UK

British Home Secretary Suella Braverman has come under heavy fire on social media for being insensitive, according to critics, during a visit to potential housing in Rwanda, which would house asylum seekers from the United Kingdom. The British government has long been planning far-reaching plans to halt illegal migration to the United Kingdom across the Channel. In April last year, under Braverman's predecessor Priti Patel, an agreement was negotiated with Rwanda to fly migrants who had illegally entered the United Kingdom to the East African country and house them there. However, this provoked enormous protests at home and abroad, resulting in various lawsuits, as a result of which the agreement was suspended pending the judgment on the merits. Braverman visited the country on ...

Britain's King Charles III is preparing to amend British law to prevent Prince Harry and Prince Andrew, on the sidelines of the royal family, from standing in for him when he is ill or staying abroad. Local media reported this on Thursday. The Telegraph expects the change "in the coming weeks." Buckingham Palace has not yet responded. Under a 1937 law, for specific duties, such as signing official documents, the monarch can be replaced in his absence by his wife and by the first four adults in the order of succession to the throne. In the case of King Charles III, therefore, it concerns Queen Consort Camilla, followed by his sons William and Harry, his brother Andrew and his niece Beatrice. But Prince Harry has renounced his royal duties and moved to the United States with hi...

British energy regulator Ofgem has issued a warning that serious gas shortages could develop this winter. The announcement, which could be viewed by the newspaper The Times, refers to "emergency measures" to ensure gas supplies and to continue to supply households with gas and electricity. To achieve this, the largest industrial consumers would first be asked to stop using gas in the event of problems temporarily. Earlier in the day, the International Energy Agency had also stressed in a report that savings on gas consumption this winter will be crucial in the European Union to prevent the storage depots from becoming empty and shortages could occur. The agency says that to keep gas stores sufficiently stocked until the end of the heating season, gas consumption must be reduc...

The British government is considering emergency scenarios in which electricity and/or gas are temporarily cut off at companies in the middle of winter, but possibly also at households. The Bloomberg news agency reports from relevant sources that the "reasonably plausible worst-case scenario" plan foresees severe shortages for at least four days in January. That would necessitate blackouts on those days. The scenario assumes a colder winter than the country is used to and a reduced import of gas due to a policy of exporters, such as Norway, to first replenish their own stocks before selling gas abroad. The UK Department for Trade, Energy, and Industrial Strategy has not yet commented on the story. The authorities are grappling with the pressing question of how expensive energy...

The news that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is stepping down has been welcomed in the European Parliament with relief and joy. Johnson has thoroughly ruined the relationship between Brussels and London, many say.   "Finally," says the German trade specialist and chairman of the working group in which MEPs consult with the United Kingdom. "Johnson was only concerned with staying in power and his own ego," says Bernd Lange. The Social Democrat points to the collision course that London chose to get rid of the tight Brexit agreements on the Northern Ireland border. "Now the theatrical British fireworks must stop. We need a fresh start in EU-UK relations." It was high time Johnson resigned, says Greens colleague Anna Cavazzini. He was "a disaster" for relations between London an...

The British government is presenting a bill that will allow the country to disregard the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights. Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab calls it the 'law for rights', which states, among other things, that the highest court on human rights is the British Supreme Court and not the European court in Strasbourg.   He denies that the country will withdraw from the European court, but if the legislation comes into force, it will no longer be the highest body. Raab takes action after the European court raised legal obstacles to the government's plan to fly illegal migrants to Rwanda. An agreement has been concluded with the African country for this. However, the forced evictions have led to lawsuits and the human rights court in Strasbourg blocked the...