"Pestminster" scandal: Possible finale
It would have been a difficult day for
Boris Johnson
either way.
The Liaison Committee, a committee of the British House of Commons, is scheduled to meet today, and the Prime Minister regularly visits it to ask mostly tough questions.
Today's infamous grilling was expected to be particularly bad for Johnson.
But as of last night, the least worry for the British head of government is the expectation of another uncomfortable parliamentary session.
Finance Minister Rishi Sunak and Health Minister Sajid Javid surprisingly announced their resignations.
One cannot continue like this, Sunak wrote as a reason.
For Johnson, who recently made headlines more with scandals than with political agendas, things could get extremely tight.
There may be no alternative to his resignation.
"After all the dirt, the scandals and the failures, it is clear that this government is now collapsing," prophesied the leader of the opposition British Labor Party, Keir Starmer.
My colleague and UK correspondent Jörg Schindler wrote down what the latest episode of the »Pestminster« scandal is about.
Another MP from Johnson's party, the Tories, has been busted for sexual assault.
This time it's Chris Pincher, who groped two young men while drunk one weekend in the private "Carlton Club" and therefore had to resign last week as deputy "whip", as a whip for his group.
Matters are tricky for Boris Johnson because it was he who put the ultra-loyal Pincher in the prestigious post, despite the fact that he appears to be a repeat offender - and Johnson had been strongly warned against him.
A game has been running for days that the British already know from "Partygate", the scandal surrounding the numerous corona parties in which Johnson attended - and thus violated his own corona rules.
First, Johnson said he was completely new to the fact that Pincher had stalked drunk young men in the past.
When this claim was no longer tenable, the prime minister was certain that he had never heard of "specific" incidents.
But when a former top State Department official finally revealed that Johnson had been "personally" briefed on one of Pincher's assaults back in 2019, Johnson was once again accused of being an outright liar.
Even the ministers who had remained loyal to him until then apparently found this situation unbearable.
Health Secretary Javid wrote in his resignation letter to Johnson that he was "clear that the situation will not change under your leadership and you have therefore lost my confidence".
As always, the British Prime Minister will probably try to kick himself out of the noose.
But maybe it's too tight this time.
Commentary on the political quake in Great Britain: Everything has an end
Migration pact: material for controversy
If there were no corona crisis, if there were no war, then there would be political explosives in this topic: The federal cabinet wants to pass the “migration pact” today, a legislative project from the house of Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD).
It provides that rejected but tolerated asylum seekers can stay in Germany permanently if they meet certain conditions.
At the same time, the minister wants to extend detention pending deportation for criminals from three to up to six months.
The situation of many of the so-called tolerated is complicated: their asylum application was rejected, so they would have to leave the country voluntarily or be deported.
There can be several reasons why this does not happen: the asylum seekers are ill, they are threatened with violence or death in their home country, they have no papers proving their origin – or court proceedings are still pending.
Until the situation is clarified, the state tolerates the stay of these people.
Well over 200,000 tolerated people live in Germany, around 100,000 have been here for more than five years.
Getting a work permit is often difficult.
Therefore, according to Faeser's will, they should first get a one-year residence permit - and thus a perspective on life.
If they prove during this time that they have mastered German and are able to secure their livelihood, they should be given a permanent right to stay.
Criminals or asylum seekers who have given false information about their identity should remain excluded from this possibility.
The traffic light also wants to make it easier for migrants to access integration courses.
So far, only immigrants and asylum seekers "with good prospects of staying" have been allowed to take part.
In principle, everyone should now be entitled to these courses “regardless of their country of origin”.
The Union announced resistance.
Bavaria's Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann, for example, considers the project "dangerous" because it creates an incentive for "further illegal migration to Germany."
Strong words, but in these times of crisis and war, they don't really get through.
Most people seem to have other concerns at the moment.
But anyone who thinks that the chancellor and his ministers deal with explosive projects like this every week is mistaken.
Today's provisional agenda includes exciting-sounding items such as "Draft of a second law to extend the period of validity of the planning assurance law", "Draft of an eighth law to change the federal central register" or "Draft of a law on the financing of the elimination of legacy armaments in the Federal Republic of Germany".
You can accuse the federal government of a few things, but certainly not that they would shy away from dry work on new legal texts.
Dispute over tolerated: Union faction rejects draft law on the right to stay
Government survey: Scholz' arrogance test
Unlike the British, the obligatory government survey in the German Bundestag is not known for the fact that the chancellor is "grilled" there, in the worst case there is a little charcoal.
In any case, it shouldn't be really pleasant for Olaf Scholz at 1 p.m. today.
Questions arise for the opposition: What is the further course in Ukraine policy, Germany continues to deliver heavy weapons?
What prescriptions does the chancellor have against the rapidly rising prices, was the "concerted action", the meeting with employers, trade unions and experts from science, more than just symbolic politics?
It is rumored that the chancellor may be asked the same question that he refused to answer at the closing press conference of the G7 summit from a journalist with his own arrogant attitude: could the chancellor explain how Germany's promised security guarantees for Ukraine actually work? look?
"I could," Scholz replied, only to remain silent.
Does he answer the same today?
The planned election of the controversial publicist Ferda Ataman as anti-discrimination officer will probably also be a topic in the interview session.
An unprecedented culture war has developed around the personnel, the level of which the AfD will lower even further in today's debate.
»All democrats must prevent racist Ataman as anti-discrimination commissioner«, demanded the deputy leader of the parliamentary group, Beatrix von Storch, in a press release.
Welcome to the mud fight!
Scholz and journalists: Was that Hanseatic humor - or arrogance?
You can find more news and background information on the war in Ukraine here:
That happened at night:
The Russian advance in Ukraine is now concentrated on the Donetsk region.
The left in the Bundestag is pushing for an end to the sanctions against Moscow.
And: Latvia reintroduces conscription.
The overview.
Selenskyj criticizes army leadership: "Not without me making decisions":
The Ukrainian President has publicly criticized his own military leadership.
This was preceded by a discussion about a regulation for conscripts who should not leave their place of registration without permission.
Norwegian government stops oil and gas workers' strike:
A strike by Norwegian oil and gas workers threatened to exacerbate the energy crisis in Europe.
Now the government is intervening.
The Secretary of Labor says she has no choice.
This is how expensive energy is becoming for consumers:
on the energy markets there is a mix of actual scarcity and the fear that prices will skyrocket.
End customers will have to pay significantly more - and swimming pools could remain cold or close.
Breakdown: The verdict of the experts
Since November, 20 experts have been investigating the
glitches that occurred in Berlin during the elections to the House of Representatives and the Bundestag
. Today they are presenting their final report.
Nothing good is expected of him.
On September 26, 2021, one could get the impression that the Berlin administration had organized the first election in its history: ballot papers had been delivered incorrectly, long queues formed in front of the polling stations, some citizens made their cross clearly after 6 p.m., what actually is forbidden, some didn't get around to it at all, polling stations were simply closed in the meantime.
The organizers of the election were not even able to properly document the numerous mishaps.
Crucial information was missing from the minutes of the electoral committees – which may have made the work of the experts considerably more difficult.
The Federal Returning Officer had already given his verdict in May and called for the elections in Berlin to be partially repeated.
He had previously lodged an objection to the evaluation of the election in six of the twelve Berlin constituencies.
Will the verdict of the experts be similarly devastating?
The consequences of the mishaps for the election of the House of Representatives and the question of whether it has to be repeated will not be decided by the experts, but by the state constitutional court: there will be an oral hearing in September, and a decision is expected by the end of the year.
The Bundestag itself decides whether the Bundestag elections in Berlin have to be repeated, based on a recommendation from the Election Review Committee.
I would wager that he opposes a repeat of the election act.
If only for the own interest of the current majority, who call the shots in the Bundestag.
Chaos election: Vote again, Berlin
Here is the current quiz of the day
The starting question today: What is the last name of the Philippine President?
loser of the day...
...
is China.
As recently as last year, the communist regime could be sure of the attention of the German government: Chancellor Angela Merkel visited regularly, often with a large business delegation in tow.
Good trade relations with the country were high on their list of priorities.
But Olaf Scholz is letting the tour in Beijing wait, his inaugural visit has not yet been scheduled.
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has also avoided a trip there so far.
Instead, Baerbock is leaving for Indonesia, Japan and Palau today, a clear signal to Beijing that they are looking to join forces with others in the Asian region.
First, however, the Green politician will take part in the meeting of G20 foreign ministers in Bali.
There she will not only meet her Chinese counterpart, but also the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
It will depend on your diplomatic sensitivity to deal appropriately with the uninvited guest.
Is she shaking his hand, is she avoiding him completely?
The foreign ministers are going through a kind of dress rehearsal on this sensitive issue.
Because in mid-November the heads of state and government will meet in Bali.
And the group is already discussing: How to deal with Vladimir Putin – if he comes?
The latest news from the night
Alleged Highland Park shooter charged with seven counts of murder:
US authorities have filed the first charges against the alleged Highland Park gunman.
Police also said they had been called to the suspect's home twice in 2019.
Norwegian government stops oil and gas workers' strike:
A strike by Norwegian oil and gas workers threatened to exacerbate the energy crisis in Europe.
Now the government is intervening.
The Secretary of Labor says she has no choice.
Jury summons Trump allies:
In the battle for the US presidency in 2020, the state of Georgia narrowly lost to Joe Biden.
At the time, loser Donald Trump put pressure on a local politician to “find” him votes.
Now the incident has an aftermath.
The SPIEGEL + recommendations for today
Where poverty begins – and where wealth begins:
In the statistics, income limits decide who is poor or rich.
But do they really reflect reality?
Researchers have now checked this – by asking an obvious question.
How investor professionals are now hedging their funds:
Fund managers Jens Ehrhardt, Klaus Kaldemorgen and Bert Flossbach are forecasting stock market prices to continue to fall – and still bet on shares.
What they pay attention to and how they want to save assets from inflation and crashes.
"If you don't leave your room anymore, it's time to get help":
Since Corona, more children and young people have suffered from mental problems.
When do they need professional help and how can parents support them while waiting for a place in therapy?
The automotive industry is pulling the plug on plug-in hybrids:
Cars with plug-in hybrid drives are increasingly being sidelined.
Once praised as hope for the climate, sales are falling and many models can no longer be ordered at all.
Is the technology on the verge of the end?
I wish you an eventful Wednesday!
Yours, Martin Knobbe