Latest news with #BorisJohnson
Spectator
6 hours ago
- Spectator
Inside London's transport time warp
The illustration shows a smiling couple on a yacht, the wind ruffling their hair and the coastline receding into the distance behind them. Above it are the words: 'Work out of London – get more out of life.' Something from the post-Covid work-from-home era, perhaps, or Boris Johnson's 2019 'levelling up' election campaign? No – this is the work of 'The Location of Offices Bureau', set up by the Tory government in 1963 and abolished by Margaret Thatcher. The advert appears on the wall of a decommissioned Tube carriage that's one of many frozen in time in a warehouse in west London. In the latest issue of The Spectator, Richard Morris writes that museums often have a 'wealth of treasures… hidden away in storage' and argues that more should open their vaults. The London Transport Museum Depot in Acton is an object lesson in how to do this. The 65,000 sq metre unit exists primarily to store, catalogue and preserve objects from the London Transport Museum's collection – and three times a year, it opens its doors to the public.
Russia Today
12 hours ago
- Politics
- Russia Today
The last drone parade: Ukraine tries to reset a war it already lost
On Monday, a fresh round of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine kicks off in Istanbul. Both sides are expected to present ceasefire terms, though few anticipate surprises. Russia is bringing a detailed proposal rooted in its long-standing demands – essentially a 'Istanbul-22 plus territory' formula. That means Ukraine must abandon its military ties with the West, reject what Moscow calls an 'anti-Russian ideology,' and recognize the current frontlines as de facto borders. Skeptics will argue: as long as the war grinds on, talks are meaningless. But this is the first time in three years that Russia's position is being codified on paper – a shift that makes it harder to dismiss. Putin has been repeating these demands for years, mostly to little effect. Now, even an unsigned document gives the Kremlin a firmer diplomatic foothold. Ukraine, for its part, is arriving with a proposal of its own. According to Reuters, it closely mirrors the draft Kiev took to London in April – a proposal that met firm resistance from Washington and ultimately derailed that summit. Central to Ukraine's demands is a call for binding international security guarantees. In plain terms, Kiev is asking the West to commit to defending Ukraine – not just in theory, but militarily. It's a request Western capitals have been reluctant to honor since 2022, when then UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson walked away from the table. That hesitation is unlikely to change now. Perhaps aware of the limited traction its peace terms are likely to get, Ukraine appears to be trying to bolster its negotiating posture through force. On Sunday, just a day before the talks, drones struck five long-range Russian airbases across Murmansk, Irkutsk, Ivanovo, Ryazan, and Amur regions. Russia's Defense Ministry says three attacks were fully repelled, while two partially succeeded. The drones, reportedly launched from cargo trucks and remotely guided via mobile networks, bear echoes of earlier operations – like the 2022 strike on the Crimean Bridge. In that case, truck drivers were allegedly used as unwitting participants. Whether that's true this time remains unclear. What does this mean? For the last three years, Ukraine has launched a bold, high-risk move to break the stalemate and force a strategic shift. In 2022, it was the Kharkov and Kherson offensives – their only successful campaigns to date – followed by Russia's incorporation of four additional regions. In 2023, it was the ill-fated counteroffensive, which failed to gain ground and marked a turning point in the conflict. In 2024, Ukraine tried to establish a foothold in Russia's Kursk region, only to be pushed back into its own Sumy oblast. Whether Sunday's airbase attacks mark another such pivot remains to be seen. But the pattern is familiar: a dramatic gesture aimed at reshuffling a strategic deck that's increasingly stacked against Ukraine. The challenge for Russian leadership is that, while Russia fights for concrete territorial and strategic goals, it does so with little public fanfare. Battlefield updates have faded into background noise. But in a country as vast and largely peaceful as Russia, Ukraine is betting that symbolic strikes – even rare ones – can pierce the political surface. The hope is that such provocations either force Moscow into risky overreach or draw the US deeper into the war. Over time, Ukraine's objectives have shifted – from military breakthroughs to media impact. Like last year's failed push into Kursk, these efforts aren't meant to win the war outright, but to disrupt Russia's slow, methodical advance. That advance, however, is accelerating. According to data from Lostarmor, Russian forces gained nearly 560 square kilometers in May alone – the second-highest monthly figure since 2022. Meanwhile, Ukrainian defenses are crumbling. Drone strikes on Moscow have disrupted civilian air traffic but have done little to halt Russia's daily barrage – attacks Ukraine's depleted air defenses increasingly struggle to repel. In October 2023, Russia launched around 2,000 'Geran'-type drones in one month. Today, it's sending hundreds per day. The Ukrainian army is in steep decline. Troops are retreating slowly, but desertions are surging. In 2024 alone, nearly 90,000 criminal cases were opened for desertion or unauthorized leave. In the first three months of 2025, that number is already over 45,000 – around 15,000 a month. Weapons are also in short supply. US aid is winding down, and Europe lacks the capacity to make up the gap. But the bigger crisis is manpower: many Ukrainian units are operating at just 40–50% strength – some even less. These structural issues, more than any drone strike or headline-grabbing attack, are what shape the real context for the Istanbul talks. Tactical stunts may buy media attention, but they don't reverse battlefield trends. Sunday's attack was likely a one-off – not just because Russia will tighten base security and jam mobile signals, but because such operations require years to plan and a deep human network that's unlikely to survive exposure. Near the end of World War II, Germany pinned its hopes on the V-2 rocket – a weapon launched by the hundreds, against which no defense was possible. It was powerful, terrifying, and militarily useless. The term 'wonder weapon' it inspired now carries only irony. Something similar may be said of Ukraine's recent raids. Their leadership has become adept at orchestrating dramatic military theater. But bold visuals aside, these attacks are unlikely to change the war's trajectory – or Kiev's negotiating hand.
LeMonde
a day ago
- Health
- LeMonde
UK anti-obesity legislation falls victim to food industry lobbying
What will remain of the United Kingdom's upcoming anti-obesity legislation, which was intended to address the country's alarming rate of overweight children? First suggested by the Conservative government of Boris Johnson in summer 2020, the plan has continued to be watered down or postponed. On Thursday, May 22, Keir Starmer's Labour government confirmed that new rules banning television advertising for so-called "ultra-processed" foods (those high in salt, sugar, fat and dangerously addictive) before 9 pm – and prohibiting such ads entirely online – would not come into force on October 1 as planned, but on January 1, 2026. These rules will not apply to public flyers, radio advertising, or ads within podcasts and streaming services such as Spotify. William Roberts of the Royal Society for Public Health said the delay was a significant setback for public health, and urged the government that children's health could not be put on hold. The chief executive officer of the charity said limiting advertising for junk food aimed at young people was a key element in preventing health problems among children.
Daily Mirror
a day ago
- Politics
- Daily Mirror
Covid PPE left gathering dust by Tory failings cost taxpayer £762million
Boris Johnson's Government panic ordered mountains of protective kit as the pandemic took hold, which was piled up in shipping containers as storage facilities were overwhelmed Tory failure to check the viability of PPE for up to two years has cost the taxpayer £762million, the Mirror can reveal. Boris Johnson's Government panic ordered mountains of protective kit as the pandemic took hold, which was piled up in shipping containers as storage facilities were overwhelmed. But long delays on checking the surplus surgical gowns, masks and visors meant that warranties had expired by the time the faulty PPE was found. This means that taxpayers' cash cannot be recovered through the courts and must be written off. The failure has been uncovered as part of a year-long probe by Covid counter-fraud commissioner Tom Hayhoe. Chancellor Rachel Reeves tasked him in December with trying to claw back public money lost to fraud and waste during the pandemic. READ MORE: Rachel Reeves to splash billions of pounds in North and Midlands under major rule change His first challenge was to review £8.7billion of Covid PPE that then had to be written off the government's books. Department of Health accounts revealed in 2022 that £673 million worth of equipment was completely unusable, and £750 million was wasted items that were not used before their expiry date. MPs were told that the Government planned to burn mountains of unusable gear. Nearly £2.6 billion was spent on 'items not suitable for use in the NHS" but could be sold or given to charities. The remaining stock plummeted in value because demand for PPE had dropped. A Treasury source said: "The Chancellor has been clear that she wants this money - that belongs to the British people, back in our public services. "Tom Hayhoe is gripping the carnival of waste that we saw under the Tories and has already uncovered millions of taxpayer pounds wasted on PPE that was left to gather dust. "Unlike the Tories, Labour won't let fraudsters who sought to profit off the back of a national emergency line their pockets." The commissioner's final report will be published later in December, which will cover waste and fraud linked to PPE, the furlough scheme, bounce-back loans, business support grants and Rishi Sunak's Eat Out to Help Out. His initial work on PPE waste was contained in an interim report sent to the Chancellor. The National Crime Agency (NCA) is separately probing possible criminal offences committed in the PPE procurement system. Mr Hayhoe is also believed to be looking at whether cash can be recouped from £674million in contracts that the Tories had written off. The award of lucrative contracts during the pandemic attracted controversy. PPE Medpro, a firm linked to peer Baroness Michelle Mone and her husband Doug Barowman, was awarded government contracts worth more than £200million through a so-called VIP lane that allowed MPs, officials and ministers to make referrals. The Government and PPE Medpro are locked in a legal battle over a contract to supply gowns, with a High Court trial due to begin in June. Mr Barrowman previously accused the Government of trying to "scapegoat" the couple for its own failings. The Tory Government has always maintained that it was operating in a crisis, with global PPE shortages driving up prices for kit that was essential for frontline workers. Former Health Secretary Matt Hancock told the Covid Inquiry in March: "I have been subject to enormous amounts of conspiracy theories about what went on here, when in fact what happened was so many people working as hard as they could to save lives, and they bought more PPE as a result. And therefore people are alive who would otherwise be dead."
Telegraph
2 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Most Tory voters want to ditch Badenoch and bring back Johnson
Nearly two thirds of Conservative voters would like Boris Johnson to replace Kemi Badenoch as Tory leader, new polling has revealed Some 60 per cent of Conservative supporters at last year's general election said Mr Johnson, the former prime minister, would make a better leader than Mrs Badenoch. Nearly half said they would be more likely to vote for the party at the next general election if she were replaced, the exclusive polling, by Survation for The Telegraph, showed. Of those who voted Conservative at the last election, 45 per cent said a new leader would make them more inclined to do so again, with only eight per cent saying such a change would put them off. Mrs Badenoch's supporters have maintained that another leadership election would not turn the party's fortunes around and could harm its reputation further. At the last election, the Conservatives won 23.7 per cent of the vote, but the latest polls have shown their support dropping as low as 16 per cent. After Mrs Badenoch took over from Rishi Sunak last November, the Conservatives briefly enjoyed a small poll lead over Labour and were in first place on 29 per cent. A haemorrhaging of support to Reform UK since has been blamed for the party's dwindling fortunes. In the last round of local elections, the Tories lost 674 council seats, many of them to Nigel Farage's party. Mr Johnson also polled well among those who supported Reform UK at the general election, with half saying he would make a better leader of the Conservatives than Mrs Badenoch. It comes amid plotting by some party figures to return him to the head of the party. Despite continuing support for Mr Johnson among Tory voters, senior MPs in the party's 121-strong parliamentary cohort said there was no 'appetite' or 'enthusiasm' in the Commons for him to return. His popularity among the public at large is also considerably lower than with Conservatives, with only 33 per cent of all voters saying he would make a better Tory leader. The figures also show that 49 per cent of Tory voters from the last general election were satisfied with Mrs Badenoch's performance, while 19 per cent said they were dissatisfied. She currently has a net negative rating among voters in general, according to Survation's polling, with 31 per cent disapproving of her performance and 27 per cent approving, although a large portion remained undecided. The polling showed that her other perceived rivals for the leadership have had far less cut through with Tory voters than Mr Johnson. Robert Jenrick and James Cleverly, both of whom stood against her in last year's leadership election, are considered a better option now by 27 per cent and 22 per cent respectively. A Conservative Party source said: 'Changing leader again would be the worst possible step in trying to convince voters we're a serious party who understand where we went wrong in the past. 'We all need to be focused on the real goal – kicking out this terrible Labour government that is making everything worse.' Mrs Badenoch has faced a difficult few months as leader of the opposition, with Reform surging and the Conservatives dropping into fourth place behind the Liberal Democrats in some polls. Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, has described the Conservatives as a 'dead party walking' and declared that Mr Farage would be his main opponent at the next general election.
