As I watch the woeful spectacle of the appointment of the UK’s next prime minister by an un-representative electoral college that is at the top extreme of age and wealth, it seems an appropriate time to reflect on whether we are now facing the nadir of political leadership in our country. Elections suggest that, for […]
OPINION
Prime Minister Swinson and other things that never happened
The political world has changed and it is hard – not just practically, but emotionally – to keep up. Last week, I pulled off my shelf a book of counterfactuals by Iain Dale and Duncan Brack. It is entitled Prime Minister Boris and others things that never happened. Written in 2011, the relevant chapter runs […]
The peace case for the EU
Cameron predicts World War Three, screamed the tabloid headlines, when the former Prime Minister attempted to make the peace case for Britain’s EU membership during the 2016 vote. And he was denounced as a scaremonger, serving out another dish of Project Fear. Yet Cameron was right to make this argument – he just should have […]
Why the ambassador was right to go
Years, no decades, ago a boss of mine gave me some advice. “Never put anything in writing that you’re not happy to see on the front page of the New York Times”. I confess to not having followed that advice consistently. But then again, I’m not the UK ambassador in Washington. Very few, if anyone, […]
France needs an industrial strategy too
Twenty years ago, the Chinese still admired French industry. They envied us for our 4 As. Alstom, Alcatel, Airbus, Areva. Today, they only envy us one A. It’s Airbus, from which they’re trying to extract technological secrets by any means possible. Only a generation ago, Alcatel was the world’s most successful telecommunications company. It has […]
Establishment vested interests are denying the way the world really is
“The further we go along the path of business as usual, the more we are lost.” James Lovelock Most of us now seem to accept the fact that global warming is reality. We all have a vested interest in saying so, whether we believe it or not. We are seen by believers to be eccentric […]
Is it time for an electoral alliance to save the planet?
The polls in recent weeks have been a little nerve-wracking, at least for anyone who believes that democratic politics has the potential to make a difference – for better or for worse. They are in a sense exciting reading for anyone in the radical centre, but – if people are even a little bit thrilled […]
Is there a way back for Labour?
Immediately following the Euro elections I wrote: “Given the success of the Brexit Party, the likelihood is that the Tories might feel compelled to move to try to occupy some of that space. They may choose to elect a no-deal leader and pursue the mantra that, whatever happens, the UK will exit the EU by October […]
My reply to Putin on Liberalism
This year, we mark 30 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall. That moment was so much bigger than what it meant for the city of Berlin. The whole world breathed a sigh of relief, as at last the constant anxiety about two superpowers on the brink of war started to fade. And it […]
None of the four winners in Osaka are very nice
Created by Canadian Finance Minister Paul Martin in 1999 to bring together finance ministers from the world’s top 20 economies, expanded by President Sarkozy in 2008 to include heads of state and government, the G20 is a useful institution. It is an instrument that can help to heal or even anticipate global financial crises. Gradually, […]
