Government

November 23, 2016

Democratic dominos line up. Will they fall?

In the major capitals of Europe, almost anyone in an official capacity that you talk to is using the language of impending danger and potential doom. Fear is palpable. Uncertainty about the…

November 16, 2016

UK citizens: waving, not drowning

Grateful UK citizens have bombarded the office of European MP Charles Goerens with offers of thanks following his proposal to introduce “associate European Union citizenship”. The Luxembourg MEP last week called for…

November 16, 2016

The psychology of government

As political parties around the world try to work out why opinion pollsters are struggling to get accurate readings of what is on voters’ minds, governments are beginning to tap into pioneering…

November 9, 2016

Trump means Trump

The result was due in the early hours of Wednesday morning in the UK. It took longer to become definitive. At 7:40am Hillary Clinton conceded defeat and Donald Trump exceeded expectations, except…

November 9, 2016

Welcome to a Brexit world

Donald Trump’s victory in the US election has confirmed that the Brexit vote was not just some historical oddity but the first manifestation of what we now know is a shift in…

November 2, 2016

Ailing pound causes company jitters

Currency fluctuation is the “number one concern” of many senior grocery industry representatives – not Brexit – according to a survey conducted by IGD, the food and grocery research and training charity….

October 26, 2016

EU faces €1.8 billion budget shortfall

The European Union is facing a funding shortfall of €1.8 billion in this year’s budget following the dramatic fall of the British pound since the Brexit referendum. An EU official told Chief-Exec.com…

October 26, 2016

£36bn in missing taxes

About £36 billion in taxes were not collected, avoided or evaded last financial year, according to a report produced by HM Revenue & Customs. However, the “tax gap” – the difference between…

September 28, 2016

Lean civil service bulks up for Brexit

Barely a civil service department will be untouched by the push to attract the best and brightest to the government’s EU exit team, Chief-Exec.com has been told. Now it was essential that the…

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Israeli army operation in West Bank’s Tulkarm ‘like a smaller-scale Gaza’
The Israeli military has expanded its operation, dubbed “Iron Wall”, from the West Bank’s Jenin refugee camp to Tulkram, further north in the occupied Palestinian territory. The IDF says it has found what it calls terrorist infrastructure in Tulkarm. But residents of the neighbourhood say only families live there, who are being unfairly targeted and inhumanely treated. France 24, February 3

EU plans to let states deport failed asylum seekers and criminals
The European Union is drawing up a plan to overhaul the post-war convention on refugees that prevents countries from rejecting asylum seekers at their borders in what may be one of the biggest shifts in migration policy in decades. There is a growing consensus across Europe that the 1951 Refugee Convention, drafted after the Second World War and added to by rulings in the European and EU courts, is no longer fit for purpose. “It should be noted that these principles were developed after the end of the Second World War, and were characterised by a very different geopolitical situation to that of today,” said a diplomatic paper seen by The Times. The 1951 convention is signed by 144 countries and defines legal obligations for countries enshrined in the fundamental principle of non-refoulement. This principle establishes that no asylum seeker may be returned to a country where his or her life or freedom could be seriously threatened. The Times, February 3

Keir Starmer first UK PM to join EU meeting since Brexit
Sir Keir Starmer is heading to Brussels to join a gathering of European Union leaders - the first time a British prime minister has done so since Brexit. Starmer is heading over the English Channel for talks focused on defence and security co-operation and will also meet Nato secretary general Mark Rutte. The trip is part of what he calls a "reset" between the UK and the European Union. The government has promised the UK will not re-join the EU's single market or customs union, or sign up to freedom of movement. But ministers do want what they see as a better relationship on defence and security, crime and trade. They hope to sort this out by the spring and finalise it at a UK-EU summit, possibly in April or May. BBC news, February 3

Trump warned of tariff pain for Americans
A day after President Trump announced stiff tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China, the Canadian government said it would retaliate with 25 per cent tariffs on more than $100 billion worth of US goods, including honey, tomatoes, whiskey, peanut butter and garments. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said more measures were being considered. Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, said she would outline her country’s response today, while China’s commerce ministry promised “corresponding countermeasures” and said Beijing would bring a case before the World Trade Organization. On social media, Trump acknowledged that his tariffs - 25 per cent on Canada and Mexico, with a partial carve-out for Canadian energy and oil exports, and 10 per cent on goods from China - could cause “some pain.” New York Times, February 3

Elon Musk vows to cancel grants after gaining access to US Treasury payment system
Elon Musk has vowed to unilaterally cancel hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of government grants after apparently gaining access to review the US Treasury’s vast payments system, a move that prompted the sudden resignation of one of the department’s most senior officials. The world’s richest man, who bankrolled Donald Trump’s re-election campaign and was tasked by the president with running the cost-cutting “Department of Government Efficiency”, boasted on his social media site X that he was “rapidly shutting down … illegal payments” after a list of grants to Lutheran organisations was posted online. The threat came after Musk appeared to confirm on Saturday that Doge had access to the Treasury system, which disburses trillions of dollars each year, including social security payments. He justified the move by claiming his team discovered “that payment approval officers at Treasury were instructed always to approve payments, even to known fraudulent or terrorist groups”. The system has been run by career civil servants and the Treasury already has an in-house team tasked with identifying fraudulent payments. A source with knowledge of the situation said that Doge representatives did not have the authority to cut payments, only to read the data. Financial Times, February 3

Farewell potholes? UK team invents self-healing road surface
Researchers have developed a road surface that heals when it cracks, preventing potholes without a need for human intervention. The international team devised a self-healing bitumen that mends cracks as they form by fusing the asphalt back together. In laboratory tests, pieces of the material repaired small fractures within an hour of them first appearing. “When you close the cracks you prevent potholes forming in the future and extend the lifespan of the road,” said Dr Jose Norambuena-Contreras, a researcher on the project at Swansea University. “We can extend the surface lifespan by 30 per cent.” The Guardian, February 3

China builds huge wartime military command centre in Beijing
China’s military is building a massive complex in western Beijing that US intelligence believes will serve as a wartime command centre far larger than the Pentagon, according to current and former American officials. Satellite images obtained by the FT that are being examined by US intelligence show a roughly 1,500-acre construction site 30km south-west of Beijing with deep holes that military experts assess will house large, hardened bunkers to protect Chinese military leaders during any conflict - including potentially a nuclear war. Several current and former US officials said the intelligence community was closely monitoring the site, which would be the world’s largest military command centre - and at least 10 times the size of the Pentagon. Based on an assessment of satellite images obtained by the FT, major construction started in mid-2024. Three people familiar with the situation said some intelligence analysts had dubbed the project “Beijing Military City”. Financial Times, January 30

Israel strikes 'multiple' Hezbollah targets in Lebanon's Beqaa Valley
Israel's military said on Friday it struck "multiple" Hezbollah targets in Lebanon's Beqaa Valley, two months into a fragile ceasefire with the Lebanese group. The strikes come a day after eight more hostages were freed from the Gaza Strip by Hamas-led militants in a sometimes chaotic process that briefly delayed Israel's release of 110 Palestinian prisoners. France 24, January 31

Diverging from the Fed, ECB cuts interest rates as growth stagnates
The European Central Bank cut interest rates on Thursday, for the fifth consecutive time, amid slowing growth in the region’s economy. Policymakers lowered the bank’s key rate a quarter point to 2.75 per cent as inflation remained relatively close to their 2 per cent target. The move comes a day after the US Federal Reserve held rates steady, as the economic outlook of the United States and Europe diverge. “The disinflation process is well on track,” Christine Lagarde, the president of the ECB, said, adding that she expected inflation to return to the target during the course of this year. Annual inflation in the eurozone was 2.4 per cent in December, slightly higher than the previous month as energy prices rose. New York Times, January 31

Apple beats income forecast but iPhone sales stall in China
Apple reported slower-than-expected iPhone sales in the first quarter as the Californian company was hit by a decline in demand for its products from China. Revenue from iPhone sales dipped by 0.8 per cent to $69.1 billion in the three months to the end of December, despite Apple unveiling artificial intelligence features. Overall revenue rose 3.9 per cent to $124.3 billion, in line with Wall Street expectations. Net income rose 7.1 per cent to $36.3 billion, ahead of consensus analyst forecasts of $35.6 billion. The Times, January 31

Nearly half of Danes see US as threat and 78% oppose Greenland sale, poll shows
Almost half of Danish people now consider the US to be a considerable threat to their country and the overwhelming majority oppose Greenland leaving to become part of the US, new polling has found. The research by YouGov, shared exclusively with the Guardian, comes after weeks of tension between Denmark, Greenland and the US over Donald Trump’s repeated assertions that he plans to take control of the autonomous territory, which is part of the Danish kingdom. The Arctic island, which has a population of 57,000 people, was formerly ruled as a colony by Denmark, which continues to control its foreign and security policy. Trump’s interest in Greenland comes at a time of growing momentum for its pre-existing independence movement. The poll of just over 1,000 people in Denmark, conducted between 15 and 22 January, found that 46% considered the US to be either “a very big threat” or “a fairly big threat” to Denmark. The Guardian, January 31

NHS to offer 'groundbreaking' sickle cell gene therapy
A gene-editing therapy for sickle cell disease, with a price tag of £1.65m, is to be offered to patients on the NHS in England. About 50 people a year with the inherited blood disorder are likely to receive it, experts say. Prof Bola Owolabi, of NHS England, called it a "monumental step forward", and said the one-off treatment Casgevy, also known as Exa-cel, "holds a very real prospect of a cure". A confidential agreement has been made with manufacturer Vertex on how much the NHS will pay. Campaigners have described the treatment as "groundbreaking" and its availability on the NHS as a "milestone". Sickle cell disease can be life-threatening and cause recurring intense pain, when blood vessels become blocked by misshapen red cells. About 15,000 people in England live with the condition, which mainly affects people of Black African and Black Caribbean heritage. BBC news, January 31