The longer the Government pauses, the clearer the conclusion becomes, this is a negotiation conducted in opacity, defended in haste, and now reconsidered under pressure from allies, Parliament, and its own unresolved paper trail.
Prime Minister Tusk and Foreign Minister Sikorski want to anchor Poland’s security in European and like minded democratic alliances, President Karol Nawrocki has put his faith in a like minded individual: Donald Trump.
Surely we have to encourage Mr Trump and Mr Xi to sit down and devise a revitalised UN which, give or take a few safeguards, is based on power, tasked with a very specific role and given the wherewithal to enforce its diktats. We might not like it, but what else is there?
The abominable sufferings of the people of Gaza prompt calls instead for American intervention.
If Conservatives believe in anything, it is about creating an inheritable legacy for our children and their children. Valuing and conserving natural capital is as important as building up financial or asset capital.
Often, the UK’s best interests will overlap with allies and other nations, but at times, it will diverge, and we should understand that and press when it does. We also need to be clinical about what gets countries on-side and what is a wasted concession.
As the world watches, it is essential to remind stakeholders that the preservation of human rights and democratic processes in Bangladesh matters deeply, both locally and globally.
There is a larger pattern of wilful blindness across the political spectrum, a staunch refusal to think about the more distant future. It is both a failure to contend with obvious facts and a failure of imagination.
It appears that many aid agencies and human rights organisations have imbibed anti-Israel narratives. Such enmity indubitably adds another layer of complexity to Israel’s mission to destroy Hamas and minimize civilian suffering.
When I raised these issues in the summer of last year, I was shouted down. But MPs should be encouraged to show political curiosity, share their passion and advance and test current thinking.
My last Chagos piece, one year ago on 28 December 2022, expressed the hope that 2023 would be my final post and that a satisfactory conclusion to the UK/Mauritius negotiations announced in a statement on 3 November 2022 would be reached. Why the hold-up?
It pulled out of Gaza previously for a reason. Yet it will have no alternative but to stay there, if it is unwilling to hand over control to either foreign peacekeepers or the Palestinian Authority.
As is so often the case with international law and institutions, noble ideals bely a necessarily fractious and often shabby reality.
Well-founded concerns about the suitability of post-war international agreements to modern global conditions are not strengthened by being lumped together with attacks on multiculturalism.
The question of Hezbollah’s future looms large. Many Lebanese now see it less as a protector and more as a liability. Those I spoke to genuinely believe that competitive elections could diminish Hezbollah’s parliamentary influence.