Latest news with #ElizabethPiper
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Ukraine's parliament ratifies minerals deal with US, hopes for more arms
By Elizabeth Piper and Yuliia Dysa KYIV (Reuters) - Ukraine's parliament voted on Thursday in favour of ratifying a minerals deal signed with the United States, an agreement Kyiv hopes will secure future military assistance from Washington in its fight to repel Russian troops. Despite misgivings by some Ukrainian lawmakers over whether the government had provided them with all the information on the deal and over some of its compromises, 338 voted in favour of ratifying the agreement, with none against. "The Ukrainian Parliament has ratified the historic Economic Partnership Agreement between Ukraine and the United States," First Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said in a post on X. "This document is not merely a legal construct — it is the foundation of a new model of interaction with a key strategic partner." Some lawmakers had raised concerns over the lack of detail of some of the deal's provisions, such as how an envisaged investment fund for Ukraine's reconstruction would be governed or how any contributions would be made. Svyrydenko called an early Thursday press conference to answer some of those concerns, saying the investment fund would be operational in a few weeks, and its success would depend on the level of U.S. engagement. Two supplements would spell out the details and would be published at a later date, officials have said about the deal which might not see a payoff for a decade or longer. Parliament's ratification comes a day before Russia - which launched a full-scale invasion into Ukraine in February 2022 - will try to show its strength at a military parade to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany. Those preparations have been overshadowed by Ukrainian drone strikes on Russia, and Kyiv will hope the ratification of the minerals deal will bolster its position in ceasefire talks, which so far have done little to close the gap between Moscow and Kyiv, to the frustration of U.S. President Donald Trump. Russia's demands for Ukraine to cede all the land Russian President Vladimir Putin claims to have annexed and accept permanent neutrality have been rejected by Kyiv, which says that would amount to surrender and leave the nation undefended. CEASEFIRE Ukraine has expressed readiness to accept a U.S. proposal to enact an immediate, interim 30-day ceasefire, which could be extended by mutual agreement of the parties, and has accused the Kremlin of ignoring the plan. Putin has proposed a ceasefire of only three days - from May 8-10. The minerals deal, signed last month in Washington, hands the United States preferential access to new Ukrainian minerals deals and sets up the investment fund, which could be used for the reconstruction of Ukraine for the first 10 years. After months of fraught talks that almost fell apart at a disastrous meeting between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in February, the deal also hands Kyiv some wins: no return of aid that Trump says Kyiv owes and a U.S. acknowledgement of Kyiv's intention to join the European Union. Ukraine also sees the deal as a route to unlock the delivery of new U.S. weapons, especially additional Patriot air defence systems it badly needs to repel Russia's increasingly frequent missile attacks. The deal offered no clear guarantee of that. The agreement, which Zelenskiy says offers Ukraine a better deal than previous drafts - which some in Kyiv had described as "colonial", - is central to Kyiv's efforts to mend ties with Trump after the Oval office meeting. Some Ukrainian lawmakers praised the government's efforts to influence Trump's position, which initially appeared to favour Russia. "Trump's initial position is changing by millimetres, but so far its movement is in the right direction," Inna Sovsun, a lawmaker from the Holos opposition party, said on Facebook, adding that while she might not like the deal's "mercantile" nature, it was important to show that Ukraine is a "constructive party". Some 47% of Ukrainians support the deal, while 22% say it might have negative consequences and 19% say it will have no impact, according to researchers at the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology.
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
English local elections expected to boost populist Reform party
By Elizabeth Piper LONDON (Reuters) - Voters across parts of England on Thursday will choose a new lawmaker, mayors and councillors in local elections expected to favour the right-wing populist Reform UK party and deal a blow to Britain's two main parties. Both the governing Labour Party and main opposition Conservatives have played down expectations in the contests, which are often a protest vote against the incumbent party and, in this case, also the one it replaced in July 2024. For Reform UK, until less than a year ago written off as little more than a one-issue anti-immigration party, election wins offer it a chance to deepen local networks and cement its place as the best-positioned party to challenge Labour and the Conservatives at the next national election expected in 2029. As well as 1,641 local council seats and six mayors, also up for grabs is a parliamentary seat representing northern England's Runcorn and Helsby region after its Labour occupant resigned following a conviction for punching a constituent. Betting odds suggest Reform could win the Runcorn seat and three of the six mayoral elections, while experts see the party winning about a quarter of the council seats. The results will start to come in during the early hours of Friday until later in the day. "The elections will be tough. Local elections are always challenging for incumbent governments," said a Labour spokesperson. "But of course, we're fighting for every vote." The Conservatives, under the new leadership of right-leaning Kemi Badenoch, have yet to recover from their historic defeat by Labour in last year's national election and will feel the losses more because they start from a strong position won in 2021. For Labour, the party's popularity has slid since it took power after the government limited winter fuel payments to the elderly, got into a row over the use of donations and set out billions of pounds of welfare cuts. Reform leader Nigel Farage says his party is making the most impact in traditionally Labour-voting areas while he dismisses the Conservatives as "standing for nothing" and a party which will "fall off a cliff" after the local election results. He has not hidden his drive for Reform to replace the Conservatives, Britain's most successful political party. "I encourage all of our supporters to go out and cause a political earthquake on Thursday. Your local council needs Reform," Farage said in a statement.
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
New-look populist Reform party could reshape the UK political landscape
By Elizabeth Piper and Andrew MacAskill DOVER, England (Reuters) - From a former police station in a small English town, a handful of right-wing campaigners used little more than a WhatsApp group to mount a challenge to the century-long dominance of Britain's big two parties at last year's election. The ramshackle operation secured the populist Reform UK party the third-biggest vote share and five parliamentary seats. It also convinced its leader, Brexit veteran Nigel Farage, he had to professionalise the party, and fast. Now a predicted big win for Reform in Thursday's local elections could see it become a credible right-wing force that could overtake the long-dominant Conservatives to become the main challenger to the governing Labour Party at the next national election. Founded as the Brexit Party in 2018 and written off in its early years as a one-issue party only interested in stoking anger over immigration, Reform is now ahead of Britain's two main parties in some opinion polls. Farage, a friend of Donald Trump, has received a largely warm reception from voters as he tours the areas in England preparing to vote. Farage says phase one of Reform's sometimes painful transformation is complete. The party is now based in offices in the heart of Westminster close to parliament, and is attracting interest from voters and wealthy donors. To broaden its appeal, Reform has had to jettison members accused of racism and bullying, and to distance the party from far-right movements in other European nations, such as France's National Rally and Germany's Alternative for Germany. The party has poached at least 80 former candidates, donors and staff members from the Conservatives, according to Reuters' calculations, after the traditional party of the right suffered its worst result in last year's general election. But Farage says there is more to do. Standing in a seafront hotel in the southern port of Dover, he says Reform must build a better ground game with social networks and voter data before the next election due in 2029. "One of the reasons we need to win a really good number of council seats is so we can build teams of people around elected councillors," Farage told Reuters. Cementing the party in local areas was key to a national victory, he said. "It's why... this May 1 is such an important moment for us." POLITICAL REVOLUTION? Conservative peer and polling expert, Robert Hayward says Reform could gain between 400 and 450 council seats on May 1, the most of any party - a prediction Farage relished but declined to say whether it was one he shared. "If Hayward is right - if we win that number of seats - then that will be quite a political revolution," he said. Betting odds suggest Reform will also win the one parliamentary seat that is up for grabs and three of six mayoral elections. Farage's push to professionalise Reform UK stems from bruising experiences with some of his former parties. Infighting and scandals all but ripped apart his UK Independence Party and Reform's earlier incarnation, the Brexit Party, had to expel some officials over accusations of racism. He also has tried to broaden the party's policy platform beyond a focus on immigration to show Reform has solutions to Britain's stubborn problems such as an ailing health service and poor economic growth. But some disillusioned party members say it is a cultish, one-man show. "Farage is Reform. Reform is Farage," said Ben Habib, a businessman and former senior Reform official, who quit the party in November. "The grassroots who came to Reform at a time when Reform was nothing and helped put it on the map ... they're the ones who've largely been set aside," he told Reuters. Farage, alongside Reform chairman, former Goldman Sachs banker Zia Yusuf, has kicked out some members and rejected hundreds of candidates for the local elections "because they said things that were just ridiculous, outrageous, embarrassing". He acknowledges that this "upset some people". Their decision to suspend one of their five lawmakers in parliament - Rupert Lowe - over allegations of threats of "physical violence" to Yusuf and bullying in his office has also drawn criticism from some Reform members. Lowe denies any wrongdoing. DONORS Farage credits the professionalisation of the party, and the bringing in of a new treasurer, property developer and former Conservative donor, Nick Candy, for increasing its financial firepower. Reform says it has 225,000 members who pay 25 pounds ($33) or 10 pounds if they are under 25, to join, although critics note that new recruits' identities are not necessarily authenticated. Candy has been joined by former Conservative donors, such as hedge fund manager David Lilley and Roger Nagioff, a former banker at Lehman Brothers, in giving money to Reform. Farage counts Conservative supporter Anthony Bamford, chair of construction machinery maker JCB, as a friend and even rode one of his pothole-fixing machines to launch Reform's local election campaign, but he has yet to convince him to switch sides. Another wealthy donor who has given hundreds of thousands of pounds to the Conservatives, said one way forward for Britain's right could be a political merger. "We are not going to fund two political parties," he said. "Reform have a long way to go in developing a coherent set of policies, but they look impressive."
