News Analysis India

Tag: Suella Braverman

  • Terrible Truss tenure terminated

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI:  Embattled UK Prime Minister Liz Truss on Thursday put in her papers after 44 tumultuous days in office, going down in British history as the shortest-serving premier ever. The slide began after last month’s mini-budget got embroiled in controversy as it contained £45 billion of unfunded tax cuts, which triggered uncertainty in the sterling and gilt markets. 

    Making a brief statement outside 10, Downing Street, Truss said a new party leader and prime minister would be chosen within a week. That set the clock for the election of her successor, with the names of former Chancellor Rishi Sunak, Leader of the House of Commons Penny Mordaunt, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and former Home Secretary Suella Braverman doing the rounds. The name of Truss’ predecessor Boris Johnson, too, is in circulation. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt ruled himself out, which could bolster a Sunak ticket because he was in the latter’s camp before taking over the finance portfolio. 

    In the morning, Truss had met Sir Graham Brady, chair of the 1922 committee of backbench Tory MPs that sets the rules for the party leadership vote. He said the successor should be in place by next Friday. The narrowed-down election window of a week necessitates online polling. 

    Each candidate will need the support of 100 MPs to enter the fray. But if there is only one candidate in the race, there would be no need for a vote. However, the 1.6 lakh Tory voters have been promised a say in electing the new leader. “Bookmakers are putting Sunak and Mordaunt and Wallace as favourites,’’ said a political observer from London. 

    “I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party…. I will remain as PM until a successor has been chosen,” Truss said in her brief speech. Crisis talks with Sir Graham, deputy PM Therese Coffey and Tory chair Jake Berry amid an avalanche of no-trust letters from party MPs gave her the sense that her time was up. A day earlier, there was big Tory confusion over whether a Labour motion in Parliament involved a whip. The issue put to vote was on MPs having a say on the government’s fracking plans to drill for gas. 

    NEW DELHI:  Embattled UK Prime Minister Liz Truss on Thursday put in her papers after 44 tumultuous days in office, going down in British history as the shortest-serving premier ever. The slide began after last month’s mini-budget got embroiled in controversy as it contained £45 billion of unfunded tax cuts, which triggered uncertainty in the sterling and gilt markets. 

    Making a brief statement outside 10, Downing Street, Truss said a new party leader and prime minister would be chosen within a week. That set the clock for the election of her successor, with the names of former Chancellor Rishi Sunak, Leader of the House of Commons Penny Mordaunt, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and former Home Secretary Suella Braverman doing the rounds. The name of Truss’ predecessor Boris Johnson, too, is in circulation. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt ruled himself out, which could bolster a Sunak ticket because he was in the latter’s camp before taking over the finance portfolio. 

    In the morning, Truss had met Sir Graham Brady, chair of the 1922 committee of backbench Tory MPs that sets the rules for the party leadership vote. He said the successor should be in place by next Friday. The narrowed-down election window of a week necessitates online polling. 

    Each candidate will need the support of 100 MPs to enter the fray. But if there is only one candidate in the race, there would be no need for a vote. However, the 1.6 lakh Tory voters have been promised a say in electing the new leader. “Bookmakers are putting Sunak and Mordaunt and Wallace as favourites,’’ said a political observer from London. 

    “I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party…. I will remain as PM until a successor has been chosen,” Truss said in her brief speech. Crisis talks with Sir Graham, deputy PM Therese Coffey and Tory chair Jake Berry amid an avalanche of no-trust letters from party MPs gave her the sense that her time was up. A day earlier, there was big Tory confusion over whether a Labour motion in Parliament involved a whip. The issue put to vote was on MPs having a say on the government’s fracking plans to drill for gas. 

  • India-UK free trade deal on the verge of collapse: Media report

    By Express News Service

    The India-UK free trade agreement (FTA) which was targeted to be signed before Diwali, is on the verge of collapse, according to The Times, London, following the Indian government’s fury over comments made by UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman against its immigrants.

    “I do have some reservations. Look at migration in this country the largest group of people who overstay are Indian migrants,” the Indian-origin Braverman recently said in the context of the free trade deal that could increase migration.

    The Times quoted government sources in both countries to say that India was shocked and disappointed by her disrespectful remarks. A report in Politico claimed that any plan of a UK visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for Diwali to sign the FTA with his counterpart Liz Truss is also not likely to go ahead.

    The Diwali deadline for the pact was during the then prime minister Boris Johnson’s visit to Delhi. Johnson and Modi had great personal chemistry. Joining issue with Braverman, the Indian High Commission in London had said action had been initiated on all cases referred to it under the Migration and Mobility Partnership clinched last year. The pact was signed by Braverman’s predecessor Priti Patel and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.

    “Mobility has been the key Indian ask and everything else – financial services, banking, education, rules of origin on whisky, etc, hinges on the mobility ask. And Suella has gone and pulled the rug from under that mobility ask,” a senior British government source told The Times.

    The India-UK free trade agreement (FTA) which was targeted to be signed before Diwali, is on the verge of collapse, according to The Times, London, following the Indian government’s fury over comments made by UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman against its immigrants.

    “I do have some reservations. Look at migration in this country the largest group of people who overstay are Indian migrants,” the Indian-origin Braverman recently said in the context of the free trade deal that could increase migration.

    The Times quoted government sources in both countries to say that India was shocked and disappointed by her disrespectful remarks. A report in Politico claimed that any plan of a UK visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for Diwali to sign the FTA with his counterpart Liz Truss is also not likely to go ahead.

    The Diwali deadline for the pact was during the then prime minister Boris Johnson’s visit to Delhi. Johnson and Modi had great personal chemistry. Joining issue with Braverman, the Indian High Commission in London had said action had been initiated on all cases referred to it under the Migration and Mobility Partnership clinched last year. The pact was signed by Braverman’s predecessor Priti Patel and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.

    “Mobility has been the key Indian ask and everything else – financial services, banking, education, rules of origin on whisky, etc, hinges on the mobility ask. And Suella has gone and pulled the rug from under that mobility ask,” a senior British government source told The Times.

  • India-UK trade deal on ‘verge of collapse’ over visa comments: Report

    By PTI

    LONDON: The India-UK free trade agreement (FTA) is reportedly on the “verge of collapse” after the Indian government was angered by comments made by UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman questioning action over visa overstayers from the country, a UK media report claimed on Wednesday.

    The Times’ newspaper quoted government sources to say that ministers in New Delhi were “shocked and disappointed “by the “disrespectful” remarks made by Braverman, who said she had concerns of an “open borders” offer to India as part of an FTA.

    The likelihood of meeting the Diwali deadline for the pact, set by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, is now believed to be diminishing.

    “There’s still a lot of goodwill but if certain individuals are still embedded in the [UK] government it will paralyse the talks,” the newspaper quoted a source as saying.

    Last week, Braverman, the Indian-origin Home Secretary said in an interview that she feared a trade deal with India would increase migration to the UK when Indians already represented the largest group of visa overstayers.

    “I have concerns about having an open borders migration policy with India because I don’t think that’s what people voted for with Brexit,” she told ‘The Spectator’ weekly news magazine.

    Asked about visa flexibility for students and entrepreneurs under an India-UK FTA, she said: “But I do have some reservations. Look at migration in this country, the largest group of people who overstay are Indian migrants.”

    “We even reached an agreement with the Indian government last year to encourage and facilitate better cooperation in this regard. It has not necessarily worked very well.”

    Braverman was referencing the Migration and Mobility Partnership (MMP) clinched between her predecessor in the Home Office, Indian-origin former Home Secretary Priti Patel, and External Affairs Minister S.Jaishankar in May last year.

    The Indian High Commission here responded by pointing out that action had been initiated on all cases referred to it under the MMP.

    “Mobility has been the key Indian ask and everything else ” financial services, banking, education, rules of origin on whisky, etc, hinges on the mobility ask.

    And Suella has gone and pulled the rug from under that mobility ask, a senior UK government source told ‘The Times’.

    “They were apoplectic. Mad doesn’t even come close to describing how angry they are,” noted another.

    While the perception is that Braverman is on a collision course with British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who is keen to clinch the FTA by the Diwali deadline, the report indicates that both are aligned on the issue of migration.

    Meanwhile, the Indian High Commissioner to the UK, Vikram Doraiswami, met Truss at Downing Street on Tuesday evening after which he tweeted: “Delighted and honoured to greet the PM Liz Truss at the 10 Downing Street this evening and to seek her guidance to build the very special India-UK partnership in trade, investment, defence and through the Living Bridge.”

    Strategic experts on both sides are now of the view that if the Diwali deadline for the FTA is still met, the result would be a much less comprehensive deal than was expected, leaving key sectors open for future negotiations.

    UK Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch seemed to lay the groundwork for this last week, when she said that an FTA with India would not mean that “we can’t do even more later”.

    The Department for International Trade (DIT) reiterated the UK stance that it would not sacrifice quality for speed.”

    It said: “We have a close, positive working relationship with India and a thriving trade partnership worth GBP 24 billion in 2021. We continue to seek improvements to our current trading relationship. This is why we are negotiating a high-ambition free trade agreement.”

    “We remain clear that we won’t sacrifice quality for speed, and will only sign when we have a deal that meets both countries’ interests,” it added.

    LONDON: The India-UK free trade agreement (FTA) is reportedly on the “verge of collapse” after the Indian government was angered by comments made by UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman questioning action over visa overstayers from the country, a UK media report claimed on Wednesday.

    The Times’ newspaper quoted government sources to say that ministers in New Delhi were “shocked and disappointed “by the “disrespectful” remarks made by Braverman, who said she had concerns of an “open borders” offer to India as part of an FTA.

    The likelihood of meeting the Diwali deadline for the pact, set by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, is now believed to be diminishing.

    “There’s still a lot of goodwill but if certain individuals are still embedded in the [UK] government it will paralyse the talks,” the newspaper quoted a source as saying.

    Last week, Braverman, the Indian-origin Home Secretary said in an interview that she feared a trade deal with India would increase migration to the UK when Indians already represented the largest group of visa overstayers.

    “I have concerns about having an open borders migration policy with India because I don’t think that’s what people voted for with Brexit,” she told ‘The Spectator’ weekly news magazine.

    Asked about visa flexibility for students and entrepreneurs under an India-UK FTA, she said: “But I do have some reservations. Look at migration in this country, the largest group of people who overstay are Indian migrants.”

    “We even reached an agreement with the Indian government last year to encourage and facilitate better cooperation in this regard. It has not necessarily worked very well.”

    Braverman was referencing the Migration and Mobility Partnership (MMP) clinched between her predecessor in the Home Office, Indian-origin former Home Secretary Priti Patel, and External Affairs Minister S.Jaishankar in May last year.

    The Indian High Commission here responded by pointing out that action had been initiated on all cases referred to it under the MMP.

    “Mobility has been the key Indian ask and everything else ” financial services, banking, education, rules of origin on whisky, etc, hinges on the mobility ask.

    And Suella has gone and pulled the rug from under that mobility ask, a senior UK government source told ‘The Times’.

    “They were apoplectic. Mad doesn’t even come close to describing how angry they are,” noted another.

    While the perception is that Braverman is on a collision course with British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who is keen to clinch the FTA by the Diwali deadline, the report indicates that both are aligned on the issue of migration.

    Meanwhile, the Indian High Commissioner to the UK, Vikram Doraiswami, met Truss at Downing Street on Tuesday evening after which he tweeted: “Delighted and honoured to greet the PM Liz Truss at the 10 Downing Street this evening and to seek her guidance to build the very special India-UK partnership in trade, investment, defence and through the Living Bridge.”

    Strategic experts on both sides are now of the view that if the Diwali deadline for the FTA is still met, the result would be a much less comprehensive deal than was expected, leaving key sectors open for future negotiations.

    UK Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch seemed to lay the groundwork for this last week, when she said that an FTA with India would not mean that “we can’t do even more later”.

    The Department for International Trade (DIT) reiterated the UK stance that it would not sacrifice quality for speed.”

    It said: “We have a close, positive working relationship with India and a thriving trade partnership worth GBP 24 billion in 2021. We continue to seek improvements to our current trading relationship. This is why we are negotiating a high-ambition free trade agreement.”

    “We remain clear that we won’t sacrifice quality for speed, and will only sign when we have a deal that meets both countries’ interests,” it added.

  • FTA with India may miss Diwali deadline after UK’s concern

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: The much-awaited India-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA) may not be able to meet the Diwali deadline.

    One of the things directly indicative of the delay is UK Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, expressing reservations about this agreement.

    She said that the FTA could increase immigration to the UK and it would go against the goals of Brexit. In an interview with the magazine The Spectator, Braverman voiced concerns about the impending free trade agreement to be signed by Diwali, as it could increase immigration. 

    Braverman said: “Look at migration in this country — the largest group of people who overstay are Indian migrants.”  The Indian High Commission in London reacting to the remarks made by the Home Secretary said, “We have seen reports in the media regarding a statement attributed to the Home Secretary about the ongoing negotiations for the India-UK FTA and migration issues in this context. While certain issues pertaining to Mobility and Migration are currently under discussion as part of these negotiations, any comment on these matters may not be appropriate given that the negotiations are underway. Any arrangement will include issues of interest on both sides.’’

    As a part of the wider discussions under Migration and Mobility, the Indian government has said it is committed to work with the government of UK to facilitate the return of Indian citizens who have overstayed their visa period.

    “Here in the UK, as per the data shared with the Home Office, as on date, action has been initiated on all of the cases referred to the High Commission. further, the UK has also undertaken to fulfil certain commitments as part of the Migration and Mobility Protocol, on which we await demonstrable progress,’’ the High Commission added. 

    Sources point out that the Diwali deadline, that was set by former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is unlikely to be met. “there are many things that are yet to be finalised and with less than two weeks left for Diwali, its unlikely to be completed,’’ said sources. 

    The home secretary told The Spectator that it would serve as a better policy measure to reduce job vacancies domestically than increase immigration.

    NEW DELHI: The much-awaited India-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA) may not be able to meet the Diwali deadline.

    One of the things directly indicative of the delay is UK Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, expressing reservations about this agreement.

    She said that the FTA could increase immigration to the UK and it would go against the goals of Brexit. In an interview with the magazine The Spectator, Braverman voiced concerns about the impending free trade agreement to be signed by Diwali, as it could increase immigration. 

    Braverman said: “Look at migration in this country — the largest group of people who overstay are Indian migrants.”  The Indian High Commission in London reacting to the remarks made by the Home Secretary said, “We have seen reports in the media regarding a statement attributed to the Home Secretary about the ongoing negotiations for the India-UK FTA and migration issues in this context. While certain issues pertaining to Mobility and Migration are currently under discussion as part of these negotiations, any comment on these matters may not be appropriate given that the negotiations are underway. Any arrangement will include issues of interest on both sides.’’

    As a part of the wider discussions under Migration and Mobility, the Indian government has said it is committed to work with the government of UK to facilitate the return of Indian citizens who have overstayed their visa period.

    “Here in the UK, as per the data shared with the Home Office, as on date, action has been initiated on all of the cases referred to the High Commission. further, the UK has also undertaken to fulfil certain commitments as part of the Migration and Mobility Protocol, on which we await demonstrable progress,’’ the High Commission added. 

    Sources point out that the Diwali deadline, that was set by former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is unlikely to be met. “there are many things that are yet to be finalised and with less than two weeks left for Diwali, its unlikely to be completed,’’ said sources. 

    The home secretary told The Spectator that it would serve as a better policy measure to reduce job vacancies domestically than increase immigration.