Month: June 2022

The portrait, by Ranald Mackechnie, was taken in the Victoria Vestibule at Windsor Castle earlier this year.

In her Jubilee message the monarch thanked people for organising events to celebrate her milestone, saying “many happy memories” would be created.

Millions are gearing up for street parties to mark 70 years on the throne over the four-day bank holiday weekend.

There are also a series of official events starting with Thursday’s Trooping the Colour parade and ending on Sunday with a Jubilee Pageant through London.

The specially commissioned portrait pictures show the Queen looking contented, sitting on a cushioned window seat at the castle which has been her main home for the last couple of years. The historic residence’s famous Round Tower is visible in the distance.

Mr Mackechnie took two previous portraits of the Queen alongside the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Cambridge and Prince George to mark her 90th birthday in 2016.

In her Jubilee message the monarch said: “I continue to be inspired by the goodwill shown to me, and hope that the coming days will provide an opportunity to reflect on all that has been achieved during the last 70 years, as we look to the future with confidence and enthusiasm.”

The traditional Trooping the Colour parade to mark the Queen’s official birthday will involve more than 1,500 officers and soldiers and 350 horses from the Household Division, as well as an RAF flypast.

The 96-year-old monarch, who has mobility issues and has recently cancelled several public appearances, is likely to join members of the Royal Family on the balcony at Buckingham Palace to watch the display.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will watch the parade, although they will not appear on the balcony.

The couple, who now live in the US, will have a prime vantage point from the Duke of Wellington’s former office, overlooking Horse Guards Parade, where they will watch Prince Charles inspect the guardsmen and officers and take their salute in his mother’s place.

They are travelling with their children Archie, three, and Lilibet, who turns one on Saturday. Lilibet is the Queen’s family nickname.

The Queen’s son Prince Andrew, whose royal titles were returned to the Crown amid a lawsuit in the US, will not be present.

For any big family gathering there are questions to smooth out before it gets started. Like who is going to be there.

There’s been speculation about when we might see the Queen over the Jubilee weekend.

A couple of events will be her priorities – and Thursday’s Trooping the Colour and the Buckingham Palace balcony will be one of them.

Although it will be Prince Charles who inspects the troops, taking on another ceremonial task.

It’s been made clear that Prince Andrew won’t be at this first showcase event.

But Prince Harry and Meghan, although very publicly not invited on the palace balcony, will be watching with other members of the Royal Family through windows above Horse Guards Parade.

It looks a bit like a balcony, so maybe it’s building bridges one step at a time.

After all that planning, the celebrations and the long holiday weekend can finally begin.

On Thursday evening, more than 3,000 beacons will be lit across the UK and the Commonwealth in tribute to the Queen, with the Tree of Trees beacon illuminated outside the palace.

The monarch is to lead the lighting of the principal Jubilee beacon in a special ceremony at Windsor Castle, Buckingham Palace said.

Also on Thursday the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall will guest star in an episode of TV soap EastEnders, on BBC One at 19:30 BST.

Prince Charles and Camilla join the residents of Albert Square at their jubilee street party.

At a service of thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral on Friday, there will be other accommodations made for the Queen’s comfort, with no ceremonial journey to the event.

If the monarch does attend, she will use a different entrance rather than scaling the steps.

And it is not certain she will make the planned trip to Epsom for the Derby on Saturday.

On that evening, the BBC’s Party at the Palace concert – set on three stages in front of Buckingham Palace – will see Diana Ross, George Ezra, Alicia Keys and Nile Rodgers entertain a live crowd of 22,000 people and a television audience of millions.

At the concert, heir to the throne Prince Charles and his son, the Duke of Cambridge, will pay tribute to the Queen who will be watching on television.

On Sunday there will be street parties, picnics and barbecues across the UK with more than 85,000 Big Jubilee Lunches planned.

The finale of the weekend will be the Jubilee Pageant which will make its way through the streets of the capital with a cast of 6,000 performers and close to 200 celebrities.

It will end with Ed Sheeran singing the national anthem with a choir made up of “national treasures” outside Buckingham Palace.

Ahead of the celebrations, the Queen took a short break at Balmoral Castle, in Aberdeenshire, but returned to Windsor on Tuesday.

Saturday is the first birthday of Harry and Meghan’s daughter Lilibet – who is named after the Queen’s family nickname.

The Queen’s granddaughter Princess Eugenie has led tributes to her in an article in the Spectator, describing her “grannie” as “a woman who has transcended time and has been that constant rock for so many when the world can feel so fragile”.

She said she would love her son August to “have her patience, her calmness and her kindness, while always being able to laugh at himself and keep a twinkle in his eye”.

Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon congratulated the monarch on a “lifetime of service” and urged all Scots to mark her “values of integrity, wisdom, justice and compassion” – regardless of their views on the British monarchy.

Not everyone will be celebrating the occasion. Anti-monarchy campaign group Republic said a recent poll had shown the British public “just aren’t that bothered about royal events”.

Speaking for the group, Graham Smith said: “The Jubilee is not a national celebration, it is a carefully staged event to promote the monarchy and the royal brand.”

Metal composite panels with an unmodified polyethylene core now cannot be used on any building of any height.

The government first received data demonstrating the danger of polyethylene-cored cladding in 2002.

Grenfell Tower, a 24-storey block in west London, caught fire in June 2017.

Previously, the ban applied only to buildings higher than 11m (36ft).

There are new restrictions on other combustible materials, but some will be permitted on buildings under 18m (59ft), subject to a large-scale fire test.

All new residential buildings higher than 11m will have to include a secure information box, which will give fire and rescue services access to building details in case of fire, and an evacuation alert system – an alarm that can trigger an evacuation if a fire is out of control.

The changes announced on Wednesday also extend the scope of the ban on combustible materials above 18m to include hotels and boarding schools, which the government had previously chosen to exclude. Hospitals are already covered.

Changes to building regulations and guidance are not retrospective, meaning the new rules will only apply to future newbuild projects, not existing properties or schemes that are already under way.

In May, the home secretary published a Fire Reform White Paper to incorporate recommendations made by the Grenfell public inquiry.

The inquiry said the controversial “stay put” policy – asking residents of most buildings to wait inside for rescue services, rather than leaving in the event of a fire – should be changed.

However, Home Office papers outlined plans to keep the policy in place.

Building and Fire Safety Minister Lord Greenhalgh said:  “We have introduced the biggest improvements to building safety in a generation, under the Building Safety Act.

“These changes will support our tough new regulatory regime – ensuring fire safety measures are incorporated into new high-rise homes and all new residential buildings meet the same safety standards.

“It does not end here and I urge the industry act quickly to update their practises in line with these new rules.”

The weapons, long requested by Ukraine, are to help it strike enemy forces more precisely from a longer distance.

Until now, the US had refused the request out of fear the weapons could be used against targets in Russia.

But on Wednesday, Mr Biden said the lethal aid would strengthen Kyiv’s negotiating position against Russia and make a diplomatic solution more likely.

Writing in the New York Times, he said: “That is why I’ve decided that we will provide the Ukrainians with more advanced rocket systems and munitions that will enable them to more precisely strike key targets on the battlefield in Ukraine.”

This is a fine balancing act for Mr Biden, as providing more powerful weapons could risk drawing the US and its Nato allies into direct conflict with Russia.

New weaponry will include the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), a senior White House official said – although he did not specify how many of them would be supplied.

The systems can launch multiple precision-guided missiles at targets as far as 70km (45 miles) away – far further than the artillery that Ukraine currently has. They are also believed to be more accurate than their Russian equivalents.

Last month, Ukraine’s army chief said that getting the HIMARS units would be “crucial” in allowing it to counter Russian missile attacks.

The US expects Ukraine to deploy the weapons in the eastern Donbas region, where the fighting is most intense, and where they can be used to strike Russian artillery units and forces targeting Ukrainian towns.

White House officials agreed to provide the rockets, they said, only after gaining assurances from President Volodomyr Zelensky that the weapons would not be used to attack targets inside Russia.

“We are not going to send to Ukraine rocket systems that can strike into Russia,” Mr Biden wrote on Wednesday.

The latest rockets will be the centrepiece of a $700m (£556m) support package for Ukraine that will be formally unveiled on Wednesday, White House officials said.

Helicopters, anti-tank weapons, tactical vehicles and spare parts are to be included in what will be the 11th package of military aid approved by the US for Ukraine since the invasion began in February.

In Wednesday’s article, Mr Biden wrote that the US’s goal was simply to see a “democratic, independent, sovereign” Ukraine, not to oust Mr Putin from his role as Russian president or to seek broader conflict with Moscow.

He blamed Russia’s continued aggression for the stalling of peace efforts, adding that the US would never put pressure on Ukraine to concede any of its territory in return for an end to the conflict.

Directly addressing the risk of nuclear weapons being used in Ukraine, Mr Biden said “we currently see no indication” of this being Russia’s intention – but warned that doing so would be unacceptable and bring with it “severe consequences”.

Soon after Mr Biden’s piece was published, Russian military officials announced that the country’s nuclear forces were holding drills in Ivanovo province near Moscow, Interfax news agency reported.

Previously Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has accused the West of “pumping up the Ukrainian nationalists with weapons” and said that any cargo of arms bound for Ukraine would become a legitimate target for Moscow.

The ministry has said that Nato countries are “playing with fire” by sending weapons to Ukraine.

Meanwhile in Ukraine, fighting is continuing in the eastern Donbas region.

On Tuesday, the governor of Luhansk said that one of Ukraine’s last holdouts in the region – the eastern city of Severodonetsk – was now mostly under Moscow’s control.

Russian forces now occupy almost all of Luhansk and are focusing on seizing neighbouring Donetsk, the two regions which collectively make up Donbas.

Denmark is the only EU member that has a so-called defence reservation.

But like its Nordic neighbours, Sweden and Finland, it has been reassessing its security policy since Russia launched its war on Ukraine.

Opinion polls suggest Danes back closer European defence ties, and the result could affect their military future.

Equally, there has been plenty of confusion about what the vote means in a country that is already part of Nato’s defensive alliance.

Danish leaders argue the regional security situation has changed, and that calls for Denmark to work more closely with the EU on defence issues.

“I believe with all my heart that we have to vote yes,” Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said during a televised debate on Sunday. “At a time when we need to fight for security in Europe, we need to be more united with our neighbours.”

But for that to happen this traditionally Eurosceptic nation needs a seat at the table.

For 30 years, the defence reservation has meant that Denmark plays no part in most European defence and security initiatives.

“Since it was created until now, generally, it has meant a loss of influence,” said Christine Nissen of the Danish Institute for International Studies. “We are not able to take part in the negotiations. We have no footprint.”

In practical terms the Danes are not invited to meetings, have little influence and cannot take part or finance any military operations. The EU is currently involved in several military missions and voting yes could mean taking part in at least two of them, in Bosnia-Herzegovina and off the coast of Somalia. Ultimately the decision would rest with MPs in Denmark’s Folketing.

It would mean joining the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy, and it would open the door to other security-related agencies. As Ms Frederiksen pointed out on the eve of the vote, Denmark is currently unable to work with its European allies on tackling cyber threats.

Within weeks of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Denmark embarked on a major policy shift. “Historical times call for historical decisions,” the prime minister said at the time.

A huge boost to defence spending was agreed by parliament in March, with an extra $1bn set aside over the next two years. That would then rise to 2% of GDP by 2033, in line with Nato membership requirements. That was also when the referendum and plans to phase out Russian gas were announced.

The debate in Denmark is all part of a sweeping overhaul of security policy across the Nordic region.

Sweden and Finland have decided to join Nato, ending decades of neutrality.

Denmark is a founding member of the military alliance, but it is currently weighing up allowing US or other foreign troops to be stationed on Danish territory.

Copenhagen’s move is understood to have been influenced by a change of course in neighbouring Germany, which has announced a huge hike in military spending.

“I think one should not underestimate the importance of Germany in Danish politics,” said Kristian Soeby Kristensen of Copenhagen University’s Centre for Military Studies. He sees the addition of German money adding considerable weight to the EU’s defence engine.

Latest polls suggest as many as 44% of Danes are in favour of scrapping the defence reservation and 28% opposed. However turnout among the eligible 4.3 million voters is expected to be historically low and almost one in five voters are undecided.

“You don’t have to do a large research project to conclude that this is a very sluggish election campaign compared with a local election or a parliamentary election,” election researcher Roger Buch told Danish newspaper Politiken.

Eleven out of Denmark’s 14 parliamentary parties favour dropping the reservation.

Those against include two right-wing Eurosceptic parties and a left-wing group. Among their concerns are fears that deepening EU defence ties might undermine Denmark’s place in Nato and uncertainty about military involvement.

An EU member since 1973, Denmark has often shied away from further integration. And its defence reservation came about after Danes narrowly rejected the 1992 Maastricht Treaty on closer EU integration.

After securing opt-outs on justice, home affairs and the euro, Danes finally accepted the treaty a year later. While the UK was an EU member state, it also had the right to opt in or out of several fields including justice and home affairs policies.

According to think-tank Europa, Denmark has used it defence opt-out 235 times over 28 years, but it’s been invoked much more frequently in recent years. This is largely due to Europe’s increasing number of security-related measures, particularly since Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea.

Referendums in Denmark on EU-related issues have often ended in a no-vote and this is the ninth so far.

Danes rejected the euro in 2000 and still use the krone. More recently a 2015 referendum on dropping Denmark’s judicial opt-out resulted in a no over worries about losing sovereignty on immigration.

Voting ends at 20:00 (18:00 GMT) and the result is expected before midnight.

Lord Geidt said he repeatedly told the PM’s team to be ready to explain if his actions stuck within the rules – even if he thought there was no breach.

But he said the advice had not been “heeded”, calling on Mr Johnson to set out his case to the public.

The PM said being fined by the police does not break the ministerial code.

Writing to Lord Geidt, Mr Johnson said he had “no intent to break the regulations”, and that he had been “fully accountable to Parliament and the British people”.

The ministerial code outlines the rules government ministers must follow when in office, including the “overarching duty” on them to comply with the law.

If the code is broken, the convention in Westminster is for a minister to resign.

Labour’s deputy leader, Angela Rayner, said the report was “the latest sign of the rampant sleaze engulfing Downing Street”, adding: “This prime minister has been found out and his days are numbered.”

Liberal Democrat MP Wendy Chamberlain also said it showed the PM’s own ethics adviser “no longer trusts him to tell the truth”, and that Mr Johnson was “not fit to hold public office”.

The Metropolitan Police carried out an investigation into lockdown breaking parties in Downing Street and Whitehall after allegations surfaced towards the end of 2021.

A total of 126 fines were handed out to 83 people as a result of the force’s investigation into 12 events during the pandemic.

And a wider report by senior civil servant Sue Gray revealed a drunken party culture within No 10 while the rest of the country was ordered to stay at home.

Mr Johnson – along with his wife Carrie and Chancellor Rishi Sunak – was given a fixed penalty notice by the Met for attending a birthday party thrown in his honour in June 2020.

Following Ms Gray’s report last week, the PM apologised to the Commons, saying he had been “humbled by the whole experience” and had learned lessons.

But pressure has continued to grow, with at least 12 MPs calling on him to resign since the report’s publication.

Analysis by BBC political correspondent David Wallace Lockhart

Despite some critical language in Lord Geidt’s report, the Cabinet Office is stressing that he’s not resigning.

But a Downing Street source would not deny reports – published in The Times – that Lord Geidt threatened to quit on Tuesday unless Boris Johnson publicly explained his conduct.

The prime minister did publish a letter, in which he denied breaching the code, insisting there was no intent to break the rules.

He went on to stress that he’d apologised.

Lord Geidt also reveals that he repeatedly advised the prime minister – via his officials – to address this very issue in the wake of his fine.

He adds he was assured this was conveyed to Boris Johnson. In his reply Mr Johnson says there may have been “a failure of communication” between their offices.

This is the latest development raising questions about Boris Johnson’s conduct, at a time when almost 30 of his own MPs have publicly called on him to go.

In his annual report on ministers’ interests, Lord Geidt said questions around Mr Johnson’s behaviour had led to an “impression… the prime minister may be unwilling to have his own conduct judged against” the ministerial code.

The standards adviser said it would be “especially difficult to inspire that trust in the ministerial code if any prime minister, whose code it is, declines to refer to it”.

He said when it came to the Partygate fine, “a legitimate question has arisen as to whether those facts alone might have constituted a breach of the overarching duty within the ministerial code of complying with the law”.

And even if the PM thought there was no breach, he should “should respond accordingly, setting out his case in public.”

Lord Geidt – who reports to the prime minister – said he had avoided “offering advice” to Mr Johnson about the PM’s “obligations under his own ministerial code” as he would be forced to resign if Mr Johnson rejected the advice.

But after repeatedly contacting his team “to ensure that the prime minister should publicly be seen to take responsibility for his own conduct under his own ministerial code”, the prime minister had “made not a single public reference” to it.

Mr Johnson said he was “not aware of the weight… put on the absence of an explicit reference to the ministerial code”.

But in his letter to his adviser, he insisted he had not broken it by being fined.

The PM wrote: “I have taken full responsibility for everything that took place on my watch, and reiterate my apology to the House and to the whole country…

“I have also been clear that there was no intent to break the regulations”, he added, before saying: “Paying a fixed penalty notice is not a criminal conviction.”

Mr Johnson also said that, in his view, the same principles applied to the chancellor.