The Spectator

Portrait of the week: vapes banned, Sunak fasts and royals leave hospital

issue 03 February 2024

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Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton, the Foreign Secretary, set off on his fourth visit to the Middle East after saying: ‘We – with allies – will look at the issue of recognising a Palestinian state, including at the United Nations.’ The Democratic Unionist party agreed to return to the power-sharing government in Northern Ireland, in return for a change in the law surrounding the Windsor Framework post-Brexit agreement with the European Union. Separately, from the end of January veterinary certificates were legally required for fresh food and plant imports from the EU to England. The population of the United Kingdom would reach 70 million by 2026, the Office for National Statistics forecast, and by 2036 would reach 73.7 million, after 7.6 million people had left the country and 13.7 million arrived. At the weekend, 388 migrants in small boats crossed the Channel, bringing the total for January to 1,169, compared with 1,180 last January.

The government told Vodafone that its relationship with its largest shareholder, the UAE-controlled group Emirates Telecommunications, posed a risk to national security.

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