![]() He rather harshly suggested to the MPs present that it was mostly parliament's "defence nerds" who were taking part. It was the veteran Labour left-winger John McDonnell who remarked that there were only about 20 MPs in the Commons for the general debate on the situation in the Red Sea. ![]() This bill passed initial votes in the Commons but is awaiting inspection and amending in the House of Lords, with many votes yet to come. The government claims enough scrutiny will be offered by debates on the Safety of the Rwanda Bill, which is based on the treaty. However, this treaty is set to be ratified on 31 January - Wednesday next week.Ĭritics argue it is "disappointing" the government has not set aside time for MPs to debate the treaty. Under the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 (CRAG), the government has to lay a treaty before parliament and wait 21 sitting days before an international agreement is ratified. While the Lords can only advise on ratification, MPs in the Commons have the power to delay the signing of a treaty - although they have never used it. The government has chosen to avoid a showdown with MPs on the ratification of its new treaty with Rwanda, after the House of Lords voted to delay the finalisation of the deal. Sky News spoke to pollsters about the factors the prime minister will be weighing up in making his decision - and when they think the election should be. The phrase "working assumption"does give Mr Sunak wriggle room should circumstances change, and he has not ruled out a spring election. This would be five years from the day since the current parliament first met (17 December 2019), plus the time required to run an election campaign. UK general elections have to be held no more than five years apart, so the next one must take place by 28 January 2025 at the latest. Speculation has been rife for months about when the prime minister will choose to go to the polls, with some pundits believing he would call one in May to coincide with the local elections. Rishi Sunak kicked off 2024's political season with a hint at when the next general election will be - saying earlier this month that it's his "working assumption" it will happen in the second half of the year. "That's the danger when you don't have sufficient defence," he said. He gave the example of Argentina feeling comfortable invading the Falklands in 1982 and the vast expense of the ensuing battle to retake them. He said when Putin looks towards the UK, he'll think "they're obviously not that serious about it", citing our smaller naval capacity and lack of fighter jets to sit on board aircraft carriers. "But one of the ways of ensuring these things don't happen, for example, is if countries like the UK and in Europe spend money on defence because then when Putin looks, he thinks those people are taking it seriously." ![]() "I wouldn't want to frighten the horses by saying these things are going to happen," he said. Putin will think UK 'not serious' about defence Lord West went on to say it is "naïve to think these events around the world aren't going to impact on us", noting the war in Ukraine and the consequences of any war between NATO and Russia. He said the public have not noticed warnings from military people like him that "we're letting our defence capability decline" because "there are other things they're focused on". The "reality", he said, is "it's the most dangerous and unpredictable world I've known in the 50-60 years that I've been on the active list". He told Sophy the UK population has been "lulled into a false sense of security that there aren't that many threats and dangers to them personally, even though things are going on in the world". ![]() On tonight's edition of Politics Hub With Sophy Ridge, we heard from Lord Alan West, former first sea lord and chief of the naval staff. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |