A veteran Labour MP is hoping to lead the group of MPs scrutinising the UK's foreign and international counterterrorism policies.
Former criminal barrister Emily Thornberry, who served in the shadow cabinet for 12 years while in opposition, is running to chair the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, at a time when the UK government faces uncertainty amid wars in Ukraine, Israel-Palestine and Sudan.
She faces opposition for the role from Dan Carden, a Labour MP who served as a trade envoy under Rishi Sunak.
The group holds the work of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to account. Earlier this year, its previous leader Alicia Kearns prompted an admission by the foreign secretary at the time David Cameron that he was “worried” that Israel had broken international law in Gaza. The group's 2016 inquiry into Britain’s military intervention in Libya in 2011, concluded that the operation had drifted to a regime change without a proper plan.
Ms Thornberry, who has been an MP for Islington South for 19 years, says she can be an “effective, no-nonsense” leader of the committee. Among her proposals is to launch inquiries with diaspora communities in the UK to ensure their concerns about foreign policy are heard. She has the backing of current shadow foreign secretary David Mitchell and Liberal Democrats foreign affairs spokeswoman Layla Moran, among others.
Ms Thornberry has supported Israel’s right to self-defence since October 7 and has been to Israel as a member of the Labour Friends of Israel group. Most recently, she supported the UK's partial ban on arms sale licenses to Israel but denied this was an acknowledgement that the country was committing war crimes in Gaza.
“This is not an arms embargo … given what’s going on in Gaza and on the West Bank, it’s right for the government to look at what’s happening and say … we want to be on the right side of the law,” she told Channel Four News.
Ms Thornberry’s diplomatic experience comes from her four years as shadow foreign secretary from 2016 to 2020. She opposed Britain's involvement in the Saudi-led coalition against the Houthis in Yemen while acknowledging the kingdom as a “valued strategic, security and economic ally.” She also criticised the US killing of Iranian general Qassem Suleimani in 2020, fearing it could lead to further escalation.
She appeared to mirror her party leader’s soft position on the Assad regime. In 2018, Ms Thornberry said that the West had underestimated the support for Assad. “I think there has been a depth and a breadth of support for Assad that has been underestimated.”
She also questioned the reports of chemical weapons being used on civilians, calling for a formal investigation to be conducted before Britain took military action. “Relying on so-called open source intelligence provided by proscribed terrorist groups is not an acceptable alternative,” she told parliament.
Her challenger is Dan Carden, a former trade unionist from Liverpool who served as former prime minister Rishi Sunak’s trade envoy to Mexico until last year. He has risen quickly through the ranks since he became MP for Liverpool Walton in 2017.
He was Mr Corbyn’s shadow international development secretary and then appointed a shadow minister to the Treasury by Keir Starmer in the party’s reshuffle in 2020. He was among the 10 front bench Labour MPs to defy Keir Starmer over a ceasefire vote in November last year, a motion that was tabled by the Scottish National Party.
A disciple of Labour’s Ernest Bevin, who played a leading role in establishing Nato, Mr Carden believes the UK must work with allies to deter hostile powers. He prioritises strengthening relations with Ukrainian parliamentarians, with whom he claims to have “strong relations”.
He has the backing of Ms Kearns, the committee’s former chair, among others. Like Ms Kearns, Mr Carden appears to have made an impact in just a few years by being outspoken on a wide range of issues, including the right for families to visit dying loved ones in hospital during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Founders: Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, Turki Bin Zarah and Abdulmohsen Albabtain.
Based: Riyadh
Offices: UAE, Vietnam and Germany
Founded: September, 2020
Number of employees: 70
Sector: FinTech, online payment solutions
Funding to date: $116m in two funding rounds
Investors: Checkout.com, Impact46, Vision Ventures, Wealth Well, Seedra, Khwarizmi, Hala Ventures, Nama Ventures and family offices
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
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THE BIO
Favourite car: Koenigsegg Agera RS or Renault Trezor concept car.
Favourite book: I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes or Red Notice by Bill Browder.
Biggest inspiration: My husband Nik. He really got me through a lot with his positivity.
Favourite holiday destination: Being at home in Australia, as I travel all over the world for work. It’s great to just hang out with my husband and family.
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Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
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