Labour like to say we are the only major economy whose GDP has not recovered to prepandemic levels. But looking at GDP at constant prices in national currency the UK economy in 2022, according to the IMF, was one per cent bigger than in 2019.
This is a Review that is as interested in not upsetting Washington as it is Beijing. Labelling China a ‘challenge’ rather than a ‘threat’ mirrors the language of the Biden administration.
The Prime Minister says it’s important the UK “takes steps to protect” itself.
It is absurd to pretend a company with obvious links to the Chinese Communist Party does not pose a clear and present danger to national security.
Little surprise that, in the words of a Chinese diplomat, “the Liberal Party of Canada is becoming the only party that the PRC can support.”
A pro-science and technology agenda requires political decisions no-one is currently pursuing. Taking on some public sector trade unions. Engaging constructively with the EU. Reforming planning law. Embracing the Oxford to Cambridge arc.
Rather than a charter of exciting new ways to invade your privacy, their report is more an attempt to respond to Dean Acheson’s claim that Britain has lost an empire but not yet found a role.
Not only is the region vital to prosperity and security in its own right, it also has a direct bearing on sanctions, defence industrial capacity, and nuclear deterrence in the Euro-Atlantic.
This isn’t the time for ambiguity, but clarity: now give them the tools so they can finish the job and free all their territory, including Crimea.
We don’t have time to waste. During 2025 and 2026 the TCA, the UK/EU fisheries agreement, the EU’s decision on UK data adequacy and its current policy on derivatives trading all come up for review.
There could be an appeal to allow the new Embassy. What we do know is that the local community will not give up their fight to protect their local heritage and resist turning an iconic location into a possibly armed compound.
James Cleverly should instead meet the Uyghur activists protesting outside his office today, and leave Erkin Tuniyaz out in the cold.
Asked about the UK’s £50m spend in the country, the Foreign Office minister adds that “we are looking to make sure that aid is better spent”.
That Chinese involvement in global telecommunications infrastructure is a weak point is not a new realization. However, this issue has received a special urgency.
The Prime Minister must learn from his predecessor and condemn Beijing’s hostile activity.