ANDREW NEIL: We've become an unserious country. We're rudderless, adrift in a sea of troubles rather than in command of our destiny. And our leaders are to blame.
'Can he get the show back on the road before more damage is done?' I asked a senior Labour minister this week. 'Yes, he can,' came the reply.
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Powys County Times
43 minutes ago
- Powys County Times
Son of Chinook 1994 helicopter crash victim visits memorial and asks for answers
RAF Chinook ZD576 was carrying 25 British intelligence personnel from RAF Aldergrove in Northern Ireland to a conference at Fort George near Inverness when it crashed in foggy weather on June 2 1994 on the Mull of Kintyre in Scotland. All 25 passengers – made up of personnel from MI5, the Royal Ulster Constabulary and the British Army – were killed, along with the helicopter's four crew members. Joel Hornby, whose father Major Anthony Hornby was one of the victims, visited a memorial cairn at the crash site on Saturday and again on Sunday. Mr Hornby laid a wreath at the cairn (Chinook Justice Campaign/PA) He and other families have said they will press on with seeking a judicial review after the Ministry of Defence (MoD) dismissed their demands for a judge-led public inquiry into the incident, and have written to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer asking him to intervene. Mr Hornby, who was seven when his father died, visited the site with his one-year-old son and laid a wreath at the cairn along with a note which read 'Dad, we are still fighting for you'. Speaking afterwards Mr Hornby, who lives in Berlin in Germany, said: 'We, the families of those lost, have still been denied answers over 30 years on. 'The MoD has rejected our request for a full judge-led public inquiry, and furthermore, has sealed documents relating to the crash for 100 years. 'We are requesting that the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer live up to his promises on duty of candour and overrule the MoD's decision.' He has also urged people to sign a petition calling on the Prime Minister to overturn the MoD decision and release the documents. Following the crash, the Chinook's pilots, Flight Lieutenants Richard Cook and Jonathan Tapper, were accused of gross negligence, but this verdict was overturned by the UK Government 17 years later following a campaign by the families. A subsequent review by Lord Philip set out 'numerous concerns' raised by those who worked on the Chinooks, with the MoD's testing centre at Boscombe Down in Wiltshire declaring the Chinook Mk2 helicopters 'unairworthy' prior to the crash. In a statement after the calls made by the families on Friday an MoD spokesperson said: 'The Mull of Kintyre crash was a tragic accident, and our thoughts and sympathies remain with the families, friends and colleagues of all those who died. 'We understand that the lack of certainty about the cause of the crash has added to the distress of the families. 'We provided a detailed and considered response to the pre-action protocol letter stating the reasons why we cannot accept the demand for establishing a new public inquiry. 'It's unlikely that a public inquiry would identify any new evidence or reach new conclusions on the basis of existing evidence. 'The accident has already been the subject of six inquiries and investigations, including an independent judge-led review.' The MoD did not wish to make further comment on Sunday.
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
EU locked in Trump trade talks as ‘Liberation Day' tariff deadline looms
The European Union and United States have just 48 hours to resolve a trade dispute or face Donald Trump unleashing billions of dollars worth of transatlantic tariffs. A 90-day pause on the imposition of the US president's so-called 'Liberation Day' import taxes expires on Wednesday, and leaders across Europe are bracing for the threat of 50 per cent tariffs on goods sold in the US. A split has emerged in the bloc, with some urging European trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič to pursue a UK-style deal to resolve the trade dispute, sparing the EU from the worst of Mr Trump's wrath. Other EU leaders have cautioned against the thin UK-US deal agreed by Sir Keir Starmer, and believe Brussels should use its clout to secure a more comprehensive agreement. Trump imposed a 20 per cent import tax on all EU-made products in early April as part of a set of tariffs targeting countries with which the US has a trade imbalance. Hours after the nation-specific duties took effect, he put them on hold until July 9 at a standard rate of 10 per cent to quiet financial markets and allow time for negotiations. But as talks dragged on, Mr Trump has threatened to hike the tariff rate to 50 per cent if a deal is not reached. The higher rate would hit everything from French cheese to Italian leather goods, making them more expensive for American consumers. Talks will now go down to the wire this week, with Mr Šefčovič and US treasury secretary Scott Bessent 's teams seeking to hash out a deal to avoid escalating the trade war. 'Among member states, the big question will be whether we should reach a deal at all costs to avoid a trade war, or show muscle if the deal is not good enough,' one EU diplomat told The Guardian. German chancellor Olaf Scholz has called for a similar deal to the UK's sector-specific agreement, while French president Emmanuel Macron keen instead for a better, more comprehensive, deal if a rushed agreement is uneven. Mr Trump has previously threatened to impose 17 per cent tariffs on European food and farm products as part of the US's aggressive negotiating tactics, with the president once describing the EU as 'nastier' than China on trade. Progress towards a deal was made last week, an EU trade spokesman said on Friday, but talks continued throughout the weekend. Without a deal, the EU has said it was prepared to retaliate with tariffs on hundreds of American products, ranging from beef and auto parts to beer and Boeing airplanes. Given the complexity of the talks, it may only be possible for the sides to arrive at a slimmed down deal by Wednesday, leaving a 10 per cent base level tariff in place, as well as specific tariffs on cars, steel and aluminum. Before Mr Trump was re-elected, the average tariff on goods from the EU sold in the US was just 2 per cent. Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Germany's Berenberg bank, said the most likely outcome of the trade talks is that 'the US will agree to deals in which it takes back its worst threats of 'retaliatory' tariffs well beyond 10 per cent'. 'However, the road to get there could be rocky.' The US offering exemptions for some goods might smooth the path to a deal. The EU could offer to ease some regulations that the White House views as trade barriers. Mr Schmieding added: 'While Trump might be able to sell such an outcome as a 'win' for him, the ultimate victims of his protectionism would, of course, be mostly the US consumers.'
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Dining across the divide: ‘He was a 'Stop the boats' person'
Occupation Account director in the IT sector Voting record Conservative, but in the last election he protest-voted for Reform Amuse bouche He's a huge Metallica fan, and will be seeing them next year for the 25th time Occupation Financial services technician Voting record Always Labour until the last election, when he voted Green Amuse bouche After dancing in seven consecutive national ballroom dancing finals, he's just retired, because he is, in ballroom dancing terms, a senior Sam We immediately started chatting about music, and got on really well. Matt He was a really likable chap, very open and conversational, like myself. Sam I've been to the restaurant before, and I've spent the last two years telling everyone about the beef dripping flatbread with massive salt crystals. We also had beetroot in a creamy foam and herb oil, a cuttlefish risotto and a very lemony skate on crushed potatoes. It was excellent. Matt I had a grapefruit sorbet for dessert – amazing! Sam had red wine, which I'd have loved, but I've just come out of cancer treatment, so I had a Coke. Matt We talked about public spending. I think we need to shrink welfare – but in a controlled manner that benefits people and gets them back into work. Sam I'd like to see more investment in the state, funded by a tax on absolutely everyone. If we had proper housing, social care and mental health structures in place, it would reduce demand on things like the NHS. Matt We should strip all the bureaucracy out of the NHS and reinvest in medical practitioners. Sam said that's already happening with Labour scrapping NHS England. But my understanding is that, while the organisation is being abolished, nobody's being made redundant. They're all being redeployed into other parts of government. So it won't free up money for reinvestment. Sam I don't think Matt was too far from my perspective. He's had a lot of contact with the NHS recently and felt there was a lot of bureaucracy that could be cut down. But when I said I'm in favour of nationalising natural monopolies like water, he largely seemed to agree. Sign up to Inside Saturday The only way to get a look behind the scenes of the Saturday magazine. Sign up to get the inside story from our top writers as well as all the must-read articles and columns, delivered to your inbox every weekend. after newsletter promotion Matt I think big tech is a force for good. If you're a researcher looking for cures for cancer and it gives you quicker access to information from a multitude of sources, surely we get better results quicker? AI worries people, because we hear it's going to automate and take everybody's jobs, but it's just rules-based processing and straightforward algorithms piecing together information that's already out there. People think it's intelligent enough to self-learn. I haven't seen any evidence of that. Sam I fully agree that technology can be a force for good. But I don't think companies like Meta and Google have our best interests at heart. We've seen that with electioneering and the way they manipulate people's data to target them. We agreed technology is neutral, but once you put it into humanity's hands, it's not necessarily going to have a positive outcome. Sam He was a 'Stop the boats' person. From a humane standpoint I agree: I don't want people coming across the Channel. I know once upon a time if you were seeking asylum you could turn up at an embassy. Matt thought that was a good idea, but the problem is that embassies have been whittled down to very few. To me, safe routes are the answer. Matt As one of the top countries in the world, we have a right and a duty to take care of people who are coming to the UK because they're at risk of harm, but I think we've got to get quicker at identifying those who are at risk, and then dealing with those who aren't by processing them quicker, and returning them to their rightful abode. Sam The world would be a better place if we could all have a chat. On the internet we seem to have a desire to antagonise, but in person you generally find the points on which you agree rather than differ. Matt At the end of dinner, our conclusion was that there wasn't a river dividing us. It was more of a stream, a trickle. When you sit down and talk to someone from supposedly the opposite side of the fence, the division isn't as big as you think. Additional reporting: Kitty Drake Matt and Sam ate at Erst in Manchester Want to meet someone from across the divide? Find out how to take part
