UK Labour opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn says US President Donald Trump's comments endorsing Conservative front-runner Boris Johnson as the next prime minister were an "unacceptable interference" in Britain's affairs.
In an interview with The Sun newspaper ahead of his three-day state visit to Britain next week, Mr Trump said of the former foreign secretary: "I think Boris would do a very good job. I think he would be excellent."
Other Conservative lawmakers in the leadership race had sought his backing, he said, although not environment minister Michael Gove, who has criticised his stance on Iran.
Veteran Socialist Mr Corbyn, who has declined an invitation to attend a state banquet with Trump during the visit, said: "President Trump’s attempt to decide who will be Britain’s next prime minister is an entirely unacceptable interference in our country’s democracy."
He added in a statement on Saturday: "The next prime minister should be chosen not by the US president, nor by 100,000 unrepresentative Conservative party members, but by the British people in a general election."
After failing three times this year to get parliament to back her plan for leaving the European Union, Prime Minister Theresa May said last week she would step down as leader of the governing Conservative Party on June 7 to open the way for a contest to succeed her.
So far, 12 Members of Parliament have said they will stand in the leadership election. They will be whittled down by their fellow lawmakers to a final two before the grassroots party members make the final choice.
Mr Trump praised Johnson on his last visit to Britain in July 2018, saying that he thought he had the skills needed to be prime minister, shortly after Johnson resigned in protest at May's handling of Brexit. Mr Trump also wondered aloud why Nigel Farage is not handling the negotiations with the American president being impressed by the Brexit party leader.
Mr Johnson, who has said he would be prepared to take Britain out of the EU without a deal on October 31, has not commented on Trump's latest endorsement.
Mr Corbyn himself has been widely accused of failing to clarify Labour's position on Brexit by not saying outright whether or not it is decisively in favour of a second referendum on Brexit.
Mr Trump also praised foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt, also a Conservative leadership candidate, for his pledge to increase British defence spending.
He arrives in Britain on Monday for a state visit at the invitation of Queen Elizabeth before attending World War Two commemorations in France and visiting Ireland.
It is only the third state visit of a US president to Britain.
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
Company profile
Name: Thndr
Started: October 2020
Founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: pre-seed of $800,000
Funding stage: series A; $20 million
Investors: Tiger Global, Beco Capital, Prosus Ventures, Y Combinator, Global Ventures, Abdul Latif Jameel, Endure Capital, 4DX Ventures, Plus VC, Rabacap and MSA Capital
Find the right policy for you
Don’t wait until the week you fly to sign up for insurance – get it when you book your trip. Insurance covers you for cancellation and anything else that can go wrong before you leave.
Some insurers, such as World Nomads, allow you to book once you are travelling – but, as Mr Mohammed found out, pre-existing medical conditions are not covered.
Check your credit card before booking insurance to see if you have any travel insurance as a benefit – most UAE banks, such as Emirates NBD, First Abu Dhabi Bank and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, have cards that throw in insurance as part of their package. But read the fine print – they may only cover emergencies while you’re travelling, not cancellation before a trip.
Pre-existing medical conditions such as a heart condition, diabetes, epilepsy and even asthma may not be included as standard. Again, check the terms, exclusions and limitations of any insurance carefully.
If you want trip cancellation or curtailment, baggage loss or delay covered, you may need a higher-grade plan, says Ambareen Musa of Souqalmal.com. Decide how much coverage you need for emergency medical expenses or personal liability. Premium insurance packages give up to $1 million (Dh3.7m) in each category, Ms Musa adds.
Don’t wait for days to call your insurer if you need to make a claim. You may be required to notify them within 72 hours. Gather together all receipts, emails and reports to prove that you paid for something, that you didn’t use it and that you did not get reimbursed.
Finally, consider optional extras you may need, says Sarah Pickford of Travel Counsellors, such as a winter sports holiday. Also ensure all individuals can travel independently on that cover, she adds. And remember: “Cheap isn’t necessarily best.”
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Results
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
