Britain's Starmer: There will be a national inquiry into 'grooming gangs'
LONDON (Reuters) -British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Saturday he would accept a recommendation for a national inquiry into grooming gangs who sexually abused thousands of girls, having previously resisted calls for a statutory review.
Interior minister Yvette Cooper in January asked Louise Casey, a former senior official, to undertake a "rapid audit" of the current scale and nature of gang-based exploitation in Britain.
"(Casey's) position when she started the audit was that there was not a real need for a national inquiry, over and above what was going on," Starmer told reporters on Saturday.
"She has looked at the material she has looked at and she has come to the view that there should be a national inquiry on the basis of what she has seen.
"I have read every single word of her report and I am going to accept her recommendation."
The child sexual abuse scandal, which revealed how gangs of mostly Pakistani men had groomed, trafficked and raped young white girls more than a decade ago, returned to the political agenda this year after U.S. billionaire Elon Musk criticised the British government.
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Associated Press
an hour ago
- Associated Press
G7 leaders gather in Canada for summit overshadowed by Middle East crisis and Trump's tariffs
BANFF, Alberta (AP) — Leaders of some of the world's biggest economic powers will arrive in the Canadian Rockies on Sunday for a Group of Seven summit overshadowed by a widening war across the Middle East and U.S. President Donald Trump's unresolved trade war with allies and rivals alike. Israel's strikes on Iran and Tehran's retaliation, which appeared to catch many world leaders unawares, is the latest sign of a more volatile world as Trump seeks to withdraw the U.S. from its role as world policeman. Speaking on a flight to Canada to attend the summit, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he had discussed efforts to de-escalate the situation with Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as other world leaders. Britain is sending Royal Air Force jets and other military reinforcements to the Middle East. 'We do have longstanding concerns about the nuclear program Iran has. We do recognize Israel's right to self-defense, but I'm absolutely clear that this needs to de-escalate. There is a huge risk of escalation for the region and more widely,' Starmer said, adding he expected 'intense discussions' would continue at the summit. Trump is summit's wild card As summit host, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has decided to abandon the annual practice of issuing a joint statement, or communique, at the end of the meeting. With other leaders wanting to talk to Trump in an effort to talk him out of imposing tariffs, the summit risks being a series of bilateral conversations rather than a show of unity. Trump is the summit wild card. Looming over the meeting are Trump's inflammatory threats to make Canada the 51st state and take over Greenland. French President Emmanuel Macron is making a highly symbolic stop in Greenland on his way to Canada, meeting the Arctic territory's leader and Denmark's prime minister aboard a Danish helicopter carrier. Macron, who is one of the very few leaders to have known Trump during his first term, was the first European leader to visit the White House after Trump took office, emerging unscathed from the Oval Office encounter. But despite the two leaders' sporadic bromance, Macron's approach to Trump has failed to bear major results, with France caught up in the president's planned tariffs on the European Union. Nor did it bring any U.S. security guarantees for Ukraine despite Macron's efforts, together with Starmer, to build a coalition of nations that could deploy forces after any ceasefire with Russia, with the hope it would convince the Trump administration to provide backup. Trump is scheduled to arrive late Sunday in Kananaskis, Alberta. Bilateral meetings between other leaders are possible Sunday, but the summit program does not get underway until Monday. Peter Boehm, Canada's sherpa of the 2018 G7 summit in Quebec and veteran of six G7 summits, expects the heads of state to pivot discussion to devote more time to the war. 'Leaders can accommodate a discussion, perhaps even a statement,' Boehm said. 'The foreign policy agenda has become much larger with this.' 'He tends to be a bully' Leaders who are not part of the G7 but have been invited to the summit by Carney include the heads of state of India, Ukraine, Brazil, South Africa, South Korea, Australia, Mexico and the UAE. Avoiding tariffs will continue to be top of mind. 'Leaders, and there are some new ones coming, will want to meet Donald Trump,' Boehm said. 'Trump doesn't like the big round table as much he likes the one-on-one.' Bilateral meetings with the American president can be fraught as Trump has used them to try to intimidate the leaders of Ukraine and South Africa. Former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien told a panel this week that if Trump does act out, leaders should ignore him and remain calm like Carney did in his recent Oval Office meeting. 'He tends to be a bully,' Chrétien said. 'If Trump has decided to make a show to be in the news, he will do something crazy. Let him do it and keep talking normally.' Starmer had a warm Oval Office meeting with the president in February, wooing Trump with an invitation for a state visit from King Charles III. Trump has praised the British prime minister, despite their political differences. Zelenskyy expected to meet Trump Last month Britain and the U.S. announced they had struck a trade deal that will slash American tariffs on U.K. autos, steel and aluminum. It has yet to take effect, however, though British officials say they are not concerned the Trump administration might go back on its word. Starmer's attempts to woo Trump have left him in an awkward position with Canada, the U.K.'s former colony, close ally and fellow Commonwealth member. Starmer has also drawn criticism — especially from Canadians — for failing to address Trump's stated desire to make Canada the 51st state. Asked if he has told Trump to stop the 51st state threats, Starmer told The Associated Press: 'I'm not going to get into the precise conversations I've had, but let me be absolutely clear: Canada is an independent, sovereign country and a much-valued member of the Commonwealth.' The war in Ukraine will be on the agenda. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is due to attend the summit and is expected to meet with Trump, a reunion coming just months after their bruising Oval Office encounter which laid bare the risks of having a meeting with the U.S. president. Starmer met with Carney in Ottawa before the summit for talks focused on security and trade, in the first visit to Canada by a British prime minister for eight years. German officials were keen to counter the suggestion that the summit would be a 'six against one' event, noting that the G7 countries have plenty of differences of emphasis among themselves on various issues. 'The only the problem you cannot forecast is what the president of the United States will do depending on the mood, the need to be in the news,' said Chrétien. ____ Lawless contributed to this report from Ottawa, Ontario. AP reporters Josh Boak in Calgary, Alberta, Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo, Sylvie Corbet in Paris, Geir Moulson in Berlin and Nicole Winfield in Rome also contributed to this report.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Carney welcomes U.K.'s Starmer ahead of G7 summit
World leaders are arriving in Kananaskis ahead of the start of the G7 summit in Alberta on Sunday. But before the summit, Prime Minister Mark Carney welcomed U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer to his home for a private dinner on Saturday. Carney hopes to have one-on-one meetings with all G7 leaders, but as David Akin reports, the first order of business for Carney and Starmer is reinforcing Canada's and the United Kingdom's close ties.
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
Analysis-OPEC+ would struggle to cover major Iranian oil supply disruption
By Ahmad Ghaddar and Seher Dareen LONDON (Reuters) -Oil market participants have switched to dreading a shortage in fuel from focusing on impending oversupply in just two days this week. After Israel attacked Iran and Tehran pledged to retaliate, oil prices jumped as much as 13% to their highest since January as investors price in an increased probability of a major disruption in Middle East oil supplies. Part of the reason for the rapid spike is that spare capacity among OPEC and allies to pump more oil to offset any disruption is roughly equivalent to Iran's output, according to analysts and OPEC watchers. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are the only OPEC+ members capable of quickly boosting output and could pump around 3.5 million barrels per day (bpd) more, analysts and industry sources said. Iran's production stands at around 3.3 million bpd, and it exports over 2 million bpd of oil and fuel. There has been no impact on output so far from Israel's attacks on Iran's oil and gas infrastructure, nor on exports from the region. But fears that Israel may destroy Iranian oil facilities to deprive it of its main source of revenue have driven oil prices higher. The Brent benchmark last traded up nearly 7% at over $74 on Friday. An attack with a significant impact on Iranian output that required other producers to pump more to plug the gap would leave very little spare capacity to deal with other disruptions - which can happen due to war, natural disasters or accidents. And that with a caveat that Iran does not attack its neighbours in retaliation for Israeli strikes. Iran has in the past threatened to disrupt shipping through the Strait of Hormuz if it is attacked. The Strait is the exit route from the Middle East Gulf for around 20% of the world's oil supply, including Saudi, UAE, Kuwaiti, Iraqi and Iranian exports. Iran has also previously stated that it would attack other oil suppliers that filled any gap in supplies left due to sanctions or attacks on Iran. "If Iran responds by disrupting oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, targeting regional oil infrastructure, or striking U.S. military assets, the market reaction could be much more severe, potentially pushing prices up by $20 per barrel or more," said Jorge Leon, head of geopolitical analysis at Rystad and a former OPEC official. CHANGE IN CALCULUS The abrupt change in calculus for oil investors this week comes after months in which output increases from OPEC and its allies, a group known as OPEC+, have led to investor concern about future oversupply and a potential price crash. Saudi Arabia, the de facto leader of OPEC, has been the driving force behind an acceleration in the group's output increases, in part to punish allies that have pumped more oil than they were supposed to under OPEC+ agreements. The increases have already strained the capacity of some members to produce more, causing them to fall short of their new targets. Even after recent increases, the group still has output curbs in place of about 4.5 million bpd, which were agreed over the past five years to balance supply and demand. But some of that spare oil capacity - the difference between actual output and notional production potential that can be brought online quickly and sustained - exists only on paper. After years of production cuts and reduced oilfield investment following the COVID-19 pandemic, the oilfields and facilities may no longer be able to restart quickly, said analysts and OPEC watchers. Western sanctions on Iran, Russia and Venezuela have also led to decreases in oil investment in those countries. "Following the July hike, most OPEC members, excluding Saudi Arabia, appear to be producing at or near maximum capacity," J.P. Morgan said in a note. Outside of Saudi Arabia and the UAE, spare capacity was negligible, said a senior industry source who works with OPEC+ producers. "Saudi are the only ones with real barrels, the rest is paper," the source said. He asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter. PAPER BARRELS Saudi oil output is set to rise to above 9.5 million bpd in July, leaving the kingdom with the ability to raise output by another 2.5 million bpd if it decides to. That capacity has been tested, however, only once in the last decade and only for one month in 2020 when Saudi Arabia and Russia fell out and pumped at will in a fight for market share. Saudi Arabia has also stopped investing in expanding its spare capacity beyond 12 million bpd as the kingdom diverted resources to other projects. Russia, the second largest producer inside OPEC+, claims it can pump above 12 million bpd. JP Morgan estimates, however, that Moscow can only ramp up output by 250,000 bpd to 9.5 million bpd over the next three months and will struggle to raise output further due to sanctions. The UAE says its maximum oil production capacity is 4.85 million bpd, and told OPEC that its production of crude alone in April stood at just over 2.9 million bpd, a figure largely endorsed by OPEC's secondary sources. The International Energy Agency, however, estimated the country's crude production at about 3.3 million bpd in April, and says the UAE has the capacity to raise that by a further 1 million bpd. BNP Paribas sees UAE output even higher at 3.5-4.0 million bpd. "I think spare capacity is significantly lower than what's often quoted," said BNP analyst Aldo Spanjer. The difference in ability to raise production has already created tensions inside OPEC+. Saudi Arabia favours unwinding cuts of about 800,000 bpd by the end of October, sources have told Reuters. At their last meeting, Russia along with Oman and Algeria expressed support for pausing a hike for July. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
