Headline

UK Parliament To Punish Boris Johnson For ‘Partygate’ Scandal

Published

2 years ago

June 19, 2023

Boris Johnson

British MPs vote Monday on a damning report that found ex-prime minister Boris Johnson deliberately lied to parliament about lockdown-breaking parties, in what the government hopes will be the final chapter in the damaging “Partygate” scandal.

The parliamentary vote is being held on Johnson’s 59th birthday as the wounded former leader ponders his next move, with allies predicting a future return to the electoral fray.

It also comes at a time of mounting political problems for Rishi Sunak’s Conservative government as stubbornly high inflation and constantly rising interest rates inflict economic pain on voters.

The populist architect of Brexit, Johnson led the Conservative party to a landslide victory at the last general election in December 2019.

But he was forced to quit as prime minister last July due to Partygate and a string of other scandals.

Johnson has rejected the report by parliament’s Privileges Committee, claiming he has been the victim of a stitch-up by political opponents and a “kangaroo court”.

The committee in a scathing 106-page report on Thursday found him guilty of “repeated contempts (of parliament) and… seeking to undermine the parliamentary process”.

“The contempt was all the more serious because it was committed by the prime minister, the most senior member of the government,” the report said, adding there was “no precedent for a prime minister having been found to have deliberately misled the house”.

Even as the vote looked set to draw a line under the Partygate scandal, another video emerged Sunday of Tory party officials partying in December 2020 during lockdown.

Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove apologised for the Covid rule breach at a time when the public was banned from socialising or meeting loved ones.

He told the BBC the footage was “terrible” and “indefensible”.

Johnson could have faced a 90-day suspension and the humiliation of having to run for re-election in his constituency had he not quit as a lawmaker on June 9 after receiving an advance copy of the report.

A few of his close allies are expected to vote against the report, but they are said to be unconcerned about the recommended sanction of removing his parliamentary pass.

Johnson has reportedly privately urged supporters not to vote against the report, arguing the sanctions have no practical effect.

Conservative MP and Johnson loyalist Jacob Rees-Mogg predicted that the ex-premier might eventually stage a comeback.

“Perhaps, after the next election, Boris Johnson will return to the fray with a new electoral mandate,” he wrote Saturday in the right-leaning Daily Telegraph.

“His undimmed ebullience and joie de vivre, with a renewed sympathy from the electorate, many of whom think the privilege committee over-egged its pudding, leave him as a powerful force in politics,” he added.

Liz Truss, who briefly succeeded Johnson as prime minister last September, said on Thursday she would “never, ever, ever write Boris off”.

“I am sure we will hear more from him,” she said, adding that she viewed the proposed blocking of his parliamentary pass as “very harsh”.

Under-fire Sunak is now facing four potential by-elections — three linked to the Johnson fall-out.

These will give voters an opportunity to voice discontent over the government’s failure to tame inflation and the cost of living crisis.

While MPs have been caught up in the Johnson affair, commentators have repeatedly warned of a “mortgage time bomb” due to interest rates hikes that show no sign of ending.

Former Conservative minister Justine Greening told the BBC on Sunday it would be easier to persuade the public that the government had moved on if MPs backed the report on Monday.

“I think they should be decisive about supporting the privileges committee’s work,” she said.

“Essentially, it’s important to recognise that MPs, and especially prime ministers, cannot mislead parliament and be allowed to get away with that,” she added.

AFP

Headline

Nnamdi Kanu’s Case Proof Of Religious Persecution In Nigeria – US lawmaker, John James

Published

18 hours ago

November 20, 2025

Editor

Former chairman of the Africa Subcommittee and now a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Representative, John James, has claimed that the case of Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, is proof of religious persecution in Nigeria.

James stated this when the United States House Subcommittee on Africa on Thursday, held a public hearing to review President Donald Trump’s recent redesignation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern.

The hearing in Washington, DC included senior US State Department officials and Nigerian religious leaders.

James claimed that in the case of Nnamdi Kanu, Nigeria’s Court of Appeal had struck down the charges against him and ordered his release in 2022.

He said: “Religious persecution is tied to political repression and weakening institutions in Nigeria. The detention of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is a clear example.

“In 2022, Nigeria’s Court of Appeals struck down the charges against him and ordered his release.

“The UN Working Group for Arbitrary Detention has also called for his unconditional release, yet he remains in solitary confinement in deteriorating health and recently had to represent himself in court.

“Nigeria has signaled that the law is optional and targeting Christians is fair game. Just hours ago this morning, despite the pleas and cries of Nigerian people and many Nigerian lawmakers, Kanu was convicted on all charges.”

Nnamdi Kanu was on Thursday, sentenced to life imprisonment over terrorism charges.

Headline

Nigerians Don’t Trust Their Govt – US Congressman Riley Moore

Published

18 hours ago

November 20, 2025

Editor

US Congressman Riley Moore has said that Nigerian people do not trust their government.

Moore stated this on Thursday at US House of Representatives Subcommittee on Africa, which is investigating Trump’s redesignation of Nigeria as a ‘Country of Particular Concern’, CPC.

“The Nigerian people don’t trust their government. ‘How can you trust a government that doesn’t show up when you ask them to?

“The Nigerian government must work with the US in cooperation to address these insecurity issues.

“A case that just happened recently in Plateau state. We had a pastor there who warned the Nigerian government that they were under attack. There’s imminent attack forces here in the next 24 hours. Please come and help us.

“The Nigerian government did not only ignore it but put up a press release that it is fake news,” he said.

Moore would be meeting with a delegation of senior members of the Nigerian government, over the devastating insecurity in Nigeria and the US designation of the country as CPC, DAILY POST reports.

Headline

US Makes U-turn, To Attend G20 Summit In South Africa

Published

18 hours ago

November 20, 2025

Editor

In an 11th-hour about-turn, the United States has told South Africa it wants to take part in this weekend’s G20 summit in Johannesburg, President Cyril Ramaphosa said Thursday.

President Donald Trump’s administration had said it would not take part in the November 22-23 meeting and that no final statement by G20 leaders could be issued without its presence.

It has clashed with South Africa over various international and domestic policies this year, extending its objections to Pretoria’s G20 priorities for the meeting of leading economies being held for the first time in Africa.

“We have received notice from the United States, a notice which we are still in discussions with them over, about a change of mind about participating in one shape, form or other in the summit,” Ramaphosa told reporters.

“This comes at the late hour before the summit begins. And so therefore, we do need to engage in those types of discussions to see how practical it is and what it finally really means,” he said.

There was no immediate confirmation from US officials.

Ramaphosa said: “We still need to engage with them to understand fully what their participation at the 11th hour means and how it will manifest itself.”

In a note to the government on Saturday, the US embassy repeated that it would not attend the summit, saying South Africa’s G20 priorities “run counter to the US policy views and we cannot support consensus on any documents negotiated under your presidency”.

Ramaphosa said earlier Thursday that South Africa would not be bullied.

“It cannot be that a country’s geographical location or income or army determines who has a voice and who is spoken down to,” he told delegates at a G20 curtain-raiser event.

There “should be no bullying of one nation by another”, he said.

– ‘Positive sign’ –
Ramaphosa said the apparent change of heart was “a positive sign”.

“All countries are here, and the United States, the biggest economy in the world, needs to be here,” he said.

South Africa chose “Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability” as the theme of its presidency of the G20, which comprises 19 countries and two regional bodies, the European Union and the African Union.

Its agenda focuses on strengthening disaster resilience, improving debt sustainability for low-income countries, financing a “just energy transition” and harnessing “critical minerals for inclusive growth and sustainable development”.

After early objections from Washington, it vowed to press on with its programme and its aim to find consensus on a leaders’ statement on the outcome of the discussions.

“We will not be told by anyone who is absent that we cannot adopt a declaration or make any decisions at the summit,” Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola said Thursday.

Trump has singled out South Africa for harsh treatment on a number of issues since he returned to the White House in January, notably making debunked claims of white Afrikaners being systematically “killed and slaughtered” in the country.

He expelled South Africa’s ambassador in March and has imposed 30 percent trade tariffs, the highest in sub-Saharan Africa.

US businesses were well represented at a separate Business 20 (B20) event that wound up in Johannesburg Thursday.

The head of the US Chamber of Commerce, Suzanne Clark, thanked South Africa for fostering “real collaboration between G20 nations during a time of rapid change” during its rotating presidency, which transfers to the United States for 2026.

“The US Chamber of Commerce will use our B20 leadership to foster international collaboration,” Clark said.

The United States has significant business interests in South Africa with more than 600 US companies operating in the country, according to the South African embassy in Washington.

G20 members account for 85 percent of global GDP and around two-thirds of the world’s population.