Many Britons React With Anger Over Suspension Of Parliament - NPR

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Thousands of demonstrators gather outside Houses of Parliament on Wednesday in London to protest against plans to suspend Parliament. NurPhoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images hide caption

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The leader of Britain's House of Commons today called lawmakers opposed to the suspension of Parliament "phony" and questioned if they have the "courage or the gumption" to change the law or bring down the government to avoid a no-deal Brexit.

Speaking to the BBC, Jacob Rees-Mogg made the comments a day after Queen Elizabeth II approved an extraordinary request from Prime Minister Boris Johnson to suspend Parliament, known as prorogation.

Prorogation leaves Parliament little time to take up Rees-Mogg's challenge – either to pass a no-confidence motion against Johnson or to push back the Brexit date.

Lawmakers reconvene Sept. 3 but under prorogation will disband the following week. They return Oct. 14, just 17 days before Britain's Oct. 31 deadline to leave the European Union.

In 2016, Britain voted in a referendum to leave the EU. Former Prime Minister Theresa May negotiated a divorce deal with the EU but Parliament rejected the agreement three times. The impasse ultimately brought down her government.

Meanwhile, Brexiteers have insisted that despite concerns over economic chaos, Britain must leave even without a deal.

"All these people who are wailing and gnashing of teeth know that there are two ways of doing what they want to do," Rees-Mogg, a member of Johnson's Conservative Party and a confirmed euroskeptic, told the broadcaster. "One, is to change the government and the other is to change the law."

"If they don't have either the courage or the gumption to do either of those then we will leave on the 31st of October in accordance with the referendum result," he added.

Johnson's move infuriated opposition politicians and sparked a strong reaction from many ordinary Britons who turned out in the streets.

Thousands of anti-Brexit protesters, some carrying signs that read "Stop the Coup," gathered Wednesday night in Parliament Square. There were smaller demonstrations in Manchester, Cambridge, Cardiff, Edinburgh and Durham, according to the Evening Standard.

Protester Emma Cooper, 28, told The Guardian: "I feel absolutely livid. I haven't been to a protest for a long time," she said, "What's happening in this country and the right wing shift around the world is really worrying. I think Brexit is xenophobia extended to a bigger level."

Well over 1 million people have also signed a petition against suspending Parliament.

Commons Speaker John Bercow, a hard-line "Remainer," called Johnson's move a "constitutional outrage."

"At this early stage in his premiership," he said, "the prime minister should be seeking to establish rather than undermine his democratic credentials and indeed his commitment to parliamentary democracy."

Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the main opposition Labour Party, wrote to the queen to protest Johnson's move "in the strongest possible terms on behalf of my party and I believe all the other opposition parties are going to join in with this."

Johnson, who became prime minister barely a month ago, holds a single-seat majority in Parliament but some of his own party members oppose a no-deal Brexit.

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https://www.npr.org/2019/08/29/755326470/many-britons-react-with-anger-over-suspension-of-parliament

2019-08-29 09:46:00Z
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Petition against UK parliament suspension passes a million signatures amid nationwide protests - CNBC

A public petition against U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson's suspension of parliament passed the 1 million signature milestone within its first 24 hours as protests broke out across the country.

The queen on Wednesday approved Johnson's plan to suspend parliament from September 9 to October 14, a highly controversial move which would restrict parliamentary time for opposition Members of Parliament (MPs) to try to block the U.K. leaving the European Union without a deal on October 31.

Sterling slumped 1% on the announcement and were trading down at $1.219 on Thursday morning.

In addition to the petition, impromptu protests broke out outside the Palace of Westminster in central London, with organizers claiming thousands marched from the parliamentary building towards Downing Street, where the Prime Minister's official residence is located.

Smaller protests also took place in cities such across Britain including Manchester, Liverpool and Edinburgh, with protesters chanting "save our democracy" and "stop the coup."

Johnson's government has moved to characterize the suspension, or "proroguing" of parliament as a procedural norm in the run up to a Queen's Speech, in which the monarch sets out a new government's plans for the first time after it is formed. Johnson took over as prime minister on July 24 after being elected as the new leader of the ruling Conservative party by its membership, following the resignation of Theresa May.

The prime minister told Sky News on Wednesday that "there will be ample time on both sides of that crucial 17 October summit in parliament for MPs to debate the EU, debate Brexit and all the other issues."

However, the timing of the prorogation has been met with widespread criticism and interpreted as a bid to limit parliament's ability to influence the Brexit outcome. The Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, called the move a "constitutional outrage."

Members of Johnson's own party have also lashed out at his perceived pursuit of a no-deal scenario. Speaking to CNBC in Westminster on Thursday, veteran Conservative MP Ken Clarke said Johnson had yielded to the "fanatic element of his followers."

"I hope it will bring together the sensible majority in parliament who will find an alternative to this, not only debating it properly but actually saving us from just crashing out with a no-deal Brexit, which he is only pursuing because he has sold out to the people he has surrounded himself with, who appear to want it," Clarke said.

Asked if he could consider working in a caretaker government with opposition Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn, the former cabinet minister added that would take any necessary action to "stop this country creating the childishly disastrous mistake of crashing out with no deal."

Conservative Business Secretary Andrea Leadsom defended the prorogation Thursday morning.

"There will be plenty of time when the House comes back, with a new Queen's Speech and a new parliamentary session, to be able to debate Brexit, to be able to debate the prime minister's new withdrawal agreement, should he succeed in negotiating that with the EU. So I am confident that this is the right thing to do," she told CNBC.

The U.K. government's official petitions site states that all petitions with over 100,000 signatures will be considered for debate in parliament.

This has proven largely symbolic, as a petition for the U.K. to revoke Article 50, which triggered the process of departure from the EU, and remain in the bloc received over 6 million signatures but was flatly rejected by the government in March.

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https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/29/brexit-petition-and-protests-against-uk-parliament-suspension.html

2019-08-29 09:35:14Z
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Petition against UK parliament suspension passes a million signatures amid nationwide protests - CNBC

A public petition against U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson's suspension of parliament passed the 1 million signature milestone within its first 24 hours as protests broke out across the country.

The queen on Wednesday approved Johnson's plan to suspend parliament from September 9 to October 14, a highly controversial move which would restrict parliamentary time for opposition Members of Parliament (MPs) to try to block the U.K. leaving the European Union without a deal on October 31.

Sterling slumped 1% on the announcement and were trading down at $1.219 on Thursday morning.

In addition to the petition, impromptu protests broke out outside the Palace of Westminster in central London, with organizers claiming thousands marched from the parliamentary building towards Downing Street, where the Prime Minister's official residence is located.

Smaller protests also took place in cities such across Britain including Manchester, Liverpool and Edinburgh, with protesters chanting "save our democracy" and "stop the coup."

Johnson's government has moved to characterize the suspension, or "proroguing" of parliament as a procedural norm in the run up to a queen's speech, in which the monarch sets out a new government's plans for the first time after it is formed. Johnson took over as Prime Minister on July 24 after being elected as the new leader of the ruling Conservative party by its membership, following the resignation of Theresa May.

The Prime Minister told Sky News on Wednesday that "there will be ample time on both sides of that crucial 17 October summit in parliament for MPs to debate the EU, debate Brexit and all the other issues."

However, the timing of the prorogation has been met with widespread criticism and interpreted as a bid to limit parliament's ability to influence the Brexit outcome. The Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, called the move a "constitutional outrage."

Members of Johnson's own party have also lashed out at his perceived pursuit of a no-deal scenario. Speaking to CNBC in Westminster on Thursday, veteran Conservative MP Ken Clarke said Johnson had yielded to the "fanatic element of his followers."

"I hope it will bring together the sensible majority in parliament who will find an alternative to this, not only debating it properly but actually saving us from just crashing out with a no-deal Brexit, which he is only pursuing because he has sold out to the people he has surrounded himself with, who appear to want it," Clarke said.

Asked if he could consider working in a caretaker government with opposition Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn, the former cabinet minister added that would take any necessary action to "stop this country creating the childishly disastrous mistake of crashing out with no deal."

The U.K. government's official petitions site states that all petitions with over 100,000 signatures will be considered for debate in parliament.

This has proven largely symbolic, as a petition for the U.K. to revoke Article 50, which triggered the process of departure from the EU, and remain in the bloc received over 6 million signatures but was flatly rejected by the government in March.

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https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/29/brexit-petition-and-protests-against-uk-parliament-suspension.html

2019-08-29 08:18:12Z
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Parliament suspension: What does it all mean? - BBC News - BBC News

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17sOeWKpKbc

2019-08-29 07:32:00Z
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Tracking the path of Hurricane Dorian - CBS News

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGcZAOIxyEQ

2019-08-28 19:31:10Z
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Yes, more fires are burning in sub-Saharan Africa than in Brazil. But context is important - CNN

If you look at the data from NASA's Fire Information for Resource Management Map (FIRMS), which show a large swatch of fire across Angola, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The alarming area of these fires has left some people wondering why so much attention is being paid to the Amazon, while on the surface it appears Africa is alight with even more blazes. Even French President Emmanuel Macron, who has led the charge for international relief and solutions for the Amazon wildfire and has pledged aid from France, said on Twitter that he would consider starting a similar initiative for sub-Saharan Africa.

However, there are several things to consider when comparing the two situations.

More fires don't mean more dire

Chiefly, the idea of "more" fires doesn't necessarily translate into a more dire situation.

Satellite data like that from FIRMS doesn't give the cause or type of fire, which means things like controlled burns or brush fires appear the same to the eye as forest fires. Correspondents at CNN's bureau in Lagos, Nigeria, have been told many of the fires in central Africa around Angola and the Congo are the result of controlled fires by farmers, and preliminary data shows the number or acreage of the fires may actually be a bit below normal levels.

Many of them are controlled fires

An image NASA released of the agricultural fires in Angola and West Africa in 2015 seemed, at first glance, alarming: Thousands of red dots were spread across the continent, a situation that looked like an emergency. However, NASA concluded "the location, widespread nature, and number of fires suggest that these fires were deliberately set to manage land."

Fires like this can actually help the immediate areas around them, as they increase soil quality and clear out areas for new crops to grow. However, NASA points out, they aren't without their risks.

"While fire helps enhance crops and grasses for pasture, the fires also produce smoke that degrades air quality," the report says.

The situation in the Amazon is different

The fires there are resulting in deforestation, a completely different kind of destruction. Plus, while fires that endanger lives or the environment are always something to be concerned about, there's a reason fires in the Amazon are of particular concern: The Amazon is home to 10% of the world's plants and animals, and estimates show that nearly 20% of the oxygen produced by the Earth's land comes from the region's rain forests. That's why you've often heard the Amazon referred to as the "world's lungs." If the rainforest is severely damaged, scientists worry that it could hasten the effects of climate change.

CNN's Bethlehem Feleke contributed to this report.

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https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/27/world/africa-wildfires-amazon-trnd/index.html

2019-08-27 18:26:00Z
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Amazon fires: Brazil to reject G7 aid after Bolsonaro rages at ‘colonialist’ leaders - The Independent

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1. Amazon fires: Brazil to reject G7 aid after Bolsonaro rages at ‘colonialist’ leaders  The Independent
2. Flying above the Amazon fires: 'All you can see is death'  CNN
3. Why Everything They Say About The Amazon, Including That It's The 'Lungs Of The World,' Is Wrong  Forbes
4. The Amazon Is Still Burning. Here’s How You Can Save It.  The New York Times
5. The Amazon is on fire — indigenous rights can help put it out  The Boston Globe
6. View full coverage on Google News

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/brazil-amazon-fires-g7-aid-offer-bolsonaro-macron-summit-a9079831.html

2019-08-27 07:16:00Z
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