United Kingdom

LONDON (Reuters) - Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, warned Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Sunday that he could not keep Scotland in the United Kingdom against the country’s will.

Johnson and his government have repeatedly said they will not give the go ahead for another referendum on Scottish independence, but Sturgeon said after the Scottish National Party won 48 of Scotland’s 59 seats in the UK parliament, her party had been given a mandate for one.

LONDON (Reuters) - John McDonnell, Labour’s finance policy chief, accepted the blame on Sunday for the main opposition party’s election “disaster” last week when many traditional supporters switched to back Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

“Let me make it clear that it’s on me. Let’s take it on the chin. I own this disaster,” McDonnell told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show.

LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Boris Johnson intends to bring back Brexit legislation to parliament before Christmas, deputy finance minister Rishi Sunak said on Sunday, adding that shortly thereafter the government would present a new budget.

“The overriding mandate that we have from this election is to get Brexit done ...We will leave the European Union in a matter of weeks, by the end of January. Our intention is to bring the Withdrawal Bill, the legislation, back to parliament before Christmas,” Sunak told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show.

14 December 2019; AFP: London stocks and the British pound jumped Friday after an election triumph for Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson that analysts said will bring clarity to Brexit proceedings and unlock stronger economic growth.

Other European stock markets -- although lagging buoyant London, which rose over two percent at one point -- also powered ahead, supported by confirmation of a partial trade deal between the United States and China.

LONDON, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- Clashes broke out in central London on Friday as hundreds of protesters took to Downing Street to "defy Tory rule" after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's election victory.

A heavy police presence was seen close to the Cenotaph in Whitehall, which was cordoned off as clashes broke out.

Videos on social media showed a huge police presence trying to contain the crowds, who could be seen scuffling with officers.

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil rose on Friday to its highest in nearly three months as progress in resolving the U.S.-China trade dispute and Britain’s general election result appeared to lift two clouds that have been dampening investor appetite for risk.

U.S. sources said on Thursday that Washington has set its terms for a trade deal with Beijing, offering to suspend some tariffs on goods and cut others in exchange for Chinese purchases of more American farm goods.

LONDON (Reuters) - Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said on Friday he would stand down as his party faced its worst electoral defeat in 84 years, but he did not set a date for his departure and added he would remain in charge during a period of reflection.

An exit poll and early results showed Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party were set for a resounding victory in Britain’s election, allowing him to deliver Brexit on Jan. 31.

LONDON (AP) — The Latest on Britain’s Brexit general election (all times local):

6 a.m.

Veteran Labour Party left-wing firebrand Dennis Skinner has lost his seat in the British election, one of many Labour lawmakers ousted by a Conservative challenger in Boris Johnson’s landslide victory.

The 87-year-old Skinner would have been the longest serving lawmaker in Parliament’s next term – known as the Father of the House -- if he had won Thursday. He was beaten in the traditional Labour stronghold constituency of Bolsover.

LONDON (AP) — The Latest on Britain’s Brexit election (all times local):

6:40 a.m.

The American president has taken to Twitter — where else? — to congratulate British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on “his great WIN” in the U.K.’s general election.

Donald Trump also wrote that “Britain and the United States will now be free to strike a massive new Trade Deal after BREXIT.”

LONDON (AP) — Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party has won a solid majority of seats in Britain’s Parliament — a decisive outcome to a Brexit-dominated election that should allow Johnson to fulfill his plan to take the U.K. out of the European Union next month.

With 640 of the 650 results declared, the Conservatives had 358 seats and Labour 202.

Johnson said it looked like the Conservatives had “a powerful new mandate to get Brexit done.”