Poland's pro-EU government wins confidence vote in parliament
Poland's pro-European coalition government won a parliamentary vote of confidence on Wednesday (June 11), in a result that Prime Minister Donald Tusk says he hopes will give his cabinet new momentum after it was shaken by a vote defeat in the presidential election.
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Powys County Times
20 minutes ago
- Powys County Times
Lammy urges Iran and US to keep talking as Middle East conflict continues
David Lammy has urged Iran to carry on negotiations with the US as he continued to seek a diplomatic solution to the Middle East conflict. The Foreign Secretary met his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi in Geneva on Friday alongside foreign ministers from France and Germany and the EU's foreign policy chief. Following the meeting, Mr Lammy said the Europeans were 'keen to continue ongoing discussions and negotiations with Iran, and we urge Iran to continue their talks with the United States'. He added: 'We were clear: Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.' Friday's meeting followed Donald Trump's statement that he would delay a decision on whether the US would join Israeli strikes against Iran for two weeks, raising the prospect of a negotiated solution to the crisis. German foreign minister Johann Wadephul said the group had left the room 'with the impression that the Iranian side is fundamentally ready to continue talking about all important issues'. Speaking to broadcasters after the meeting, Mr Lammy described the situation as 'perilous' and urged Iran to 'take that off ramp' and 'be serious about the diplomacy that is required at this moment'. He added that the US and Europe were pushing for Iran to agree to zero enrichment of uranium as a 'starting point' for negotiations. But Mr Araghchi said Iran would not negotiate with the US as long as Israel continued to carry out airstrikes against the country. Tel Aviv's campaign continued on Friday, with Israel saying its aircraft had hit military targets including missile-manufacturing facilities as it continues to attack locations connected with Iran's nuclear programme. Iran insists its nuclear programme is entirely peaceful. Meanwhile, the UK Government has announced it will use charter flights to evacuate Britons stranded in Israel once the country's airspace reopens. Number 10 said on Friday morning the situation remains 'fast-moving' and it will continue to be monitored closely. A spokesman added: 'We are advising British nationals to continue to register their presence in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, to be contactable with further guidance on these flights.' Mr Lammy said work is under way to provide the flights 'based on levels of demand' from UK citizens who want to leave the region. 'The UK will provide charter flights for British nationals from Tel Aviv when airspace reopens,' he said. 'The safety of British nationals remains our top priority.' According to the Israeli government, some 22,000 tourists are seeking to board evacuation flights. It is unclear how many of these may be UK citizens. Government advice for British nationals in the country remains to follow local guidance, as well as to let officials know about their presence within Israel or the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Land routes out of Israel remain open and British staff are on hand to support UK nationals who have crossed the border, he added. The move follows criticism of the Foreign Office's initial response, which saw family members of embassy staff evacuated while UK citizens were not advised to leave and told to follow local guidance. The Government said the move to temporarily withdraw family members had been a 'precautionary measure'.
Times
an hour ago
- Times
A dozen ministers could quit over Starmer's disability welfare cuts
As many as a dozen members of government are prepared to resign rather than support Sir Keir Starmer's controversial welfare reforms, it has been claimed, as backbench critics accused ministers of betraying Labour values. A senior government figure told The Times that about 12 of their colleagues had privately indicated they would find it impossible to support the measures that are due to be voted on a week on Wednesday. Another leading opponent said that as many as 80 Labour MPs were 'holding firm' in opposition to the plans and believed the government would ultimately have to pull the vote. • No concessions on benefits reform, Starmer tells rebels 'If this goes through this will be our version of tuition fees,' they said. 'The optics of taking away money from people who find it difficult to go to the toilet are terrible.' The government has a working majority of 165, meaning that 83 Labour MPs would have to rebel for Starmer to lose a vote. Whips are warning potential rebels that they will be blacklisted for any future government job for as long as Starmer is prime minister — even if they simply abstain. Anyone openly opposing the plans faces a threat of having the whip suspended entirely amid growing concern in No 10 that the vote could slip away from the government. But one government source suggested that contingency plans to pull the vote altogether were being prepared, in case Starmer's team concluded that they did not have the numbers. Any move to back down would have implications for the government's finances as the £5 billion of savings from the changes have already been 'banked' by Rachel Reeves in the government's spending plans. Those prepared to walk away from their jobs are understood to be a mixture of junior ministers and parliamentary private secretaries — the MPs who act as the eyes and ears of cabinet ministers in Westminster. A few are said to be new MPs only elected last year. On Thursday Vicky Foxcroft, the MP for Lewisham North, resigned as a government whip and said she could not vote for the reforms. 'I have wrestled with whether I should resign or remain in the government and fight for change from within,' she told Starmer. 'Sadly it now seems that we are not going to get the changes I desperately wanted to see.' • Three months' grace for claimants about to lose disability benefits MPs are due to debate changes to welfare on July 1, which include a tightening of the criteria for the personal independence payment (PIP), the main disability payment in England and Wales. Ministers also want to cut the sickness-related element of universal credit, and delay access to it, so only those aged 22 and over can claim. The package of reforms is aimed at encouraging more people off sickness benefits and into work, but dozens of Labour rebels said last month that the proposals were 'impossible to support'. A number of MPs spoke out in support of Foxcroft after her resignation. Jonathan Brash, the MP for Hartlepool, said he had 'utmost respect for her and her principled stand here', adding: 'She's right. Our welfare system does need change, but the cuts proposed are not the right way to do it.' Connor Naismith, the MP for Crewe & Nantwich, added: 'This must have been an incredibly difficult decision but she should be commended for standing by her principles. I agree with her that reducing the welfare bill is the right ambition, but cuts to universal credit and PIP should not be part of the solution.' Asked about the resignation on Times Radio, Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary said that it was 'up to every MP to look to their conscience and vote the way that they believe is right'. 'If you can't stick with collective responsibility in government, you have to resign,' she said. 'She's done the honourable thing. It will enable her to have a voice.'
South Wales Guardian
2 hours ago
- South Wales Guardian
United Ireland should be new state that ‘can be better for all of us'- Varadkar
Leo Varadkar also said he hopes the current Irish government takes the decision to establish a forum to lead discussions on unity, and also appeared to dismiss concerns of potential loyalist violence in reaction to a united Ireland. Mr Varadkar, who stood down as taoiseach in April last year, said he believes he will see a united Ireland in his lifetime but warned it is not inevitable. He said that he has had no regrets so far since leaving elected politics, and is enjoying both 'a lot of personal and intellectual freedom to say what I think'. He was speaking at an In Conversation event with Rev Karen Sethuraman at St Mary's University college in west Belfast, hosted by Feile an Phobail and Ireland's Future. Former Sinn Fein president and West Belfast MP Gerry Adams was among those in the audience for the event. Mr Varadkar stressed that a united Ireland 'has to be a new Ireland that is better for everyone'. 'That includes a bill of rights, guarantees civil protections and liberties,' he said. 'Unification, in my view, is not the annexation of six more counties by the Republic of Ireland. It's a new state and one that can be better for all of us, an opportunity that only comes around every 100 years, which is to design your state and design your constitution.' In terms of what the current Irish Government is doing, Mr Varadkar described the Shared Island Unit, which was set up when he was Taoiseach, as really positive. But he said he would like to see the Irish Government lead a forum ahead of unity. 'Just saying it as an aspiration isn't enough anymore, it should be an objective and an objective is something you act on,' he said. 'One of the ideas that I would put forward, which could help to move on this discussion, is the establishment of some sort of forum.' He said there was the New Ireland Forum in the 1980s, and the Forum for Peace and Reconciliation in the 1990s. 'I think there is a strong case now for us to convene the parties that are interested in talking about this, unions, business groups, civil society in a forum to have that discussion, but I don't see how that can happen if that isn't led by the Irish Government, and I hope at some point during the course of this five-year government, a decision will be taken to do that,' he said. Meanwhile, asked how he felt potential violent opposition to a united Ireland could be handled, Mr Varadkar suggested he felt 'only a very small minority may turn to violence'. 'I know there are people south of the border who, when I talk to them about reunification, express to me concerns that there might be a very small minority within unionism who may turn to violence,' he said. 'I don't think we should dismiss that as a possibility. I don't think it will happen, to be honest. 'In two referendums, both north and south, people would be very clearly giving their preference as to what should happen, it would be quite a different situation to when partition happened 100 years ago and it wasn't voted for. 'I don't think that would arise but I think it's a reasonable question.' Meanwhile, deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly suggested Mr Varadkar was 'wrong in terms of the trajectory' towards a united Ireland, insisting the number of people voting for nationalist parties, around 40%, 'hasn't moved since 1998'. Mr Varadkar said he was in politics long enough to not respond to someone else's comments without hearing them in full, but said the case he is making is not just based on the percentage of people who vote for nationalist parties, adding it is clear the percentage voting for unionist parties has fallen. Earlier, Mr Varadkar visited nearby Colaiste Feirste where he heard about the growth in Irish medium education, and plans to build a new Irish Language Heritage and Interpretive Centre, An Spas Din. School principal Micheal Mac Giolla Ghunna said: 'We have grown a vibrant Irish language community from our base in the Gaeltacht Quarter, leading to challenges for us in terms of accommodation and teacher provision. 'But far from limiting our ambitions, we are now using the Sportlann facility and initiatives like our GaelStair heritage project to offer our pupils and the wider community further opportunities.'
