Aleppo air drops 'would endanger UK planes'-Week 07(white helmet)

British aircraft would risk being shot down if they were used to drop aid to the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo, a Foreign Office minister has said.

Tobias Ellwood said he was not ruling out the tactic but warned it would be "hugely complicated" and could place UK forces "in harm's way".

He was responding to an urgent question in the Commons on Aleppo.

More than 120 MPs have urged the government to authorise drops of food and medical supplies.

Their demands were reiterated in the Commons as Labour's Alison McGovern urged ministers to consider the move as a "last resort".

• What's happening in Aleppo?
• Why are children so badly affected in Aleppo?
• Rebel lose third of east Aleppo territory

She read out a statement from the Syrian Civil Defence, also known as the White Helmets, which warned that Aleppo is "in a state of emergency", with 279,000 people "under siege" for 94 days.

Mr Ellwood warned aid drops could land "in the wrong place" or "go to the wrong people", saying negotiating safe passage for land vehicles was a better option.

Given the scale of the aid that needs to get in, the number of aid drops would be "enormous", he said.

And responding to shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry, who also called for air drops to be considered, he said: "She's now advocating that British aeroplanes, Hercules aircraft or otherwise, go into Syrian air space and make those drops.

"They will be shot down."

'No alternatives'

Challenged over his comments later in the debate, Mr Ellwood said there was "the possibility that a British aircraft could be shot down".

He added: "I use this opportunity to say that we are putting British air personnel in harm's way."

Mr Ellwood also referred to the first Commons vote on air strikes in Syria, which was rejected in 2013, saying the UK had "blinked" when it could have taken action.

Mr Ellwood said the government could only explore other "opportunities" with the full support of Parliament.

Ms Thornberry said nobody was "underestimating the complexity and risks involved" with air drops.

She added: "But with no alternatives, with thousands facing death if they do not get immediate supplies of food and medical equipment, these are risks we must be prepared to take."

Keywords:

referred 參考

advocating 倡導

reiterated 重申

under siege 兵臨城下

source:

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-38134858

introduction:

這個嗎，所謂的白頭盔，看了這篇文章才知道，原來他們是敘利亞民間的防禦部隊。講難聽點就是在敘利亞的民兵拉。然後大概闡述了現在敘利亞發生的問題等等的。

Tory donor threatens to stop funding over Brexit plans-Week 08

A major Tory donor has warned that he will stop funding the party if Theresa May's Brexit plans involve the UK coming out of the single market.

Sir Andrew Cook, who has donated more than £1.2m to the party, told The Timesthe country could "sleepwalk to disaster" if it made such a move.

The engineering firm chairman said at least one of his factories was almost "entirely dependent" on access to it.

Sir Andrew backed the Remain campaign in the EU referendum.

He told the newspaper that the "economic arguments of staying in the single market are overwhelming" and it would be a "catastrophe" if the country left.

"It is very difficult to make a political donation to a party when, although I support it ideologically, I do not believe that my interests and my ideology are ad idem with the principal Brexiteers," he said.

Theresa May has insisted that she wants firms to have the "maximum freedom to trade with and operate in the single market".

But the prime minister is due to confirm in a speech later this month that the UK will have two fundamental red lines in its Brexit negotiations - control of its borders and freedom from the European Court of Justice.

She has pledged to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty - so getting leaving talks with the EU under way - by the end of March. These can take up to two years, unless an agreement is reached to prolong the process.

In November last year, the Conservatives reported more than £2.8m in donationsin the three months after the EU referendum - the highest amount of the major parties.

keywords:

dependent 依賴

referendum 全民投票

overwhelming 壓倒

ideologically 意識形態

insisted 堅持

source:

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-38540813

introduction:

這篇文章就是一位在英國的政治人物，Andrew Cook在向英國民眾講英國脫歐的好處，一直在向社會大眾灌輸英國脫歐會有非常大的利益等等。可是現在再回顧過去這位人物說的一些對於英國的利益等卻沒有任何一項實現。可是這個議題公投可不是鬧著玩的，只有一次機會公投。所以現在的英國民眾非常後悔，而這位人物現在在英國也是被唾棄得非常徹底。