United Kingdom

20 Jan 2022; MEMO: Britain's highly controversial Nationality and Borders Bill has been slammed as "unconstitutional" by expert immigration lawyers. The bill has been approved by the House of Commons and is currently in the committee stage in the House of Lords. If it is passed into law, it will give the home secretary — the UK's Interior Minister — the right to revoke British citizenship without warning from those born overseas.

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson faces a grilling from opponents in Parliament on Wednesday — and a more worrying threat from his own party’s restive lawmakers, dozens of whom are plotting to oust him over a string of lockdown-flouting government parties.

Conservative legislators are judging whether to trigger a no-confidence vote in Johnson amid public anger over the “partygate” scandal. It’s a stunning reversal of fortune for a politician who just over two years ago led the Conservatives to their biggest election victory in almost 40 years.

18 Jan 2022; MEMO: The military has been commissioned to take over operations in the English Channel as Boris Johnson attempts to save his job, reports The Times, following growing pressure on the prime minister to resign after revelations that he attended parties at Downing Street whilst the rest of the country was in lockdown.

LONDON, Jan 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) –The MI5, Britain’s domestic intelligence service, has warned MPs that a Chinese agent by the name of Christine Ching Kui Lee has infiltrated Westminster to interfere in UK politics. Beijing has denied the accusations.

The alleged spy was said to have “established ties” on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) with deputies and would-be deputies and according to the BBC, she “facilitated” donations to politicians.

Jan 14 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to lift Plan B COVID restrictions in England, the Telegraph reported on Friday, as government scientists warn on dropping of Plan B prematurely.

COVID passports and work from home guidance are widely expected inside Whitehall to be lifted from Jan. 26 for England, the report said, adding that some rules on face masks may remain.

An announcement could come as soon as this week, it said.

LONDON, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Boris Johnson has apologised for attending a "bring your own booze" gathering at his official residence during Britain's first coronavirus lockdown, and an internal inquiry is being carried out to establish the facts.

British media have reported that at least 11 gatherings took place at Johnson's 10 Downing Street residence or in other government departments between May 2020 and April 2021, when COVID-19 rules limited how many people could meet socially.

LONDON, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Oil prices that rallied 50% in 2021 will power further ahead this year, some analysts predict, saying a lack of production capacity and limited investment in the sector could lift crude to $90 or even above $100 a barrel.

Though the Omicron coronavirus variant has pushed COVID-19 cases far above peaks hit last year, analysts say oil prices will be supported by the reluctance of many governments to restore the strict restrictions that hammered the global economy when the pandemic took hold in 2020.

LONDON, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- An estimated 4.3 million people in private households in Britain had COVID-19 last week, up from 3.7 million in the previous week and set a new record, the British Office for National Statistics (ONS) said Wednesday.

Prevalence of the coronavirus continues to be highest in England, where around one in 15 people are estimated to have had the virus in the week to Jan. 6, according to ONS figures.

LONDON (AP) — With varying degrees of enthusiasm, senior British government ministers on Thursday expressed support for Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson and rejected demands he resign for attending a garden party during the country’s first coronavirus lockdown.

Many other Conservatives held their tongues, waiting to see whether the crisis threatening Johnson’s premiership will fade or intensify.

LONDON (AP) — England’s deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van-Tam, one of the scientists who led the U.K.’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, will leave his role in March, the government said Thursday.

Van-Tam became a household name for his frequent appearances at the government’s televised COVID-19 news briefings, and is known for his no-nonsense style and engaging analogies that helped explain the coronavirus to the public.