Month: May 2023

The deal still needs to be approved by a divided US Congress.

President Joe Biden described the agreement as a “compromise”, while House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said it “has historic reductions in spending”.

The US Treasury earlier warned the country would run out of money to pay its bills on 5 June without a deal.

Such a default would upend the US economy and disrupt global markets.

The US must borrow money to fund the government because it spends more than it raises in taxes.

Republicans have been seeking spending cuts in areas such as education and other social programmes in exchange for raising the $31.4tn (£25tn) debt limit, a law that caps how much debt the US government can accrue.

Senior party members have said they will not raise the debt ceiling unless the government reduces its spending in the years ahead, while Democrats have countered with proposals to raise certain taxes.

Details of the new deal have not officially been released – but CBS, BBC’s partner in America, reported that non-defence government spending would be kept flat for two years and then rise by 1% in 2025.

There would be no major changes to Medicaid health insurance, CBS reported. It was unclear how exactly a government programme that provides food-purchasing assistance for people on low or no incomes would change, according to the report.

At a brief press conference late on Saturday, Mr McCarthy said he had spoken to President Biden on the phone twice during the day.

“And after weeks of negotiations, we have come to an agreement in principle. We still have a lot of work to do, but I believe this is an agreement in principle that’s worthy of the American people.

“It has historic reductions in spending, consequential reforms that will lift people out of poverty into the workforce, rein in government overreach, there are no new taxes, no new government programs, there’s a lot more within the bill,” he said.

Mr McCarthy added that he planned to finish writing the bill on Sunday and speak to President Biden again later in the day, before having a vote in Congress on Wednesday.

In a statement, President Biden said: “The agreement represents a compromise, which means not everyone gets what they want. That’s the responsibility of governing.

“And, this agreement is good news for the American people, because it prevents what could have been a catastrophic default and would have led to an economic recession, retirement accounts devastated, and millions of jobs lost”.

Both Mr Biden and Mr McCarthy will need to convince members of Congress in their own parties that the deal is a good one before the vote this coming week.

Ceremonies leading up to a formal inauguration began at 7.30am on Sunday with a prayer.

Mr Modi also installed a historically significant gold sceptre called sengol in the house chamber.

He has unveiled a plaque dedicating the new parliament to the country and is expected to make a speech later.

But MPs from several major opposition parties are not participating in the event.

Last week, 20 parties – including the main opposition Congress – had announced their “collective decision” to boycott the inauguration ceremony.

They had criticised the government for not asking President Droupadi Murmu, the parliament’s highest constitutional authority, to open the new building. They also denounced the decision to hold the event on the birth anniversary of Hindutva ideologue VD Savarkar. Opposition parties consider Savarkar as a divisive figure, while the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hails him as a hero.

The BJP has called the boycott a “disrespect of democracy”.

On Sunday, Mr Modi will also unveil a new 75-rupee coin to commemorate the event and serve as a tribute to 75 years of India’s independence.

The new parliament building is part of the government’s ambitious project to develop the Central Vista power corridor in capital Delhi.

Built in front of the British-era parliament, the new four-storey parliament building – built at an estimated cost of 9.7bn rupees ($117.1m, £94.2m) – has increased seating capacity, with 1,272 seats across two chambers.

The Lok Sabha chamber, which will seat the lower house of the parliament, is designed in the likeness of a peacock, India’s national bird. The Rajya Sabha chamber, which will seat the lower house, is designed to resemble the lotus, India’s national flower.

The current parliament building is expected to be converted into a museum.

The government has said that the new parliament was necessary as the older building was “showing signs of distress and over utilization”.

But its construction, along with that of the Central Vista project, during the pandemic had received criticism from many opposition politicians, environmentalists and civil society groups. They decried its cost, its construction during the pandemic and alleged that the government had not consulted other lawmakers and the public.

The Congress had also stayed away from the foundation stone-laying event of the new parliament in 2020.

Last week, several opposition leaders criticised the government’s announcement that Mr Modi would formally open the building, along with Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla.

Commentators have said that the row reflects a fractious milieu where India’s ruling party and the opposition are unable to reach an agreement on most issues.

“Both sides need to find a way out of the separate corners they have backed themselves into. They must do so because history will not forgive them if they won’t,” The Indian Express newspaper had argued in an editorial. “They must do so, for the sake of the people, and for the people’s parliament.”

As the new parliament is inaugurated, it may also witness protests by India’s top wrestlers outside the building.

The wrestlers, including Olympic medallists, have been on a month-long protest at Jantar Mantar, a heritage site in the capital Delhi, demanding the resignation and arrest of their wrestling federation president, Brij Bhushan Singh

Singh, an influential lawmaker and politician from BJP, is accused of sexual abuse and harassment of female wrestlers – allegations he denies.

Delhi police officials have told reporters that security has been tightened in the city and its borders to ensure that the protests don’t “disrupt” the parliament’s inauguration.

“Any attempt to create disturbance in the inauguration of the new Parliament building will be dealt with very politely and firmly. I request our respected athletes not to do any such thing today,” said Dependra Pathak, special commissioner, Delhi Police.

His challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu, backed by a broad opposition alliance, has billed the vote as a referendum on Turkey’s future direction.

The president, who is favourite to win, promises a new era uniting the country around a “Turkish century”.

But the more pressing issue is rampant inflation and a cost-of-living crisis.

Polling stations close at 17:00 local time (14:00 GMT). Turkish expats in Europe and the US have already cast their vote.

Turnout in the first round was an impressive 88.8%, and Mr Erdogan’s lead was 2.5 million votes. That is why both candidates have their eye on the eight million who did not vote – but could this time.

Ahead of the run-off Mr Kilicdaroglu accused his rival of foul play, by blocking his text messages to voters while the president’s messages went through.

Opposition parties are deploying an army of volunteers in a bid to ensure no vote-rigging takes place.

International observers spoke of an uneven playing field after the first round. But there was no suggestion that any irregularities in voting would have changed the result.

Mr Kilicdaroglu promised a very different style of presidency on his final day of campaigning: “I have no interest in living in palaces. I will live like you, modestly… and solve your problems.”

It was a swipe at Mr Erdogan’s enormous palatial complex on the edge of Ankara which he moved to when he switched from prime minister to president in 2014. After surviving a failed coup in 2016 he took on extensive powers, detained tens of thousands of people and took control of the media.

So it was laden with symbolism when he paid a campaign visit on Saturday to the mausoleum of a prime minister executed by the military after a coup in 1960.

“The era of coups and juntas is over,” he declared, linking Turkey’s current stability to his own authoritarian rule.

Turkey, however, is deeply polarised, with the president reliant on a support base of religious conservatives and nationalists, while his opposite number’s supporters are mainly secular – but many of them are nationalist too.

For days the two men traded insults. Mr Kilicdaroglu accused the president of cowardice and hiding from a fair election; Mr Erdogan said his rival was on the side of “terrorists”, referring to Kurdish militants.

But after days of inflammatory rhetoric about sending millions of Syrian refugees home, the opposition candidate returned to Turkey’s number-one issue – the economic crisis, and in particular its effect on poorer households.

A 59-year-old woman and her grandson joined him on stage to explain how her monthly salary of 5,000 lira (£200; $250) was now impossible to live on as her rent had shot up to 4,000 lira (£160; $200).

It may have been staged, but this is the story across Turkey, with inflation at almost 44% and salaries and state help failing to keep pace.

Economists say the Erdogan policy of cutting interest rates rather than raising them has only made matters worse.

The Turkish lira has hit record lows, demand for foreign currency has surged and the central bank’s net foreign currency reserves are in negative territory for the first time since 2002.

East of Ankara, gleaming tower blocks have been springing up in Kirikkale. It looks like boom-time for this city, run by the president’s party.

But many people here are struggling.

Fatma has run a hairdresser’s for 13 years but for the past two, work has dried up, and the cost of rent and hair products has soared.

She voted for an ultranationalist candidate who came third, and does not trust the two men left in the race.

A few doors up the street, Binnaz is working a sewing machine at a shop for mending clothes.

People cannot afford new dresses so she is earning much more, even if her monthly rent has trebled to to 4,000 lira. Despite Turkey’s stricken economy, she is putting her faith in the president.

Outside a supermarket, Emrah Turgut says he is also sticking with Mr Erdogan because he has no faith in the other option, and believes the president’s unfounded allegations that the biggest opposition party co-operates with terrorists.

Turkey’s second-biggest opposition party, the HDP, denies any link to the militant PKK, but President Erdogan has used their backing for the rival candidate to suggest a link to terrorists.

Whoever wins on Sunday, Turkey’s parliament is already firmly in the grip of Mr Erdogan’s Islamist-rooted AK Party and its far-right nationalist ally, the MHP.

The AKP also has the youngest MP, who arrived in parliament on the eve of the presidential vote.

Zehranur Aydemir, 24, believes if he wins then he will lay the foundations for a century in which Turkey will become a global power: “Now Turkey has a bigger vision it can dream bigger.”

It is another grandiose Erdogan project, but Turkey’s economy is likely to prove a more pressing task, whoever wins the run-off.

Glass bottles were a key part of Scottish proposals for the deposit return scheme (DRS), due to start in March – ahead of other UK schemes.

The UK government agreed for the scheme to go ahead in Scotland, but said it wanted to ensure it “aligned” with plans in other nations.

The move casts doubt over whether the Scottish scheme can go ahead.

Mr Yousaf told the BBC: “They’re not just trying to scupper the DRS – they’re trying to undermine devolution. We’ve seen it multiple times.

“Not only is it bad in terms of devolution and self government, it’s really poor for the environment. If we don’t include glass that’s 600 million bottles that won’t be moved from our streets, our beaches and our parks.”

BBC Scotland’s political editor Glenn Campbell said one source closely involved in the DRS had put the chances of it going ahead at 50/50.

The Scottish government is expected to take a couple of weeks to crunch the numbers before making a decision.

The scheme is aimed at increasing the number of single-use drinks bottles and cans that are recycled.

It means 20p will be added to the price of a single-use drinks container, which will be refunded to people who return it to a retailer or hospitality premises that offer single-use products.

The scheme was due to begin in August but was delayed following concerns from the drinks industry.

Some firms feared it would place extra costs and other burdens on them at a time when they are already struggling.

Similar UK initiatives are expected in 2025 – with proposals in Wales including glass bottles.

Because Scottish ministers wanted to introduce their scheme sooner, they had to seek an exemption from the Internal Market Act.

The legislation was brought in after Brexit in a bid to ensure smooth trade across the different nations of the UK.

There had been concerns that the timing of a Scottish scheme could create a trade barrier.

On Saturday morning the UK government confirmed it had accepted the Scottish government’s request “on a temporary and limited basis”.

The exemption from internal market rules lasts from the launch of the Scottish scheme until other planned schemes are in place in the rest of the UK.

Scotland’s DRS will cover PET plastic, aluminium, and steel cans only.

A UK government spokesperson said: “Deposit return schemes need to be consistent across the UK and this is the best way to provide a simple and effective system.

“A system with the same rules for the whole UK will increase recycling collection rates and reduce litter – as well as minimise disruption to the drinks industry and ensure simplicity for consumers.”

Mr Yousaf previously claimed it would be a “democratic outrage” for the UK government to agree to the DRS excluding glass.

However Scottish Conservative MSP Maurice Golden said the situation was a mess of the Scottish government’s own making.

He said: “Rather than trying to pick a fight, the SNP and Greens must now accept this help to create a deposit return scheme that actually works for the people of Scotland.”

Scottish Greens co-leader Lorna Slater, who had been driving the introduction of the DRS, said the Scottish Parliament had been “treated with contempt”.

The decision to exclude glass meant she would have to look “very seriously” at the viability of the Scottish scheme, she said.

Mr Yousaf added that millions of pounds had been spent on a scheme that proposed to include glass.

He said he did not want to go ahead with a scheme that excluded glass, but would look at the various options.

For it to work effectively, the Scottish deposit return scheme needs an exemption from the rules of the UK internal market act.

The Scottish government has asked for that and – on the face of it – their request has now been granted by the UK government. So what’s the problem?

There are strings attached. A tangle of conditions including the exclusion of glass that make the Scottish government wonder whether their proposals are still viable.

UK ministers will argue they are acting on a practical basis, to ensure any Scottish scheme aligns with future developments in other parts of the UK.

There are certainly businesses that welcome their intervention and others that may have an axe to grind against government at some level, having shelled out to prepare for a scheme that would include glass.

To Scottish ministers this is a power play by the UK government – an outrageous interference in devolved decision making akin to the block on gender reform legislation and resistance to indyref2.

The British Soft Drinks Association (BSDA) has said the “only viable option now” was for a UK-wide initiative to be launched across all four nations in 2025.

However Dougal Sharp, founder of brewer Innis and Gunn, said uncertainty over the scheme made things “brutal and impossible to plan”.

He said: “Businesses are already spending a lot of money on this scheme in Scotland. It just feels like another twist and a very shambolic scheme implementation.

“We’ve already seen it delayed from August. All of these delays inevitably lead to weakened consumer confidence and particularly business confidence.

“Businesses cannot plan in this environment. Businesses are struggling to survive and this is absolutely the last thing we need at the moment.”