Tom Newton Dunn Profile picture
Sep 13, 2020 7 tweets 3 min read Read on X
NEW: Boris Johnson's former Attorney General Geoffrey Cox tonight reveals he will vote against the Internal Markets Bill in protest at the Government's plan to break international law - an act he calls "unconscionable". I have spoken to him. Full story on @TimesRadio now.
Geoffrey Cox insists the UK must uphold the Withdrawal Agreement, that he signed off as the PM’s most senior legal officer in October 2019. But he backs No10 / David Frost in their dispute with Michel Barnier over the NI Protocol, and believes the EU is now acting in bad faith.
Instead, Cox QC wants the Government to trigger the dispute resolution mechanism in the Withdrawal Agreement. Then, as an interim measure, HMG can act unilaterally and legislate to override the WA - but it will be done lawfully, he argues.
Cox has been in repeated contact with No10 and the PM, and spoke to Boris Johnson personally today to ask him to go down the dispute resolution route. The PM refused. Cox will abstain at 2nd reading and then vote against the bill at every other stage unless PM changes his mind.
Cox has also spoken to @patrickkmaguire tonight, and written for tomorrow’s @TheTimes. He writes: "No British minister should solemnly undertake to observe treaty obligations with his fingers crossed behind his back".
Cox continues: "We, the British Government and Parliament, have given our word. Our honour, our credibility, our self-respect and our future influence in the world all rest upon us keeping that word. Nothing less is worthy of Britain".
Here is @Geoffrey_Cox's article in full for tomorrow's @TheTimes;

thetimes.co.uk/article/geoffr…

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More from @tnewtondunn

Jun 8
One hundred years ago today, George Mallory and Sandy Irvine disappeared while attempting to become the first men to climb Mount Everest. They were last seen at 12.50pm as two moving dots through a telescope just 800 feet from the summit, and “going strong for the top” 1/ Image
What happened to these two extraordinary men remains mountaineering's greatest mystery, and their indomitable spirit still inspires many. They wanted to climb Everest "because it's there", as George said. "The struggle is the struggle of life itself, upward and forever upward" 2/ Image
Today relatives of all of the 1924 expedition's members plus climbers and authors meet for a day of commemorations and discussion at the @RGS_IBG, hosted by @Himalayan_HTUK. It's going to absolutely fascinating, and I'm looking forward to meeting some long lost cousins! 3/ Image
Read 5 tweets
Feb 21
Explosive evidence from Johnny Mercer to the Afghan inquiry today + a major new headache now for Grant Shapps / No10. Accuses ex-Director of Special Forces Roly Walker and Army head Mark Carleton-Smith of concealing information over whether the SAS executed 33 unarmed Afghans (1)
Mercer says Walker and Carleton-Smith (both ex-SAS) allowed him to mislead the Commons by effectively telling him there was nothing to see when they were aware of secret email chains. “I am angry with these people. They did not do their job. I was being gamed the entire time" (2)
Blue on blue: Mercer also accuses former Defence Secretary Ben Wallace of not taking the allegations seriously enough. As Vets Minister, Mercer formally wrote to Wallace to ask permission to make a new Commons statement to correct the record. Mercer says Wallace refused him (3)

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Read 6 tweets
Jul 18, 2022
Kemi Badenoch interview on tonight’s @TheNewsDesk - on the tone of the contest, she tells us: “I don't think it's got nasty actually. I do think that we're just having the arguments which we've all been having behind closed doors just in front of everyone else”.
Says she WOULD delay hitting net zero carbon emissions by 2050 if there is no workable plan to meet it: “Yes, there are circumstances where I would delay it, but I think that the target itself is a bit of a red herring. We need to look at the plan…
…I believe there is climate change and that’s something we do need to tackle, but we have to do it in a way that doesn't bankrupt our economy. We've got to take people with us. What would happen if we moved it to 2060 or 2070? We're not going to be here. Let's be realistic”.
Read 4 tweets
Mar 13, 2022
A Ukraine/Arsenal thread:

Oleg “The Horse” Luzhny was a tough right back who won the double with Arsenal in 2002. Much loved by supporters and players alike, he was nicknamed The Horse because of his galloping charges up the wing and, well, because he was hung like one (1)
Oleg is Ukrainian, and the first player from his country to win a major trophy in England. He is 53 now, and hasn’t played for Arsenal for 19 years. In solidarity, the club again included him in today’s squad for its home game against Leicester, under his old shirt number 22 (2)
Where is Oleg now? He’s back in Ukraine. Like so many of his countrymen, he has left his job (coaching a football team) to join up and fight (3)
Read 4 tweets
Dec 8, 2021
Rumours abounding of an imminent Quad meeting to discuss imposing Plan B as early as tomorrow morning, meaning Working From Home and covid passports for large venues. One source tells me it's "85% likely". Let's see. One helluva dead cat.
I've put this to Downing Street, who have not denied it. No10 source simply says "no decisions have been made".
There is disquiet about how quickly this decision process is moving in Whitehall. I’m told the Covid Taskforce is yet to even submit papers to the PM and Health Sec on Plan B, which were due later in the week. A source tells me: “Boris decided to do it last night”.
Read 6 tweets
Dec 7, 2021
FCDO's head, Sir Philip Barton, admits it was a mistake for him to remain on holiday through out the Afghan crisis. He only returned to work on August 26, 11 days after Kabul fell. Tells FAC: "I have reflected a lot. If I had my time again, I would have come back earlier”.
This is the first time Barton has revealed the date he returned to the Foreign Office. The last US military flight left Kabul on August 30, meaning Sir Philip stayed on holiday through almost the whole of the desperate three week airlift. This is simply staggering.
Tory MP Alicia Kearns, a former civil servant who has worked in FCO crisis centres, asks Barton: “If this isn’t what failure looks like, what does?”
Read 5 tweets

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