Featured News

July 18, 2019

Boris Johnson’s deceit maketh the man

Very soon the UK could have the least trustworthy prime minister for generations. Murray Ritchie poses the question: how did it come to this? If…

Boris for PM offers succour north of the Border

May resigns – and Johnson is waiting in the wings

A changing climate boosts the political divide

Brexit: A path to yes through a forest of no

Leadership, or the sad lack of it

5G, Huawei and a technology tipping point

Brexit is now all about the art of the possible

Brexit reality: the UK is part of Europe

January 7, 2019

Political peace in the UK is unlikely

Can the United Kingdom as currently constituted survive Brexit? Probably not, suggests Murray Ritchie. Later this month Britain’s House of Lords will debate the future…

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UK prime minister’s letter to Donald Tusk
“The date of the UK exit from the EU, October 31, is fast approaching. I very much hope that we will be leaving with a deal. You have my personal commitment that this government will work with energy and determination to achieve an agreement. That is our highest priority.”
10 Downing Street, August 19 (pdf)

Johnson increases efforts to ditch backstop
Boris Johnson has been rebuffed in his latest efforts to jettison the Irish border backstop from the Brexit withdrawal agreement, following his letter to the EU setting out why he sees it as “inconsistent” with his vision for the UK’s relationship with the bloc. In a letter to Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, on Monday, the prime minister said it was his “highest priority” to leave with a deal, pledging “energy and determination” to strike a new agreement. But he also outlined why the backstop was anathema to his vision for the UK’s post-Brexit future. “When the UK leaves the EU and after any transition period, we will leave the single market and the customs union,” Mr Johnson wrote. “Although we will remain committed to world-class environmental, product and labour standards, the laws and regulations to deliver them will potentially diverge from those of the EU. That is the point of our exit and our ability to enable this is central to our future democracy.” … Mr Johnson’s letter has received a broadly negative response. One senior EU official said they were “amazed” at the contents of the prime minister’s letter, citing that it contained no legal solutions for managing the “unique circumstances” of the border in Ireland. Financial Times, August 20

EU unconvinced by Johnson’s fresh bid to remove backstop
Boris Johnson has written to the EU suggesting the backstop could be replaced by some form of commitment to prevent a hard Irish border in his first major move to explain the UK government’s new position to Brussels. Ahead of talks with Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron, Johnson released a four-page letter setting out his position that the backstop is “anti-democratic and inconsistent with the sovereignty of the UK”, because it could keep the UK indefinitely in a customs union with no means of exit … On Monday night Brussels sources once again ruled out any renegotiation of the withdrawal agreement, including the backstop. “There was a two and a half year negotiating process in which the EU compromised, including on the question of the backstop,” a well-informed source told the Guardian. “The withdrawal agreement is not open for renegotiation and the backstop is not open for change. A legally operable backstop to avoid a hard border remains central to the withdrawal agreement for the EU27.” The Guardian, August 20

Li Ka-shing buys Greene King in £4.5bn deal
One of Asia’s richest men has agreed to buy Greene King in a deal valuing the brewer and pub operator at more than £4.5 billion. Li Ka-shing will add the maker of Abbot Ale and Old Speckled Hen to his burgeoning slate of British assets. The 91-year-old already owns the Three mobile phone network, Superdrug pharmacies and stakes in Northumbrian Water and the gas supply lines in Wales and the west of England. The 850p-a-share cash offer from CK Asset Holdings – a vehicle controlled by Mr Li – was 51 per cent higher than last week’s closing price and values Greene King’s stock at £2.7 billion. After absorbing its £1.9 billion debt, CKA’s final tab will rise to £4.6 billion. The Times, August 20

Apple splashes $6bn on shows in streaming wars
Apple has committed more than $6bn for original shows and movies ahead of the launch of its new video streaming service, a ballooning budget aimed at catching up with the likes of Netflix, Disney and AT&T-owned HBO. The iPhone maker has been preparing its foray into media for years, after hiring Jamie Erlicht and Zack Van Amburg, two well-known executives from Sony Pictures Television, to lead the charge in 2017. The pair were initially armed with $1bn to commission original content over their first year but the budget has expanded and the total committed so far has passed $6bn, according to people familiar with the matter. The company has spent hundreds of millions of dollars alone on a star-studded series featuring Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon and Steve Carell called The Morning Show. According to people familiar with the matter, that amounts to a higher price per episode than Game of Thrones, which reportedly cost $15m for each episode of its final season. Financial Times, August 20

Markets rally as Trump eases terms on Huawei
Stock markets rallied yesterday after the United States appeared to extend an olive branch to Beijing before trade talks next month and as President Trump called on the US Federal Reserve to slash interest rates. The US Department of Commerce granted a further reprieve to Huawei by extending by 90 days a grace period in which it can continue to trade with American companies. The Trump administration is using China’s top telecoms manufacturer as a bargaining chip in its trade war with Beijing. It put Huawei on its “entity list” in May, effectively banning American companies from doing business with it. Huawei was later allowed to buy from US suppliers that held special licences under an agreement that was due to expire yesterday. The Times, August 20

Indian spacecraft begins orbiting Moon
India’s second lunar module has begun orbiting the Moon, nearly a month after blasting off, officials have confirmed. The manoeuvre to put the module into the lunar orbit was completed at 09:02 local time (04:32 GMT) on Tuesday. Chandrayaan-2 was launched from the Sriharikota space station on 22 July, a week after the scheduled blast-off was halted due to a technical snag. India hopes the $145m (£116m) mission will be the first to land on the Moon’s south pole. Last month’s launch was the beginning of a 384,000km (239,000-mile) journey. Scientists hope the lander will touch down on the Moon on 6 or 7 September as planned. BBC news, August 20

Plan to hold Scottish indy vote in 2020 in doubt
Nicola Sturgeon’s preference for holding another referendum on Scottish independence in the second half of next year has been put in doubt after the Electoral Commission recommended a gap of at least nine months between the completion of the required legislation and polling day. Legislation to enable a second referendum was introduced by Sturgeon, the first minister, to the Scottish parliament in May. This could be completed by the end of 2019, but supporting legislation would then have to be passed to specify the details of the poll. In a submission to the Scottish parliament’s finance and constitution committee, published last week, the Electoral Commission insisted it should be given 12 weeks to assess the wording of the question to be put in the referendum. Referendum wording has been the subject of some controversy, since the draft bill states the commission will not be consulted if it has previously assessed or recommended a question, as was the case with the yes/no format used for the 2014 referendum. The Guardian, August 19

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