Beyond Brexit

January 19, 2017

Europe: Britain never did get it

When Theresa May declared in her landmark Brexit speech this week that it was her fervent wish that Europe should succeed with the European Union (EU) project, it struck me how strange…

January 12, 2017

‘British bulldog’ triumphalism may prove dangerous

When John Maynard Keynes observed that “animal spirits” were a fundamental part of the way economies performed, he probably didn’t have in mind British bulldogs. But when Britain voted in June last…

January 11, 2017

Scottish politics in Brexit Britain – it’s complicated

Labour views with horror its abysmal poll ratings. The thought of a possible early general election is too alarming to contemplate. Just think then how bad things are for Labour in Scotland…

January 9, 2017

Union warns of Brexit brain drain

Higher education in the United Kingdom will be hard hit by Brexit, according to 90 per cent of UK lecturers and professors in a poll to be released today. Research funding had…

December 30, 2016

Who will lead the world in 2017?

Short of wartime and economic depression, it is hard to imagine a New Year arriving amid as much trepidation as this New Year. The year just ending brought us the shocks of…

December 21, 2016

Australia seeks to revive old trade ties post-Brexit

At a time when nostalgia is becoming a potent factor in politics, Brexit has become a beacon for politicians seeking to exploit the public’s new longing for old ways. The conviction that…

December 14, 2016

Associate EU citizenship needs political goodwill

The European MP who proposed associate European Union citizenship for United Kingdom nationals after Brexit last night hit back at critics who said such a move was unlikely, saying anything was possible…

December 14, 2016

Climate of change heralds new era of scepticism

Within sections of the international business community which applauded Britain’s vote to leave the European Union there is intense puzzling about what appears to be a glaring contradiction in the May Government’s…

December 14, 2016

Lords warn Government on trade access

An influential committee of the UK parliament has warned that Britain faces big post-Brexit obstacles to reaching a free trade agreement (FTA) with the European Union if it were to leave the…

December 14, 2016

Blood thicker than water in US-Scottish relations

When you publicly condemn Donald Trump’s views as “deeply abhorrent” and tell him “you’re fired” and then your phone goes, you could be forgiven for worrying when you hear the words: “The…

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No plan for immediate retaliation against Israel, senior Iranian official says
Iran has no plan for immediate retaliation against Israel, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Friday, hours after sources said Israel launched an attack on Iranian soil. “The foreign source of the incident has not been confirmed. We have not received any external attack, and the discussion leans more towards infiltration than attack,” the Iranian official said on condition of anonymity. According to Reuters, an Iranian analyst also told state TV on Friday that mini drones shot down by air defences in Isfahan were flown by “infiltrators from inside Iran”. Meanwhile, the Israeli hard right minister Ben Gvir has posted a one-word post on X on Friday: “Feeble!” The Guardian, April 19

Israel strikes Iran
Israel struck Iran early this morning, according to two Israeli defense officials, in what appeared to be the country’s first military response to Iran’s attack last weekend. Three Iranian officials confirmed that a strike had hit a military air base near the central Iranian city of Isfahan early on Friday, but did not say which country had attacked. The explosions came less than a week after Iran fired more than 300 missiles and drones at Israel, its first direct attack on the country, in response to an Israeli strike on an Iranian diplomatic compound in Syria that killed seven Iranian officials on April 1. For days, Israeli leaders have threatened to respond to Iran’s strikes, which turned the two countries’ yearslong shadow war into a direct confrontation. The attack came after the US and European allies imposed new sanctions on Iranian military leaders and weapons makers, while imploring Israel not to risk a wider war by retaliating too strongly. New York Times, April 19

US veto sinks latest Palestinian bid for full UN membership
The United States on Thursday spoiled a long-shot Palestinian bid for full United Nations membership, vetoing a Security Council measure despite growing international distress over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The move by Israel’s key ally had been expected ahead of the vote, taking place more than six months into Israel’s military offensive in the besieged Palestinian territory, in retaliation for the deadly October 7 attack by Hamas militants on southern Israel. Twelve countries voted in favour of the draft resolution recommending full Palestinian membership. Britain and Switzerland abstained. Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas’s office called the US veto “a blatant aggression … which pushes the region ever further to the edge of the abyss”. France 24, April 19

EU watchdog warns bloc still needs Russian LNG
The EU’s energy regulator has warned the bloc still needs to import Russian liquefied natural gas to avoid an energy shock, even as a group of member states seeks to ban purchases of the fuel from Moscow. Acer, the bloc’s energy watchdog, on Friday said efforts to curb Europe’s record imports of Russian LNG “should be approached with caution” because the supply of pipeline gas from the country is set to fall at the end of the year. “The reduction of Russian LNG imports should be considered in gradual steps,” Acer said in a report that highlighted the difficulty for the EU of balancing energy security with the drive to hit Russia’s finances by cutting gas purchases. The watchdog, which closely monitors Europe’s energy market for adverse developments, plays a lead role in co-ordinating national regulatory bodies. Although the EU has succeeded in replacing Russian pipeline gas with LNG since the Kremlin’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the global gas market is still tight. Financial Times, April 19

Why a deluge of Chinese-made drugs is hard to curb
The US government has long accused China of flooding the country with deadly drugs like fentanyl, a synthetic opioid up to 50 times stronger than heroin, claims the Chinese government denies. The US says Chinese-made opioids are fuelling the worst drug crisis in the country’s history. In 2022 more than 70,000 Americans died from fentanyl overdoses. According to a report published by the US select committee on the Chinese Communist Party, the Chinese government provides subsidies to companies openly trafficking illicit synthetic drugs. The report found tens of thousands of posts online advertising illegal drugs and pre-cursors. The study claims that “wholly state owned” companies are involved in the trafficking of drugs. The Chinese government has consistently denied knowledge of the illegal drug trade. BBC news, April 19

Thames Water submits plan to raise bills by 56%
Thames Water is understood to have resubmitted a business plan to the regulator based on a much sharper rise in bills than previously thought and with households having to foot an increase in charges of 56 per cent over the next five years. The government is finalising a renationalisation plan, codenamed Project Timber, in the event that Britain’s largest water company, heavily in debt, is unable to recapitalise, leaving the taxpayer on the hook for billions of pounds. Thames was plunged into crisis last month after its nine shareholders refused to pump any more financial support into the company. The Times, April 19

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Making Information Valuable

Beyond Brexit

Europe: Britain never did get it

‘British bulldog’ triumphalism may prove dangerous

Scottish politics in Brexit Britain – it’s complicated

Union warns of Brexit brain drain

Who will lead the world in 2017?

Australia seeks to revive old trade ties post-Brexit

Associate EU citizenship needs political goodwill

Climate of change heralds new era of scepticism

Lords warn Government on trade access

Blood thicker than water in US-Scottish relations