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  • Modi Is The ‘Change-Maker We Need,’ Says Former UK PM In Memoir | world news

    London: Former British prime minister Boris Johnson is all praise for “change-maker” Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a new memoir that reflects upon his eventful political career and recalls a “curious astral energy” that he felt on his very first meeting with the Indian leader.

    ‘Unleashed’, which hit the shelves in the UK this week, devotes a whole chapter to Britain’s relationship with India as “a relationship as good as it has ever been”. Repeatedly stressing the strong India-UK friendship in the context of the Indo-Pacific, the former prime minister credits himself for setting the course for a “proper free-trade deal” with India thanks to finding “exactly the partner and friend” needed with Modi.

    “For some reason, we went down to stand in the dark in the plaza by Tower Bridge, in front of a crowd of his supporters,” shares Johnson in the chapter entitled ‘Britain and India’, referencing his first meeting with Modi during a visit to his City Hall office by the river Thames when he was Mayor of London.

    “He raised my arm and chanted something or other in Hindi, and though I couldn’t follow it I felt his curious astral energy. I have enjoyed his company ever since – because I reckon he is the change-maker our relationship needs. With Modi, I felt sure, we could not only do a great free-trade deal but also build a long-term partnership, as friends and equals,” he writes.

    Johnson reveals how a “distinctly sniffy” UK Foreign Office had warned him off meeting the “Hindu nationalist” leader during an earlier mayoral trade delegation to India in 2012, a problem “soon dropped” to pave the way for a relationship that “hit an all-time high”.

    The 60-year-old politician-author asserts how much he loves India, being a “veteran” of many Indian weddings because his children with Sikh heritage ex-wife Marina Wheeler trace their roots to the country.

    While he writes with pride of a similar “Anglo-Indian syncretism” in politics with his diverse Cabinet as PM including many British Indians such as Rishi Sunak and Priti Patel, Johnson laments the slow-paced growth of bilateral trade due to unnecessary trade barriers that leave UK visitors “clinking in with duty-free booze” for Indians starved of Scotch whiskey at decent prices.

    The “tremendous success” of his visit to India as PM in January 2022 he recalls as a much-needed “morale boost” and “balm for the soul” away from an increasingly belligerent domestic politics that would eventually end in his unceremonious exit from 10 Downing Street just a few months later.

    He claims he had also wanted to use the visit to make a “gentle point to Narendra” on the issue of relations with Russia at a “global inflection point” with its conflict with Ukraine.

    He writes: “I knew all the history and the sensitivities, the reasons for India’s post-war non-alignment with the West, the seemingly unbreakable relationship with Moscow. I understand the Indian dependence – like China’s – on Russian hydrocarbons.

    “But I wondered if it was not time for a modulation, a rethink… As I was to put it to the Indians, Russian missiles were turning out to be less accurate, statistically, than my first serve at tennis. Did they really want to keep Russia as their main supplier of military hardware?”

    It is in this context that in another section of the book, where he showers the late Queen Elizabeth II with effusive praise for her deep personal knowledge of history and history-makers, he references his efforts to get India to take a “tougher line” with Russians.

    “She remembered something the former Indian prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru had told her in the 1950s. ‘He told me that India will always side with Russia and that some things will never change. They just are. I cite that as an illustration of her amazing ability to reassure and to contextualise,” he shares, with reference to his customary weekly audiences with the late monarch as prime minister.

    Johnson goes on to credit himself with injecting a broader vision for the India-UK partnership to go beyond trade and climate change and educational partnerships and embark on a whole program of military and technological collaboration.

    “Overcoming the qualms of the MoD (Ministry of Defence), who are always worried about India’s closeness to Russia, we agreed to work together on all kinds of military technology, from submarines to helicopters to marine propulsion units,” he proudly declares.

    With ‘Unleashed’, Johnson seems to be keen to stress a lack of bitterness over his undignified removal as PM in the wake of the partygate scandal of Covid law-breaking parties but is clear that it was Rishi Sunak, his eventual successor at 10 Downing. Street, who precipitated the problems by resigning as chancellor from his Cabinet in June 2022.

    “It was worse than a crime, I thought, it was a mistake – both for Rishi and for the party, never mind the country. So it proved,” he writes, alluding to the recent disastrous general election result for the Tories.

    “I don’t blame Rishi for prematurely wanting to be PM; in fact I don’t blame any of them, really, for trying to turf me out. It’s just what Tory MPs do…It goes without saying that if we had all stuck together I have no doubt that we would have gone on to win in 2024, and a lot more of my friends would now have their seats,” he claims.

  • Indian-origin Suella Braverman early contender for UK PM race

    Even prior to Boris Johnson stepped out of 10 Downing Boulevard on Thursday to ship his resignation speech as Conservative Birthday party chief, triggering a management race for a brand new British top minister, the runners and riders have been lining as much as compete for the highest task.

    Indian-origin Suella Braverman, recently the Lawyer Common in the United Kingdom Cupboard, is likely one of the early Tory individuals of Parliament to officially claim her management bid. The 42-year-old barrister and the federal government’s senior-most felony reputable is prone to command some improve throughout the pro-Brexit wing of her birthday celebration.

    “I’m striking myself ahead as a result of I consider that the 2019 manifesto is have compatibility for function, gifts a daring and galvanizing imaginative and prescient for our nation and I need to ship at the guarantees contained in that manifesto. I need to embed the alternatives of Brexit and tidy up the exceptional issuesand reduce taxes,” stated Braverman, who’s of Goan ancestry.

    UK political disaster Reside Updates

    Every other fellow staunch Brexiteer, Steve Baker, additionally declared on air that he intends to throw his hat within the ring. He’s an influential Tory backbencher who served as chair of the Eu Analysis Crew, in favour of a difficult Brexit deal.

    However the duo are in large part noticed as outliers and now with Johnson’s formal resignation, the opposite extra severe bids are anticipated to start out pouring in thick and rapid.

    In a modern YouGov ballot of Tory birthday celebration individuals in ‘The Day by day Telegraph’, UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has emerged because the frontrunner to change into the following High Minister. The birthday celebration’s 1922 Committee is chargeable for atmosphere the timetable for a Tory management contest.

    To participate within the race, a Tory MP must be nominated through 8 colleagues. If greater than two MPs put themselves ahead and protected sufficient nominations to run for chief, a sequence of secret ballots are held to whittle them down. The YouGov survey signifies that Wallace is also in pole place if he chooses to contest after which makes it to the overall two applicants.

    He’s on 13 according to cent, simply forward of junior minister Penny Mordaunt on 12 according to cent.

    Former UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak, the Indian-origin minister who stepped down on Tuesday, may be noticed as a contender and is at 10 according to cent within the survey. Former Overseas Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who got here 2d within the 2019 Conservative management contest, is on a joint 5 according to cent, along the brand new Chancellor, Nadhim Zahawi.

    Zahawi, former Well being and Schooling Secretary and maximum lately Chancellor within the Boris Johnson Cupboard, is assumed to have already been operating with Australian political strategist Sir Lynton Crosby the person at the back of Johnson’s thumping common electoral win in December 2019. The 55-year-old Iraqi refugee, who arrived in the United Kingdom as an 11-year-old boy, is but to officially claim his aim to vie for the highest task however is noticed as a major contender.

    UK Overseas Secretary Liz Truss is some other key contender, who may be believed to had been lining up her management bid over the previous few months. She’s recently at 8 according to cent within the YouGov ballot.

    Former well being secretary Sajid Javid, the Pakistani-origin minister who was once the primary to surrender from Cupboard this week, may be noticed as any individual who may throw his hat within the ring.

    One of the most different Conservative Birthday party names doing the rounds come with Space of Commons Overseas Affairs Make a choice Committee chair Tom Tugendhat, Deputy High Minister Dominic Raab and lately sacked Cupboard minister Michael Gove.

    The overall shortlist of applicants is predicted to move face to face in a debate till a vote between the overall two comes to a decision at the winner, who would be the new Conservative Birthday party chief and officially be successful Johnson as the brand new British top minister.

    READ | Boris Johnson resigns as UK PM, Rishi Sunak amongst frontrunners: What’s subsequent

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  • The thriller of Fleet Boulevard: An editorial on Boris Johnson vanishes

    Essentially the most talked-about article within the British newspapers closing weekend was once one who featured juicy allegations of affection, ambition and thwarted corruption on the pinnacle of the British executive. Then it vanished unexpectedly from the pages of The Instances of London within the early hours of Saturday.

    Two days later, the instances of its disappearance stay cloaked in thriller.

    The item reported that High Minister Boris Johnson, when he was once the international secretary in 2018, proposed appointing his mistress on the time, Carrie Symonds, as his leader of team of workers, with a wage of 100,000 kilos ($122,000). Symonds married Johnson in 2021, however in 2018, he was once nonetheless married to his earlier spouse, Marina.

    A spokesperson for Carrie Johnson mentioned Monday that “those claims are utterly unfaithful.”

    The Instances printed the object, by way of an established political reporter, Simon Walters, on Web page 5, however then changed it with some other article in later editions. The item was once by no means posted at the newspaper’s website online. The Day-to-day Mail posted a model of the file on its website online, MailOnline, handiest to delete it a couple of hours later.

    Neither paper has issued a commentary explaining its choice, or retracted the tale. And Walters mentioned he stood by way of it utterly.

    “At no level did anyone be offering me an on-the-record denial of the investigation, both ahead of or after it was once printed,” he mentioned in a phone interview. “Mr. Johnson’s staff didn’t be offering an off-the-record denial, both.”

    On Monday, alternatively, Downing Boulevard showed that its representatives were in touch with the Instances each ahead of and after the object was once printed, probably to dispute the tale. It mentioned Johnson had now not been in touch with the paper, however would now not say who had.

    It’s not strange for British papers to express regret for articles, or retract them. Libel legislation in Britain makes it more uncomplicated than in america for plaintiffs to win complaints towards publishers for what they assert is incorrect reporting. However doing away with a piece of writing throughout a press run is so strange as to be odd, and the loss of solutions fueled a feverish day of hypothesis in Britain’s gossipy journalism international.

    “That is what Sherlock Holmes would name a three-pipe downside,” mentioned Alan Rusbridger, a former editor of The Father or mother. “To drag a vital tale without a clarification, when the reporter continues to be status by way of it, is baffling. Let’s hope the Instances and Mail can shed some mild in this thriller.”

    The Instances, which is owned by way of Rupert Murdoch’s Information Corp, declined to remark at the choice. However an reputable on the corporate mentioned there have been “criminal problems” with the object, with out specifying what they had been. A spokesperson for the Day-to-day Mail, which is owned by way of the Rothermere circle of relatives, didn’t respond to a request for remark.

    Including to the confusion, many of the main points within the article had been prior to now reported in a tell-all biography about Carrie Johnson written by way of Michael Ashcroft, a former Conservative Celebration reputable who’s a member of the Space of Lords. The Day-to-day Mail and the Mail on Sunday printed excerpts from the e-book, “First Girl: Intrigue on the Courtroom of Carrie and Boris Johnson,” in February.

    Consistent with the e-book and the Instances’ file, Boris Johnson’s advice that he title Carrie Johnson as leader of team of workers was once briefly snuffed out by way of his aides within the International Place of job, who identified the moral and political issues of it.

    On Monday, Downing Boulevard refused to disclaim the tale at once, pronouncing that it would now not touch upon Boris Johnson’s movements ahead of he changed into top minister. However a spokesperson pointed to statements, together with one from Carrie Johnson’s spokesperson, denying the claims.

    Within the British media, the specter of libel may be very actual as a result of if criminal motion is taken towards a information group, it has the weight of proving that its allegations are true. Which means even if reporters are assured that their reporting is correct, editors will infrequently nonetheless cling off on e-newsletter until they’re sure that they may, if challenged, end up it in courtroom.

    To a couple press critics, alternatively, the disappearance of the Johnson tale underlines an bad closeness between the federal government and the robust pro-Tory newspaper proprietors in Britain, which come with Murdoch and the Mail’s writer, Jonathan Harmsworth, sometimes called the fourth Viscount Rothermere.

    “Proper from the beginning of Boris Johnson’s marketing campaign for birthday celebration chief, we’ve noticed a merger between the Johnson political operation and the media gadget,” mentioned Peter Oborne, a journalist and broadcaster who wrote a e-book, “The Attack on Fact,” that investigates Johnson’s ties to the right-leaning papers.

    Till lately, Walters, the tale’s creator, was once a reporter at The Day-to-day Mail, the place he broke a number of tales concerning the expensive refurbishment of the Johnsons’ reputable place of abode at Downing Boulevard, which was once first of all paid for by way of a Conservative Celebration donor. The reviews had been in particular embarrassing for Carrie Johnson, who took fee of the venture.

    Amongst Walters’ largest backers was once Geordie Greig, who was once then the Mail’s editor and had recruited him to the tabloid. Ultimate November, Greig was once pressured out of his task in an influence combat. Since then, media critics have mentioned, the Mail has transform a ways much less crucial of Johnson, maximum visibly at the lockdown-breaking events at Downing Boulevard, a scandal that virtually value the top minister his task.

    Quickly after Greig departed, Walters was once let cross by way of the Mail. He has been a contract journalist since then, nonetheless contributing to the Mail however writing for different papers, together with the Instances. Ultimate month, Walters reported on tensions between the Johnsons and the manager housekeeper at Chequers, the top minister’s nation place of abode, which resulted in the housekeeper resigning.

    The series of occasions that resulted in the newest article being pulled stay murky.

    The editor of the Instances, John Witherow, was once getting better from a clinical process and was once now not on responsibility closing week, when the object was once printed. That left the paper within the arms of his deputy, Tony Gallagher. Neither editor would remark, and Walters declined to talk about his exchanges with the paper.