substantial load of folk only voted Remain due to the FEAR campaign) .
So I think we
ve got to hold our noses and Grass Roots have got to unite - using the world wide recognised fizzog of Nigel (hes the Pied Piper and we know what happened to the kids who followed him – but they did follow himYou’re quite right about Nigel being Marmite, Roger, and that half of us feel he is slippery and elusive. But the other half don’t know that and think he’s God, and it is they who we should be tartgeting.
Evening Roger,
Bear with me a moment, when I say not a peep I do mean not a peep, also take on board
when ever UKIP begins to look like a threat something ALWAYs pop up, this time it was Farage will be back to take UKIP leadership, and that is the flutter of the butterfly wing to cause upset.
We are as a party in the best position we have been in for years, we are going forward
and picking up strength daily in membership numbers with no input from elsewhere and I cannot honestly see the need of any.
This is in no way a Nigel put down it is more that my belief is a conflict of interest would not go down well especially at this moment in time, or any time for that matter.
Hope this finds you well Roger as it leaves us.
……………….J / U.
The capitulation of Sharisa May to the Remainer/EU lobby is redolent of the attitude of the government arbitrators in the strike ridden nationalised industries of the 60s and 70s.
I once came across a government arbitrator and could not resist asking him how he approached the business of arbitration. He answered quite frankly saying “We gave them (unions) much of what they wanted and hailed it as a successful outcome”.
Plus ca change…..?
Strikes occur because workers say they are being treated unfairly by bosses.
Unions call strikes because members have found no other avenue to improve wages and working conditions or worse, businesses closing and moving offshore.
I’m all for nationalisating essential services but allowing politicians to run anything, creates a pathetic yah-boo travesty where industries are underfunded and long term investments become short term buck passing.
The reason the arbitrator agreed with the worker’s side was because they were correct and were being treated unfairly.
Politicians, with rare exceptions, could not run the proverbial. Hopefully UKIP has more than a few exceptions. The worst of it all is shoehorning politicians into ministerial positions that they neither have any relevant experience for nor any relevant professional qualifications. All backed up by Civil Servants with no experience of the real world either.
No wonder they appear incompetent; they are, all mixed in with a large dose of self interest and party loyalty.
It’s getting to the stage where low grade Oxbridge graduates and Etonians should be banned from politics.
The brightest are in finance, the schemers are in law and the strivers are in business.
Only the lazy misfits of society make it to Westminster.(Brexiters excepted).
The unions played a vital role up to the end of WW2 – a long and proud history of which they deserve everyone’s thanks.
Nationalising our industries after WW2 was a huge economic mistake with big government and big unions in bed together leading to monopolisation of industry and restrictive work practices which ultimately led to Britain being an economic basket case. This heady mix led to ruinous productivity, lack of investment and the unions became more brazenly politicised to the point where they wielded the power to bring down governments.
Why on earth would banks want to invest good money into badly managed and politicised nationalised industries and what right do governments have to pour tax payers hard earned money into industries that cannot stand on their own two feet?
Makes you wonder why workers, managers and politicians can run successful nationalised industries in France, Germany, Switzerland and Scandinavia.
Obviously the workers cannot be held responsible as they are the least powerful in the equation.
I’d put the blame squarely at the door of poor managers and politicians.
Taxpayers pay more in to the subsidised private franchised rail system than they did as British Rail, while fares and complaints have skyrocketed.
Why can’t UK business, industry and political leaders co-operate to produce well funded publicly owned essential services and utilities ?
Why do services such as NHS cleaning, prison officers, rail guards, refuse workers and care assistants, to name a few of thousands, have to be profit driven with the only profit available rinsed out of worker’s pay and conditions. ?
Non-profit public assets could offer higher remuneration for staff as don’t forget, you have to pay more to attract the brightest and the best.
Bryan I accept the very good point you make about certain wealthy European countries running nationalised industries successfully. My initial point was that radicalised unions made our experience of nationalisation an economic disaster. Perhaps the countries you mention have unions that do not pursue such destructive political agendas with the taxpayers not minding subsidising the industry. But when it gets to the point, as we in the UK experienced of being held to ransom by the politicised unions then I for one cannot support a nationalised programme of industry.
One of the problems may be that unlike the European countries you list we have the first past the post electoral system and thus the unions could buy power through subsidising the Labour Party. On the other hand coporations funded the Tory party to likewise exercise power. Both of these practices are equally despicable and both act like monopolists.
Being from a small business background seeking nor receiving any subsidies or monies from anyone I hope you may possibly see that from my perspective ,that one man’s subsidy is another man’s tax.
Brexit:
Sad that Trump has moderated his criticism of May. A “tough negotiator” she certainly is not and neither is she “doing a terrific job”. Perhaps he will come back to his senses when he gets back home.
Farage had better make his b****y mind up rather than sowing the seeds of uncertainty. I’m still not sure that he might do more damage than good and certainly do not wish to see him as UKIP leader.
Farage would make a great spokesman for UKIP. As far as leadership goes I think that ship has sailed. How long can you keep threatening to return? I love Nigel but UKIP has a leader and is moving on.