remember when Boris Johnson’s distant cousin was offering to guarantee an £800,000 loan for him?
and a few weeks later he popped up on an FCDO list of four suggested candidates to be chief executive of the British Council?
and no one could explain how that happened?
we only knew any of this thanks to dogged reporting by @HarryYorke1 and @Gabriel_Pogrund at the Sunday Times
@HarryYorke1 @Gabriel_Pogrund I put some FOIs into the Foreign Office in January which they’ve finally answered after seven months of prevarication and stonewalling
(albeit heavily
and it turns out Nigel Adams, one of Boris Johnson’s closest ministerial allies, was involved in the recruitment process
the UK government is planning to eliminate import tariffs on palm oil from Malaysia, a product blamed for widespread deforestation, as the price of joining an Asia-Pacific trade deal, prompting outrage from green campaigners
Clare Oxborrow, senior sustainability analyst at Friends of the Earth, said the plans could lead to more devastating loss of forest ecosystems.
“This concession is completely at odds with the government’s commitment to curb deforestation from UK supply chains”
Compared with EU, which retains palm oil tariffs and is planning tough new rules against imports linked to deforestation, the UK has a relatively light regulatory approach, with a law that only addresses deforestation defined as illegal under local laws in producing countries
🚨 London and Edinburgh are heading for another constitutional clash as Rishi Sunak’s government prepares to thwart a controversial bottle recycling scheme in Scotland
People briefed on Johnson’s latest list said he had for a second time put forward former Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre for a peerage, despite his rejection last year by the House of Lords appointments commission, which vets nominations
fascinating dilemma for Rishi Sunak, especially if Holac reject Dacre again:
does he?
1) accept Holac advice and make enemy of one of the most powerful figures in UK media, months before election
2) capitulate and push through the appointment regardless and keep Dacre happy
meanwhile Johnson has slashed the number of people on the resignation honours list from a rumoured 100 to as few as 50 after he was urged by officials to cut back the list