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Sunak discusses Gaza developments with Jordan’s king

Sunak told the king that the UK’s ultimate goal is to achieve a workable two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians…reports Asian Lite News

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Sunday made a phone call to Jordan’s King Abdullah to discuss developments in the Gaza Strip, 10 Downing Street announced.

During the call, Sunak renewed the UK’s support for Jordan’s security and that of the region, saying a significant escalation is “not in anyone’s interests.”

He added that the UK’s focus remains on finding a solution to the conflict in Gaza.

The UK continues to work toward an immediate humanitarian truce to bring in much larger amounts of aid and return the Israeli hostages held by Hamas safely to their families, “leading to a longer-term sustainable ceasefire,” Sunak said.

The two leaders “discussed joint efforts to significantly step up aid to Gaza, with the UK taking part in Jordanian-led aid drops and a humanitarian land corridor to Gaza, as well as the maritime aid corridor from Cyprus,” Downing Street said.

Sunak told the king that the UK’s ultimate goal is to achieve a workable two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians.

The two leaders “agreed on the importance of supporting a reformed Palestinian authority to deliver stability and prosperity across the Palestinian territories,” Downing Street said.

King Abdullah warned of the danger of regional escalation, which he said threatens international peace and security, Jordan’s official Petra news agency reported.

He renewed his call for the international community to intensify efforts to reach an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza to alleviate the worsening humanitarian catastrophe in the besieged Palestinian territory, and warned of the dangerous consequences of an Israeli assault on Rafah.

The king stressed the need to protect civilians in Gaza and ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid.

He pointed to the importance of continuing to support the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees to enable it to provide its humanitarian services in accordance with its UN mandate.

ALSO READ-Sunak set for week-long blitz of announcements  

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Sunak set for week-long blitz of announcements  

Sunak is undertaking a week-long blitz of activity and announcements at home and abroad in a bid to convince a sceptical party he has the ideas to continue as PM…reports Asian Lite News

Rishi Sunak is undertaking a week-long blitz of activity and announcements at home and abroad in a bid to convince a sceptical party he has the ideas and drive to continue as prime minister.

After weeks of criticism about an empty legislative agenda, an inability to set the agenda, and divisions in the Tory Party dominating the headlines, this week “action man” Sunak will seek to take back control with news conferences, interviews and announcements.

On Monday, the PM will hold a news conference to champion the likely passage into law of the emergency Rwanda legislation first announced last year.

Then on Tuesday, he will embark on a two-day European trip, beginning in Warsaw, with a major announcement planned as part of the trip.

Some sources expect the announcement to be defence-related, possibly around jointly training troops and sharing equipment with Poland and the West Balkans.

This is Sunak’s first major trip to the world stage in months, apart from a brief visit to Ukraine. It follows his first set-piece speech outside the Commons last Friday about welfare reform.

Many of the ideas there were designed for the manifesto and to be implemented in the next parliament in the unlikely event the Tories win.

The looming spectre of a challenge has led to some conversations about holding the election over the summer, with the starting gun fired possibly even announced before the local elections.

This remains unlikely, however, since it would be possible for the opposition to present this as a move prompted by panic, and the Tories remain around 20 points behind in the polls.

Therefore appealing to his party to allow him to stay in the job, by showing a blizzard of action and announcements, is a priority for Sunak amid continued speculation about his party’s unhappiness.

Some 57 Tory MPs voted against his flagship smoking ban policy last week, with a further more than 100 abstaining, in a sign of his lack of grip on the party.

Former Tory MP Menzies quits  

Meanwhile, The former Conservative MP Mark Menzies is quitting the party and parliament after an internal inquiry found a “pattern of behaviour” that had fallen below the standard expected of MPs.

The MP for Fylde announced that he would not stand at the next election after the allegations that he misused campaign funds were referred to Lancashire police.

The Tory party said the internal investigation had not found any misuse of party funds and that the evidence it seen had shown all donations had been properly declared to the Electoral Commission and parliamentary authorities.

However, its inquiry into the allegations, which Menzies denies, found the MP’s behaviour had fallen below the standards required of any individual responsible for local campaign funds and may have breached the Nolan principles of public life.

Labour had accused the Tories of “sitting on their hands” for more than three months after the claims first emerged, while the Liberal Democrats called for the prime minister’s independent adviser on ministers’ interests to investigate the handling of the row.

A Conservative spokesperson said it was “demonstrably false” to suggest the party had not been “seriously examining” the matter. The party has only investigated the possible misuse of Conservative party funds.

The MP resigned the Tory whip and was suspended as a government trade envoy after the Times published allegations he had used political donations to cover medical expenses and pay off “bad people” who had locked him in a flat and demanded thousands of pounds for his release.

Menzies’ former campaign manager, who allegedly received a late-night phone call from him asking for cash, has said she felt “let down” by the party after she raised concerns with the chief whip, Simon Hart, in January.

In a statement, Menzies said: “It has been an enormous privilege representing the people of Fylde since 2010, but due to the pressures on myself and my elderly mother, I have decided to resign from the Conservative party and will not stand at the forthcoming general election.

“This has been a very difficult week for me and I request that my family’s privacy is respected.”

Menzies has a majority of more than 16,000 in his seat, which the Tories have always held but which, with Labour about 20 points ahead in the national polls, could for the first time be in contention.

Rishi Sunak declined to say on Friday whether Menzies should quit as MP for Fylde, although he told reporters after a speech in London on Friday that it was “right” that he had resigned the whip.

A Conservative party spokesperson said: “The money in question that was sent to Mark Menzies MP was signed off by the two signatories of Fylde Westminster Group. This body sits outside the remit of both the Conservative party and Fylde Conservative Association. Therefore we cannot conclude that there has been a misuse of Conservative party funds.

On Sunday evening the chair of the Labour party, Anneliese Dodds, said Menzies “did the right thing” in deciding to leave parliament but that “serious questions remain for Rishi Sunak and the Conservative party”.

ALSO READ-Sunak has set us back, says climate watchdog head

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Sunak has set us back, says climate watchdog head

The Government remains formally committed to reaching net zero by 2050, but has delayed a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles and weakened targets on home insulation and phasing out gas boilers…reports Asian Lite News

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has set Britain back on tackling climate change and must do more on heating and industrial emissions to stop slipping behind other nations, the head of the government’s advisory body has said.

Chris Stark, who will step down as chief executive of the independent Climate Change Committee next week, told the BBC broadcaster that UK climate policy had become less ambitious.

“That is extremely hard to recover,” Stark said, according to excerpts from the interview due to air on Sunday. “I think it’s set us back.”

Under pressure to address cost-of-living concerns and trailing the opposition Labour Party before an election later this year, Sunak has outraged environmental campaigners by watering down some measures to reach net zero emissions.

He says delaying targets for changing cars and domestic heating are pragmatic moves needed to maintain the consent of the British people, with the country’s commitment to reach net zero by 2050 still intact.

Stark, who has run the committee since April 2018 but will now join consultancy the Carbon Trust as chief executive later this year, said Britain needed to do more work on how homes were heated and industrial emissions managed, as well as in the farming and transport systems.

“I definitely feel we’re at risk,” he said.

Asked about Stark’s comments, a government spokesperson said Britain was the first major economy to halve greenhouse gas emissions since 1990 and had set into law one of the most ambitious 2035 climate change targets.

“But we need to reach our net zero goals in a sustainable way so we have taken action to protect our energy security, ease the burdens on hard-working people and provide transparency about the choices involved so that we bring people with us in meeting our climate targets,” the spokesperson added.

The Government remains formally committed to reaching net zero by 2050, but has delayed a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles and weakened targets on home insulation and phasing out gas boilers.

In his speech in October, Sunak said the changes were a more “pragmatic, proportionate, and realistic approach to meeting net zero” that reduced the burden on the public.

A Government spokesperson said: “Our record on net zero speaks for itself – we are the first major economy to halve greenhouse gas emissions since 1990 and have set into law one of the most ambitious 2035 climate change targets of any major economy.

“But we need to reach our net zero goals in a sustainable way so we have taken action to protect our energy security, ease the burdens on hard-working people and provide transparency about the choices involved so that we bring people with us in meeting our climate targets.”

In his interview with the BBC, Stark said the Scottish Government’s decision to remove some of its own climate change targets provided a “salutary lesson”.

ALSO READ-Sunak faces resistance over his smoking ban plans

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Sunak faces resistance over his smoking ban plans

“The truth is that there is no safe level of tobacco consumption. It is uniquely harmful, and that is why we are taking this important action today to protect the next generation,” said UK Health Secretary Victoria Atkins…reports Asian Lite News

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak faces very vocal resistance against his plans to effectively ban smoking for anyone aged 15 and younger as a new bill comes up for a vote in the House of Commons on Tuesday.

The British Indian leader proposed the Tobacco and Vapes Bill last year and declared his vision for creating a “smokefree generation” by making it an offence to sell tobacco products to anyone born after January 1, 2009, which covers children aged 15. Once it clears its parliamentary journey, the new legislation will introduce some of the world’s strictest anti-smoking laws in the country.

“I propose that in future we raise the smoking age by one year, every year. That means a 14-year-old today will never legally be sold a cigarette and that they — and their generation — can grow up smoke-free. We know this works,” Sunak had declared at the Conservative Party conference in October last year.

As there is Opposition backing for the bill in Parliament and governing Conservative MPs have a free vote on the bill, any Tory votes against the bill will not be seen as a full-blown rebellion against the Prime Minister. But two of Sunak’s immediate predecessors, Liz Truss and Boris Johnson, have been leading a very vocal group of Tories who plan to vote against the bill as “un-Conservative” and taking away choice from the public.

“The truth is that there is no safe level of tobacco consumption. It is uniquely harmful, and that is why we are taking this important action today to protect the next generation,” said UK Health Secretary Victoria Atkins.

“This Bill will save thousands of lives, ease the strain on our NHS [National Health Service], and improve the UK’s productivity,” she said. Under the new law, smoking itself would not be criminalised, and anyone who can legally buy tobacco will not be prevented from doing so. The ban aims to stop people from smoking even before they start as the government pointed to its highly addictive nature, with four in five smokers picking it up before the age of 20, remaining addicted for life. If passed, the bill will progress to the next stage, bringing the UK closer to creating the first smoke-free generation, the government says.

Under the plans, trading standards officers would get new powers to issue on-the-spot 100-pound fines to shops selling tobacco or vapes to children, with all the money raised going towards further enforcement. “This historic legislation will consign smoking to the ‘ash heap of history’,” said Deborah Arnott, head of the charity Action on Smoking and Health (ASH).

The Tobacco and Vapes Bill would also give the government new powers to tackle youth vaping by restricting flavours and regulating the way that vapes are sold and packaged to make them less appealing to children. The UK’s Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said while vaping can play a useful role in helping adult smokers to quit, non-smokers and children should never vape.

The long-term health impacts of vaping are unknown, and the nicotine contained within them can be highly addictive, it warned.

According to official figures, responsible for around 80,000 deaths annually, smoking is the UK’s single biggest preventable killer and costs the NHS and economy an estimated GBP 17 billion a year — more than the GBP 10 billion annual revenue from tobacco taxation.

ALSO READ-Sunak’s attempt to ban smoking is nuts, says Johnson

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Sunak dials Netanyahu, reiterates support for Israel’s security

On Gaza, Sunak said he remained “gravely concerned” about the deepening humanitarian crisis…reports Asian Lite News

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak held a telephonic conversation with his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, on Tuesday and reiterated the UK’s support for Israel’s security after Iran’s attack over the weekend. The PM noted that further escalation will only deepen instability in the region.

In a post on X, Rishi Sunak stated, “Earlier today, I spoke to Prime Minister @netanyahu and reiterated our support for Israel’s security following Iran’s reckless attack at the weekend. Further significant escalation will only deepen instability in the region. This is a moment for calm heads to prevail.”

During the talks, Sunak said Iran had badly miscalculated and was increasingly isolated on the global stage, with the G7 coordinating a diplomatic response. He stressed that significant escalation was in no one’s interest and would only deepen insecurity in the Middle East.

A statement released by the PM’s office stated, “He reiterated the UK’s steadfast support for Israel’s security and for wider regional stability. Prime Minister Netanyahu thanked the UK for its rapid and robust support in the face of Iran’s reckless and dangerous attack on Saturday.”

On Gaza, Sunak said he remained “gravely concerned” about the deepening humanitarian crisis. He stated that the UK wanted to see a massive step change in aid access to flood Gaza with vital supplies, including Israel opening up new aid routes as quickly as possible.

A statement released by the PM’s office stated, “The Prime Minister said it was deeply disappointing that Hamas blocked a deal at the weekend that would have saved Palestinian lives and secured the safe release of hostages.”

Iran on Saturday night launched a barrage of 300 attack drones and missiles from its territory towards Israel, triggering air raid sirens throughout the country on Sunday morning as the military tried to intercept the Iranian projectiles, The Times of Israel reported.

The onset of the assault was confirmed by IDF Spokesman Daniel Hagari. Alongside missile launches, Hagari noted that Iran also fired missiles at Israel, with “numerous” Israeli fighter jets swiftly mobilising to counter the attacks. Air raid sirens blared across Israel early Sunday, starting at 1:42 am in southern Israeli communities and soon spreading throughout the country and many towns in the West Bank.

Explosions resounded across the north and south, with reports of a young girl sustaining injuries from shrapnel following the interception of an Iranian ballistic missile in southern Israel. The 7-year-old girl, from a Bedouin town near Arad, was rushed to Soroka Hospital in Beersheba in serious condition.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards confirmed the launch of numerous drones and missiles, targeting specific locations in Israel. Iranian state media quoted a statement from the elite force, acknowledging the attack.

Hagari provided details on the scale of the attack, stating that Iran unleashed over 300 projectiles, including 170 drones, 30 cruise missiles, and 120 ballistic missiles and added that Israeli air defences intercepted 99 per cent of the incoming threats, minimising the impact of the assault, The Times of Israel reported.

The leaders of the G7 nations have condemned Iran’s retaliatory drone and missile strikes on Israel in response to the attack on its consulate earlier this month, CNN reported, citing a joint statement released on Sunday after a virtual meeting. (ANI)

ALSO READ-Sunak’s absence marks significant turnout dip in Eid celebration

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Sunak’s absence marks significant turnout dip in Eid celebration

Attendees expressed mixed feelings about their decision to participate, with some deliberating over ethical considerations and consulting with family before attending…reports Asian Lite News

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was notably absent from an annual Eid party held at Downing Street on Monday, which saw a turnout significantly smaller than usual, the BBC reported.

Foreign Secretary David Cameron had earlier publicly encouraged people to attend after some threatened to boycott the celebration in protest at the government’s support for Israel.

The gathering, reportedly about half its typical size with roughly 50 attendees, saw the absence of major Muslim charities and influential business figures.

Most notably absent were several high-profile guests, including Baroness Warsi, Britain’s first female Muslim Cabinet minister, who is known for her vocal criticism of the situation in Gaza.

Of those present, many displayed symbols of solidarity with Palestine, such as small badges featuring the Palestinian flag or wristbands featuring the keffiyeh pattern.

Attendees expressed mixed feelings about their decision to participate, with some deliberating over ethical considerations and consulting with family before attending.

One woman told the BBC that she did not want to miss the opportunity of being invited to Downing Street for the first time, but that Israel’s war in Gaza “has not been forgotten.”

Another stated that he had attended the event for years and “thought about it; thought what it was about. And what I thought was that Downing Street is marking Eid, and it is a celebration I believe in.”

He added to the BBC: “So I came. I understand why so many boycotted, but for me the right thing was to come.”

Those who attended were “surprised” that Sunak did not attend. The event is held annually, and the prime minister has always hosted it.

Sunak said on Sunday that he was “looking forward” to meeting those invited, who were selected from prominent Muslims in charity, business and politics. Guests were this year received by Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden.

The prime minister’s office told the BBC that Sunak “had business in parliament” and could not host nor attend the party. Guests leaving the event reported seeing “no MPs.”

One told the BBC: “I saw parliamentary candidates, but no MPs. They may have been there but I didn’t see them.” The absences were believed to be the first significant boycott of a Downing Street event.

ALSO READ-Fresh trouble for Sunak over Rwanda bill

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Fresh trouble for Sunak over Rwanda bill

The Safety of Rwanda Bill returns to the Lower House, triggering a democratic process referred to as parliamentary ping-pong between the two chambers…reports Asian Lite News

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s flagship legislation aimed at flying illegal migrants out to Rwanda, which has been plagued with delays and parliamentary hurdles, returns to the House of Commons on Monday on its journey towards becoming law.

The Safety of Rwanda Bill returns to the Lower House after the House of Lords made amendments and sent it back to the Commons, triggering a democratic process referred to as parliamentary ping-pong between the two chambers.

The peers want to water down the hardline legislation that seeks to deem the East African country safe in law to block legal challenges to migrants being flown out to Rwanda while their asylum claims are assessed.

It returns its voting journey as Parliament resumes after an Easter recess and the fresh wrangles over the bill unfold against the backdrop of small boat crossings by asylum seekers across the English Channel hitting a new daily high for 2024 – at 534 on Sunday. It will be seen as a fresh blow to Sunak, who has made “stopping the boats” a central plank of his leadership as the UK prepares for a general election later this year.

“We remain committed to building on the successes that saw arrivals drop by more than a third last year, including tougher legislation and agreements with international partners, in order to save lives and stop the boats,” said a Home Office spokesperson.

Flying out these migrants to Rwanda while their asylum claims are assessed is a key aspect of the Sunak-led government’s immigration strategy and expected to act as a significant deterrent for migrants making treacherous journeys to arrive at UK shores. However, two years after the plan was first announced, there is no clarity on the first flights taking off for the Rwandan capital of Kigali.

Meanwhile, a report in The Times on Monday references leaked government documents to claim that the UK plans to replicate the Rwanda migrant deportation scheme with other countries, with an initial list including Armenia, Ivory Coast, Costa Rica and Botswana.

Several South American countries including Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Brazil and Colombia have also been approached but are viewed as less likely to be interested in what the British government describes as a “third-country asylum processing deal”, the newspaper claims.

A list of African countries including Cape Verde, Senegal, Tanzania, Togo, Angola and Sierra Leone were put on a reserve list that would be approached if other targets failed. Some other African countries like Morocco, Tunisia, Namibia and the Gambia are said to have “explicitly declined” to enter technical discussions.

A government spokesperson said Britain is “continuing to work with a range of international partners to tackle global illegal migration challenges”.

“Our focus right now is passing the Safety of Rwanda Bill, which builds on the Illegal Migration Act, and putting plans in place to get flights off the ground as soon as possible,” the spokesperson said.

‘Doomed to fail’

Labour believes the scheme is flawed and intends to scrap it if it wins the general election, expected to be held later this year.

Shadow immigration minister Stephen Kinnock said the Rwanda scheme is “doomed to fail” calling it “fundamentally unworkable, unaffordable and unlawful”.

Sir Keir Starmer has said he would instead focus on targeting criminal gangs and negotiating new security arrangements with Europe.

Speaking in the House of Commons, Kinnock said he hoped the Conservatives “will come to understand that hard graft and common sense are always more effective than the sugar rush of a tabloid front page”.

Meanwhile, charities supporting asylum seekers are also planning to launch legal challenges “as quickly as possible” against deporting people to the east-central African country if the bill becomes law this week.

Labour peer Baroness Chakrabarti said the Lords amendments sought to improve the bill and did not attack “the central plank of the policy”.

She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme her own amendment would restore “the jurisdiction of domestic courts, who are defenestrated by this bill”.

However, Conservative MP Sir John Hayes said legal appeals had been used to block deportations and “frustrate” the will of Parliament and government policy.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has repeatedly said flights to Rwanda would take off by spring, but refused to name a specific date.

Ministers believe the legislation will pave the way for the first removals to the country within weeks.

The Safety of Rwanda Bill declares the country safe and was introduced to Parliament after the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the government’s scheme was unlawful.

In its ruling, the court said genuine refugees being deported there would be at risk of being returned to their home countries, where they could face harm.

The Rwanda scheme was originally introduced by then-Prime Minister Johnson in April 2022 with the aim of acting as a deterrent to people from arriving in the UK on small boats across the English Channel.

It has faced a number of legal challenges since, and so far no-one has been sent to the east African country under the scheme.

ALSO READ-UN rights panel urges govt to drop Rwanda plan  

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Sunak condemns Iran’s attack on Israel

The Ministry of Defence said that several additional Royal Air Force fighter jets had been moved to the region to help intercept the drone attacks…reports Asian Lite News

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has condemned Iran’s attack against Israel as “reckless” and pledged that the UK would stand up for security in the region after Tehran launched dozens of aerial drones and cruise missiles overnight on Saturday and into Sunday. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said that several additional Royal Air Force (RAF) fighter jets had been moved to the region to help intercept the drone attacks. The aircraft and air-fuelling tankers are being deployed as part of the UK’s ongoing Operation Shader against the Daesh terrorist group in the region.

“I condemn in the strongest terms the Iranian regime’s reckless attack against Israel,” said Sunak in a statement issued by 10 Downing Street. These strikes risk inflaming tensions and destabilising the region. Iran has once again demonstrated that it is intent on sowing chaos in its own backyard.

The UK will continue to stand up for Israel’s security and that of all our regional partners, including Jordan and Iraq,” said the PM. “Alongside our allies, we are urgently working to stabilise the situation and prevent further escalation. No one wants to see more bloodshed,” he added. The Israeli military said it intercepted the majority of the attacks with the help of other countries, including the US.

“We have moved several additional Royal Air Force jets and air refuelling tankers to the region. These will bolster Operation Shader, which is the UK’s existing counter-Daesh (ISIS) operation in Iraq and Syria. In addition, these UK jets will intercept any airborne attacks within range of our existing missions, as required,” a UK MoD statement said. “We will continue to cooperate closely with our regional partners in the interest of de-escalation,” it stated. Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said Iran’s “senseless” actions further undermine regional security amid the Israel-Hamas conflict.

“We continue to work with Israel and partners in the region to prevent further escalation. Peace and stability are in everyone’s interest, and I urge Iran to immediately end all forms of destabilising behaviour,” said Shapps. The widely anticipated retaliatory attack by Iran follows a strike on its consulate in Syria earlier this month, which killed seven Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) officers, including a top commander. The Iranian government has accused Israel of carrying out that attack, but Israel has neither confirmed nor denied it.

Iran summons envoys

Meanwhile, Iran summoned the French, British and German ambassadors to Tehran over reactions to the attack on Israel. “The British, French and German ambassadors to Tehran were summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs following the irresponsible positions of certain officials of these countries regarding Iran’s response to the actions of the Zionist regime (Israel) against the nationals and interests of our country,” Reuters quoted the official IRNA news agency. Britain, France, and Germany reacted sharply to Iran’s missile attack against Israel, which was made in response to its bombing of Iran’s consulate in Syria. The three European countries condemned Iran’s drone and missile attack against Israel. The attack went through Saturday night into Sunday and was in retaliation for Israel’s bombing of its consulate in Syria on April 1. The three nations were accused by the director for Western Europe at Iran’s foreign ministry of “double standards”. The statement also mentioned the objection of these three nations to a Russian-drafted U.N. Security Council statement that would have condemned Israel’s attack on Iran’s embassy compound in Syria. “Iran’s military action against the Zionist regime’s (Israel) bases is well within the framework of the right to legitimate defence stipulated in Article 51 of the United Nations Charter and it is in response to a series of crimes, including the recent attack on the embassy compound in Syria,” the official added.

‘Responsibility for escalating situation lies with Israel’

Meanwhile, Iran’s Ambassador to India, Iraj Elahi on Sunday defended its attack on Israel, saying that the Iranian legal and legitimate response in targeting Israeli military infrastructure on Saturday night was based on the inherent “right of self defence”. The Tehran’s retaliation followed an attack on Iran’s consulate in Damascus on April 2. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) confirmed the tragic loss of seven of its officials, including senior commanders Mohammed Reza Zahedi and Mohammad Hadi Haji Rahimi. Describing Israel as a “terrorist regime,” the Iranian envoy said that if it repeats its evil and terrorist actions again, it will face a decisive response from Iran. He further said, “Iran has stated many times in its official positions and diplomatic interactions within the framework of principles that it does not want to develop conflicts in the region and has proven this position in practice through restraint.”

ALSO READ-Sunak resists call to set poll date amid leadership threat

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Sunak’s attempt to ban smoking is nuts, says Johnson

Boris Johnson and Joe Biden.

Johnson attacked the policy at the Canada Strong and Free conference in Ottawa, where he appeared on a panel with the former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott and the political commentator John O’Sullivan…reports Asian Lite News

Boris Johnson has attacked Rishi Sunak’s smoking ban, calling it “absolutely nuts” in a lament about the state of the Conservative party in Britain.

Speaking at an event in Canada on Wednesday night, Johnson said it was “mad” that the party of Winston Churchill was “banning cigars”.

The government is passing legislation to end smoking by increasing the legal age to buy tobacco each year. Sunak announced the plan at the Conservative party conference last year and has presented it as part of his political legacy.

Johnson attacked the policy at the Canada Strong and Free conference in Ottawa, where he appeared on a panel with the former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott and the political commentator John O’Sullivan.

Johnson said: “When I look at some of the things we are doing now, or that are being done in the name of conservatism, I think they’re absolutely nuts.

“We’re banning cigars. What is the point of banning – the party of Winston Churchill wants to ban cigars … Donnez moi un break, as they say in Quebec. It’s just mad.”

There have been suggestions that Johnson will return to the campaign trail to help the Conservatives at the general election, expected to take place in the autumn. But the former prime minister’s intervention casts doubt on whether he is minded to help his successor, with whom he has a difficult relationship. Johnson’s allies hold Sunak responsible for helping bring about his resignation in the summer of 2022.

Sunak’s proposed smoking ban would make it illegal for anyone turning 15 or younger this year to ever be able to buy tobacco products. The policy has faced criticism from the libertarian wing of the Conservative party.

MPs are expected to be given a free vote on the proposed law when it comes to the Commons on 16 April. Given the government and the Labour party are in favour of the plan, it is expected to pass.

A similar law had been due to come into effect in New Zealand in July, but was repealed by the country’s new coalition government in February.

Johnson told the audience: “The difference between us conservatives and our opponents is that every time, their instincts are always about control and exploitation and coercion, and taking your money and spending it on your behalf and regulating your life – and we are, on the whole, in favour of freedom. It’s that single Anglo-Saxon idea of freedom that I think unites conservatives – or should unite conservatives.”

Johnson said he hoped the Tory party in the UK would be “transfused with the Canadians’ can-do spirit and turn things around in the next few months”. The conservatives in Canada have enjoyed a resurgence in the past two years under the leadership of Pierre Poilievre.

At the event in Ottawa, Johnson also spoke in favour of supporting Ukraine and Israel. He also said he had changed his mind on climate change over the years and defended policies to tackle it and achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

“Let me tell you, elections are won by the party that really owns the future. And I’m full of excitement about what’s happening here in Canada, but I think that people want to see there’s a plan and a programme to deal with this problem in a proper conservative way,” he said.

ALSO READ-Johnson Meets Trump After Endorsing His 2024 Bid

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Sunak warns of international ‘bad actors’

At least two police forces, in London and Leicestershire, are investigating the scandal. Sunak urged people to “let the police investigations run their course.”..reports Asian Lite News

Rishi Sunak told MPs to be vigilant of attempts to undermine British democracy as the Westminster honey trap sexting scandal rumbles on.

“There’s lots of bad actors, as we’re seeing around the world, who are trying to cause damage to our democratic processes,” the prime minister told LBC.

It was revealed last week that MPs, staffers, and journalists in Westminster have been targeted with alluring WhatsApp messages from two unknown phone numbers that, in several cases, escalated to the sender sending explicit images.

To date it has been verified directly that at least 21 people in U.K. politics were sent unsolicited WhatsApp messages by one or both of two phone numbers, which alternatively used the names “Charlie” or “Abi.” Among those targeted are Labour and Tory MPs, including a serving minister in the U.K. government. The origin of the messages remains unknown.

At least two police forces, in London and Leicestershire, are investigating the scandal. Sunak urged people to “let the police investigations run their course.”

The prime minister’s remarks come after Hazel Grove MP William Wragg quit the Tory whip Tuesday night after leaking the personal phone numbers of a number of MPs.

“It’s a good reminder to everyone, but particularly those in public life, to obviously be careful about unsolicited messages they get,” Sunak said Wednesday when pressed on Wragg’s exit.

ALSO READ-Sunak reiterates call for ‘humanitarian pause’