Boris Johnson - The African Mirror

Jul

2022

Two more minsters join lengthening list of candidates vying to be UK PM

KYLIE MACLELLAN TWO cabinet ministers have joined the race to succeed Boris Johnson as British prime minister, as the committee overseeing the contest looks to speed up the process of whittling down candidates in what is expected to be a crowded field. The Conservative Party's so-called 1922 Committee of legislators will set out the exact rules and timetable for the contest next week after Johnson was forced to quit by his own party. Many lawmakers are pushing for a fast-tracked process. On Saturday, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps and finance minister Nadhim Zahawi became the latest Conservative lawmakers to officially declare…

Jul

2022

By The African Mirror

Boris Johnson moves wedding party planned for official residence

WORLD

BRITAIN'S Boris Johnson and his wife, Carrie, are changing the location of a planned wedding party, an ally of the prime minister said, denying allegations that he was staying on in a caretaker role because of it. The Mirror newspaper reported on Thursday that Johnson, who has said he will resign, wanted to stay on for a few months in part because he planned to throw a party at his official Chequers country residence later this month to celebrate his marriage. An ally of the prime minister said on condition of anonymity that "it's utterly ridiculous to suggest" the party…

Jul

2022

By The African Mirror

Boris Johnson quits as UK prime minister, dragged down by scandals

WORLD

KATE HOLTON, ELIZABETH PIPER and ALISTAIR SMOUT SCANDAL-RIDDEN Boris Johnson announced he would quit as British prime minister after he dramatically lost the support of his ministers and most Conservative lawmakers, but said he would stay on until his successor was chosen. Bowing to the inevitable as more than 50 ministers quit and lawmakers said he must go, an isolated and powerless Johnson said it was clear his party wanted someone else in charge, but that his forced departure was "eccentric". "Today I have appointed a cabinet to serve, as I will, until a new leader is in place," Johnson…

Jul

2022

By The African Mirror

Britain hit by its biggest political crisis in years

WORLD

A group of cabinet ministers are about to tell Prime Minister Boris Johnson to quit, including the man who has just been appointed as the new finance minister, media reports said. BBC Political Editor Chris Mason said Transport Minister Grant Shapps would lead a delegation on Wednesday evening. Other media reports said that Nadhim Zahawi, appointed as finance minister late on Tuesday as Johnson's government started to collapse, would be part of the delegation. Zahawi had told reporters earlier on Wednesday that he fully supported Johnson. The Times newspaper reported that Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng had also told party officials…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

British army to start driving tankers, fuel queues persist

WORLD

GUY FAULCONBRIDGE and MICHAEL HOLDEN BRITAIN has ordered soldiers to start driving fuel tankers to replenish empty pumps, as motorists remained mired in queues after nearly a week of shortages, despite Prime Minister Boris Johnson saying the situation was improving. Britain has been gripped by a rush of panic buying that has left pumps dry across major cities, after oil companies warned they did not have enough tanker drivers to move petrol and diesel from refineries to filling stations. Opponents blame the crisis on government incompetence and its unyielding approach to Brexit, which has blocked hauliers from hiring drivers from…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

Get a grip, PM Johnson tells France after submarine row

WORLD

BRITISH Prime Minister Boris Johnson has told France to get a grip and give allies in the United States and Australia a break over a row about a trilateral nuclear submarine deal that tore up a separate French contract. The new defence partnership between Britain, the United States and Australia was announced last week and will give Australia access to nuclear powered submarine technology. France accused U.S. President Joe Biden of stabbing it in the back and acting like his predecessor Donald Trump after Paris was pushed aside from a historic defence export contract to supply Australia with submarines. Paris…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

At U.N., Biden promises ‘relentless diplomacy,’ not Cold War

WORLD

TREVOR HUNNICUTT and STEVE HOLLAND U.S. President Joe Biden has mapped out a new era of vigorous competition without a new Cold War despite China's ascendance during his first United Nations address, promising military restraint and a robust fight against climate change. The United States will help resolve crises from Iran to the Korean Peninsula to Ethiopia, Biden told the annual U.N. General Assembly gathering. The world faces a "decisive decade," Biden said, one in which leaders must work together to combat a raging coronavirus pandemic, global climate change and cyber threats. He said the United States will double its…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

UK PM Johnson calls on rich countries to meet $100 billion climate pledge

WORLD

BRITISH Prime Minister Boris Johnson has called for wealthy countries to meet a pledge to spend $100 billion a year to tackle climate change as he prepares to host a United Nations summit starting at the end of October. Johnson and U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres will hold a roundtable of world leaders on Monday to get rich countries to deliver on the unmet pledge, made in 2009. "Richer nations have reaped the benefits of untrammelled pollution for generations, often at the expense of developing countries," Johnson said in a statement. "As those countries now try to grow their economies in…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

UK’s Johnson calls racist abuse of England players in Hungary ‘disgraceful’

WORLD

BRITISH Prime Minister Boris Johnson called on world soccer's governing body FIFA to take action over what he described as "disgraceful" racist abuse aimed at England players by Hungary fans during a World Cup qualifier. "It is completely unacceptable that England players were racially abused in Hungary last night," he wrote on Twitter. Johnson urged FIFA to take "strong action against those responsible to ensure that this kind of disgraceful behaviour is eradicated from the game for good." FIFA said on Friday that it had opened disciplinary proceedings into the incidents at the match and reiterated an earlier statement reaffirming…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

England to scrap self-isolation

COVID-19

ALISTAIR SMOUT and MICHAEL HOLDEN PEOPLE who have been fully vaccinated and children will from August 16 no longer have to self-isolate after close contact with someone who tests positive for COVID-19, health minister Sajid Javid has announced. Prime Minister Boris Johnson set out plans on Monday to end social and economic COVID-19 restrictions in England on July 19, a test of whether a rapid vaccine rollout offers enough protection from the more infectious Delta variant. Javid said the success of the vaccine programme meant it was possible to go further in easing self-isolation rules for those who have received…