There is a long-standing maxim in broadcasting: always assume the mic is hot. In other words, if you are within range of a microphone, work on the basis that you are being recorded and exercise the appropriate level of discretion and confidentiality. Over the past 10 or 15 years, it has become clear that this […]
Keir Starmer will be packing his suitcases and selecting his travel outfit for his visit to Beijing later this week, the first for a British premier since Theresa May in January/February 2018. Like his predecessor, the Prime Minister will be accompanied by a substantial delegation of business and trade leaders, as well as the Chancellor […]
Events across the pond in recent months have ignited a much-needed debate in Britain on how this nation fits into the new world order. This has already been analysed in various articles and by international relations experts, so I won’t add verbose commentary, other than to summarise: the post-1945 world order, built on international law, […]
Just over two years on from one of the worst attacks on Jews since the Holocaust, and the beginning of a conflict that has left Gaza in ruins, it looks as though a semblance of peace may be brought to the Middle East. Under the terms of a ceasefire deal brokered by Donald Trump, the […]
For more than three years, Ukraine has been ravaged by the bloodiest conflict on the European continent since the Second World War. The outcome of this war will have significant ramifications for the security of all Europeans, yet we are not even at the negotiating table. We are relegated to the status of helpless bystanders, […]
More than 800 million people have been lifted out of extreme poverty over recent decades – not through wealth redistribution, but through access. Access to trade, to capital, to technology and to opportunity. That’s what open markets enabled. Imperfect, yes – but transformational nonetheless. And Britain – as the birthplace of modern free trade – […]
When the Prime Minister stood at his lectern outside UK Permanent Joint Headquarters at Northwood to announce his mind-boggling Chagos giveaway last week, he adduced one point into his argument with even more studied earnestness than usual. In an increasingly dangerous world, Starmer claimed, ‘Russia, China, Iran’ opposed the agreement – and therefore his deal […]
While the world has been focussing its attention on Ukraine and Gaza, potentially the most dangerous flashpoint of all has received insufficient attention: India versus Pakistan and the dispute over Kashmir. Equally, many media hours have been devoted to Donald Trump’s latest folie de grandeur, a new plane courtesy of the Qataris. In recent weeks, […]
We are living in a world of profound confusion. Despite many of our best wishes, Donald Trump’s promise of a trade war was no April Fools’ Day prank. The follies were merely postponed. ‘History repeats itself,’ wrote Marx: ‘the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce.’ Tariffs may prove him right, though the […]
The blunt reality is that there will be dwindling appetite and patience in the US Congress – and in the American body politic writ large – to expend increasingly precious funds on behalf of nations that are apparently unwilling to devote the necessary resources or make the necessary changes to be serious and capable partners […]
In a video-call address to a summit being held in Kyiv on the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced a further package of UK assistance to Ukraine accompanied by additional sanctions. He said the aim was to increase pressure on Vladimir Putin to make concessions in peace talks, declaring: Russia […]
If you need to hold a summit, Paris comes highly recommended: since the peace conference which produced the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, there have been at least four similar major meetings in the French capital. It was natural enough, then, that European leaders responded to President Emmanuel Macron’s invitation and converged on Paris on […]
Given the current state of the geopolitical landscape and the grave implications for minority religious communities, the reappointment of a special envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) has felt a long time coming. Nevertheless, the government has delivered an early Christmas present in the announcement of David Smith MP to take on the […]
Religious freedom is a human right. Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights makes that clear. Despite every UN member having signed onto this principle, religious persecution is on the rise globally. Christians are the target of most of it. For this reason, the new Labour government must make sure that the UK […]
If you were to sail around the Indian Ocean for long enough, chances are you’d run into one of the 60 islands comprising the Chagos Archipelago. Until yesterday, those islands had been sovereign British territory since 1814. After decades of disputes, Keir Starmer announced he will cede control of the land to neighbouring Mauritius, where […]
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