Biodun Iginla, BBC News

Biodun Iginla, BBC News
Showing posts with label Emily Straton and Biodun Ignla. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Emily Straton and Biodun Ignla. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

David Cameron prepares to hand over to Theresa May


David Cameron and Samantha CameronImage copyrightPA

by Emily Straton and Biodun Ignla, BBC News Online, London
David Cameron will leave Downing Street for the final time as PM later, with Theresa May waiting to replace him.
Mr Cameron will face his last Prime Minister's Questions in the Commons, before heading to Buckingham Palace to tender his resignation to the Queen.
He told the Daily Telegraph: "As I leave today, I hope that people will see a stronger country. It has been a privilege to serve the country I love."
After taking office, Mrs May will set about naming her own frontbench team.
The current home secretary, 59, was the only remaining candidate in the Conservative leadership contest following Andrea Leadsom's withdrawal on Monday.

'Thriving economy'

The contest began when Mr Cameron, who has been prime minister since 2010, announced he would step down after losing the EU referendum in June.
Mr Cameron told the Telegraph: "I came into Downing Street to confront our problems as a country and lead people through difficult decisions so that together we could reach better times.
"As I leave today, I hope that people will see a stronger country, a thriving economy, and more chances to get on in life."
Theresa MayImage copyrightREUTERS
Image captionTheresa May will become the UK's second female prime minister
At midday Mr Cameron, who has said he plans to continue as MP for Witney in Oxfordshire, will face Prime Minister's Questions for the 182nd and final time as PM - his 319th in total as Tory leader.
Later, after the PM has tendered his resignation to the Queen, Mrs May will have her own visit to Buckingham Palace, when she will accept the monarch's offer to form a new government.
She will return to No 10 as the country's second female prime minister, following in the footsteps of Margaret Thatcher.

Factfile

  • David Cameron held office for six years, 62 days
  • This makes him the UK's 22nd longest-serving prime minister
  • Aged 49, he will be the youngest PM to leave office since the Earl of Roseberry in 1895
  • Theresa May becomes the oldest incoming prime minister since Jim Callaghan in 1976
Removal vans were spotted outside Downing Street on Tuesday, as Mr Cameron's ministers paid tribute to him in his final cabinet meeting.
"There was a feeling across the cabinet of great pride at what David Cameron has achieved over the last six years, sadness that it has ended, in a way, perhaps much quicker than people thought," said Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt.
The swift transition of power comes after the expected nine-week leadership campaign was truncated to just a couple of days by leading Brexit campaigner Andrea Leadsom's surprise withdrawal.
Removal van arriving at Downing StreetImage copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Image captionA removal van was seen arriving in Downing Street on Tuesday
Mrs May, who backed a vote to remain in the EU, is expected to announce her ministerial team shortly after taking charge.
She is expected to appoint a minister in charge of leading the Brexit negotiations, while Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has been tipped to take over as chancellor from George Osborne.
She is also expected to promote a number of women to senior positions.
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Saturday, June 18, 2016

David Cameron: 'No turning back' on EU vote


David Cameron pays his respects near to the scene where Jo Cox was killedImage copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Image captionDavid Cameron said killed MP Jo Cox "embodied Britain at her best"


by Emily Straton and Biodun Iginla, BBC News Analysts, London
The UK faces an "existential choice" in the EU referendum from which there would be "no turning back", Prime Minister David Cameron has said.
Mr Cameron said choosing to leave the EU in Thursday's vote would be a "big mistake" and lead to "debilitating uncertainty" for up to a decade.
However Michael Gove told the Sunday Telegraph the UK could become a "progressive beacon" by leaving the EU.
The Leave campaigner urged people to "vote for democracy".
The appeals come as the Remain and Leave sides resumed their campaigns aftersuspending them for three days as a mark of respect to Labour MP Jo Cox, who was killed after being shot and stabbed on Thursday in Birstall, West Yorkshire.
Mr Cameron said Thursday's vote was the "ultimate democracy" and represented what Mrs Cox, 41, had stood for.

'Watershed moment'

Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, Mr Cameron, who is campaigning for Remain, said Mrs Cox had "embodied Britain at her best - a country that is decent and compassionate".
The "irreversible" referendum was a "watershed moment" for the UK and a question "about the kind of country we want to be", he said.

Jo Cox by her houseboatImage copyrightBRENDAN COX
Image captionLabour MP Jo Cox died after the attack in her constituency in Birstall

"Are we going to choose Nigel Farage's vision - one which takes Britain backwards; divides rather than unites; and questions the motives of anyone who takes a different view," Mr Cameron wrote.
"Or will we, instead, choose the tolerant, liberal Britain; a country that doesn't blame its problems on other groups of people; one that doesn't pine for the past, but looks to the future with hope, optimism and confidence? I think the answer will determine what our country feels like for a very long time."
The PM said the economy "hangs in the balance", with trade and investment set to suffer in the event of a vote for Leave and a "probable recession" that would leave Britain "permanently poorer".
"Debilitating uncertainty - perhaps for a decade until things were sorted. Higher prices, lower wages, fewer jobs, fewer opportunities for young people... How could we knowingly vote for that? I say: don't risk it," he wrote.
Leaving the EU would also be a "one-off and permanent diminution in [Britain's] standing in the world; an abject and self-imposed humiliation," he argued.
Writing in Sunday Express, Mr Cameron also said he understood "concerns about immigration" but said leaving the EU would be the "wrong way" to deal with the issue.

'We're not quitters'

Chancellor George Osborne also appealed for voters to back Remain, saying a vote to leave "would be the most terrible mistake for our country".
Writing in the Mail on Sunday, he added: "And it would not be in keeping with who we are as a people. Not the British way.
"When something isn't perfect, like the EU, we get stuck in trying to improve it. We are not quitters."

Michael GoveImage copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Image captionMichael Gove rejected forecasts that the UK's economy would suffer by leaving the EU

However in an interview with the Sunday Telegraph, Mr Gove appealed for confidence in a future country wholly run by elected MPs.
"People should vote for democracy and Britain should vote for hope," he said.
He also rejected the suggestion leaving the EU would cause a recession: "There are economic risks if we leave, economic risks if we remain," he told the paper.
"My argument is that whatever happens in the future, an independent Britain will be better able to cope with those strains."

Analysis

BBC political correspondent Tom Bateman
The referendum campaign was reaching high levels of political acrimony when it was suspended due to the murder of Jo Cox.
The halt allowed for mourning and reflection over this shocking attack on an MP.
The suspension also drew all the momentum from the campaigns in an increasingly combative debate.
Now it is reset; both sides are again appealing to some core arguments - the economy and sovereignty.
But the events of last week have, for now at least, placed some of this discourse upon deeper foundations - with narratives from both sides over what the vote means for kind of democracy we desire, and for the kind of society we want to be.

'Echo through ages'

Meanwhile in an interview with the Sun on Sunday, leading Leave campaigner Boris Johnson said the UK had a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" and people had nothing to fear by "backing ourselves" and voting to leave the EU.
"If we do this, we'll be speaking up for democracy not only in Britain but throughout Europe and it will be a fine thing that will echo through the ages," he said.
Mr Johnson suggested a loss of autonomy had prevented politicians from keeping promises on immigration.
You can only "spike the guns of extremists" and those who are anti-immigrant by "taking back control", he said.
He also set out what he would be do in the event of Brexit, saying his first priorities would include withdrawing from the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice and "seizing back control of our borders".
Thomas Mair, who has been charged with the murder of Mrs Cox, appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Saturday and was remanded in custody.
He is next due to appear for a bail application hearing at the Old Bailey on Monday.

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