This weeks news, made simple
We did it, we made it to the end of another week! And what a month this week has been. So, shall we dive into the weeks big stories, and give you the run down of what you might have missed? Go on then.
Dominic Raab Bullying Claims
Another week, another scandal in the conservative party. This time it’s Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab, who has been at the centre of numerous complaints of bullying, with at least 24 civil servants involved in the complaints against him.
Back in December, Downing Street confirmed that he was facing 8 formal complaints covering multiple different governmental roles. 6 were from his first time at the Ministry of Justice, 1 was from when he was Foreign Secretary, and 1 from his time heading the Brexit department. Sources for The Guardian however suggest that all but 2 of these have multiple accusers, and it could be more than 30 complainants. Accounts given to The Telegraph from senior and junior members of the MoJ state that he would often leave people “physically shaking and in tears”, and that when he returned to the role after 7 weeks away, “anxiety levels shot through the roof”. It is also said that he “relished the imbalance of power”, often finding ways to humiliate junior staff. Today ex-Tory chair Jake Berry said that given the depth of the accusations, Raab should be suspended during the investigation. A spokesperson for Dominic Raab has denied all accusations.
China Spy Balloon
On February 1st a Chinese balloon was tracked flying over the United States, specifically over Montana, which coincidentally is the home of a US nuclear missile base. China have claimed that the balloon was a weather balloon that deviated from it’s path, but the US have rejected that and labelled it a spy balloon. The Department of Defence said the balloon was carrying sensors and surveillance equipment, and has the ability to manoeuvre - however they emphasised it was not a physical threat, meaning it wasn’t carrying weapons. On Friday a second balloon was found flying over Latin America by the US military.
Initially, the US had said it was unlikely they would down the balloon as it’s the size of three buses so the risk of collateral damage to civilians and military settlements was too high, however on Saturday the first balloon was downed over the Carolina coast.
It’s thought the balloon was sent to test US air defence, and to identify weakspots, according to retired Army General John Ferrari. The presence of the balloons has heightened tensions between the US and China, with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken postponing a visit to China he was due to start on Friday. He says the presence of balloon undermines the purpose of his visit to the country.
Rishi Sunak wants to ban asylum appeals
Rishi Sunak is celebrating 100 days in office with a new plan to stop asylum seekers who cross the channel in small boats from being able to appeal the decision to deport them.
Reports suggest that Suella Braverman’s Home Office presented the Prime Minister with two options for his consideration. Option one was that deported asylum seekers could lodge an appeal, but only after they’d already been deported. The second was to remove their right to an appeal completely - which is the one it appears he has chosen. They are also planning to introduce legislation that will ensure people they deem to be arriving in the UK illegally - despite the fact you can’t be arriving illegally if claiming asylum - will be detained or promptly removed to their home country or a safe third country.
Refugee Council have since calculated that more than 45,000 people who have crossed the Channel in small boats in the last year would have been detained indefinitely in this system, unable to be deported but also unable to progress in their asylum claim, work, or access support services. They also say that this would cost nearly £1bn a year.
UK economy forecast to shrink
The IMF this week announced that the UK isn’t expected to grow at all this year, and is in fact looking like it will shrink by 0.6%. The UK is the only major economy they are predicting won’t grow, and that includes the sanctions-hit Russian economy.
Economists generally agree the reason is the ongoing consequences of Brexit, which has left the UK economy 5.5% smaller than it would have been without the withdrawal.