Brexit is neither the source of nor the solution to Britain’s economic ills. Current rows over trade flows simply produce a lot of heat and very little light.
All of the pieces of legislation announced by His Majesty today, including the Renters (Reform) and Victims and Prisoners Bills.
My hunch is the next generation of aspiring leaders will have a firmer grip on the meaning of conservatism than the current crop. Or, at least, I hope so — otherwise there might not be a party to lead.
The UK has led the world in providing military aid to Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression. How can we now go further and help Ukraine begin to rebuild its towns, cities and infrastructure? And what more can the government do to encourage the private sector to boost trade and investment in Ukraine’s economy?
The Foreign Secretary adds that “60 per cent of UK exports go to non-EU countries. The long-term economic trend is clear.”
Fortunately, there are plenty of half-completed measures ministers could see through in time for the next election, from recognising product standards to locking in new trade deals.
Today Jimmy Lai, founder of the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, sees his thousandth day in prison. But the shadow of the Chinese security state stretches much, much further.
Any significant agreement with the EU would require continuous alignment between Westminster and Brussels in terms of regulation. Will we end up, to coin a phrase, shadowing the Customs Union?
Sunak is uninterested in rushing a deal just to have a tangible “Brexit benefit”. There will be no Johnsonian pledges of a deal by Diwali.
We might not rejoin, but the political momentum is now with those seeking a closer relationship. From a Brexiteer perspective, Johnson is sounding rather complacent.
My experience of taking an agri-tech start-up into three countries has shown me what can be achieved, but also the very real hurdles our innovators face here in the UK.
This year marks the 70th anniversary of establishing the Kuwait Investment Office in London. The sovereign fund was founded in 1953 in London, 8 years predating the independence of Kuwait (1961), as a far-sighted vision to create the world’s first sovereign wealth fund.
Far from being a climbdown, the Government’s announcement about the CE mark could be the springboard for a unilateral-recognition revolution.
Outside the European Union we are free to conduct trade policy and set regulation which aligns with our interests, rather than those of the Eurozone core that dominates in Brussels.
The tough choices we are making, to lock up the worst offenders for longer and to rehabilitate the redeemable, are the right ones to protect the public in the long term.