INTERNATIONALARAB TIMES, THURSDAY, MARCH 24, 2016

13

Britain

‘Leave Brussels’

UK tightenshub securityLONDON, March 23, (AFP): Brit-ain boosted security at its inter-national transport hubs following the deadly attacks in Brussels on Tuesday as Prime Minister David Cameron urged Europe to stand to-gether against “a very real terrorist threat”.

Security was stepped up at ports, borders and airports, although po-lice chiefs and politicians insisted there was no specific intelligence pointing towards an attack in Brit-ain.

Two Britons were wounded in the attacks on the main Brussels

airport and a central metro station, the foreign office said.

“ E m b a s s y staff are pro-viding consul-ar assistance to two injured Britons and are ready to sup-port any fur-

ther British nationals that have been affected,” read its statement.

Cameron chaired a meeting of COBRA, Britain’s emergencies committee, which brings together ministers, police and intelligence officers.

“We face a very real terror-ist threat right across the different countries of Europe and we have to meet that with everything we have,” Cameron said afterwards, as he an-nounced extra security.

Terrorists“These are difficult times, these

are appalling terrorists but we must stand together to do everything we can to stop them and to make sure that although they attack our way of life and they attack us because of who we are, we will never let them win.”

Britain’s official national threat level from international terrorism was raised in August 2014 to se-vere, the second highest of five lev-els, meaning an attack is considered highly likely.

Mark Rowley, Britain’s counter-terror police chief, announced in-creased patrols.

“As a precaution, forces across the UK have increased policing presence at key locations, including transport hubs, to protect the public and provide reassurance,” he said.

“This is not in relation to any specific information or intelli-gence,” he added. Rowley said that in London, extra police were being mobilised to conduct “highly visi-ble patrols at key locations”, includ-ing on the transport network.

Fifty-two people were killed in July 2005 Islamist suicide attacks on London’s transport system.

Detectives appealed for any Brit-ish nationals or media with footage of the attacks to assist the investiga-tion by uploading images or video to an online platform.

British police expertise was be-ing offered to Belgian colleagues, Cameron’s spokeswoman said.

“This is a shared threat that we should be working together to tack-le,” she said.

Senior police and government officials met to review security fol-lowing the attacks.

“While the threat level has not changed there has been an increase in police presence at ports, airports, underground stations and interna-tional railway stations,” a Cameron spokeswoman said.

“This will be kept under review in the coming days.”

SecuritySecurity was increased at Brit-

ain’s border control in Calais, northeastern France, and at the port of Dover across the Channel.

It was also upped at London’s Saint Pancras international rail station. Eurostar passenger trains between the terminal and Brussels were suspended.

“We advise customers not to travel today unless essential,” Eu-rostar said.

London Gatwick, the country’s second-biggest airport, confirmed it had boosted security patrols.

London Heathrow, Europe’s bus-iest airport, said police were provid-ing “a high visibility presence”.

Britain warned its citizens against travel to Brussels, and in-structed British nationals in the city to “remain alert and vigilant, and stay away from crowded places”.

Neighbouring Ireland also updat-ed its travel advice to warn citizens to delay non-essential travel to Brus-sels, and warned of increased secu-rity in France following the attacks.

“The Belgian authorities are cur-rently advising against travel to Brussels. You are advised to follow the instructions of the Belgian se-curity authorities,” the Foreign Of-fice said, updating its official travel advice.

The ministry told British nation-als in Belgium: “You should remain alert and vigilant, and stay away from crowded places.”

Cameron

Armed police personnel stand guard outside the Belgian Embassy in central London on March 23. The Brussels bombings exposed the vulnerability of publically accessible zones in crowded airports, railway sta-tions and subway systems to terror attacks, and it is a risk that can never be completely eliminated, security analysts say. (AFP)

a fellow Conservative, accused Johnson of presenting only the costs and not the benefits of membership and said many may view his arguments as “exaggeration to the point of misrepresentation”.

“You are illustrating ... a very partial, busking really, humoresque approach to a very serious question for the UK,” said Tyrie, who has not announced which way he plans to vote.

“What we really need is a much more balanced (approach) in which people make an effort to qualify and represent the points that they make and represent each others’ views with some accuracy.”

Tyrie said an example Johnson had previously cited of EU restrictions to cof-fin sizes could not be backed up, telling the mayor “the story is a figment of your imagination”.

He also questioned whether Johnson’s claims in several areas, including over the impact of EU membership on wages, the economic effect of leaving the bloc and the amount of British legislation that comes from Brussels, could be misleading.

Labour lawmaker Wes Streeting said Johnson did not have facts to support his arguments, writing on Twitter during the session that he was “Bombastic, full of character, armed with an argument, but devoid of any facts”.

Johnson said he stood by his arguments and accused the ‘In’ camp of scaremonger-ing. (RTRS)

❑ ❑ ❑

English pubs to open late: English pubs will be allowed to open longer during the weekend in June celebrating Queen Elizabeth II’s 90th birthday, Prime Min-ister David Cameron told parliament on Wednesday to cheers from MPs.

“We will be extending pub opening hours on the 10th and 11th of June this year to mark Her Majesty The Queen’s 90th birthday. I’m sure that will be welcomed right across the House,” he told the House of Commons.

Pubs in England and Wales, which normally have to close at 11:00 pm will be allowed to open until 1:00 am, the govern-ment said later in a statement.

Separate laws apply in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The British monarch turns 90 on April 21, although her birthdays are traditionally celebrated in June with the Trooping the Colour military parade.

This year the ceremony will be held on June 11, a day after a thanksgiving service with the queen and her husband Prince Philip in St Paul’s Cathedral which will coincide with his 95th birthday.

There will also be a street party on The Mall in front of Buckingham Palace on June 12.

The queen became Britain’s longest-serving monarch on Sept 9 last year, overtaking her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria.

“Inevitably, a long life can pass by many milestones. My own is no exception,” she said on the day, add-ing that the landmark was “not one to which I have ever aspired”.

Pubs in England and Wales are only allowed to open late if they have special licences, although extended hours are granted on particular dates such as New Year’s Eve and some public holidays.

Past national celebrations in which late hours have been granted include Prince William’s wedding to Kate Middleton in 2011, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrating the 60th anniversary of her ac-cession to the throne in 2012 and the 2014 World Cup.

The British Beer and Pub Association has said that extended hours for the Royal Wedding and Diamond Jubilee resulted in a £20-million (25-million-euro, $28-million) boost for the sector. (AFP)

❑ ❑ ❑

‘Hand over $1.25’: Tom Hayes, a former star trader serving an 11-year jail sentence for manipulating Libor interest rates, was on Wednesday ordered to hand over 878,806 pounds ($1.25 million) in a London proceeds-of-crime court hearing.

Hayes, a 36-year-old former UBS and Citigroup derivatives trader, was held up

as an example to errant bankers when he was convicted last August of mastermind-ing a conspiracy to distort Libor, the London interbank offered rate, to suit his trading book. Britain’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) had been seeking about 2.45 million pounds that Hayes had earned in bonuses during a four-year stint in Tokyo, which came to an abrupt end in 2010 when he was fired by Citigroup for attempting to rig rates.

During five days of court hearings last week, prosecutors listed recoverable assets such as a seven-bedroom country house in southern England, which is in Hayes’s wife Sarah Tighe’s name, Tighe’s engagement ring and wedding rings.

On Wednesday the court listed about 46,700 pounds of “immediately realisable assets”, including Hayes’ car, bank ac-count, a watch and a ring.

“It is obvious what the position is,”

Judge Jeremy Cooke said. “The house has to be sold.”

Christopher Convey, a lawyer for Hayes, is still arguing against moves by the pros-ecution to order Hayes to also contribute to the costs of the trial, which a lawyer for the SFO labelled “astronomical”.

Hayes was the first person jailed for rigging a system that helps to set rates on about $450 trillion of financial contracts and household loans in a drawn-out global investigation.

Hayes was not present at the ruling and can appeal the decision.

It is the last decision by veteran Judge Cooke, a member of the Lawyers’ Christian Fellowship and former professional rugby player, who has overseen court proceedings against Hayes that began in 2013. He is now retiring. (RTRS)

❑ ❑ ❑

5 to talk to Irish PM’s party: Five independent members of Ireland’s parlia-ment have agreed to start talks with prime minister Enda Kenny’s party on supporting a new government, increasing the party’s lead over its main rival in the race to lead the next government.

Kenny’s Fine Gael party won an election last month but lost its majority and was left without natural coalition partners in a fractured parliament. He is due to attempt to secure backing for a new government in parliament on April 6.

“Following discussions ... with both Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, we believe that Fine Gael is seriously determined to form a government,” the group of five parliamen-tarians said in a statement. “As the party is in the driving seat ... we are now prepared to sit down and actively engage on a pro-gramme for government.” (RTRS)

Britain’s Prince Harry (right), follows Nepalese President Bidhya Devi Bhan-dari (left), as they arrive to attend the inaugural event at Nepal Girl Summit 2016 in Kathmandu on March 23. (AP)

Smith Johnson

‘Out’ campaign takes lead: The campaign for Britain to leave the European Union has taken a 2 percentage point lead, according to an ICM poll, indicating a dispute in the Conservative Party may have dented confidence in Prime Minister David Cameron’s push for the country to stay in.

Support for Britain to leave the European Union rose to 43 percent, up 2 percentage points from a similar poll a week ago, the ICM poll published on Tuesday indicated.

Three months before the June 23 referen-dum, the poll of 2,000 people carried out March 18-20 showed the “In” campaign on 41 percent, down from 43 percent a week ago.

Cameron faces one of the deepest crises of his decade-long leadership of the Conservative Party after senior cabinet minister Iain Duncan Smith, who opposes EU membership, resigned over spending on welfare.

Divisions over EU membership — an issue that helped sink the Conservative premierships of Margaret Thatcher and John Major — have amplified such disputes within the party.

“One might wonder how, if at all, this will affect public confidence in the PM and his campaign to keep us in Europe,” ICM said in a statement.

“Well, public opinion does not appear to be moving in his favour. Last week’s two-point lead for Remain/In is reversed to a two-point lead for Leave,” ICM said. (RTRS)

❑ ❑ ❑

Lawmakers accuse Johnson: London Mayor Boris Johnson was rebuked by lawmakers on Wednesday for putting forward what they described as exaggerated and misleading arguments for why Britain should leave the European Union.

Johnson, tipped as a potential successor to Prime Minister David Cameron, is the de facto figurehead of the ‘Out’ campaign ahead of a June 23 referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU.

During three hours of often testy exchanges, parliament’s Treasury Select Committee quizzed Johnson over his claims of EU interference in everything from the recycling of tea-bags to preventing children under eight from blowing up balloons.

Committee chairman Andrew Tyrie,

Europe

Queen Elizabeth