Dominic Raab says ‘with benefit of hindsight’ he would have come home from holiday earlier

Published

4 years ago

August 25, 2021

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Dominic Raab has admitted that with the “benefit of hindsight” he would have come back from holiday earlier amid the Taliban takeover of Kabul.

Speaking to Sky News in his first TV interview since the crisis unfolded, the foreign secretary said it is “nonsense” to say he was “lounging around on the beach all day” while on his holiday.

He faced calls to quit last week after it emerged he remained on his luxury holiday in Crete instead of coming back to deal with the Afghanistan crisis.

“The stuff about me being lounging around on the beach all day is just nonsense,” he said.

“The stuff about me paddleboarding, nonsense, the sea was actually closed, it was a red notice.

“I was focused on the Cobra meetings, the Foreign Office team, the director and the director general, and the international engagement.”

Mr Raab added that about 2,000 people have been flown back to the UK from Kabul airport in the last 24 hours and that “the system is operating at full speed”.

“We will use every last remaining hour and day to get everyone we can back, the British nationals, the Afghans who worked so loyally for us, we are getting the Chevening scholars back, also women’s rights defenders and journalists.”

He added: “Mono-nationals, so single-nationality UK who have got documentation, the lion’s share, almost all of them that want to come out have been brought home.

“The ones that are remaining, and we have done an amazing job, two and a half thousand UK nationals if you go back to April… what remains are rather complex cases, large family units where one or other may be documented or may be clearly a national, but it’s not clear whether the rest of them are.”

When asked about reports the airport could switch back to allowing people to leave on civilian aircraft rather than military flights, Mr Raab said: “We do engage with the Taliban militarily on the ground, and in Doha with the political representation.

“We would like to see Kabul airport go back to being functional. That will require the security on the ground, it will require it to be done safely, and of course it will require the Taliban to live up to their assurances about allowing safe passage out.

“They’ve actually so far tried to be constructive, as we have seen with the numbers we have got, and tried to be constructive in their own way.

“And what we have then got to do is test them beyond the withdrawal date, will they still allow safe passage, as they have undertaken, will they allow humanitarian groups the permissive environment to be able to operate?

“So, there is a next stage of engagement, not recognition, engagement with the Taliban, and we will hold them very clearly to the assurances that they are already stating.”

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Mr Raab added that time will be taken to withdraw the UK military operation in Afghanistan.

“The military planners will work out how much time they need to withdraw their equipment, their staff, and what’s really important is we will make the maximum use of all the time we have left,” he said.

The Taliban has put an exit date of 31 August for all foreign evacuations.

And after Boris Johnson failed to secure an extension to a the US deadline for all western forces to leave, reports have suggested UK evacuation flights from Kabul may have to stop this week.

The Guardian newspaper reported on Tuesday that the last Royal Air Force aircraft carrying Afghans to safety from Kabul airport could even be in the next “24 to 36 hours”.

But defence sources described the timeline as speculative and said it was not “set in stone”.

Analysis, Tamara Cohen, political correspondent

The Foreign Secretary’s defence today of his ill-timed beach holiday as Kabul fell, has been to say it had no effect on the running of the evacuation, and that he was kept fully informed.

The airlift, he says, is now running at “full capacity” and the RAF will use every remaining hour – although how many hours are left is uncertain – to ferry thousands more people out. Meanwhile as our brave troops finish their job, he and the Prime Minister are rallying the West to form a united front to engage with the Taliban.

Not everyone is convinced. Mr Raab, who may appear before MPs on the foreign affairs committee for an emergency session next week, faces ongoing scrutiny about the government’s grip on Afghanistan after all the lives and taxpayers’ money expended there.

Senior Conservatives question the “bandwidth” in the foreign office over the past year; our own intelligence, and whether UK challenged key aspects of the US evacuation plan for example on the decision to close Bagram air base. “It’s bigger than Dominic Raab’s holiday, it’s how the machine operated, but his absence was a symptom of it”, one told me.

The angry debate in Parliament last week showed deep misgivings across the political spectrum about what role the government sees “Global Britain” playing internationally, which will be harder to brush aside.

A team of more than 1,000 British troops and diplomats running the UK’s evacuation mission on the ground will need a period of time to pack up their equipment and depart ahead of the final US exit date of 31 August.

It means that evacuation flights for Afghan civilians desperate to flee the country after the Taliban takeover will have to stop at least a number of days before then.

The Washington Post reported on Tuesday that US troops have started to pull out of Kabul already – but the tempo of flights and the number of people being airlifted to safety remains high.

More than 9,200 people – British nationals as well as Afghans who have worked with British troops and diplomats over the past two decades but are now in danger – have been flown to safety in the UK since 13 August as part of what has been dubbed Operation Pitting.

Politics

Laws may need to be bolstered to crack down on exploitation of child ‘influencers’, senior MP suggests

Published

45 mins ago

April 18, 2025

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Laws may need to be bolstered to crack down on exploitation of child 'influencers', senior MP suggests

Laws may need to be strengthened to crack down on the exploitation of child “influencers”, a senior Labour MP has warned.

Chi Onwurah, chair of the science, technology and innovation committee, said parts of the Online Safety Act – passed in October 2023 – may already be “obsolete or inadequate”.

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Experts have raised concerns that there is a lack of provision in industry laws for children who earn money through brand collaborations on social media when compared to child actors and models.

This has led to some children advertising in their underwear on social media, one expert has claimed.

Those working in more traditional entertainment fields are safeguarded by performance laws, which strictly govern the hours a minor can work, the money they earn and who they are accompanied by.

The Child Influencer Project, which has curated the world’s first industry guidelines for the group, has warned of a “large gap in UK law” which is not sufficiently filled by new online safety legislation.

The group’s research found that child influencers could be exposed to as many as 20 different risks of harm, including to dignity, identity, family life, education, and their health and safety.

Ms Onwurah told Sky News there needs to be a “much clearer understanding of the nature of child influencers ‘work’ and the legal and regulatory framework around it”.

She said: “The safety and welfare of children are at the heart of the Online Safety Act and rightly so.

“However, as we know in a number of areas the act may already be obsolete or inadequate due to the lack of foresight and rigour of the last government.”

Victoria Collins, the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for science, innovation and technology, agreed that regulations “need to keep pace with the times”, with child influencers on social media “protected in the same way” as child actors or models.

“Liberal Democrats would welcome steps to strengthen the Online Safety Act on this front,” she added.

‘Something has to be done’

MPs warned in 2022 that the government should “urgently address the gap in UK child labour and performance regulation that is leaving child influencers without protection”.

They asked for new laws on working hours and conditions, a mandate for the protection of the child’s earnings, a right to erasure and to bring child labour arrangements under the oversight of local authorities.

However, Dr Francis Rees, the principal investigator for the Child Influencer Project, told Sky News that even after the implementation of the Online Safety Act, “there’s still a lot wanting”.

“Something has to be done to make brands more aware of their own duty of care towards kids in this arena,” she said.

Dr Rees added that achieving performances from children on social media “can involve extremely coercive and disruptive practices”.

“We simply have to do more to protect these children who have very little say or understanding of what is really happening. Most are left without a voice and without a choice.”

What is a child influencer – and how are they at risk?

A child influencer is a person under the age of 18 who makes money through social media, whether that is using their image alone or with their family.

Dr Francis Rees, principal investigator for the Child Influencer Project, explains this is an “escalation” from the sharing of digital images and performances of the child into “some form of commercial gain or brand endorsement”.

She said issues can emerge when young people work with brands – who do not have to comply with standard practise for a child influencer as they would with an in-house production.

Dr Rees explains how, when working with a child model or actor, an advertising agency would have to make sure a performance license is in place, and make sure “everything is in accordance with many layers of legislation and regulation around child protection”.

But, outside of a professional environment, these safeguards are not in place.

She notes that 30-second videos “can take as long as three days to practice and rehearse”.

And, Dr Rees suggests, this can have a strain on the parent-child relationship.

“It’s just not as simple as taking a child on to a set and having them perform to a camera which professionals are involved in.”

The researcher pointed to one particular instance, in which children were advertising an underwear brand on social media.

She said: “The kids in the company’s own marketing material or their own media campaigns are either pulling up the band of the underwear underneath their clothing, or they’re holding the underwear up while they’re fully clothed.

“But whenever you look at any of the sponsored content produced by families with children – mum, dad, and child are in their underwear.”

Dr Rees said it is “night and day” in terms of how companies are behaving when they have responsibility for the material, versus “the lack of responsibility once they hand it over to parents with kids”.

Politics

Arizona crypto reserve bill passes House committee, heads to third reading

Published

2 hours ago

April 18, 2025

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Arizona crypto reserve bill passes House committee, heads to third reading

One of Arizona’s crypto reserve bills has been passed by the House and is now one successful vote away from heading to the governor’s desk for official approval.

Arizona’s Strategic Digital Assets Reserve Bill (SB 1373) was approved on April 17 by the House Committee of the Whole, which involves 60 House members weighing in on the bill before a third and final reading and a full floor vote.

SB 1373 seeks to establish a Digital Assets Strategic Reserve Fund made up of digital assets seized through criminal proceedings to be managed by the state’s treasurer.

Arizona’s treasurer would be permitted to invest up to 10% of the fund’s total monies in any fiscal year in digital assets. The treasurer would also be able to loan the fund’s assets in order to increase returns, provided it doesn’t increase financial risks.

However, a Senate-approved SB 1373 may be set back by Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs, who recently pledged to veto all bills until the legislature passes a bill for disability funding.

Hobbs also has a history of vetoing bills before the House and has vetoed 15 bills sent to her desk this week alone.

Arizona is the new leader in the state Bitcoin reserve race

SB 1373 has been passing through Arizona’s legislature alongside the Arizona Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Act (SB 1025), which only includes Bitcoin (BTC).

The bill proposes allowing Arizona’s treasury and state retirement system to invest up to 10% of the available funds into Bitcoin.

SB 1025 also passed Arizona’s House Committee of the Whole on April 1 and is awaiting a full floor vote.

Utah passed Bitcoin legislation on March 7 but scrapped the cornerstone provision establishing the Bitcoin reserve in the final reading.

The Texas Senate passed a Bitcoin reserve bill on March 6, while a similar bill recently passed through New Hampshire’s House.

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Politics

Slovenia’s finance ministry floats 25% tax on crypto transactions

Published

2 hours ago

April 18, 2025

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Slovenia’s finance ministry floats 25% tax on crypto transactions

Slovenia’s Finance Ministry is considering a possible 25% tax on crypto trading profits for residents in the country under a new draft law now open for public consultation.

The bill proposes to tax traders when they sell their cryptocurrency for fiat or pay for goods and services, but crypto-to-crypto and transfers between wallets owned by the same user will be exempt, Slovenia’s Finance Ministry said in an April 17 statement.

Under the proposed legislation, crypto tax will be aligned with existing tax laws. Slovenia taxpayers will be required to keep a record of all their transactions for annual tax returns. The tax base would be calculated on profits by subtracting the purchase price from the sale price.

In a statement to the Slovenia Times, finance minister Klemen Boštjančič said it’s unreasonable that crypto trading for individuals isn’t currently taxed in the country.

“The goal of taxation of crypto assets is not to generate tax revenue, but we find it illogical and unreasonable that one of the most speculative financial instruments is not taxed at all,” he said in a statement translated from Slovenian.

New tax could stifle crypto in Slovenia, lawmaker says

Jernej Vrtovec, a member of Slovenia’s national assembly and New Slovenia opposition party, slammed the proposal in an April 16 statement to X, arguing it could stifle crypto growth in the country.

“Slovenia has the opportunity to become a crypto-friendly country, but with the government’s proposals, we will miss the train again,” he said in a post also translated from Slovenian.

“With excessive taxation, we will once again see young people and capital fleeing abroad. Taxes should encourage, not stifle.”

The proposal is open to public consultation until May 5. If Slovenian lawmakers pass the bill, it will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2026.

Slovenia introduced a 10% tax on crypto withdrawals and payments in 2023, but capital gains from occasional crypto trading are not taxed, according to the crypto tax platform Token Tax.

Crypto activity can also currently be exempt from tax if it’s considered a hobby. Business activity, such as mining or staking, is subject to income tax.

A previous bill proposed in April 2022 planned to levy a 5% tax on profits over 10,000 euros ($11,372), but it was never passed into law.

Slovenia issued the first digital sovereign bond in the European Union on July 25 last year. It had a nominal size of 30 million euros ($32.5 million) with a 3.65% coupon and a maturity date of Nov. 25 that year.

The number of crypto users in Slovenia is projected to reach roughly 98,000 in 2025, according to online data platform Statista, with a penetration rate of 4.6% among its population of 2.12 million people. While the projected revenue for the country’s crypto market is slated to hit $2.8 million.

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