Liz Truss 'will pay for anything missing' from Chevening estate after being sent a £12,000 bill that included bathrobes, slippers and wining and dining guests — but ex-PM insists she is not liable for vast majority of tab
Daily Mail
The former Prime Minister will pay £12,000 bill for her time in Chevening House
Read more: Liz Truss refuses to pay £12,000 in missing bathrobes row
Liz Truss was last night at the centre of an extraordinary row after the Government demanded she pay more than £12,000 following the disappearance of items including bathrobes and slippers from her grace-and-favour country home.
The former Prime Minister was sent the bill by the Cabinet Office to cover the period last summer when she was using the Chevening estate to prepare for her short-lived administration.
A source said officials have told Ms Truss she needs to pay for items which went missing during her tenure at the home – and for food and wine she and her aides consumed there – as the costs were incurred for party political reasons rather than on state business.
But last night, a spokesman for Ms Truss told The Mail on Sunday she was contesting the bill and had requested ‘an accurate invoice’ before she agreed to settle it.
Ms Truss was still Foreign Secretary when she gathered with close aides at the 17th Century house in August, but felt that she was far enough ahead of Rishi Sunak in the Tory leadership contest to start planning for victory.
Chevening, a 115-room house set in 3,500 acres near Sevenoaks in Kent, was left to the nation in 1967 by the 7th Earl Stanhope and since 1981 has usually been placed at the disposal of the Foreign Secretary.
After winning the Tory leadership race in September, Ms Truss lasted just 45 days in office after the tax-cutting mini-Budget presented by her Chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, sent the markets into freefall.
A source said: ‘Liz used Chevening as a mini No 10, holding meetings with her inner circle which often turned into parties in the evening.
The Cabinet Office was told by staff at the house that items such as towelling robes and even slippers vanished during that period, and have asked her to cover the cost.
‘They have also objected to the idea that the taxpayer should foot the bill for what were basically a series of summer parties, and say she owes more than £12,000 for it.’
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Daily Mail
The former Prime Minister will pay £12,000 bill for her time in Chevening House
Read more: Liz Truss refuses to pay £12,000 in missing bathrobes row
Liz Truss was last night at the centre of an extraordinary row after the Government demanded she pay more than £12,000 following the disappearance of items including bathrobes and slippers from her grace-and-favour country home.
The former Prime Minister was sent the bill by the Cabinet Office to cover the period last summer when she was using the Chevening estate to prepare for her short-lived administration.
A source said officials have told Ms Truss she needs to pay for items which went missing during her tenure at the home – and for food and wine she and her aides consumed there – as the costs were incurred for party political reasons rather than on state business.
But last night, a spokesman for Ms Truss told The Mail on Sunday she was contesting the bill and had requested ‘an accurate invoice’ before she agreed to settle it.
Ms Truss was still Foreign Secretary when she gathered with close aides at the 17th Century house in August, but felt that she was far enough ahead of Rishi Sunak in the Tory leadership contest to start planning for victory.
Chevening, a 115-room house set in 3,500 acres near Sevenoaks in Kent, was left to the nation in 1967 by the 7th Earl Stanhope and since 1981 has usually been placed at the disposal of the Foreign Secretary.
After winning the Tory leadership race in September, Ms Truss lasted just 45 days in office after the tax-cutting mini-Budget presented by her Chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, sent the markets into freefall.
A source said: ‘Liz used Chevening as a mini No 10, holding meetings with her inner circle which often turned into parties in the evening.
The Cabinet Office was told by staff at the house that items such as towelling robes and even slippers vanished during that period, and have asked her to cover the cost.
‘They have also objected to the idea that the taxpayer should foot the bill for what were basically a series of summer parties, and say she owes more than £12,000 for it.’
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Read the complete version here ⬇️⬇️⬇️
Mail Online
Liz Truss 'will pay for anything missing' from Chevening estate after being sent a £12,000 bill that included bathrobes, slippers…
The former prime minister has been sent a bill of more than £12,000 by the Cabinet Office for costs incurred at Chevening House when she was preparing for her short-lived administration.
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EU schemes up sweeteners to woo countries away from Russia and China
A confidential briefing shows the EU’s individualized plans to win back — or not lose — four ‘priority countries’ on the Western alliance’s edges.
The EU is plotting how to win friends and influence people — in other countries.
Earlier this week, EU officials circulated a confidential briefing, obtained by POLITICO, that details several individualized plans to win back — or not lose — four key “priority countries” that sit on the edge of the Western-led alliance trying to isolate Russia, arm Ukraine and constrain China.
The countries: Brazil, Chile, Nigeria and Kazakhstan.
The document indicates where — and how — the EU thinks it can make progress in each one. There is the expected invocation of possible trade agreements, but the document goes well beyond that, suggesting tailored offers the EU can make on energy, migration, economic development or security coordination. The focus is distinctly on carrots, not sticks.
The unstated goal: To get more friends and build a next-generation economy without cozying up to autocrats. Indeed, Russia and China loom over the entire document, with several anxious mentions of the countries’ global influence or destabilizing behavior.
“We find ourselves in a competitive geopolitical environment: not only a battle of narratives but also a battle of offers,” the document argues. “We need to improve our offer and enhance our relationship with them.”
EU foreign affairs ministers are set to discuss the strategy at a meeting Monday in Luxembourg.
It is, said one senior EU official, “a huge reorientation … of the way we do foreign policy — not of our foreign policy, of course, but the way we do it.”
The memo shows how, fourteen months into the Ukraine war, the EU is still grappling with how to expand its influence. While the West’s core coalition has remained remarkably solid on the war, officials have struggled to make broader inroads in Latin America, Africa and Asia — especially in the face of the billions China is spreading around.
“It is not rocket science, but it’s good that it’s now being brought together into a somewhat coherent strategy,” one diplomat said. The “ultimate aim,” the diplomat added, “would be to somehow propose an alternative that could be more attractive than what China offers.”
...
#TransFormatorBuzzes : 💤
There is nothing new in that kind of policy — trying to influence the potential allies of your competitor. Maybe for now it is even a softer approach, than it used to be. I remember well the sensation in the 90s when it was obvious that the direction of the American aggression is pin-pointing those countries, which used to be in friendly relationships with the USSR: Yugoslavia, Iraq, Libya, Syria. It was an American revenge for their former policy and pro-socialist orientation. USA were purposedly destroying those states and impoverishing their people... However, they did not touch Cuba and Vietnam — two places where they have been rebuffed previously. So it was not just mean, but also a cowardly policy.
Just want to clarify, that we very well distinguish between American people and American political and financial elites...
Join us 👉 @TrFormer 💤
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Read the complete version here ⬇️⬇️⬇️
A confidential briefing shows the EU’s individualized plans to win back — or not lose — four ‘priority countries’ on the Western alliance’s edges.
The EU is plotting how to win friends and influence people — in other countries.
Earlier this week, EU officials circulated a confidential briefing, obtained by POLITICO, that details several individualized plans to win back — or not lose — four key “priority countries” that sit on the edge of the Western-led alliance trying to isolate Russia, arm Ukraine and constrain China.
The countries: Brazil, Chile, Nigeria and Kazakhstan.
The document indicates where — and how — the EU thinks it can make progress in each one. There is the expected invocation of possible trade agreements, but the document goes well beyond that, suggesting tailored offers the EU can make on energy, migration, economic development or security coordination. The focus is distinctly on carrots, not sticks.
The unstated goal: To get more friends and build a next-generation economy without cozying up to autocrats. Indeed, Russia and China loom over the entire document, with several anxious mentions of the countries’ global influence or destabilizing behavior.
“We find ourselves in a competitive geopolitical environment: not only a battle of narratives but also a battle of offers,” the document argues. “We need to improve our offer and enhance our relationship with them.”
EU foreign affairs ministers are set to discuss the strategy at a meeting Monday in Luxembourg.
It is, said one senior EU official, “a huge reorientation … of the way we do foreign policy — not of our foreign policy, of course, but the way we do it.”
The memo shows how, fourteen months into the Ukraine war, the EU is still grappling with how to expand its influence. While the West’s core coalition has remained remarkably solid on the war, officials have struggled to make broader inroads in Latin America, Africa and Asia — especially in the face of the billions China is spreading around.
“It is not rocket science, but it’s good that it’s now being brought together into a somewhat coherent strategy,” one diplomat said. The “ultimate aim,” the diplomat added, “would be to somehow propose an alternative that could be more attractive than what China offers.”
...
#TransFormatorBuzzes : 💤
There is nothing new in that kind of policy — trying to influence the potential allies of your competitor. Maybe for now it is even a softer approach, than it used to be. I remember well the sensation in the 90s when it was obvious that the direction of the American aggression is pin-pointing those countries, which used to be in friendly relationships with the USSR: Yugoslavia, Iraq, Libya, Syria. It was an American revenge for their former policy and pro-socialist orientation. USA were purposedly destroying those states and impoverishing their people... However, they did not touch Cuba and Vietnam — two places where they have been rebuffed previously. So it was not just mean, but also a cowardly policy.
Just want to clarify, that we very well distinguish between American people and American political and financial elites...
Join us 👉 @TrFormer 💤
Become a member of the @TransFormerChat
Read the complete version here ⬇️⬇️⬇️
POLITICO
EU schemes up sweeteners to woo countries away from Russia and China – POLITICO
A confidential briefing shows the EU’s individualized plans to win back — or not lose — four ‘priority countries’ on the Western alliance’s edges.
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Pawn shops and bread queues: poverty grips Ukraine as war drags on
People turn to handouts and pawning goods as Kyiv’s bustling bars belie reality of life in wartime for many
In the Treasure pawn shop in Kyiv, Oleksandra, 40, a well turned out woman in a hooded wool coat and Nike trainers, has come to redeem her sewing machines. Like all those visiting the store, she does not want to give her family name.
She says that when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, she was working as an accountant for a firm that employed 14 people, who were all laid off because of the conflict. Since then she has struggled to find regular work. With savings running out, like many others in Kyiv, she turned to pawning her possessions to get by, only finding a job a year later that allowed her to claim back her machines.
As Oleksandra leaves clutching her belongings, save for a mobile phone she has decided not to redeem, the cashier, Oleksandr Stepanov, remarks from behind his hardened glass window that on a busy day the shop can get 50 people coming in to surrender mobile phones and household appliances.
Those who can afford it, he says, will come back to get their goods within two weeks. Almost half, he adds, will not, leaving Treasure to sell on the items from a back room with displays of phones and watches. “People are struggling because of the war. They don’t have money.” Many have lost their jobs, he says, while prices have skyrocketed even for those who have jobs.
The scene in the pawn shop illustrates the crisis of growing poverty in Ukraine, the reality of which stands in contrast to the surface bustle of Kyiv’s busy restaurants and bars where it is often hard to get a table, with many living a precarious existence.
Poverty increased from 5.5% to 24.2% in Ukraine in 2022, pushing 7.1 million more people into poverty with the worst impact out of sight in rural villages, according to a recent report by the World Bank. With unemployment unofficially at 36% and inflation hitting 26.6% at the end of 2022, the institution’s regional country director for eastern Europe, Arup Banerji, had warned that poverty could soar.
Behind his window in Treasure, Stepanov describes the hardships experienced even by those who have work. “The price of everything has gone up. Food is the most expensive and then it is fuel for the car. Some things have gone up by 40-50%. Before the war my wife would go to the supermarket to shop and it would cost 200 hryvnia, now the same shop costs 400-500.”
...
#TransFormatorBuzzes : 💤
People may change their believes not because of arguments and discussion, but only if their usual comfortable routine would crash... Then, eventually, a thought would come: "maybe we were thinking and doing something wrong..." That is what at last starts happening in Ukraine. God help them to come to a right conclusion and not just as usual to blame "the muscovites" for everything.
Join us 👉 @TrFormer 💤
Become a member of the @TransFormerChat
Read the complete version here ⬇️⬇️⬇️
People turn to handouts and pawning goods as Kyiv’s bustling bars belie reality of life in wartime for many
In the Treasure pawn shop in Kyiv, Oleksandra, 40, a well turned out woman in a hooded wool coat and Nike trainers, has come to redeem her sewing machines. Like all those visiting the store, she does not want to give her family name.
She says that when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, she was working as an accountant for a firm that employed 14 people, who were all laid off because of the conflict. Since then she has struggled to find regular work. With savings running out, like many others in Kyiv, she turned to pawning her possessions to get by, only finding a job a year later that allowed her to claim back her machines.
As Oleksandra leaves clutching her belongings, save for a mobile phone she has decided not to redeem, the cashier, Oleksandr Stepanov, remarks from behind his hardened glass window that on a busy day the shop can get 50 people coming in to surrender mobile phones and household appliances.
Those who can afford it, he says, will come back to get their goods within two weeks. Almost half, he adds, will not, leaving Treasure to sell on the items from a back room with displays of phones and watches. “People are struggling because of the war. They don’t have money.” Many have lost their jobs, he says, while prices have skyrocketed even for those who have jobs.
The scene in the pawn shop illustrates the crisis of growing poverty in Ukraine, the reality of which stands in contrast to the surface bustle of Kyiv’s busy restaurants and bars where it is often hard to get a table, with many living a precarious existence.
Poverty increased from 5.5% to 24.2% in Ukraine in 2022, pushing 7.1 million more people into poverty with the worst impact out of sight in rural villages, according to a recent report by the World Bank. With unemployment unofficially at 36% and inflation hitting 26.6% at the end of 2022, the institution’s regional country director for eastern Europe, Arup Banerji, had warned that poverty could soar.
Behind his window in Treasure, Stepanov describes the hardships experienced even by those who have work. “The price of everything has gone up. Food is the most expensive and then it is fuel for the car. Some things have gone up by 40-50%. Before the war my wife would go to the supermarket to shop and it would cost 200 hryvnia, now the same shop costs 400-500.”
...
#TransFormatorBuzzes : 💤
People may change their believes not because of arguments and discussion, but only if their usual comfortable routine would crash... Then, eventually, a thought would come: "maybe we were thinking and doing something wrong..." That is what at last starts happening in Ukraine. God help them to come to a right conclusion and not just as usual to blame "the muscovites" for everything.
Join us 👉 @TrFormer 💤
Become a member of the @TransFormerChat
Read the complete version here ⬇️⬇️⬇️
the Guardian
Pawn shops and bread queues: poverty grips Ukraine as war drags on
People turn to handouts and pawning goods as Kyiv’s bustling bars belie reality of life in wartime for many
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Why is Labor Day celebrated on May 1 in Russia?
On May 1, 1886, American workers in the city of Chicago went on strike demanding an 8-hour work day. It ended in clashes with the police and bloodshed — in memory of the victims, the Second International meeting in Paris made May 1 a day of international solidarity of workers.
In the Russian Empire, workers celebrated May 1 with demonstrations demanding rights and better working conditions. And, in the USSR, the day became an official holiday with processions and parades. It continues to be celebrated similarly in modern Russia.
From @russiabeyond
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On May 1, 1886, American workers in the city of Chicago went on strike demanding an 8-hour work day. It ended in clashes with the police and bloodshed — in memory of the victims, the Second International meeting in Paris made May 1 a day of international solidarity of workers.
In the Russian Empire, workers celebrated May 1 with demonstrations demanding rights and better working conditions. And, in the USSR, the day became an official holiday with processions and parades. It continues to be celebrated similarly in modern Russia.
From @russiabeyond
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France, Marseille, the largest demonstration of workers in the history of the city took place over the weekend.
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Thousands of demonstrators take to the streets around Trafalgar Square UK, demanding higher wages and better working conditions.
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❗️ In Paris, protests over pension reform have turned into intense movements with the police.
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An action against Russophobia is taking place in Riga
The organizers are the Russian Union of Latvia party. She stands for the preservation of the memorable day of May 9, the end of the harassment of journalists and the possibility of education in Russian.
✍️ At today's rally, it is planned to sign a petition against Russophobia (demolition of monuments, renaming of streets, denial of service to Russian speakers).
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The organizers are the Russian Union of Latvia party. She stands for the preservation of the memorable day of May 9, the end of the harassment of journalists and the possibility of education in Russian.
✍️ At today's rally, it is planned to sign a petition against Russophobia (demolition of monuments, renaming of streets, denial of service to Russian speakers).
👉Join us @TrFormer💤
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Watch "Chinese female soldiers are so cool-May Day National Flag Raising Ceremony of PLA Hong Kong Garrison" on YouTube 👈
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YouTube
驻港女兵真飒！解放军驻香港部队五一升国旗仪式 / May Day National Flag Raising Ceremony of PLA Hong Kong Garrison
5月1日，驻香港部队在中区军用码头组织隆重升国旗仪式，首次邀请来队亲属和官兵代表一起参加，在庆祝节日、致敬劳动者的同时，激励广大官兵勠力同心、接续奋斗，为维护香港长期繁荣稳定贡献自己的力量。驻港女兵母亲，女儿守卫香港是她和我们的骄傲！
On May 1, the People's Liberation Army Hong Kong Garrison organized a grand flag-raising ceremony at the Central District Military Wharf.…
On May 1, the People's Liberation Army Hong Kong Garrison organized a grand flag-raising ceremony at the Central District Military Wharf.…
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Forwarded from ЭТО Я
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"The Soviet Army liberated me."
In Warsaw, at an official ceremony dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, an old Jew told an inconvenient truth. In the presence of the Polish political elite led by President Andrei Duda, the prisoner of the Jewish ghetto Marian Tursky (Moshe Turbovich) said from the podium:
"People like them have endured several years of unimaginable torment and humiliation. They suffered from the Germans and from Ukrainians and Lithuanians who collaborated with them. They had to pay for hours or hundreds of zlotys for a sip of water. I was in Auschwitz and survived two death marches. Freedom was brought to me by the Soviet Army, which had the majority of Russians. My gratitude to those who freed me from the German camps will accompany me until the last day of my life..."
Thank you, Grandfather, for the truth!!!
In Warsaw, at an official ceremony dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, an old Jew told an inconvenient truth. In the presence of the Polish political elite led by President Andrei Duda, the prisoner of the Jewish ghetto Marian Tursky (Moshe Turbovich) said from the podium:
"People like them have endured several years of unimaginable torment and humiliation. They suffered from the Germans and from Ukrainians and Lithuanians who collaborated with them. They had to pay for hours or hundreds of zlotys for a sip of water. I was in Auschwitz and survived two death marches. Freedom was brought to me by the Soviet Army, which had the majority of Russians. My gratitude to those who freed me from the German camps will accompany me until the last day of my life..."
Thank you, Grandfather, for the truth!!!
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Biden at a reception in honor of Eid al-Fitr advised to shut up a White House guest who tried to tell the president about the first Muslim judge.
As found by our subscriber 🙏
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As found by our subscriber 🙏
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