US vice president says Trump ‘loves the UK’ and is working ‘very hard’ with Keir Starmer on a trade deal
Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey is out campaigning in Cambridgeshire today ahead of local elections in May in some regions of England, and has continued to apply pressure to the UK government after Wera Hobhouse was refused entry to Hong Kong by authorities there.
In a statement last night, Davey said statements from Chinese officials indicate that “no explanation for the appalling treatment of my colleague and friend Wera Hobhouse is going to be forthcoming”. Davey said “We cannot simply let this slide.”
Refusing a British Parliamentarian entry to Hong Kong for a private family visit, without reason, is an affront to UK-China diplomatic relations and will have a chilling effect on all UK politicians who speak up for freedom and democracy. That is why it is so important that we secure a statement setting out the Chinese authorities’ motivations for this act.
It’s now clearer than ever that the Chinese authorities aren’t going to play ball here. The foreign secretary needs to urgently take the exceptional step of summoning the Chinese ambassador in person to provide a clear and comprehensive account of why Wera was refused entry.
At the moment, I’m not going to say yes or no to anything that isn’t at the moment on the table or being looked at.
Whatever the future for Scunthorpe, we want to make sure we can keep primary steel-making, we can keep steel-making in our country and we can grow that industry, not see the continued decline that we’ve had over recent years.
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