Donald Trump will win if “establishment” remains a dirty word among Republicans February 19, 2016 "Establishment” has become the dirtiest word you can use against your political opponents in the current US presidential cycle – the dirtiest one you can get away with on national television, at least. But the word is losing significance by the day. Six months ago, to be labelled “establishment” meant you were a mouth-piece for [...]
What kind of EU referendum voter are you? These seven groups will decide Britain’s future in Europe February 19, 2016 At least one fifth of voters is undecided on what to do in the EU referendum, according to most “in or out” polls. But as my research has found, many of those who lean one way or the other are still up for grabs. Large numbers still feel unqualified to decide and hope (even if [...]
As institutions from the EU to Opec face becoming irrelevant, could central banks be the next to encounter crisis? February 18, 2016 From the EU to Opec, institutions that have dominated the world since the Second World War are slowly becoming irrelevant. Oil producing countries would once gather in Vienna and with shameless self-interest, manage production levels under the altruistic cloak of preventing prices from tumbling or spiking. No longer. Riven by internal differences and rendered impotent by [...]
Brexit is a giant leap into the dark: Why take the risk with our prosperity? February 18, 2016 Fifteen years ago, I launched the campaign against Britain joining the euro. Our concern was that giving up the pound and control of interest rates would be damaging to the economy. Yet we saw the advantages to business and jobs of being in the Single Market. Staying outside the euro showed that Britain could negotiate arrangements [...]
Forget Foreign Office pessimism: Britain can leave the EU and find a role by embracing the Anglosphere February 18, 2016 Mention the costs and benefits of UK membership of the EU, and thoughts immediately turn to an economic calculation. But there is also another cost-benefit calculation, namely the geopolitical impact of any future Brexit on the UK’s power and influence in the world. For over 40 years, the grand strategy has been to exploit the leverage [...]
Is Apple right to refuse a request by the FBI to decrypt the iPhone of the San Bernardino shooter? February 18, 2016 Ken Munro, partner at Pen Test Partners, says Yes. This is a one-shot solution for the FBI, limited to helping solve the San Bernardino case – but not in the way you might think. First, if Apple gives in and its iOS is opened to a government agency, terrorists and other threats will simply find other [...]
Brexit won’t kill EU-UK trade – unless Brussels really is malicious and inept February 17, 2016 The debate over whether or not the UK will be able to negotiate a free trade deal with the EU following a vote for Brexit tends to proceed on the grounds that all the parties are out and out mercantilists. On the one hand, the EU needs a deal with the UK because of its [...]
Why Liverpool FC scrapped its ticket price hike – and it’s nothing to do with “fairness” February 17, 2016 Who wants to watch the Scousers play football? Certainly no Mancunian, and probably no self-respecting Londoner either. Yet demand for tickets at Anfield, the home of Liverpool FC, is high. Indeed, there is excess demand: more people want to watch the games than there is room for in the stadium. In keeping with the precepts [...]
UK-India relations: Both countries can only gain from even stronger economic ties February 17, 2016 When India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited London last year, 60,000 people came to Wembley Stadium to listen to him. That was the largest reception a foreign leader has ever received on a visit to Britain. And it speaks volumes about the deep ties that exist between Britain and India. These ties are emotional, historical [...]
Further delays to EDF’s Hinkley Point C nuclear power station is a symptom of bad policy February 17, 2016 Well, it is getting on for the end of meteorological winter and we seem to have made it through, or near as damn it, without any major supply-related blackouts. That is despite warnings (again) last summer that the UK was heading for a winter in which we could be plunged into medieval-style darkness at any [...]