8 Thursday, February 21, 2019 International 3 MPs abandon PM over Brexit as Britain political sands shift Eighth MP jumps ship in crisis for UK Labor

LONDON: Three MPs quit the governing Conservative party over many years”. She noted Britain’s member- Party over Brexit yesterday, joining a mounting rebel- ship of the EU has been “a source of disagreement both lion in parliament this week against the two major par- in our party and our country for a long time” but the ties that is shaking the system in British politics. Anna MPs’ move would not stop her delivering on the refer- Soubry, Heidi Allen and Sarah Wollaston said they endum result. “Under my leadership, the Conservative planned to sit in parliament alongside eight former Party will always offer the decent, moderate and patri- Labor MPs who, also citing their opposition to Brexit, otic politics that the people of this country deserve,” have resigned from the main opposition party since she added. Monday to form the new Independent Group. The trio of Conservatives, who support Britain ‘Radical changes now afoot’ remaining in the European Union, said in a joint resig- Earlier yesterday, an eighth MP quit the Labor Party nation letter to Prime Minister Theresa May that Brexit in protest against its veteran socialist leader Jeremy had “re-defined” their party and was “undoing all the Corbyn, joining its own growing internal rebellion efforts to modernize it”. “The final straw for us has sparked by rows over Brexit and anti-Semitism. Joan been this government’s disastrous handling of Brexit,” Ryan told BBC radio that Corbyn had “introduced or they added, in stinging criti- allowed to happen in our par- cism of May’s leadership, ty this scourge of anti- noting they could “no longer Semitism. It has completely act as bystanders” to her EU Mounting infected the party”. exit strategy. “Following the The shake-up of seats EU referendum of 2016, no rebellion mean May’s centre-right genuine effort was made to Conservatives alone are now build a cross-party, let alone in British six votes short of a majority in a national consensus to deliv- parliament parliament’s lower House of er Brexit.” Commons. They can command The resignations posed a a working majority of eight LONDON: Former Conservative Party and now Independent MPs (left to right) Heidi Allen, Sarah fresh and embarrassing thanks to their confidence and Wollaston and Anna Soubry pose for a picture after a press conference in central London yesterday fol- headache for the prime minis- supply arrangement for sup- lowing their resignation from the Conservative Party in a joint letter. —AFP ter as she prepared to travel to Brussels for crucial talks port from Northern Ireland’s 10 Democratic Unionist with European Commission President Jean-Claude (DUP) lawmakers. Juncker. It also reinforced the view that Britain was Meanwhile The Independent Group now form the tant groups, driving out more moderate MPs.” own leader, whip and policy” they said. “We no longer plunging further into political turmoil as its MPs strug- joint fourth-biggest bloc in the Commons with 11 MPs- feel we can remain in the party of a government gle to agree a divorce deal just five weeks before it is the same as the centrist Liberal Democrats, with pre- ‘Country’s interests first’ whose policies and priorities are so firmly in the grip due to leave the bloc on March 29. The political dictions of further defections to come. The new group In their resignation statement, the three former of the ERG and DUP,” the lawmakers added. They impasse risks the country crashing out without an sat squashed together on the opposition backbenches Conservative MPs, who have voted against multiple noted that there was a wider dissatisfaction with the agreement, with the rising uncertainty blamed for a in the Commons during the prime minister’s weekly elements of the government’s Brexit legislation, state of British politics, with both the Conservatives string of car-makers and other businesses recently grilling, but did not ask May a question. Liberal blamed their decision on May’s “dismal failure” to and Labor moving “to the fringes, leaving millions of announcing job cuts and reduced investment in Britain. Democrat leader Vince Cable said: “There is clearly stand up to the “hard line” European Research Group people with no representation”. “We now feel honor May said she was “saddened” by the resignations some very radical changes now afoot as both the (ERG) of Brexiteers in her own party. The group bound to put our constituents’ and country’s interests and thanked the MPs for their “dedicated service to our Conservatives and Labor have been taken over by mili- “operates openly as a party within a party, with its first,” they added. —AFP

deal through” parliament, he said on the News in brief Solving backstop day Prime Minister Theresa May was headed back to Brussels to renew her Judges, lawyers detained issue ‘only way to quest to reopen the terms of the Brexit divorce. VILNIUS: Lithuanian prosecutors yesterday detained sever- Brexiteers in May’s own Conservative al veteran judges and lawyers suspected of receiving bribes, avoid hard Brexit’ party see the backstop as a “trap” to as more than a hundred police investigators conducted raids BERLIN: Britain can only avoid a hard keep Britain in a form of union indefi- at dozens of addresses. “Today 26 individuals were detained, Brexit on March 29 if it reaches a deal nitely, and have demanded a time limit or including eight judges and five well-known lawyers,” prose- with the EU to resolve the tricky Irish a unilateral exit clause. This would be cutor general Evaldas Pasilis told reporters. He gave no backstop issue, Foreign Secretary seen in Brussels as a betrayal of EU details on the other 13 people held. Prosecutors suspect the Jeremy Hunt said yesterday. “This is member Ireland, and it has consistently individuals-who include one Supreme Court justice-received really the only way through the current got short shrift from EU officials. Hunt, bribes ranging from 1,000 euros ($1,130) to 100,000 euros situation,” he said in a speech in Berlin, speaking on the question of a possible in various criminal, civil and administrative cases. “Huge harm adding that pushing back the Brexit extension on Britain leaving the bloc, was done to the state,” said Pasilis, the most senior prosecu- deadline would leave both the UK and questioned whether that “really solves tor in this Baltic EU state. “It wasn’t just the sum of the EU in “paralysis”. The infamous “Irish anything”. “I think the last thing that alleged bribes but also that trust in the justice system was backstop” clause provides for Britain to people in the UK and indeed the rest of undermined,” he added. Zydrunas Bartkus, head of the anti- remain in the EU customs union until a the EU want is Brexit paralysis with this corruption agency STT, said that from the early morning its way is found-such as a future free trade issue hanging over Europe like a shad- agents and police officers had carried out searches at more deal-to ensure that Ireland’s border with ow,” he said. than 100 addresses. —AFP “I think people want to move on and LONDON: Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street in cen- Northern Ireland remains open. tral London yesterday ahead of Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs). —AFP Resolving the issue would allow the they want to demonstrate that we can have a Brexit that respects the referen- Egypt denies NYT journo entry government to gain parliamentary sup- port for the EU divorce deal and also dum result but also that we remain best at a summit on November 25 last year, met EU leaders and their negotiator of friends with our neighbors in Europe.” but the British leader’s own parliament Michel Barnier to urge them to reopen CAIRO: Egyptian authorities have denied entry to a veteran guarantee the 1998 Belfast peace agree- May and the other 27 EU leaders rejected it on January 15. Since then, the text to find a way to appease New York Times journalist, the US-based newspaper reported ment, he predicted. “If we can make that approved a Brexit withdrawal agreement May and her ministers have repeatedly eurosceptic MPs. —AFP on Tuesday. David Kirkpatrick arrived at Cairo airport on change, we are confident we can get the Monday but was barred from entering the country, the news- paper said. Security officials held him “incommunicado for hours before forcing him onto a flight back to London without prices. The protests led to mass arrests Thomson Reuters Foundation that the explanation,” the New York Times reported. Kirkpatrick was ‘No place to sell’; and a security crackdown. Zimbabwe law clearly stated where people could Alabama editor the newspaper’s Cairo bureau chief from 2011 to 2015 and last has been on edge ever since, with resi- trade, and citizens should comply in year authored a book on the Arab Spring uprisings. His writings Zimbabwe targets dents and other witnesses saying police order to protect public health. He added have long stirred controversy and pro-government media in and soldiers conducted night-time raids that notice of the evictions in Harare was under fire over Egypt have previously criticized his reporting. In 2018, pro- on many homes and removed and beat given ahead of time and traders had government newspaper “Youm7” accused Kirkpatrick of street vendors alleged protesters. Meya denied the been offered new locations. However, KKK editorial “deliberately distorting Egypt’s (image)” after he reported on exercise was politically motivated, say- traders said that was not the case, CHITUNGWIZA: When police backed Egyptian officials’ “tacit acceptance” of the United States’ ing it affected all vendors and did not according to Samuel Wadzai, the direc- WASHINGTON: The publisher of a by armed soldiers arrived at the market recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. —AFP discriminate on party lines. tor of the Vendors Initiative for Social small Alabama newspaper has come in Chitungwiza in early February, Lilian and Economic Transformation (VISET), under fire after calling in an editorial for Kashamba was reminded of her child- ‘Urban renewal’ a Harare-based group. the return of the white supremacist Ku 6 dead in karaoke fire hood during Zimbabwe’s war for inde- Some traders likened the destruction Klux Klan. Goodloe Sutton, publisher pendence. The 48-year-old widow, who of stalls to the government’s 2005 slum- ‘Defenseless traders’ and editor of The Democrat-Reporter, KUALA LUMPUR: Six people, including three foreigners, were had sold vegetables, maize and chickens clearance operation called Operation Demolishing vendors’ stalls without wrote the editorial that appeared in last killed when a fire broke out yesterday in a Malaysian karaoke from the council-owned venue for 15 Murambatsvina, which meant ‘Drive out notifying them or offering them a new week’s edition of the weekly newspaper centre, with rescuers describing scenes of chaos as the blaze years, pointed to a heap of rubble where the filth’. Joshua Mukungati, 25, who sold place to do business was “barbaric and in Linden, Alabama. “Time for the Ku engulfed the building. The fire erupted before dawn on the fourth her stall once stood, and told how ven- furniture out of Zengeza 4, said he had inhumane”, the Chitungwiza Residents Klux Klan to night ride again,” the edi- floor of an eight-storey building in the city of Ipoh, northern Perak dors were given 30 minutes to pack up been paying $10 a week to the council Trust (CHITREST) said. CHITREST torial said. “Democrats in the Republican state. Firefighters rushed to the scene and found the bodies of six and leave. After that, the market was and did not understand why he had been director Alice Kuvheya said the group Party and Democrats are plotting to people who had died of smoke inhalation, Perak fire department demolished by officials from the council, evicted and his shop razed. “It was bru- realized that local authorities were raise taxes in Alabama. “Seems like the acting director Sayani Saidon said. “We came across two locals, which has not yet said what it will do tal. We were given only given 30 minutes obliged to maintain cleanliness. “(But) Klan would be welcome to raid the gat- two Vietnamese women and a Bangladeshi man. We are still with the space. to remove our wares ... we lost valuable we note with concern the use of the ed communities up there,” it said. “Truly determining the identity of the sixth person,” she said. Firefighters “From my sales here I raised three property,” he said. armed soldiers to deal with defenseless they are the ruling class.” rescued eight people alive, including two in critical condition, she children. With no place to sell, I don’t “I don’t have anywhere to sell, and traders, who were making an honest liv- Alabama Senator Doug Jones, a added. People inside were unable to find the way out after the fire know how else to care for my one last have to keep some of the sofas at my ing through vending and informal work Democrat, called for Sutton’s resigna- erupted as exit lights did not come on, she said. Those that sur- child in primary school,” she said. The lodgings. The sad part is the authorities in a very challenging economic environ- tion. “OMG! What rock did this guy vived had run to an upper level to escape the flames. —AFP demolition of the Zengeza 4 market was have not given us an alternative place to ment,” Kuvheya told the Thomson crawl out from under?” Jones tweeted. one of a number of actions by local work from.” Meya, from Chitungwiza Reuters Foundation. “This editorial is absolutely disgusting & authorities - backed by security forces - council, said some people had sublet Meantime, Wadzai of VISET said he should resign-NOW! “I have seen Ex-military chief jailed against thousands of vendors and infor- market space and were collecting rent more than 2,500 informal traders and what happens when we stand by while mal traders in the capital Harare as well without giving it to the council but added vendors had been affected in the capital, people-especially those with influence- BEIJING: A former chief of staff of China’s military was sen- as in other cities and towns this month. the exercise was also about urban renew- and up to 800 more in Gweru, a city publish racist, hateful views,” Jones said. tenced to life in prison, state media said yesterday, after he Lovemore Meya, a spokesman for al. “People were just erecting structures about 200 km southwest. He said the sit- Sutton, 79, defended his views in an was swept up in President Xi Jinping’s ongoing anti-graft Chitungwiza council, said the clamp- everywhere and conducting their busi- uation in Harare, Chitungwiza and else- interview with another newspaper, the crackdown. Appointed to the People’s Liberation Army’s top down in the town about 30 km south of ness anywhere, including along roads, where remained tense with many ven- Montgomery Advertiser. post in 2012, Fang Fenghui was convicted of accepting and Harare was a joint effort by local author- and council was not getting revenue due,” dors traumatized and fearful of being “If we could get the Klan to go up offering bribes, and having an unclear source of a huge ities, the police and the army to remove he said. “Harare is doing the same. They confronted by soldiers if they returned there and clean out (Washington) DC, amount of assets, official news agency Xinhua reported. A illegal structures and businesses. started their operation in October follow- to former sites. Instead of cracking down we’d all been better off,” he told the military court sentenced Fang to life in prison, stripped him of But Kashamba and other vendors said ing communication from the ministry of on innocent citizens, he added, the gov- Advertiser. Asked whether he consid- political rights for life, and ordered the confiscation of all his they had paid weekly rentals for their local government to spruce (up) our ernment should recognize the informal ered the Klan a violent organization, personal assets, Xinhua said. Fang was abruptly replaced in stalls and shops to an intermediary, who image to attract investment.” sector was key to Zimbabwe’s economy Sutton said “well, they didn’t kill but a August 2017 amid a stand-off with India over a territorial had not given it to the council. The mar- He said the council had started to and implement policies to reflect that. few people. “The Klan wasn’t violent dispute, and just days after he had met the US top brass to ket’s destruction followed a spate of vio- register some vendors and informal “Over 90 percent of the population is until they needed to be.” Linden is a discuss North Korea. The general was transferred to the mili- lence that rocked the southern African traders who wanted to operate legally, surviving through the informal sector, so town with a population of around 2,000. tary prosecution authority on suspicion of bribery in January nation in January when a three-day stay- and would designate trading places for there is need to review policies like the According to the Advertiser, The of last year, state media reported at the time. —AFP at-home strike was called after President them at an unspecified future date. criminalization of street vending,” he Democrat-Reporter had about 3,000 Emmerson Mnangagwa raised fuel Harare mayor Herbert Gomba told the said. —Reuters subscribers in 2015. —AFP