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BA cancels 80 short-haul flights to and from Heathrow

British Airways have cancelled 80 flights after London is forecast to be hit with cold temperatures ..

Published

6 years ago

February 6, 2018

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British Airways have cancelled 80 flights after London is forecast to be hit with cold temperatures and snow
Round trip flights to Aberdeen and Milan have been cancelled, alongside routes to Edinburgh and Dublin
Outbreaks of snow and freezing temperatures will make this week the coldest of the winter, forecasters warn
Series of weather warnings have been put in place, with widespread ice and sleet due throughout next week
The mercury could plummet as low as -14C in parts of UK, with sub-zero temperatures widely expected
Commuters in south east of England are facing treacherous conditions during this morning's rush hour

By Alex Matthews and Amie Gordon For Mailonline

Published: 02:23 GMT, 5 February 2018 | Updated: 21:57 GMT, 5 February 2018

Heathrow's Terminal 5 has been left almost entirely empty after British Airways cancelled 80 short-haul flights as Britain suffers what forecasters have predicted will be the coldest week of the winter so far.

Snow is predicted to fall across the majority of the UK tonight as the country prepares for the freezing weather.

Temperatures have fallen as low as -13.7C in the Highlands and are forecast to be similarly icy tonight.

Meanwhile British Airways has left passengers stranded and out of pocket after cancelling the flights out of London Heathrow as the capital is set to be hit by a flurry of snow.

The Met Office has warned this week could be the coldest of the winter, with many waking today to a blanket of snow.

There was heavy snowfall and ice across much of the UK as temperatures overnight fell to -6C in Katesbridge, Northern Ireland, -4.7C in Loch Glascarnoch, Scotland and around -3 across southern England and London.

Drivers suffered the consequences of the poor conditions in Kent, with five multiple-vehicle collisions involving 15 cars between junction 8 and 9 of the M20 last night.

Excited Londoners shared pictures of snow flurries across the capital this morning, with snow fall across Greenwich, the Royal Victoria Docks and Clapham.

But Met Office meteorologist Alex Burkill has now warned temperatures could plunge as low as -14C in Scotland and the north and -4C in London overnight on Tuesday, with freezing temperatures across the UK into Wednesday.

The biting cold is likely to remain throughout February, according to Mr Burkill, with below average temperatures dipping below zero.

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The 02 Arena in Greenwich, London was barely visible behind snow fall during the Monday morning rush hour

Heathrow's Terminal 5 (pictured) has been left almost entirely empty after British Airways cancelled 80 short-haul flights as Britain suffers what forecasters have predicted will be the coldest week of the winter so far

British Airways has left passengers stranded and out of pocket after cancelling 80 short-haul flights out of London Heathrow as the capital is set to be hit by a flurry of snow. Pictured: Terminal 5 at the airport today

Despite just a tiny layer of snow falling in London (pictured, Greenwich) BA has been forced to apologise to travellers after the airline cancelled short-haul flights due to 'ensure the safety' of passengers and staff

BA said that flights from London Heathrow would be operating back again from tomorrow and apologised for any inconvenience caused (pictured, sleet falls in Greenwich, south London)

Tonight it could dip to -3 across England and Wales and -8 in Scotland, according to the Met Office.

Mr Burkill said: 'There are indications of quite a prolonged cold period.'

Snow is set to fall in almost every part of the country in the coming days, with this week predicted to be one of the coldest of the winter so far.

Sub-zero temperatures are expected widely on Monday night and could drop to -6C in parts of northern England and the Midlands, the Met Office said.

A band of rain, sleet and snow will sweep in across Scotland and Northern Ireland overnight.

Between 1cm and 3cm of snow will fall widely and hilly areas could see up to 5cm, before the weather pushes into northern England and Wales.

Temperatures will dip further on Tuesday night – and could sink as low as -11C in parts of Scotland and northern England.

Manchester United legend Gary Neville was caught up in the chaos at Heathrow Airport, slamming British Airways as the 'worst airline I've ever seen'

Neville added that he deems British Airways a 'shambles'. The airline earlier decided to stop services over 'safety' concerns with routes to Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Milan, Dublin and Manchester all effected

Met Office forecaster Craig Snell said the first full week of February will probably be 'one of our coldest weeks of this winter so far'.

British Airways earlier decided to stop services over 'safety' concerns with routes to Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Milan, Dublin and Manchester all effected.

Flights are expected to be back running by tomorrow but BA has advised all customers to leave plenty of time for their journeys and check for updates before setting out.

Travellers have reacted furiously at the cancellations, with many left out of pocket or forced to rearrange their journeys.

On Twitter one fumed: 'Paid extra to fly @british_airways instead of the (more convenient) flights on the budget airlines.

'They then cancel my flight 24 hours before departure and don't answer my calls. Finally get on a flight and they subsequently lose my bag. Exceptional performance BA!'

Man Utd fans fume at 'shocking treatment' by BA

Manchester United fans heading to Munich have been left furious after British Airways cancelled 80 short-haul flights from London Heathrow over sleet and snow on the runway

Supporters travelling to Germany for the 60th anniversary of the Busby Babes tragedy were left forking out for rearranged travel and waiting for connections after the airline halted services over concerns about 'safety'.

BA took the measures despite London suffering barely an inch of snow, with routes to Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Milan and Dublin also effected.

Travellers from Manchester hoping to arrive in the Bavarian city prior to tomorrow's commemoration, which marks the death of 23 people, including 11 United players and staff, have reacted angrily online.

One supporter fumed: 'Mufc fans heading Manchester-Munich via Heathrow not got on BA flight this morning due to over booking their flight cancelled. Shocking treatment by BA.'

Another fan said: 'Never fly BA ever again. Cancelled 2 flights less than 16 hours before take off cost £424 to rebook.'

One Man U fan wrote: 'Loads of reds have had their BA flights cancelled from London to Munich as well… #poorisnottheword'

Another supporter tweeted: 'Spot on @GNev2 @British_Airways you're a disgrace! Cancelled 26 of our flights for a connecting flight to Munich today! Shocking!'

Another wrote: 'Thanks @British_Airways and @kiwicom247 for ruining my weekend. BA cancelled flight from Lyon 24 hrs in advance for adverse weather. All other flights seemed fine. Enjoyed spending £400 to get Home.'

One passenger fumed: '@British_Airways joke that you're Glasgow and Edinburgh fights were cancelled due to predicted snowfall. Bulls***. First and last time flying with BA.'

One ranted: 'Flight cancelled tomorrow morning to Zagreb adverse weather conditions here or there?'

Another said: 'Thank you British Airways – first time I choose to fly with you and I only find out from a colleague that you've cancelled our flight No text, email or anything to let me know! And you rebooked me without consulting me. #disappointed #britishairways'

Manchester United supporters were also caught up in the disruption, with some forced to find alternative arrangements as they travelled to Germany to take part in the 60th anniversary commemoration of the Munich air disaster.

One supporter wrote: 'Mufc fans heading Manchester-Munich via Heathrow not got on BA flight this morning due to over booking their flight cancelled. Shocking treatment by BA.'

Another fan said: 'Never fly BA ever again. Cancelled 2 flights less than 16 hours before take off cost £424 to rebook.'

There was a wintry scene in Hastings, East Sussex this morning after plunging overnight temperatures led to a thick blanket of snow

Residents in Saddleworth, Greater Manchester had to clear snow from their cars ahead of the Monday morning commute

Hardy dog walkers had to wrap up warm and brave the cold in the village of Plaxtol, Kent this morning

Snow covered Cheviot Hill in Northumberland as seen here from Blyth beach on the North East coast

A series of severe weather warnings have been put in place, with widespread ice and sleet due from today until the following weekend, the Met Office said Ice warnings for Monday morning

A series of severe weather warnings have been put in place, with widespread ice and sleet until the following weekend, the Met Office said (pictured right: ice warnings for this morning)

The Met Office said ice was likely to form until today along the east coast as temperatures plummet, bringing potentially difficult driving conditions.

Meteorologist Alex Burkill said conditions could plunge to minus double figures on Tuesday night in Scotland and the north.

The coldest night of the year so far was seen in Kinbrace, Scotland where it fell to -13.7C – and it could get chillier on Tuesday.

Mr Burkill said there could be a chance of snow on Tuesday night with lows of -4 in London.

The cold snap is expected to grip Britain until at least next weekend, with the chance that milder weather may not arrive until the middle of the following week

Five year old Scarlett Cox plays in the snow on her way to school in Tunbridge Wells, Kent after snow fell overnight

The Met Office issued a yellow weather warning for snow and ice across London - where flurries could be seen this morning

The Met Office issued a yellow weather warning for snow and ice across London – where flurries could be seen this morning

Drivers have already suffered the consequences of poor weather conditions in Kent, with five multiple-vehicle collisions taking place between junction 8 and 9 of the M20

There have been up to five multiple vehicle collisions on the M20 with drivers suffering minor injuries as a result

Kent Police urged motorists to take care and allow extra time for journeys as officers responded to crashes on the M20 near Maidstone

Heavy snowfall overnight in Whitstable in Kent Snow-topped trees in Royal Tunbridge Wells

Left, heavy snowfall overnight in Whitstable in Kent and right, snow-topped trees in Royal Tunbridge Wells

Mr Snell said the working week would start on a 'bitterly cold' note, with the bulk of the population waking up to temperatures between 0C to -2C.

He said: 'It's going to be a cold week, plenty of dry weather around, but many places will probably see some snow at some point during the week, but for a lot of us not really amounting to much at all.

'Probably one of our coldest weeks of this winter so far, but snow-fall wise, doesn't really look too disruptive at this stage.'

The mercury could plummet as low as -7C in sheltered parts of Scotland and spots most prone to the cold in the Midlands and Wales on Monday.

A snow and ice weather warning has been issued for Wales, Northern Ireland, most of Scotland and northern England, beginning on Monday night from 8pm and continuing until 3pm on Tuesday.

Forecasters say snow is likely to be confined to hills above 100 metres over Northern Ireland and low levels elsewhere.

Between 1-3cm of snow is possible away from the coasts, with up to 5cm predicted above 200 metres.

Then, between 9pm today and 3pm on Tuesday, there is a further chance of snow and ice for the north of England, northern Ireland, north Wales and Scotland.

One Twitter user shared pictures as they awoke to the snowy scene in their garden in Suffolk this morning

Photographs across social media depict a snowy scene this morning, as seen here in Uckfield, East Sussex

One car is left with a smashed back end after sleet causes slush on the M20 between junctions 8 and 9 in Kent

A spell of rain, sleet and increasingly snow will move east across the UK, gradually weakening across England and Wales.

Mr Snell added: 'Quite a lot of the UK will see some snow as we head through Tuesday but as it ventures into the Midlands, south-west England and eventually later in the day across south-east England, it's just going to be a few flakes of snow.

'So many people will see some snow but don't expect to build a snowman.'

Tuesday morning is again expected to be widely below freezing, with highs of 5 to 6C in spots on the western coast of Wales and south-west England, he added.

Overnight into Wednesday will be another chilly night, while the day will generally be cold, crisp and sunny.

People took to social media to share images of the snowy scenes they woke up to across Suffolk, Scotland and Kent

A front of rain is expected to move through the country on Thursday, before the cold air swiftly returns.

The cold snap is expected to grip Britain until at least next weekend, with the chance that milder weather may not arrive until the middle of the following week.

Kent Police said two crashes took place in the space of one minute on Monday morning, at 8.29am and 8.30am between junctions eight and nine of the M20.

The first saw a car overturn, leaving one person with minor injuries, while across the carriageway a lorry and a van collided, flipping the van and injuring one passenger.

Police said conditions were poor on a wider part of the network.

Original Article

Daily Mail

Australia

Ben Roberts-Smith: Top soldier won’t apologise for alleged war crimes

Published

3 months ago

June 22, 2023

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Ben Roberts-Smith is proud of his actions in Afghanistan, the former Australian soldier said in his first comments since a judge ruled claims he committed war crimes were true.

A landmark defamation case this month found Mr Roberts-Smith was responsible for the murders of four Afghans.

The Victoria Cross recipient says he is innocent and will consider an appeal.

“I’m devastated… It’s a terrible outcome and it’s the incorrect outcome,” he said on Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters from Nine as he returned to Australia for the first time since the judgement was delivered, Mr Roberts-Smith also said he would not apologise to those affected by his alleged crimes.

“We haven’t done anything wrong, so we won’t be making any apologies,” he said.

Mr Roberts-Smith sued three Australian newspapers over a series of articles alleging he had carried out unlawful killings and bullied fellow soldiers while deployed in Afghanistan between 2009-2012.

But Federal Court Judge Anthony Besanko threw out the former special forces corporal’s case against The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, and The Canberra Times, ruling it was “substantially true” that Mr Roberts-Smith had murdered unarmed Afghan prisoners and civilians, and bullied peers.

The 44-year-old, who remains Australia’s most-decorated living soldier, was not present for the civil court ruling, having spent the days leading up to it on the Indonesian resort island of Bali.

Mr Roberts-Smith, who left the defence force in 2013, has not been charged over any of the claims in a criminal court, where there is a higher burden of proof.

None of the evidence presented in the civil defamation case against Mr Roberts-Smith can be used in any criminal proceedings, meaning investigators must gather their own independently.

This week it was confirmed that the Office of the Special Investigator (OSI) – which is responsible for addressing criminal matters related to the Australian Defence Force in Afghanistan – would work alongside Australian Federal Police (AFP) to examine three alleged murders local media say involve the former soldier.

The killings allegedly took place at a compound codenamed Whiskey 108 and in the southern Afghan village of Darwan.

The OSI was set up following a landmark inquiry in 2020, known as the Brereton Inquiry, which found “credible evidence” that Australia’s special forces unlawfully killed 39 people in Afghanistan.

There are currently 40 matters that are being jointly investigated by the OSI and the AFP.

Earlier this year former SAS soldier Oliver Schulz became the first Australian defence force member to ever be charged by police with the war crime of murder.

Read from: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-65911638

Australia

Why Australia decided to quit its vaping habit

Published

4 months ago

May 28, 2023

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He’s talking about students in his class, teenagers, who can’t stop vaping.

He sees the effect of the candy-flavoured, nicotine-packed e-cigarettes on young minds every day, with children even vaping in class.

“The ones who are deepest into it will just get up out of their seat, or they’ll be fidgeting or nervous. The worst offenders will just walk out because they’re literally in withdrawal.”

Those who are most addicted need nicotine patches or rehabilitation, he says, talking about 13 and 14-year-olds.

is enough and introduced a range of new restrictions. Despite vapes already being illegal for many, under new legislation they will become available by prescription only.

The number of vaping teenagers in Australia has soared in recent years and authorities say it is the “number one behavioural issue” in schools across the country.

And they blame disposable vapes – which some experts say could be more addictive than heroin and cocaine – but for now are available in Australia in every convenience store, next to the chocolate bars at the counter.

For concerned teachers like Chris, their hands have been tied.

“If we suspect they have a vape, all we can really do is tell them to go to the principal’s office.

“At my old school, my head teacher told me he wanted to install vape detector alarms in the toilet, but apparently we weren’t allowed to because that would be an invasion of privacy.”

E-cigarettes have been sold as a safer alternative to tobacco, as they do not produce tar – the primary cause of lung cancer.

Some countries continue to promote them with public health initiatives to help cigarette smokers switch to a less deadly habit.

Last month, the UK government announced plans to hand out free vaping starter kits to one million smokers in England to get smoking rates below 5% by 2030.

But Australia’s government says that evidence that e-cigarettes help smokers quit is insufficient for now. Instead, research shows it may push young vapers into taking up smoking later in life.

‘Generation Vape’

Vapes, or e-cigarettes, are lithium battery-powered devices that have cartridges filled with liquids containing nicotine, artificial flavourings, and other chemicals.

The liquid is heated and turned into a vapour and inhaled into the user’s lungs.

Vaping took off from the mid-2000s and there were some 81 million vapers worldwide in 2021, according to the Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction group.

Fuelling the rise is the mushrooming popularity of flavoured vapes designed to appeal to the young.

These products can contain far higher volumes of nicotine than regular cigarettes, while some devices sold as ‘nicotine-free’ can actually hold large amounts.

The chemical cocktail also contains formaldehyde, and acetaldehyde – which have been linked to lung disease, heart disease, and cancer.

There’s also a suggestion of an increased risk of stroke, respiratory infection, and impaired lung function.

Experts warn not enough is known about the long-term health effects. But some alarming data has already been drawn out.

In 2020, US health authorities identified more than 2,800 cases of e-cigarette or vaping-related lung injury. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found 68 deaths attributed to that injury.

In Australia, a major study by leading charity The Cancer Council found more than half of all children who had ever vaped had used an e-cigarette they knew contained nicotine and thought that vaping was a socially acceptable behaviour.

School-age children were being supplied with e-cigarettes through friends or “dealers” inside and outside school, or from convenience stores and tobacconists, the report said.

Teens also reported purchasing vapes through social media, websites and at pop-up vape stores, the Generation Vape project found.

“Whichever way teenagers obtain e-cigarettes, they are all illegal, yet it’s happening under the noses of federal and state authorities”, report author and Cancer Council chair Anita Dessaix said.

“All Australian governments say they’re committed to ensuring e-cigarettes are only accessed by smokers with a prescription trying to quit – yet a crisis in youth e-cigarette use is unfolding in plain view.”

In addition to the government’s move to ban the import of all non-pharmaceutical vaping products – meaning they can now only be bought with a prescription – all single-use disposable vapes will be made illegal.

The volume and concentration of nicotine in e-cigarettes will also be restricted, and both flavours and packaging must be plain and carrying warning labels.

But these new measures are not actually all that drastic, says public health physician Professor Emily Banks from the Australian National University.

“Australia is not an outlier. It is unique to have a prescription-only model, but other places actually ban them completely, and that includes almost all of Latin America, India, Thailand and Japan.”

‘We have been duped’

Health Minister Mark Butler said the new vaping regulations will close the “biggest loophole in Australian healthcare history”.

“Just like they did with smoking… ‘Big Tobacco’ has taken another addictive product, wrapped it in shiny packaging and added sweet flavours to create a new generation of nicotine addicts.”

“We have been duped”, he said.

Medical experts agree. Prof Banks argues that the promotion of e-cigarettes as a “healthier” alternative was a classic “sleight-of-hand” from the tobacco industry.

As such vaping has become “normalised” in Australia, and in the UK too.

“There’s over 17,000 flavours, and the majority of use is not for smoking cessation”, she tells the BBC.

“They’re being heavily marketed towards children and adolescents. People who are smoking and using e-cigarettes – that’s the most common pattern of use, dual use.”

Professor Banks says authorities need to “de-normalise” vaping among teenagers and make vapes much harder to get hold of.

“Kids are interpreting the fact that they can very easily get hold of [vapes] as evidence [they’re safe], and they’re actually saying, ‘well, if they were that unsafe, I wouldn’t be able to buy one at the coffee shop’.

But could stricter controls make it harder for people who do turn to vapes hoping to quit or cut down on tobacco?

“It is important to bear in mind that for some people, e-cigarettes have really helped. But we shouldn’t say ‘this is great for smokers to quit’, says Prof Banks.

“We know from

Australia, from the US, from Europe, that two-thirds to three-quarters of people who quit smoking successfully, do so unaided.”

“You’re trying to bring these [vapes] in saying they’re a great way to quit smoking, but actually we’ve got bubble gum flavoured vapes being used by 13-year-olds in the school toilets. That is not what the community signed up for.”

Read from: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-65522841

Australia

Australia: Scott Morrison saga casts scrutiny on Queen’s representative

Published

1 year ago

August 27, 2022

Europe Disk

In the past fortnight, Australia has been gripped by revelations that former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison secretly appointed himself to several additional ministries.

The move has been labelled a “power grab” by his successor as prime minister, and Mr Morrison has been scolded by many – even his own colleagues.

But the scandal has also dragged Australia’s governor-general into the fray – sparking one of the biggest controversies involving the Queen’s representative in Australia in 50 years.

So does Governor-General David Hurley have questions to answer, or is he just collateral damage?

‘Just paperwork’

Governors-general have fulfilled the practical duties as Australia’s head of state since the country’s 1901 federation.

Candidates for the role were initially chosen by the monarch but are now recommended by the Australian government.

The job is largely ceremonial – a governor-general in almost every circumstance must act on the advice of the government of the day. But conventions allow them the right to “encourage” and “warn” politicians.

Key duties include signing bills into law, issuing writs for elections, and swearing in ministers.

Mr Hurley has run into trouble on the latter. At Mr Morrison’s request, he swore the prime minister in as joint minister for health in March 2020, in case the existing minister became incapacitated by Covid.

Over the next 14 months, he also signed off Mr Morrison as an additional minister in the finance, treasury, home affairs and resources portfolios.

Mr Morrison already had ministerial powers, so Mr Hurley was basically just giving him authority over extra departments.

It’s a request the governor-general “would not have any kind of power to override or reject”, constitutional law professor Anne Twomey tells the BBC.

“This wasn’t even a meeting between the prime minister and the governor-general, it was just paperwork.”

But Mr Morrison’s appointments were not publicly announced, disclosed to the parliament, or even communicated to most of the ministers he was job-sharing with.

Australia’s solicitor-general found Mr Morrison’s actions were not illegal but had “fundamentally undermined” responsible government.

But the governor-general had done the right thing, the solicitor-general said in his advice this week.

It would have been “a clear breach” for him to refuse the prime minister, regardless of whether he knew the appointments would be kept secret, Stephen Donaghue said.

Critics push for investigation

Ultimately, Mr Hurley had to sign off on Mr Morrison’s requests, but critics say he could have counselled him against it and he could have publicised it himself.

But representatives for the governor-general say these types of appointments – giving ministers the right to administer other departments – are not unusual.

And it falls to the government of the day to decide if they should be announced to the public. They often opt not to.

Mr Hurley himself announcing the appointments would be unprecedented. He had “no reason to believe that appointments would not be communicated”, his spokesperson said.

Emeritus professor Jenny Hocking finds the suggestion Mr Hurley didn’t know the ministries had been kept secret “ridiculous”.

“The last of these bizarre, duplicated ministry appointments… were made more than a year after the first, so clearly by then the governor-general did know that they weren’t being made public,” she says.

“I don’t agree for a moment that the governor-general has a lot of things on his plate and might not have noticed.”

The historian says it’s one of the biggest controversies surrounding a governor-general since John Kerr caused a constitutional crisis by sacking Prime Minister Gough Whitlam in 1975.

Prof Hocking famously fought for transparency around that matter – waging a lengthy and costly legal battle that culminated in the release of Mr Kerr’s correspondence with the Queen.

And she says the same transparency is needed here.

The Australian public need to know whether Mr Hurley counselled the prime minister against the moves, and why he didn’t disclose them

The government has already announced an inquiry into Mr Morrison’s actions, but she wants it to look at the governor-general and his office too.

“If the inquiry is to find out what happened in order to fix what happened, it would be extremely problematic to leave out a key part of that equation.”

Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull – Mr Morrison’s predecessor – has also voiced support for an inquiry.

“Something has gone seriously wrong at Government House,” he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

“It is the passive compliance along the chain… that did undermine our constitution and our democracy… that troubles me the most. This is how tyranny gets under way.”

PM defends governor-general

Prof Twomey says the criticism of Mr Hurley is unfair – there’s was no “conspiracy” on his part to keep things secret.

“I don’t think it’s reasonable for anyone to expect that he could have guessed that the prime minister was keeping things secret from his own ministers, for example.

“Nobody really thought that was a possibility until about two weeks ago.”

Even if he had taken the unprecedented step to publicise the appointments or to reject Mr Morrison’s request, he’d have been criticised, she says.

“There’d be even more people saying ‘how outrageous!'” she says. “The role of governor-general is awkward because people are going to attack you either way.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has also defended Mr Hurley, saying he was just doing his job.

“I have no intention of undertaking any criticism of [him].”

A role fit for purpose?

Prof Hocking says it’s a timely moment to look at the role of the governor-general more broadly.

She points out it’s possible the Queen may have been informed about Mr Morrison’s extra ministries when Australia’s parliament and people were not.

“It does raise questions about whether this is fit for purpose, as we have for decades been a fully independent nation, but we still have… ‘the relics of colonialism’ alive and well.”

Momentum for a fresh referendum on an Australian republic has been growing and advocates have seized on the controversy.

“The idea that the Queen and her representative can be relied upon to uphold our system of government has been debunked once and for all,” the Australian Republic Movement’s Sandy Biar says.

“It’s time we had an Australian head of state, chosen by Australians and accountable to them to safeguard and uphold Australia’s constitution.”

But Prof Twomey says republicans are “clutching at straws” – under their proposals, the head of state would also have been bound to follow the prime minister’s advice.

“It wouldn’t result in any changes that would have made one iota of difference.”

Read from: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-62683210