Profile picture
Ben Riley-Smith
@benrileysmith
, 4 tweets, 2 min read Read on Twitter
Court document on the Isil Beatles decision reveals some fascinating details about how the UK made decision to waive death penalty assurances.

Some stand-out bits…
Boris Johnson, then Foreign Sec, privately warned there could be reprisal killings against Britons if they are executed.

[He ended up supporting decision not to demand assurances]
Jeff Sessions, then attorney general, suggested to Amber Rudd, then Home Sec, that the two Isil Beatles fighters belonged in Guantanamo.
Sir Kim Darroch, UK ambassador to US, privately warned that Trump could "hold a grudge" if Britain demanded assurance the pair would not be executed.

Underlies the strains the Trump presidency places on UK-US relationship. So hard to judge how he will react.
Missing some Tweet in this thread?
You can try to force a refresh.

Like this thread? Get email updates or save it to PDF!

Subscribe to Ben Riley-Smith
Profile picture

Get real-time email alerts when new unrolls are available from this author!

This content may be removed anytime!

Twitter may remove this content at anytime, convert it as a PDF, save and print for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video

1) Follow Thread Reader App on Twitter so you can easily mention us!

2) Go to a Twitter thread (series of Tweets by the same owner) and mention us with a keyword "unroll" @threadreaderapp unroll

You can practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @benrileysmith see all

Profile picture
Ben Riley-Smith
@benrileysmith
A few extra quotes from our Kellyanne Conway interview posted below which didn’t make it into the final edit...
On how Trump’s changed in office: “I think with the gravity + responsibility of the job of president comes a certain humility that those of us who witness him regularly see.”

When challenged, she mentioned return of N Korean detainees + fallen US soldiers as moments of humility.
On whether final Mueller report will be a problem for Trump / more Russian links will surface:

“Only Bob Mueller knows that and anybody who tells you that they know should not say that. Only they know. But the president has said many times there was no Russia collusion.”
Read 5 tweets
Profile picture
Ben Riley-Smith
@benrileysmith
EXC: Telegraph today runs Kellyanne Conway’s first UK paper interview since she entered the White House.

She talks Trump’s appeal, outlasting colleagues, the Russia probe, 2020 and whether she regrets “alternative facts”.

Full piece: telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/02/0…
Conway is the ultimate Trump White House survivor. Became campaign manager in Aug 2016, still by his side now.

All the rest of the original cast - Bannon, Spicer, Priebus, Hope Hicks etc - have gone, except for family.
“I’m here for the right reasons,” she said of her longevity.

“Some have been fired or forced out. Some went back to private sector. Some talents are much better deployed on the outside… It’s not for everyone because it’s a president who is unconventional.”
Read 9 tweets
Profile picture
Ben Riley-Smith
@benrileysmith
NEW: More Trump State of the Union extracts are out.

He'll pledge cross-party approach.

"The agenda I will lay out this evening is not a Republican Agenda or a Democrat Agenda. It is the agenda of the American People."
Trump will also double down on Syria withdrawal by the looks of it: "Great nations do not fight endless wars."
And for all the bipartisan briefing Trump will take a swipe at opponents of his wall.

"Wealthy politicians and donors push for open borders while living their lives behind walls and gates and guards."
Read 3 tweets

Related threads

Profile picture
benjaminady
@tripleoxymoron
1/ "Only limited studies have been done concerning adultery among Christians. But initial findings have been shocking."

~Bill Hybels, "Christians in a Sex-Crazed Culture", 1989, at least 4 years into his sexual assault & harassment of multiple parishioners and employees
2/ " 'The Myth of the Greener Grass' answered many of the questions I had been struggling to answer on the subject of adultery: What causes affairs?"

~Bill Hybels, "Christians in a Sex-Crazed Culture", 1989
3/ "In fact in the Old Testament, under Mosaic Law, anyone caught in adultery received the death penalty."

~Bill Hybels, "Christians in a Sex-Crazed Culture", 1989

*actually, this worked out to only the women getting executed. #bicbw
#received
Read 105 tweets
Profile picture
Chris Geidner
@chrisgeidner
#SCOTUS, Nov. 6, 2018.
Five minutes until a one-box day at #SCOTUS (meaning one or two decisions in argued cases).
The only #SCOTUS decision today is a unanimous one in Mount Lemon Fire District v. Guido. Ginsburg writes, affirming the 9th Circuit. Kavanaugh did not participate.
Read 28 tweets
Profile picture
Paul James Cardwell
@Cardwell_PJ
UK govt claims it wants an EU "deal", with a few weeks left. So, the Foreign Sec compares the EU to a Soviet prison, dashing hopes that the insults of his predecessor will now be replaced by moderation and alienating EU members UK badly needs on side. /1 theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/o…
Today, the Prime Minister doubles down by trying to focus attention on the new post-Brexit migration policy. In doing so, she proudly announces on #r4today that free movement will end. This alone is being blind to the fact that it means no more movt for Brits (if they care?) /2
Insisting on the end of FOM also says to the EU explicitly that their citizens will no longer be able to come to the UK because the UK wants 'high skilled only'. Ergo, EU workers are low-skilled and therefore undesirable. /3
Read 11 tweets
Profile picture
Rising serpent
@rising_serpent
1. "Chasing Mifsud" :Joseph Mifsud, a professor who met George Papadopoulos, a former Trump campaign adviser, during the 2016 US presidential campaign has been missing since last October. Mifsud's fiancé, a Ukranian said he cut off communication when his name leaked last October.
2. Mifsud allegedly told Papadopoulos that Russia had "dirt" on then-Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. Last October, Mifsud was referred to —not by name — in a US court document, that Papadopoulos met with him while living in London.
businessinsider.com/where-is-josep…
3. But Mifsud has gone silent. His bio removed from a university in Scotland and another institution in Italy where he taught. They show '404 Not Found' error pages.
In WhatsApp messages between Mifsud and his fiancé, Anna — the professor urged her to not speak to journalists.
Read 21 tweets
Profile picture
Paula Chertok🗽
@PaulaChertok
Critically ill Russian national is 66yo Sergei Skripal, former intel colonel/double agent granted refuge in UK after a 2010 "spy swap" between US & Russia. He and a woman were apparently poisoned in/near Salisbury shopping center. bbc.in/2D2oj7X
Ex-Russian spy & daughter 'poisoned' in UK sparks fears of another Kremlin-backed hit. Investigators scrambling to identify the chemical used. Skripal feared for his life after his wife died in a car crash & his son was killed in a road incident.. thesun.co.uk/news/5733372/s…
UK warns Kremlin over poisoning of ex-spy Skripal & his daughter. Recalling Litvinenko murder, FM Johnson said UK was "in the lead across the world" in trying to counteract a "host of malign activity" by Russia.

Skripal's brother, son & wife have been killed in the last 2 year.
Read 76 tweets
Profile picture
Faisal Islam
@faisalislam
NEW: Coming up at 7 - major leak - Sky News obtains leaked Cabinet deliberations on Irish border, letter from Foreign Secretary to PM playing down a hard border saying “wrong to see the task as maintaining ‘no border’
FULL STORY: news.sky.com/story/boris-jo…
Shadow Foreign Sec Thornberry -“is there no issue that [Johnson] thinks he cant get through by lying? This is not acceptable, it is simply telling lies to the British people”.
Read 14 tweets

Trending hashtags

#Disneyland #NicholasRasmuusen #LasVegas #secondpersonpronouns #retailers #fascinating #PoliticalPredictionsIHaveGotBadlyWrong #NewYorkTimes #USA #Brum #Pharmacy #TomHanks #gross #oops #Tech #manchester #Comey #marketing #Press #Palestine #NBCNews #speakforyourself #Lebanon #CNN #UKLaw
Follow Us on Twitter!

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just three indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3.00/month or $30.00/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!