Houthis accused of ‘thuggery’ as defence secretary says UK open to more strikes in Yemen

Published

1 year ago

January 15, 2024

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Defence Secretary Grant Shapps has accused the Houthis of “thuggery” in the Red Sea, as he suggested the UK was open to carrying out further airstrikes in Yemen.

The British military joined forces with the US on Thursday night as it launched attacks in retaliation for the targeting of international trade in the key shipping lane.

Politics live: Ministers would consider further action against Houthis, says Shapps

Asked by Sky News’ Kay Burley if the government planned an escalation of the action, Mr Shapps said no, but insisted the UK would “monitor the situation very carefully”.

“Our intention is not to go into Yemen or anything like that, but simply to send a very clear, unambiguous message to the Iranian-backed Houthis that their behaviour in the Red Sea is completely unacceptable,” he added.

“We cannot have that situation where they are trying to harass [Red Sea vessels] and we’ll keep a very close eye.

“If we have to take further action then that’s something that we would consider.”

The US carried out a further strike in Yemen on Friday, but reports suggest only 25% of the Houthi capability to carry out attacks on cargo ships has been damaged.

“We never thought that this would remove all of their facilities,” said the defence secretary. “That wasn’t the goal. The goal was to send a very clear message.”

Describing the Houthis’ behaviour as “almost like thuggery,” Mr Shapps said: “We are waiting to see now what happens.

“That international waterway in the Red Sea should be open to international shipping. That is the international law.

“We got increasingly concerned that international shipping was having to reroute and adding hugely to the cost of shipping.”

He added: “We took the action that you saw last week and we’ve made it clear that we will wait and see what happens next.

“But we can’t have a situation where freedom of navigation, the ability for ships to move around the world in international waters, effectively impugned by Iranian-backed Houthis harassing that shipping.”

A spokesman for the Yemeni armed forces in the Houthi-controlled north of the country said in a televised statement that the bombardment “will not go unanswered and unpunished”.

And it linked the strikes with the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, saying it would not deter their support for the Palestinians.

On Sunday, Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron denied any link between the Yemen strikes and the war in Gaza, saying the action was “completely separate”.

But experts warned those in Arab nations would be unlikely to see it in the same way.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is expected to make a statement on the military action in the Commons later on Monday.

He briefed Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer ahead of the strikes on Thursday – who has given the government his support – as well as the Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle.

However, some MPs are angry ministers did not bring the issue to parliament before joining the US-led operation last week, with the Liberal Democrats demanding a retrospective vote on the issue.

Asked by Burley if Labour would support further action without parliamentary approval, shadow minister Sir Chris Bryant said: “Let’s hear what the prime minister has got to say this afternoon.

“Because I think we would – everybody will – want to know what is the limit of this action, what are we trying to achieve by it, have we achieved what we wanted to achieve already, and what happens if there are further incidents in [the Red Sea].

“So I think this is kind of ‘watch this space’. Everybody is very, very careful. I think that nobody wants to escalate the situation to a position where it could get out of control.”

Politics

US senators press for answers on Trump’s crypto interests

Published

4 hours ago

April 28, 2025

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<div>US senators press for answers on Trump's crypto interests</div>

Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren has called on government officials to address questions related to US President Donald Trump’s memecoin and his media company.

In an April 25 letter to Jamieson Greer, acting director of the US Office of Government Ethics (OGE), Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts and California Democratic Senator Adam Schiff requested that officials address concerns about Trump’s memecoin after the president announced a dinner and White House tour for some of the individuals who held the most TRUMP tokens. The two senators requested that Greer provide information on safeguards and guidelines related to whether foreign actors and others could buy political influence with the president, potentially impacting his policy positions and federal pardons.

“President Trump’s announcement promises exclusive access to the presidency in exchange for significant investment in one of the President’s business ventures,” wrote the two senators.

“In promising such access, this proposition may implicate several federal ethics laws and constitutional prohibitions, including the federal bribery statute and emoluments clauses of the US Constitution. It also raises the troubling prospect that foreign actors are using the memecoin as a vector to buy influence with President Trump and his associates without needing to disclose their identities publicly.”

Investments, SEC, United States, Donald Trump, Corruption — *April 25 letter from Sens. Warren and Schiff to OGE. Source:* *Sen. Schiff*

The letter was sent the same day Warren reportedly expressed similar concerns about Trump’s potential conflicts of interest with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). According to an April 25 Reuters report, the Massachusetts senator urged SEC Chair Paul Atkins to ensure that oversight of Trump’s media company was “free from undue political interference and influence from the President and his administration.”

Though ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, Warren does not have the authority to direct Congress’s agenda with Democrats in the minority. Two Democrats in the Senate and House of Representatives have already called for Trump’s impeachment over his memecoin dinner.

Warren added:

“The American people deserve the unwavering assurance that access to the presidency is not being offered for sale to the highest bidder in exchange for the President’s own financial gain.”

At the time of publication, it was unclear who among the top TRUMP memecoin holders would attend the dinner, scheduled to be held on May 22 at Trump’s golf club in Washington, DC. Speculation and analysis of users suggested that Trump supporters, including Tron founder Justin Sun, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, and others, could attend, though none had been confirmed as of April 28.

Magazine: Trump’s crypto ventures raise conflict of interest, insider trading questions

Politics

Polymarket bets on Mark Carney win as Canadians head to the polls

Published

7 hours ago

April 28, 2025

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Polymarket bets on Mark Carney win as Canadians head to the polls

Crypto users betting on the outcome of the snap election to determine the next Prime Minister of Canada appear to be favoring a Liberal Party victory as residents head to cast their votes.

As of April 28, cryptocurrency betting platform Polymarket gave current Canadian Prime Minister and Liberal Party candidate Mark Carney a 79% chance of defeating Conservative Party candidate Pierre Poilievre in the race for the country’s next PM. Data from the platform showed users had poured more than $75 million into bets surrounding the race, predicting a Poilievre or Carney victory.

Canada, Betting, Voting, Elections — *Polymarket chances favor the Liberal Party’s Mark Carney over the Conservative Party’s Pierre Poilievre to be the next Canadian Prime Minister. Source:* *Polymarket*

The odds suggested by the platform, as well as those from many polls, show a nearly complete reversal of fortunes between the two candidates after former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau resigned in January. Trudeau and, by association, many in the Liberal Party, faced criticism over the handling of Canada’s housing crisis and questions about how he would face US President Donald Trump’s then-proposed tariffs.

Following Trudeau’s resignation, Trump stepped up rhetoric disparaging Canada, repeatedly referring to the country as the US’s “51st state” and Trudeau as its “governor.” The US President also imposed a 25% tariff on goods imported from Canada in March. The policies seem to have led to increasing anti-Trump sentiment in Canada, with many residents booing the US national anthem at hockey games and making comparisons between the president and Poilievre.

This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it becomes available.

Politics

Small boat crossings pass 10,000 at earliest point in year since records began, Sky News understands

Published

8 hours ago

April 28, 2025

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Small boat crossings pass 10,000 at earliest point in year since records began, Sky News understands

Small boat crossings have passed 10,000 in 2025 at the earliest point in a year since records began, Sky News understands.

Analysis of previous Home Office numbers and footage of people arriving today show the number of people crossing the Channel continuing to rise.

The issue has become a lodestone for political parties across the spectrum, with Rishi Sunak’s pledge to “Stop The Boats” falling well short.

Politics latest: PM warns of Tory-Reform pact ‘disaster’

Sir Keir Starmer promised to clear the backlog of asylum applications and “Smash The Gangs” of people smugglers upstream, but critics say he has failed to do this almost a year into his stint in Number Ten.

Reform’s Nigel Farage has made the issue key to his party’s pitch to voters.

The 10,000 figure is understood to have been passed on 28 April. Official figures only go until 27 April at the time of writing, with 9,885 people detected crossing the Channel by the UK government at this point

This compares to 7,167 by the same date in 2024, 5,745 in 2023, 5,352 in 2022, and 1,796 in 2021. Data only started to get collected in 2018, and for the first three years fewer than 1,000 people were observed crossing the Channel before 28 April.

Fine weather conditions are known to lead to an increase in people crossing the Channel, with some efforts earlier this year stymied by heavy winds.

Sir Keir scrapped the Conservative’s Rwanda deportation plan when entering office. In March, the prime minister said his government had “returned” 24,000 people who had no right to be in the UK.

Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said: “Britain’s borders are being torn apart under Labour. This year is already the worst on record for small boat crossings after over 10,000 illegal immigrants arrived in Britain, but Labour just sit on their hands.

“Labour scrapped our deterrent before it even started, flung open the door to extremists and criminals, and handed the bill to hardworking taxpayers.

“Under new Conservative leadership, we are serious about tackling this crisis with deliverable reforms, but Labour continue to block these at every turn. Labour’s open-door chaos is a betrayal of the British people, and we will not let them get away with it.”

Mr Philp was part of previous Conservative governments, which also failed to reduce crossings.

Speaking to broadcasters, Mr Farage said: “If this carries on at this rate, by the end of this Labour government another quarter of a million people will have come into this country, many of whom frankly don’t fit our culture or cost us a fortune.”

He claimed that Reform is “the only party” saying that “unless you deport those that come illegally, they will just continue to come”.

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A Home Office spokesperson said: “We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security.

“The people-smuggling gangs do not care if the vulnerable people they exploit live or die, as long as they pay and we will stop at nothing to dismantle their business models and bring them to justice.

“That is why this government has put together a serious plan to take down these networks at every stage.

“Through international intelligence sharing under our Border Security Command, enhanced enforcement operations in Northern France and tougher legislation in the Border Security and Asylum Bill, we are strengthening international partnerships and boosting our ability to identify, disrupt, and dismantle criminal gangs whilst strengthening the security of our borders.”