Theresa May’s visit to India earlier this month was overshadowed by the issue of visas. The Indian government proved to be particularly interested in the loosening of restrictions on British visas for Indian professionals and students. One of Narendra Modi’s former advisors described Britain’s stance, somewhat unfairly, as: “We want your business, but we don’t want your […]
How did you feel when you heard that a mother of two young children had been murdered by a gunman? I have no idea, as I write these words, whether you, the reader, are male or female, black or white, Left- or Right-leaning. But I reckon I’m on pretty safe ground in guessing your reaction […]
In the end, the big story of the Autumn Statement was really about debt — some £2 trillion of it by the end of the Parliament, peaking at over 90 per cent of GDP. George Osborne barely ever met his deficit reduction or debt targets, and wasn’t going to meet the final ones he announced […]
Economists are not known for unity of outlook when predicting the future. But before June’s vote on Brexit, almost all agreed on one thing: the British economy would be damaged by a decision to withdraw from the European Union. One survey found just one in 20 believing this might be a smart move. “It is […]
Notwithstanding certain desperate rearguard actions, Brexit is now inevitable. But what many people miss is that there were at least two opportunities to change that. In a recent article, former Conservative Europe spokesman Mark Francois explored some of the background to the Lisbon Treaty, and how its handling in Parliament started us down the road […]
Britain has a huge problem with immigration – or so many people think. The reality of immigration is generally positive, yet public perceptions are often negative – and that leads to illiberal, deeply flawed government policy. It is telling that while few people think immigration is negative for them personally, many believe it is detrimental […]
A few years ago, I heard Theresa May address a gala dinner in Westminster. Her speech, which ranged far beyond her responsibilities at the Home Office, was the clearest possible statement of intent: she wanted to be Prime Minister. The year after, I went to the same dinner, to listen to Philip Hammond. His speech, […]
On June 23, I watched as Britain’s referendum on European Union defied the polling data and Brexit won. My political science colleagues in Britain flooded social media in a combination of woe and disbelief. Clearly, the voters – deceived by the Leave campaign – did not understand Brexit’s implications. How else could such a wrong-headed idea have […]
There is surely no more iconic moment in the history of boxing: Muhammad Ali, the greatest fighter there had ever been – though surely now past his prime – hunched on the ropes of a Kinshasa ring as the hammer blows of the bigger, younger George Foreman crashed down upon him. For the disciples of […]
John McDonnell, the Labour Party’s Shadow Chancellor, gave a speech today. (For those of you that may have forgotten, what with the Labour Party not having said anything of any relevance and barely made the news since its leadership election, the Labour Party is still, just about, a thing.) It was, as McDonnell’s speeches usually […]
When Theresa May left India last week, completing her first international trip outside of Europe, she boasted that her visit had sealed £1 billion of deals, which would create over 1,300 jobs. “Leaving the European Union”, she declared, “presents us with a world of opportunities.” Even by the ritual hyperbole of these after-action reports, this […]
This is a transcript of a speech given at the Lord Mayor’s Banquet on November 14th. My Lord Mayor, My Late Lord Mayor, Your Grace, My Lord Chancellor, Your Excellencies, My Lords, Aldermen, Sheriffs, Chief Commoner, Ladies and Gentlemen. We meet tonight in a world transformed. A year ago, few among us would have predicted the […]
Liberal progressives have lost. The stark truth is that the model that has more or less dominated Western politics for the past three decades is defunct. It could not be more dead. Corbyn kicked us in the ass. Brexit knocked us off our feet. Now President Trump – so weird to write those two words […]
Ambrose Bierce, in The Devil’s Dictionary, defined the vote as “the instrument and symbol of a freeman’s power to make a fool of himself and a wreck of his country”. In the wake of Donald Trump’s election victory on Tuesday night, there will be many Americans who entirely agree. The obvious parallel for the anti-establishment […]
Since the UK voted to leave the EU, British politics has lurched from one crisis to another, as the government and British people struggle to grasp the implications of this choice. After Trump’s unexpected victory, on the back of a promise to reinvigorate a disaffected working class, the stakes of failure for social and economic […]
The West, as we have known it for the past 60 years, died this week. On most issues — security, trade, climate change — Donald Trump has nothing in common with the people who run the other advanced industrialised countries. We are trying to expand and deepen the global trading system. He wants to clog […]
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