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Baroness Scotland: UK suspends funding to Commonwealth Secretariat
The British government has suspended its funding of the Commonwealth Secretariat, the body that runs the international organisation from London, the BBC has learned.
UK diplomats have told Lady Scotland, the secretary-general of the Commonwealth, that Britain’s annual £4.7m voluntary contribution will be withheld until her secretariat improves its financial procedures.
The Secretariat insisted it was implementing recommendations made by external auditors.
The UK decision came after Lady Scotland was criticised by auditors for “circumventing” usual competitive tendering rules when she awarded a lucrative consultancy contract to a company run by a friend.
The auditors also discovered that procurement rules had been waived by the secretariat on no fewer than 50 occasions over three years.
Both New Zealand and Australia have also suspended their discretionary funding to the Commonwealth Secretariat until its financial systems are tightened up and tested by external auditors.
The UK decision threatens to plunge the secretariat into a financial crisis and will raise fresh questions about Lady Scotland’s leadership.
Commonwealth heads of government have already rejected calls to give Lady Scotland an automatic second term of office when it comes up for renewal this year.
The funding crisis came to a head last week when Commonwealth high commissioners in London – who together form the organisation’s board of governors – met to discuss the results of the investigation by the external accountancy firm KPMG.
The Commonwealth Secretariat is the central administrative hub for the intergovernmental organisation that comprises 54 countries – many of them former British colonies – and encompasses almost a third of the world’s population.
About two-thirds of the Commonwealth Secretariat’s funding – some £18.4m in 2018 – comes from automatic subscriptions from member states.
But there is also a second budget for the secretariat – the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation – which is discretionary and provides about a third of its funding, worth about £12m in the most recent audited accounts. The UK is the largest contributor to this fund.
A senior British diplomat wrote to Lady Scotland on 3 February to say that continued UK funding would be suspended until the Commonwealth Secretariat complied with the recommendations of the KPMG report.
These conditions included a register of occasions when procurement rules were waived, a register of real and potential conflicts of interest, and an updating of the body’s whistleblower policy.
The official gave the secretariat a deadline of 21 February to implement all the reforms which would have to be signed off by the chairman of the Commonwealth’s independent audit committee.
A spokesperson for the Foreign Office said: “We are committed to an effective Commonwealth that delivers for its member states, so we have set a number of conditions on UK funding to the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation for this financial year.
“These include conditions relating to ensuring that the Secretariat’s procurement policy and its implementation are in line with international best practice.”
A Commonwealth spokesperson said: “The Commonwealth Secretariat does not comment on private exchanges with its member countries.
“The Secretariat complies fully with the audit process and implements recommendations accordingly.”
New Zealand has also put its £1.5m contribution on hold.
A spokesman for its Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said: “An independent audit report by KPMG has identified significant weaknesses in the Commonwealth Secretariat’s approach to managing procurement. As a result, New Zealand has put on hold its voluntary financial contribution to the Secretariat until we receive independent confirmation the recommendations from the audit report have been addressed by the Secretariat.”
Australia has gone one step further and cut its funding to the Commonwealth Secretariat by £414,000 and has made its remaining contribution of £260,000 contingent on the reforms being implemented.
Brexit: European leaders agree extension to 31 January
EU leaders have agreed in principle to extend Brexit until 31 January 2020 – meaning the UK will not leave as planned on Thursday.
EU Council President Donald Tusk said it was a “flextension” – meaning the UK could leave before the deadline if a deal was approved by Parliament.
It comes as MPs prepare to vote on proposals by Boris Johnson for an early general election on 12 December.
The SNP and Lib Dems have also proposed an election on 9 December.
The government has not ruled out getting behind that proposed date, if it fails to get its preferred date through the Commons later.
The UK was due to leave the EU on Thursday, but Mr Johnson was required to request an extension after Parliament failed to agree a Brexit deal.
The prime minister had repeatedly said the UK would leave on 31 October deadline with or without a deal, but the law – known as the Benn Act – requires him to accept the EU’s extension offer.
The president of the European Parliament, David Sassoli, said the extension was “positive”, and “gives time for the UK to make clear what it wants”.
Downing Street said Mr Johnson had not yet seen the EU’s response to his request for a Brexit delay.
“The PM will respond once he has seen the detail,” his official spokesman said. “His view has not changed. Parliament should not have put the UK in this position and we should be leaving on 31 October.
“The PM secured a great new deal despite being told this impossible but Parliament has chosen more dither and delay.”
Boris Johnson’s “do or die” pledge to leave by 31 October is no more – it is dead.
Many will see this as a no-deal Brexit being taken off the table, at least until 31 January.
So it will increase the arguments in the Commons that with no-deal parked, Parliament now has to make a decision on an election.
And that is what Mr Johnson will be trying to argue over the next few days.
For the PM, there is a risk of calling an election without Brexit being resolved, as he may be punished for it at the ballot box.
So, while it buys more time, it also creates an element of uncertainty for the prime minister.
He will now campaign for an election in the knowledge that he has failed in his signature policy which he campaigned for in the Conservative leadership election.
Mr Tusk will now seek the UK’s formal agreement to the decision, before formalising the extension through a written procedure among the 27 other EU nations.
An EU official said they hoped for the process to be concluded by Tuesday or Wednesday.
39 death mystery
The deaths of 39 Chinese people found in a truck in a UK industrial park this week has sparked horror and revulsion around the world.
The numbers
Queen wraps up speech and leaves House of Lords
Elizabeth II has finished delivering her Queen’s Speech, in which she announced plans for 26 bills — most of which focused on domestic policies.
She has now left the throne in the House of Lords, alongside her son, the Prince of Wales.
MEANWHILE; Lawmakers return to House of Commons
MPs are filing back into the House of Commons, where they will spend days debating the contents of Boris Johnson’s Queen’s Speech.
There is plenty in there to discuss — including bills on important issues such as domestic abuse, pensions, healthcare, the environment and animal welfare.
Several bills were also dedicated to criminal justice, as Johnson continues to make law and order a central plank of his pitch to the public.
But it’s fairly unlikely that none of these bills will see the light of day in this Parliament, thanks to the very first part of the agenda — Brexit — which is expected to force a general election in the coming weeks.
Brexit first on government’s agenda in Queen’s Speech
The first and most important piece of legislation announced by the Queen is the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill, which will lay out the plans for Britain’s departure from the EU.
“My government’s priority has always been to secure the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union on 31 October,” the Queen says, at the start of her speech. “My government intends to work towards a new partnership with the European Union, based on free trade and friendly cooperation.”
Johnson plans to put the bill before MPs next week, once debate on the Queen’s Speech has wrapped up — but it’s not clear if he’ll get the chance, given that his perilous position in Parliament means he is at risk of losing the vote on his agenda.
Even more pressing is the fact that Johnson is yet to agree any deal with the EU. If he hasn’t done so by the EU summit at the end of this week, he’s mandated by law to request another Brexit extension.
“An immigration bill, ending free movement, will lay the foundation for a fair, modern and global immigration system,” the speech adds.
“My Government remains committed to ensuring that resident European citizens, who have built their lives in, and contributed so much to, the United Kingdom, have the right to remain. The bill will include measures that reinforce this commitment,” she added.
“Steps will be taken to provide certainty, stability and new opportunities for the financial services and legal sectors.”
The pomp is underway
Threats against female politicians in Britain
Early one Sunday morning, British politician Heidi Allen answered her front door to be confronted by a man who had been harassing her.
Brexit: Deal ‘essentially impossible’ after PM-Merkel call – No 10
Boris Johnson is poised to give up on Brexit deal talks with the EU after speaking to the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, with a No 10 source briefing that an agreement looked “essentially impossible not just now but ever”, my colleague Rowena Mason reports.
DAY 3: Corby Big Films Week 3.
DAY 4: Corby Big Films Week 3.
MONDAY 21st October
An evening at the SAVOY with BAFTA-winning ‘Blue Planet’, cameraman, Doug Alla
Douglas “Doug” Allan, FRSGS, is a Scottish wildlife cameraman and photographer best known for his work in polar regions and underwater. Allan is one of twin brothers born in Dunfermline in Scotland, the son of a photographer and photojournalist who ran his own photography shop in the town.
7-9pm ‘Frozen Seas’ – the final film of the festival celebrates the team behind David Attenborough with special guest, BAFTA-winning ‘Blue Planet’ Cameraman, Doug Allan taking your questions after the screening. Doug will also be selling and signing copies of his remarkable book ‘Freeze Frame – a wildlife cameraman’s adventure on ice’.
D5 Creation