Can we say how many people come to the UK illegally and work here?

One reason behind the government’s plan to introduce digital ID cards is to help tackle illegal working.

The so-called informal economy, made up of people and businesses operating outside official employment and tax systems, has been cited as one factor attracting people to the UK without legal permission.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said that removing this “pull factor” could help deter people from making irregular journeys to the UK, such as crossing the Channel in small boats.

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Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cwydl81dg13t

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President Donald Trump will make a state visit to the U.K. this week, marking his second such stop during his presidency. Later in the week, Trump will travel to Arizona to attend the funeral of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Trump’s return to England is unusual, as U.S. presidents rarely make more than one state visit during their time in office, underscoring both the political and symbolic weight of the occasion.

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Source: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-heads-uk-rare-second-state-visit-arizona-charlie-kirk-funeral

The post Trump heads to UK for rare second state visit, then to Arizona for Charlie Kirk’s funeral first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Starmer hailed the agreement as a “landmark moment” for both countries as he hosted India’s leader at his Chequers country estate, northwest of London.

“This is not the extent or the limit of our collaboration with India,” added the British premier, whose year-old government is struggling to fire up an economy weakened by years of stagnant growth and high inflation.

“We have unique bonds of history, of family and of culture and we want to strengthen our relationship further, so that it is even more ambitious, modern and focused on the long term,” he said.

Starmer and Modi announced in May they had struck a free trade agreement that the British government says will eventually add £4.8 billion ($6.5 billion) a year to the UK economy.

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Source: https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20250724-india-s-modi-and-uk-pm-starmer-ink-trade-deal

The post India’s Modi and UK PM Starmer ink trade deal first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Rishi Sunak has been unceremoniously kicked to the curb in England.  Keir Starmer has been elected the new Prime Minister.  His wing man is none other than Barack Obama, the two having met in college.  Apparently Obama has been tutoring him.  “Change begins now.”  Remind you of anything?

But Nigel Farage will make things interesting.  They say he’ll be “noisy.”

Biden’s performance at the debate has a lot of donors and supporters skittish.  Apparently he realizes he blew it, and is making every imaginable excuse.  Some are still supporting him, but it looks like the mainstream media is throwing him under the bus.  Reports say his advisors in the White House are depressed, and the news is trying to explain it away.  Those paying attention knew he was in bad shape, but the media is surprised, or claims to be.  

Suddenly there’s all kinds of pressure for the pretender to resign.  Immediately.  You can only imagine what’s going on behind the scenes.  They’re probably going to have to forcefully evict Jill, who has grown accustomed to the many perks of the presidency.   Apparently there was an impromptu family meeting called, and there are many facets to be considered.  Foremost, the pretender has some legal liabilities and Hunter’s troubles are no secret.  Maybe there will be pardons all around, and that will be part of the deal that brings Kamala to power.  Imagine the logistics!  Or will it be somebody else come election time?

The mainstream acted surprised to see how Biden performed in the debate.  They’ve been gas- lighting the public so long, they can’t believe everybody knows the truth, in spite of them.  We’ve been wise to it for some time, but the anchors are going along like nobody knows his condition.  A cold?  Sure.  An episode or a condition? Nancy Pelosi is trying to say it was just a fluke.  

You saw the conflagration in France.  Macron is seriously worried as things spin out of control.

They’ve called in all the riot cops they can, but seemingly can’t get a handle on it as it goes on and on.  Apparently the population is deeply dissatisfied with the situation and the rest of Macron’s term may not be pleasant.

How long should a war take?  The war goes on, or should I say, the attempt to banish Hamas for good goes on.  It looks like the “humanitarian aid” has gone into tunnels and rockets.  Trump says Iran was broke during his administration and Iran wouldn’t have been able to sponsor the terrorists under those conditions.  But now?

Ukraine is starting to be described as the start of WWIII.  This thing is a forever war, and if not settled soon it just might spread.  Russia is trying to maintain a buffer against NATO, and Europe apparently wants all of Eastern Europe.  That’s not what Putin had in mind, and we don’t know if it will ever end.  Trump says he’ll have that war stopped before he arrives in the White House.  

The world is ablaze with threats abounding.  The next several months are going to be crucial in the grand scheme of things. Right now, there is no confidence in the United States.  Especially after everyone saw the debate.  It will not do to have an incoherent president of the United States, and the world knows it.  

We’ve just finished the layout for the next WATCH magazine.  There may be much more trying times ahead, even with competent leadership. With Obama running the show we’ll be lucky to survive.  

Mark

The post Weekly Update by Mark Armstrong – July 5, 2024 first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

The Conservative Party suffered a dramatic collapse after a tumultuous 14 years in power, which saw five different prime ministers run the country. It lost 250 seats over the course of a devastating night.

Rishi Sunak – the outgoing PM – accepted responsibility for the result and apologised to defeated colleagues during a brief statement outside a rainy 10 Downing Street. He said he would resign as party leader in the coming weeks.

In his first speech as prime minister after greeting dozens of jubilant Labour supporters who had lined Downing Street, Sir Keir vowed to run a “government of service” and to kick start a period of “national renewal”.

Continue reading HERE

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2v0e074jejo

The post UK election: What’s happened and what comes next? first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announces new lockdown measures in the UK parliament. Photo: House of Commons/PA Wire

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson put England on notice that the national lockdown will continue for at least another six weeks, with schools staying closed and new border quarantine rules coming into force.

A day after the British death toll passed 100,000, Mr Johnson said his government will review the impact of pandemic measures and the effectiveness of the vaccine programme in mid-February.

But the soonest restrictions could begin to be eased and schools fully reopened is March 8, he said, and some rules will be tightened.

In an attempt to stop dangerous mutant strains of the virus entering the UK, new 10-day hotel quarantine measures will be imposed on all passengers arriving from Covid hot spots such as South America, South Africa and Portugal.

‘It wasn’t bad luck’: Labour leader Keir Starmer. Photo: House of Commons/PA

“Everyone yearns to know how much longer we must endure these restrictions, with all their consequences for jobs, livelihoods and most tragically of all, the life chances of our children,” Mr Johnson told Parliament. “We will not persist for a day longer than is necessary, but nor can we relax too soon.”

“We have one of the highest death rates in the world,” said Labour Party and opposition leader Keir Starmer. “The truth is this was not inevitable, it wasn’t just bad luck. It’s the result of a huge number of mistakes by the prime minister during the course of this pandemic.”

Mr Johnson rejected a call from Tory colleague Steve Brine to consider opening some schools before March 8. “This is about as fast as we think we can prudently go,” the prime minister said. While the lockdown appears to have curbed the spread of infections, “we do not yet have enough data to know exactly how soon it will be safe to reopen our society and economy,” he said.

The UK is three weeks into its third national lockdown, with tens of millions of workers ordered to stay home. Since then, the government has committed almost £300bn (€340bn) to emergency support for the economy.

Britain has suffered the fifth-highest death toll in the world and the heaviest economic hit of any G7 nation.

In recent weeks, Mr Johnson’s administration has focused on a mass vaccination programme that aims to provide shots to the 15 million most vulnerable people and carers by February 15. Once that goal has been achieved, ministers will consider if and how restrictions can safely begin to be eased.

“We remain in a perilous situation,” Mr Johnson said. The spread of a more contagious and potentially more deadly new strain had set back the government’s ambitions for reopening the economy in the spring, he said.

Ministers have been debating border measures including quarantining all arrivals in hotels. In the end, the prime minister announced a more limited policy aimed at arrivals from specific countries thought to be most at risk of carrying a new variant of the disease.

Extra police will be stationed at ports and airports to stop Britons leaving the UK to go on holiday or for any other non-essential reason, Home Secretary Priti Patel said. “Anyone who does not have a valid reason for travel will be directed to return home.”

Source: https://www.independent.ie/world-news/coronavirus/uk-death-toll-hits-100000-as-johnson-locks-down-to-march-40020883.html

The post UK death toll hits 100,000 as Johnson locks down to March first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

UK prime minister’s aggressive tactics are undermining trust abroad and at home.

Mujtaba Rahman is the head of Eurasia Group’s Europe practice and the author of POLITICO‘s Beyond the Bubble column.

There’s a reason Boris Johnson shows little respect for the traditional rules of the political game. After all, it’s the British prime minister’s bull-in-a-china-shop approach that got him where is today.

It’s an approach that served him well last year, when after six months spent battling parliament and the Supreme Court over Brexit, Johnson called an early election and swept back into power with an 80-seat majority in the House of Commons — his Conservative Party’s largest since Margaret Thatcher’s in 1987.

But while Johnson and his advisers seem to believe the prime minister’s governing style will continue to pay electoral dividends, the diminishing returns of repeatedly breaking with U.K. institutions and their long-established rules are now coming into sight.

Let’s start with Brexit. Johnson has had to beat a retreat from his government’s threat to break international law by overriding the Northern Ireland protocol in last year’s Withdrawal Agreement. He will now give the Commons the final say on using the controversial provisions in the Internal Market Bill.

Johnson’s style has provoked a series of rebellions by Tory backbenchers who feel he treats them, and parliament as a whole, with contempt.

But while hopes of a U.K.-EU trade deal are rising, the move has left a legacy of distrust in Brussels. EU leaders will want to nail down every last detail of an agreement to prevent any attempt by Johnson to wriggle out of it once the coronavirus pandemic has passed (a course favored by some hard-line Brexiteers on the Tory benches,  who admit the government is unlikely to risk a no-deal scenario in January while business is suffering an economic hit).

The mistrust might also make it harder to secure U.K.-EU cooperation in other areas, such as security, criminal justice and asylum, to London’s cost. The threat to break international law will also likely be bad for his key aim of establishing a Global Britain, with lucrative trade deals around the world.

Meanwhile, at home, Johnson’s style has provoked a series of rebellions by Tory backbenchers who feel he treats them, and parliament as a whole, with contempt. A serious cross-party revolt, backed by more than 50 Tories, threatens to defeat the government Wednesday, when MPs will demand the right to approve national restrictions in advance. Although Downing Street is belatedly trying to woo Tory MPs, the relationship has been badly damaged.

And yet, despite all this, Johnson will not change his spots. Team Boris is determined to hang on to former Labour supporters in the leftist party’s heartland who voted Tory last December. Their strategy to do that is to continue to redraw the Brexit dividing line whenever possible. Thus, they will continue to happily tack to the right, wage culture war against the BBC or over the toppling of statues, or adopt a hard line on asylum and immigration, believing all this plays to the patriotism of these voters.

Former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair’s Third Way mantra was about doing “what works.” But Team Boris remains convinced its aggressive, no-nonsense approach works better than consensus and conciliation. They genuinely don’t care if other players in the political game don’t like it, as long as the voters are onside.

The jury is out on whether their gamble will pay off. In normal times, it might be needed to achieve Johnson’s “leveling up” agenda — to overcome blockages in Whitehall, another Johnson “enemy” and scapegoat for his government’s mistakes. One example is Treasury rules that previously favored infrastructure projects in the already rich London and southeast.

But permanent revolution must also be combined with competent government, and we’ve seen the opposite of competence since the election, notably on the coronavirus. Dividing the world into friend and foe doesn’t help the fight against the multiheaded monster of the pandemic or make easier the difficult judgments between prioritizing public health and the economy.

People no longer give the government the benefit of the doubt, as they did six months ago. And once you’ve lost the public trust, as Johnson may well have already done, reckless confrontation no longer looks like potency; it looks like an attempt to divert from a government’s woes.

The result: Labour has drawn level in the opinion polls, and more voters consider Labour leader Keir Starmer to be best suited for the job of prime minister. The bull in the china shop might soon discover he’s being handed a bill for everything he broke.

Source: https://www.politico.eu/article/boris-johnson-has-run-out-of-rope-brexit-coronavirus-parliament/

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