After concluding his trip to Egypt for the COP27 climate conference, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is headed to London to meet PML-N supremo, and elder brother Nawaz Sharif.
This visit to London is the third such trip since he became Prime Minister in April. The Dawn newspaper reported that this visit comes two weeks before the end of Pakistan Army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa's tenure on November 29. Citing earlier reports, the Pakistan daily said that Shehbaz would consult Nawaz on the appointment of the Pakistan army chief.
Pakistan's Information and Broadcasting Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb announced Shehbaz Sharif's visit but did not divulge information about the London trip.
"After attending the COP 27 conference, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif left for London on a private flight," Marriyum tweeted on Wednesday evening.
The political slugfest which started with Imran Khan's ouster from power in April by a vote of no confidence has in successive months worsened now after the assassination bid this month.
Aside from the call for early elections, another bone of contention between the coalition government and Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is said to be the appointment of the new Army chief.
"Whether anyone agrees or not, the current political standoff is all about the appointment of the next Army Chief. It started when PTI chairman Imran Khan was still in office," senior Pakistan journalist Hamid Mir wrote in a piece for The Friday Times.
"The PTI chairman had granted a three-year extension in term to Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa, but once he developed differences with him over the transfer of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Director-General, he decided to dismiss him early and appoint a loyalist for the job," he added.
Of the ten army chiefs Pakistan has had since 1972, half of them were appointed by the former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, according to Dawn.
He was repeatedly criticised for appointing officers he saw as an 'apna banda' (his man). However, none of the appointments worked in his favour.
(ANI)
FILE PHOTO: A general view shows British Steel's Scunthorpe plant, in Scunthorpe, northern England, Britain, March 31, 2025. REUTERS/Dominic Lipinski
The FBU is planning to introduce new internal policies and wants the TUC to take action as well. (Representational image: iStock)
FBU chief raises concern over rise in racist online posts by union members
THE FIRE Brigades Union (FBU) and other trade unions are increasingly concerned about a rise in racist and bigoted online comments by their own members and officials, according to Steve Wright, the FBU’s new general secretary, speaking to the Guardian.
Wright said internal inquiries have revealed dozens of cases involving members using racist slurs or stereotypes, often aimed at asylum seekers.
He said similar issues were reported in other unions, prompting a joint campaign to counter false narratives around immigration and race promoted by far-right groups online.
“People with far-right views are becoming more brazen in what they do on social media, and I’ve witnessed it with my own union around disciplinary cases and the rhetoric of some of our own members,” Wright said to the newspaper.
He added, “Some of our members and sometimes our reps have openly made comments which are racist and bigoted. In my time in the fire service, that has gone up.”
The FBU is planning to introduce new internal policies and wants the TUC to take action as well. A formal statement addressing far-right narratives will be launched at the union’s annual conference in Blackpool next month.
Wright cited the influence of social media and figures like Donald Trump and Nigel Farage as factors contributing to these incidents. “It feels like an itch that we’ve got to scratch,” he said.
The FBU barred a former official last year for allegedly endorsing racist content on X, including posts from Britain First and Tommy Robinson.
Wright also warned that the union could strike if the government moves to cut frontline fire services.