The midterm elections have ended in the US with an apparently confusing message: Republicans have gained more seats in the Senate, Democrats in the House. But the real message is unambiguous: President Trump’s unchallenged rule has ended. He could do so far whatever he wanted, for he had both chambers of Congress on his side, …
Continue reading "Threat of impeachment"
November 20, 2018May has come under pressure from some of her own cabinet ministers to renegotiate aspects of the nearly 600-page document outlining the draft deal.
November 18, 2018The government of Theresa May has been thrown into turmoil 24 hours after the British Prime Minister’s announcement that “any deal on Brexit is better than no deal”. That essay towards a halfway-house shall not work after Thursday’s resignations of the Brexit secretary, Dominic Raab, and the work and pensions secretary, Esther McVey. This is …
Continue reading "Turmoil in Albion"
November 17, 2018Relations between Britain and Russia, soured since the “novichok poisoning” of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury last March, have plummeted by an exceptional degree with Theresa May’s startling disclosure in the House of Commons, of a kind that verily puts the Kremlin on notice. The two Russians, who were named and charged, have been …
Continue reading "Spy poisoning"
September 10, 2018“Politics ain’t beanbag,” Chicago’s only black mayor Harold Washington, who faced tenacious and devious local foes, had good reason to remark. Beanbag is a carnival game, played more or less fairly and for paltry stakes. Politics is the amoral no-holds barred arena it is because the stakes are so high. Those enjoying power obviously are …
Continue reading "Anti-semitism in Britain"
August 27, 2018Since 1998 UNESCO has been observing 23 August as the International Day for the remembrance of slave trade and its abolition. Today the Day turns twenty one. The decision to observe the day was taken by UNESCO at its 29th session held in Paris in November 1997 “to honour the memory of millions of men, …
Continue reading "Remembering victims of the slave trade"
August 23, 2018The trade bill establishing the legal basis for Brexit cleared the lower house of the British parliament with a vote of 317 in favour and 286 against
July 18, 2018Politicians in Britain's House of Commons have backed the controversial expansion of London's Heathrow Airport by a massive majority.
June 26, 2018Bollywood star Salman Khan received a Global Diversity Award at Britain’s House of Commons. Salman was at the House of Commons here on Friday, and received the award from Keith Vaz, British Parliament’s longest-serving Asian MP. “The Global Diversity Award is given to people of immense stature in terms of what they have done for …
Continue reading "Salman Khan honoured at Britain’s House of Commons"
September 16, 2017She doesn’t seem such a bad old stick, Theresa May, when you see her palling out with various cricketers, and I noticed some quite sweet pictures this week of her looking delighted at being given a special “May 10” England cricket shirt. However, everyone from the Cabinet down has come to realise that this is …
Continue reading "It’s not quite cricket, Theresa"
September 15, 2017Dadabhai Naoroji (1825-1917), whose death centenary falls today, was an iconic figure of the pre-Gandhi era in the freedom movement. He was thrice the President of Indian National Congress – in 1886 (Calcutta), 1893 (Lahore) and 1906 (Calcutta). In 1892, Dadabhai became the first Asian to get elected to the House of Commons of the …
Continue reading "Grand old man of the freedom struggle"
June 30, 2017Theresa May on Thursday won her first confidence vote by a narrow margin in the House of Commons on her parliamentary agenda set out in the Queen's Speech, her first major test as the prime minister of a minority government in the UK. The MPs voted in favour of the Queen's Speech by 323 votes …
Continue reading "Theresa May survives first major test in UK Parliament"
June 29, 2017British Prime Minister Theresa May is on course to lose her overall majority in the British general election, according to an exit poll released as soon as voting finished Thursday night. The poll, commissioned by Britain's main broadcasters, showed May's Conservatives would have 314 seats, losing 17 seats and the overall majority she had before …
Continue reading "Theresa May on course to lose majority in British parliament"
June 9, 2017The Brexit Secretary has warned members of Parliament to leave the bill for exiting the European Union unchanged when it is debated again in the House of Commons on Monday. David Davis issued a last-minute warning to Tory rebels not to sabotage the Article 50 Bill amid fears that any change could see Brexit end …
Continue reading "UK MPs warned not to change Brexit bill"
March 12, 2017It would be premature still to speculate on whether Brexit is on course to attain fruition. Suffice it to register that Theresa May has recovered from the blow suffered in the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom which had directed the concurrence of Parliament on the issue. The voice of the legislators was accorded precedence …
Continue reading "Brexit backing"
February 4, 2017