LONDON: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is set to agree a deal next week to strengthen the country’s post-Brexit partnership with the European Union and to facilitate trade in some food products, his office said on Saturday.
Starmer will welcome EU leaders to London on Monday to help reset relations with the bloc, with both sides aiming to secure progress in specific areas while others will remain off-limits.
Britain left the EU in 2020, but Starmer has been trying to boost ties with the country’s biggest trading partner since his center-left Labour Party won last year’s national election.
The summit will result in a deal, his office said, though it provided few details beyond saying it would improve the situation for British producers currently facing checks on products or unable to export, and also that it would ease matters for families facing higher bills and queues when traveling.
“This week, the Prime Minister will strike yet another deal that will deliver in the national interest of this country. It will be good for growth, good for jobs, good for bills, and good for our borders,” Starmer’s 10 Downing Street office said in a statement.
Starmer on Friday raised the prospect that a youth mobility deal with the European Union would be struck at the summit.
Brexit has grown increasingly unpopular with the British electorate, opinion polls suggest, with the economy faring poorly in recent years and international trade a particular weak spot.
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UK PM Starmer to agree deal to strengthen EU partnership, his office says
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UK PM Starmer to agree deal to strengthen EU partnership, his office says
- Brexit has grown increasingly unpopular with the British electorate
Trump says Netanyahu should be pardoned for corruption
- Under Israeli law, the president has the authority to pardon convicts
- Trump has publicly urged the Israeli president to pardon Netanyahu several times
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said on Thursday Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should receive a pardon for corruption charges, saying Israeli President Isaac Herzog should be “ashamed of himself” for not granting one.
Trump said Netanyahu has been a great wartime prime minister and that the Israeli people should shame Herzog for not pardoning him. “He’s disgraceful for not giving it. He should give it,” Trump said during a White House event.
Netanyahu met Trump in Washington on Wednesday — the seventh meeting between the two leaders since Trump took office last year — for talks about reaching a deal on Iran’s nuclear program and its ballistic missiles.
Netanyahu is Israel’s first sitting prime minister to be charged with a crime and denies bribery, fraud and breach of trust charges dating back to his 2019 indictment.
Trump has publicly urged the Israeli president to pardon Netanyahu several times, and said in late December that Herzog had told him the pardon was on its way. Herzog’s office was quick to dispute it.
Under Israeli law, the president has the authority to pardon convicts. But there is no precedent for issuing a pardon mid-trial.
In response to queries about Trump’s comment, Herzog’s office said Netanyahu’s request was under review at the Israeli Ministry of Justice for a legal opinion, and once that process was completed, Herzog would consider the request.
“Israel is a sovereign state governed by the rule of law. Contrary to the impression created by President Trump’s remarks, President Herzog has not yet made any decision on this matter,” Herzog’s office said.
Trump said Netanyahu has been a great wartime prime minister and that the Israeli people should shame Herzog for not pardoning him. “He’s disgraceful for not giving it. He should give it,” Trump said during a White House event.
Netanyahu met Trump in Washington on Wednesday — the seventh meeting between the two leaders since Trump took office last year — for talks about reaching a deal on Iran’s nuclear program and its ballistic missiles.
Netanyahu is Israel’s first sitting prime minister to be charged with a crime and denies bribery, fraud and breach of trust charges dating back to his 2019 indictment.
Trump has publicly urged the Israeli president to pardon Netanyahu several times, and said in late December that Herzog had told him the pardon was on its way. Herzog’s office was quick to dispute it.
Under Israeli law, the president has the authority to pardon convicts. But there is no precedent for issuing a pardon mid-trial.
In response to queries about Trump’s comment, Herzog’s office said Netanyahu’s request was under review at the Israeli Ministry of Justice for a legal opinion, and once that process was completed, Herzog would consider the request.
“Israel is a sovereign state governed by the rule of law. Contrary to the impression created by President Trump’s remarks, President Herzog has not yet made any decision on this matter,” Herzog’s office said.
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