UK Labour to vote against Brexit deal

Swedish PM Lofven ousted

LIVERPOOL, England, Sept 25, (Agencies): Britain’s opposition Labour Party will vote against any deal Prime Minister Theresa May clinches with the European Union and is open to a second referendum with the option of staying in the bloc, Brexit spokesman Keir Starmer said on Tuesday.

With just over six months until Britain leaves the European Union, May has yet to reach a deal with Brussels on the terms of the divorce, and her plan for future trade ties has been rebuffed by both the EU and many lawmakers in her own Conservative Party.

Labour has listed six tests it would apply to any Brexit deal, including whether it ensured a strong future relationship with the EU and delivered the same benefits Britain has as a member of the bloc’s single market and customs union.

Starmer said May was on course to fail these tests and called for an election to allow a Labour government to steer Britain’s departure from the EU, the biggest shift in the country’s foreign and trade policy in decades.

Meanwhile, May’s cabinet has agreed that EU citizens should not have preferential access to work in Britain compared to people from elsewhere after Brexit, media reports said Tuesday.

Ministers gathering on Monday “unanimously supported a system based on skills rather than nationality”, an unnamed source told the BBC, with similar reports in The Times and The Guardian.

In a nod to the concerns of businesses, the plan backed by May’s cabinet on Monday would also allow some access for low-skilled foreign workers, the newspapers said.

Last week, official advisers recommended prioritising high-skilled migrant workers coming to Britain after Brexit, alarming companies in low-paid sectors. They also said there should be no preferential treatment for workers from the EU.

May

Swedish PM Lofven ousted:

Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven lost a no-confidence vote in parliament on Tuesday, with the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats threatening to block any new government unless they are given a say in policy.

The rise of the far right across Europe has forced many traditional parties into an uncomfortable choice of sharing power with populist forces or reaching out to long-standing opponents to keep them out.

Sweden, long seen as a bastion of liberal values and political stability, now faces the same choice with its centre-left and centre-right blocs evenly balanced after the Sept 9 election and the Sweden Democrats holding the balance of power.

“Now the excitement will really start,” said Ulf Bjereld, political scientist at Gothenburg University. “The parties will have to show their true colours now.”

Wildfire in Tuscan countryside:

Italian emergency authorities say a suspected arson fire in the countryside near Pisa has forced at least 700 people to flee their homes and has ravaged some 600 hectares (nearly 1,500 acres).

Tuscany Gov Enrico Rossi told reporters Tuesday that arson was suspected and authorities were investigating.

The blaze erupted Monday night on the wooded slopes of Mount Serra and quickly threatened homes in nearby hamlets. Authorities said hundreds of those who were evacuated spent the night in school gyms and church community centers that doubled as emergency shelters.

Rossi said heavy winds up to 50 kph (31 mph) were whipping up the flames. They were also hampering the work of water-dropping planes. The strong winds were expected to last into Wednesday.

Meanwhile, A wildfire whipped by strong winds has forced dozens of people to evacuate part of a southern Croatian peninsula as the army joined local efforts to fight the flames.

Croatian authorities say the wind has prevented firefighting planes from helping ground teams and pushed the fire toward the village of Mokalo on the Peljesac peninsula.

‘Aquarius should dock in Malta’:

France is pushing for the Aquarius rescue ship to dock in Malta and unload the 58 migrants on board, a source in the presidential office said on Tuesday.

“We are clear on the fact that it shouldn’t spend four to five days at sea going towards France ou Spain or anywhere,” the source said on condition of anonymity. “It needs to dock soon and it is close to Malta at the moment.”

Meanwhile, about 400 asylum-seekers who had been held in the severely overcrowded Moria migrant camp on the Greek island of Lesbos have arrived in Greece’s main port of Piraeus to be transferred to other camps and residences on the mainland.

The asylum-seekers, mainly families from Syria, Afghanistan and African countries, arrived Tuesday onboard an overnight ferry from Lesbos. They are among around 2,000 people whom the government has pledged to move out of Moria, a facility built for 3,100 people but which is at nearly three times capacity.

Greek police arrest 8 over attack:

Greek police say they have arrested eight people on suspicion of involvement in a mob attack by alleged far-rightists on a lawmaker with the governing Syriza party.

Petros Konstantineas was hospitalized Sunday with non-life-threatening injuries after the beating outside a soccer stadium in the southern town of Kalamata. Syriza described it as a “fascist” attack. Police said Monday more than 20 people have been detained on suspicion of involvement. The eight who were arrested face charges including alleged grievous bodily harm and breaches of Greece’s sports laws.

Konstantineas, a 40-year-old baker and retired soccer referee, was elected to Parliament in 2015.