Boris Johnson is scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia and the UAE on Wednesday to lobby the Gulf states to increase their production of fuel supplies to make up for reduced reliance on Russia.
In a statement issued by his office on Tuesday, the prime minister called the two countries “key international partners”.
The trip comes amid outcry from UK lawmakers, who urged Mr Johnson to scrap plans for a post-Brexit trade accord with Saudi Arabia as it executed 81 people over the weekend.
The government is also facing heat from the parliamentarians and is accused of wasting millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money on a so-called “festival of Brexit” calling it a “recipe for failure”.
The Unboxed: Creativity in the UK event, scheduled for next year, is supposed to showcase the country’s creative minds following its exit from the European Union with the government investing £120 million in it.
Slamming the initiative as “irresponsible use of public money”, the Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sports Committee in a scathing report said the ministers failed to communicate a “compelling vision” to the public for a “vague and shape-shifting” event.
MPs accuse Johnson’s government of wasting millions on ‘festival of Brexit’
Parliamentarians have accused Boris Johnson’s government of wasting millions of pounds on a so-called “festival of Brexit” as they slammed it as a “vague and shape-shifting event”.
The initiative, named “The Unboxed: Creativity in the UK”, is scheduled for next year. The government has so far invested upto £120m in the event that is supposed to showcase the country’s most creative minds following the decision to leave European Union.
However, in a scathing report, the Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sports Committee slammed the event as a “recipe for failure”, calling it an “irresponsible use of public money”.
Namita Singh16 March 2022 04:40
Welcome to The Independent’s coverage of UK politics for Wednesday, 16 March 2022.
Namita Singh16 March 2022 03:50