For decades, Hong Kong mourned when the mainland could not. Its huge annual Tiananmen vigil kept alive the memory of the 1989 pro-reform protests in Beijing, and of the massacre that suppressed them. Along with Macau, it was the only place in China where the anniversary could be publicly marked and the truth preserved. But the crackdown on the 2019 uprising in Hong Kong has crushed the freedoms that the region once enjoyed. That year’s vigil was the last. On Friday, two leaders of the Hong Kong Alliance, which organised the commemoration,…
Tag: Andy Burnham
Murrell used false accounting and fake invoices to hide SNP embezzlement, court hears – UK politics live
From 2h ago Murrell used false accounting records and fake invoices to cover up his embezzlement, court told The money embezzled by Peter Murrell came from SNP membership fees and donations by party members, the Edinburgh court was told. The Press Association report: double quotation markAlan Cameron KC told the high court in Edinburgh that the former SNP chief executive had embezzled the funds from SNP party bank accounts “over which he had control”. He went on: “The accused made direct transfers of money and used his party charge card…
From the Burnham row to the China visit, avoiding hard choices is the Starmer doctrine | Rafael Behr
There comes a point in a prime minister’s career when foreign travel offers respite from domestic trouble. Even when relations with the host country are tricky, as Britain’s are with China, the dignifying protocols of statecraft make a beleaguered politician feel valued. Next comes the phase where missions overseas feel dangerous because plotters can organise more openly against absent leaders. Keir Starmer is in transit between those two zones of decline. His position is not yet imperilled by the row over Andy Burnham’s thwarted ambition to run in the Gorton…
Minister tells MPs that China mega-embassy will have ‘clear security advantages’ – UK politics live
From 52m ago Minister tells MPs MI5 and GCHQ think having all Chinese diplomats on one site will have ‘clear security advantages’ In the Commons Dan Jarvis, the security minister, is taking questions from MPs about the decision to approve the Chinese “super-embassy”. He quoted from the letter written by Sir Ken McCallum, the MI5 director general, and Anne Keast-Butler, the GCHQ director, about this project, and put particular emphasis on this passage. It is worth reiterating the new embassy will replace seven different diplomatically-accredited sites across London which China…
Keir Starmer says Labour will prioritise growth which will mean ‘better jobs, public services, holidays and more cash’ – as it happened
From 4h ago Starmer tells BCC why he is prioritising GDP, saying growth is ‘better jobs, public services, holidays, meals out, more cash’ Keir Starmer is addressing the BCC conference now. He starts by talking about growth, and explaining why one of his “missions” for Labour is for the UK to have the highest sustained growth in the G7 in the next parliament. He says: I know what a lot of people in Westminster say about growth. They say it’s an abstract concept, doesn’t resonate, doesn’t connect with peoples’ lives,…