International

Ex-Senior UK Tory Defects To Fringe Right-Wing Party

Published

2 years ago

March 11, 2024

230 Views

Embattled UK leader Rishi Sunak suffered a fresh blow Monday when a former ally defected to a right-wing populist party that is worrying the ruling Conservatives ahead of this year’s general election.

Lee Anderson announced that he was joining Reform UK, weeks after he was suspended from Sunak’s Conservative party over comments widely condemned as racist and Islamophobic.

The 57-year-old former deputy chair of the Tories became the first MP to represent Reform, whose honorary president is arch-Eurosceptic and Brexit figurehead Nigel Farage.

The fringe party is currently polling at around 10 percent in opinion surveys, which if replicated at the election could split the right-wing vote in key constituencies.

That would make it even harder for the Tories, in power since 2010, to fend off a resurgent main opposition Labour party that is currently soaring ahead in national polls.

To blunt Reform’s impact, Sunak could take his party further rightward, continuing a trend in recent decades that has accelerated following the 2016 referendum on leaving the European Union.

Doing so risks alienating more socially liberal voters, however.

Anderson is an MP in a so-called “Red Wall” seat of working-class voters in northern England that are crucial to both the Conservatives and Labour’s chances of winning the election.

The seats were former Labour strongholds before ex-prime minister Boris Johnson flipped them for the Conservatives during his landslide win at the last election in 2019 on a promise to “get Brexit done”.

The New Conservatives, a group of MPs on the right of the Tory party who have rebelled against Sunak, said the Conservative party was responsible for Anderson’s defection.

“We cannot pretend any longer that ‘the plan is working’. We need to change course urgently,” the group said in a statement.

– Populist –

Reform rails against immigration, net-zero energy policies and what it calls overbearing “nanny state” government regulations, and its members regularly heap praise on former US president Donald Trump.

“I want my country back,” Anderson told reporters in London as he announced his defection.

He had been widely tipped to join Reform after he was suspended from the parliamentary party of the Conservatives in February for refusing to apologise after saying London’s Labour mayor Sadiq Khan was controlled by Islamists.

“Anderson’s defection does highlight the ongoing electoral problem facing Rishi Sunak, with attacks coming from the left and right,” said Emma Levin of the polling firm Savanta.

But she cautioned that the move “will likely mean very little in national polling terms”.

“Lee Anderson’s name recognition among the wider public is low, and if voters are aware of him, it is probably because they saw (and disagreed) with his comments that led to his suspension from the Conservative party,” Levin said.

In the UK, a by-election is not automatically triggered if an MP changes party affiliation, though they may choose to stand down and seek re-election under their new allegiance or as an independent.

Sunak has yet to announce the date of the general election but has said it will be held in the second half of the year.

AFP

International

China’s Foreign Minister visits four African countries on annual tour

Beijing has sent hundreds of thousands of workers and engineers to the continent and gained strategic access to its vast mineral riches, including copper, gold and lithium.

Published

3 days ago

January 8, 2026

OCHEFA

32 Views

China’s top diplomat kicks off a New Year trip to Africa on Wednesday, the foreign ministry said, seeking to boost trade on a four-country circuit that includes several recent political hotspots.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s tour of the continent’s east and south will take him to Ethiopia, Somalia, Tanzania and Lesotho, concluding on Monday, the ministry said in a statement.

The visits are in keeping with the Chinese diplomatic convention of recent decades, whereby the foreign minister’s first overseas trip of the year is to Africa.

The current tour “aims to deepen political mutual trust with all parties… (and) strengthen exchanges and mutual learning”, foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said Wednesday at a regular news conference.

China is Africa’s top business partner, with trade reaching $296 billion in 2024, according to Chinese state media.

Beijing has sent hundreds of thousands of workers and engineers to the continent and gained strategic access to its vast mineral riches, including copper, gold and lithium.

International

Trump Announces Venezuela to Turn Over Up to 50 Million Barrels of Oil to United States

Published

4 days ago

January 7, 2026

Charles Flames

63 Views

U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that interim authorities in Venezuela will turn over between 30 and 50 million barrels of high-quality sanctioned oil to the United States, following the recent U.S. military operation that removed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro from power.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump stated: “I am pleased to announce that the Interim Authorities in Venezuela will be turning over between 30 and 50 Million Barrels of High Quality, Sanctioned Oil, to the United States of America.

This Oil will be sold at its Market Price, and that money will be controlled by me, as President of the United States of America, to ensure it is used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States!

“The president added that he has directed Energy Secretary Chris Wright to execute the plan immediately, with the oil to be transported via storage ships directly to U.S. unloading docks.

The announcement comes amid ongoing developments in Venezuela, where the oil—previously held in storage due to U.S. sanctions—is estimated to be worth up to $2.8 billion at current market prices around $56 per barrel.

Analysts note that this volume represents a modest addition to global supply but could divert exports previously destined for China.U.S. crude futures dipped slightly following the news, closing lower by about 1.3%. Major U.S. oil companies, including Chevron, ExxonMobil, and ConocoPhillips, are reportedly monitoring the situation, with meetings planned between industry representatives and the administration to discuss future investments in Venezuela’s vast oil reserves.

The deal marks a significant step in Trump’s stated goal of revitalizing Venezuela’s oil sector, which holds the world’s largest proven reserves but has seen production decline sharply in recent years due to sanctions, underinvestment, and mismanagement.

International

Nicolas Maduro, wife plead not guilty in New York court

Maduro, 63, told a federal judge in Manhattan that he had been “kidnapped” from Venezuela and said, “I’m innocent, I’m not guilty; I’m still the president of my country.”

Published

6 days ago

January 5, 2026

OCHEFA

52 Views

Deposed Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro pleaded not guilty to charges of narco-terrorism in a New York court on Monday, two days after being snatched by US forces in a stunning raid on his home in Caracas.

Maduro, 63, told a federal judge in Manhattan that he had been “kidnapped” from Venezuela and said, “I’m innocent, I’m not guilty; I’m still the president of my country.”

Maduro’s wife Cilia Flores likewise pleaded not guilty.

The pair were snatched by US commandos in the early hours of Saturday in an assault backed by warplanes and a heavy naval deployment.

(AFP)