Kitney

January 31, 2019

Brexit is now all about the art of the possible

Theresa May’s current political strategy seriously risks running into a dead-end from which it will only be possible for a new prime minister, taking a…

January 10, 2019

Brexit reality: the UK is part of Europe

A shallow stretch of water between mainland Europe and mainland UK does not separate the United Kingdom from the consequences of what happens in Europe….

December 28, 2018

Party strategists struggle to woo voters

There is a deep sense of frustration about how to stop and reverse the breakdown of understanding between ordinary people and the political leaders and…

December 17, 2018

A mess from which there is no apparent escape

The Brexit proposal – that Britain should simply walk away, sticking a finger up to the EU as it leaves and embracing the glorious opportunities…

November 19, 2018

Ideologues gamble with a nation’s future

The idea of ‘pure sovereignty’ which Brexiters argue would be possible for Britain outside the European Union is an unattainable dream, writes Geoff Kitney. Who…

October 30, 2018

Corporate America waits in the post-Brexit wings

Trade deals involve trade-offs and every trade deal the UK strikes will involve some degree of sovereignty shedding, writes Geoff Kitney. The great phoney war…

September 26, 2018

A well-informed choice is not a betrayal of democracy

As the need for British common sense has become more apparent in Europe, Brexit seems to have taken a heavy toll on British common sense,…

September 5, 2018

Climate of division, even in the Lucky Country

Australia was once dubbed ‘the lucky country’. The difficult and divisive issue of climate change may just have put paid to that, writes Geoff Kitney….

August 6, 2018

So, can you ignore Donald Trump?

It’s a rhetorical question, of course, but there is a context in which it is worth asking. That context is Brexit, writes Geoff Kitney. When…

July 3, 2018

Britannia makes waves with £20bn ‘down-payment’

Since Britain voted to leave the EU a vocal group of conservative opinion leaders have been urging the Australian government to take a proactive role…

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Retreat on backstop as May suffers fresh Commons defeat over Brexit
Britain will soften its demand that the EU reopen the Brexit withdrawal agreement to solve the Irish backstop issue, The Times has learnt. The Brexit secretary Stephen Barclay suggested to the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier during talks this week that the government could accept legal guarantees that fell short of renegotiating the draft withdrawal treaty. The revelation will enrage Brexiteers, who inflicted another defeat on Theresa May last night before she has further talks in Brussels next week. MPs rejected a motion supporting the government’s EU negotiating strategy by a majority of 45. There was a co-ordinated show of strength by the Tory Brexiteer European Research Group that meant more than 50 Brexiteers withheld their support. The Times, February 15

Brussels official calls IAG plan ‘totally absurd’
The announcement by IAG, the owner of British Airways, that it would consider UK shareholders as EU investors after Brexit has been described as “totally absurd” by a senior official in Brussels. The Spanish airline group said this week that it had put a cap on the number of non-EU investors who can own shares in the event of a no-deal Brexit. But it also suggested it would count UK shareholders as EU investors even in that scenario. Airlines must show they are more than 50 per cent owned and controlled by EU investors to retain flying rights within the bloc, posing a challenge for some European carriers, such as IAG, Ryanair and easyJet, with their diverse investor bases. Financial Times, February 15

RBS warns of Brexit harm as profits double
Royal Bank of Scotland has reported profits of £1.62bn for 2018, more than double the £752m it made a year earlier. RBS chief Ross McEwan called the results “a good performance in the face of economic and political uncertainty”. Mr McEwan said the UK economy faced “a heightened level of uncertainty related to ongoing Brexit negotiations”. He told the BBC that Brexit could have a bigger impact on the economy than the Bank of England has suggested. Mr McEwan said: “Larger corporations are pausing on their investments. And this cannot be good for the economy long-term because those large corporations then employ smaller businesses and individuals. If this goes on for a long period of time we’re going to see the economy slowing down more than the Bank of England suggested.” BBC news, February 15

‘Gunboat diplomacy’ dispute upsets UK trade mission to China
Plans by chancellor Philip Hammond for a trade mission to Beijing have been soured by a “gunboat diplomacy” row sparked by defence secretary Gavin Williamson’s announcement that he would send a new British aircraft carrier to China’s backyard. China’s ambassador to London complained to the Foreign Office about Mr Williamson’s speech and British government insiders said the “idiotic speech” had complicated the proposed trip to Beijing by Mr Hammond, due to happen in the next few days. George Osborne, former chancellor, said the row characterised Britain’s confused approach to China, with Mrs May’s government unable to decide whether Beijing was an economic partner or a strategic military threat. “It is very difficult to work out what the British government’s China policy is at the moment,” Mr Osborne told BBC Radio 4’s Week in Westminster. “Ultimately it’s the responsibility of Theresa May to sort this out. At the moment it looks all at sea.” Financial Times, February 15

Trump will declare US emergency to fund wall
President Trump is poised to declare a national emergency on the US border with Mexico, allowing him to seize billions of dollars for a wall even as he signs a compromise deal providing limited cash for his signature project. Leading Republicans warned Mr Trump that the move would be unconstitutional and could be used by Democratic presidents to bypass Congress. At least two human rights groups said they would mount a legal challenge. The White House said Mr Trump would invoke his emergency powers to requisition the full $5.7 billion he wanted for 215 miles of new border barriers after Democrats curbed funds for the wall during bipartisan negotiations. The Times, February 15

Antisemitism rising sharply across Europe
Antisemitism is rising sharply across Europe, experts have said, as France reported a 74 per cent increase in the number of offences against Jews last year and Germany said the number of violent antisemitic attacks had surged by more than 60 per cent. The figures confirm the results of three recent Europe-wide surveys showing Jewish people feel at greater risk, and are experiencing markedly more aggression, amid a generalised increase in racist hate speech and violence in a significantly coarser, more polarised political environment. France’s interior ministry said this week that recorded incidents of antisemitism rose to 541 last year from 311 in 2017, while the German government said offences motivated by hatred of Jews hit a 10-year high of 1,646 in 2018. Physical attacks rose from 37 to 62, leaving 43 people needing medical treatment. The Guardian, February 15

Cabinet Office halts apprenticeships after budget cutbacks
A Whitehall department has been forced to halt its own government-funded apprenticeships after civil servants in the agency overseeing the programme slashed the budget to such a low level that the training provider withdrew. The retreat from workplace training at the heart of the UK government is a further blow to the credibility of its two-year-old levy scheme. Ministers had hoped to create 3m apprenticeships by 2020 but the scheme’s administrators admit they will fall well short. The requirement that employers set aside a percentage of their payroll that can only be spent, up to preset limits, on approved workplace training schemes, has been widely criticised by employers groups for being overly restrictive. The Cabinet Office had planned to create up to 120 associate project management apprenticeships a year when it started the scheme three years ago, paying £9,000 for each participant, the maximum allowed at the time, to specialist training provider QA. Financial Times, February 15

UK health service is chaotic and dysfunctional
NHS staff suffer from “learned helplessness” in a dysfunctional system, the chairman of NHS England has said in an attack on 25 years of flawed health policies. As accident and emergency units reported their worst waiting times on record, Lord Prior of Brampton gave a scathing assessment of the system over which he presides. He said that such targets had “had their day” and that they contributed to the erosion of the vocational culture of the NHS. He said that targets, competition and reliance on inspectors had all led to a disjointed system and demoralised staff. A series of NHS reforms that have broken up the health service into autonomous hospitals “makes driving an integrated strategy across the NHS almost impossible”, he added. The Times, February 15

Coca-Cola goes flat as shares slump
Coca-Cola shares suffered their steepest one-day fall in more than a decade last night after the fizzy drinks giant warned that weak sales overseas would damage profits this year. James Quincey, chief executive, said that the company was being “prudent” with its guidance for the year but investors had knocked $15 billion off the company’s valuation by lunchtime in New York. Coca-Cola, which was valued at $212 billion on Wednesday, is the world’s largest soft drinks company. In October it bought Costa, the British coffee shop chain, from Whitbread for £3.9 billion. It makes about two thirds of its money outside the US. The company said yesterday that Argentina, Turkey and the Middle East were likely to weigh on sales in the first half of the year, and a strong dollar would also take its toll. The Times, February 15