Starmer hails EU deal as critics revive Brexit battles May 20, 2025 Keir Starmer dramatically blew open the Brexit debate yesterday, hailing a ‘comprehensive’ new pact with the EU nearly 6 years after Boris Johnson’s government signed a Brexit deal. Speaking at a UK-EU summit in central London, the Prime Minister heralded “a new era in our relationship” with the EU, while European Commission President Ursula von [...]
Boris Johnson: Starmer the ‘manacled gimp of Brussels’ after ‘one-sided’ EU trade deal May 19, 2025 Boris Johnson has slammed Sir Keir Starmer as an “orange ball-chewing manacled gimp of Brussels”, in a colourful post on X. The former Prime Minister repeatedly referred to his Labour successor as “two-tier Keir”, suggesting that the “hopelessly one sided” deal would render the UK “the non-voting punk of the EU Commission”. The intervention follows [...]
Starmer’s just the latest to be shaped by UK’s immigration debate May 13, 2025 Immigration has shaped UK politics for the past 20 years, often in ways that surprised at the time but which appear in hindsight to make perfect sense. David Cameron’s 2010 pledge to reduce net migration to the tens of thousands set the Tory party on a collision course first with Brexit and then the subsequent [...]
Manchester proves industry has the answers to boosting regional growth January 13, 2025 Manchester’s tech sector is one of the fastest-growing clusters in Europe – all thanks to a culture of innovation going back to the industrial revolution, says Alison Ross When Boris Johnson was Prime Minister, I developed a fierce hatred of the phrase ‘levelling up’, even stronger than the antipathy triggered by the ‘Northern Powerhouse’ motif [...]
Former Wales First Minister Carwyn Jones joins City of London PR firm January 10, 2025 Former First Minister of Wales Carwyn Jones has been hired by a City of London PR firm. Lord Jones, who was made a life peer at the end of 2024, has been hired by NorthPoint Strategy as a senior counsel. NorthPoint Strategy’s clients include Polygon, UK Cryptoasset Business Council, Andreessen Horowitz and CEO Club Ukraine. [...]
Free trade is the future for post-Brexit Britain December 13, 2024 As Britain joins CPTPP, we are finally realising the benefits of an independent trade policy made possible by Brexit, says Fred de Frossard This weekend, the United Kingdom’s membership of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) is finally activated. The UK will be the twelfth member to join, taking the trade area’s [...]
The best books of 2024: From Sally Rooney to Boris Johnson December 12, 2024 Okay, that headline is ever-so-slightly misleading – while many of the entries on this list are indeed among the best books of 2024, others earn their place by virtue of being emblematic of their time (Boris Unleashed), zeitgeist-capturing (Bad Girls of Ancient Greece) or simply so utterly bonkers we felt they earned a spot (The [...]
From porridge to pizza: Junk food ban will have ‘inevitable impact on growth’ – advertisers warn December 3, 2024 A pre-watershed ban on advertising junk food will have an “inevitable impact” on the UK’s “wider economic growth”, an advertising industry body has warned. The government claims the new policy, which will come into force from October 2025, will prevent an estimated 20,000 cases of childhood obesity. Legislation published on Tuesday afternoon reveals the broad [...]
Donald Trump would ‘certainly’ do trade deal with UK, Boris Johnson says November 9, 2024 The former prime minister said the US president-elect is offering “economic hope” but that the Government would be “too pathetic” to try to secure a deal.
Boris Johnson Unleashed: Puns, prose but too little punch October 17, 2024 Let’s face it: if you aren’t a Boris fan or someone inclined to read every political biography, it’s unlikely you will pick up this book. When I told my brother I was reading it, his response was: “Why would you want to relive that mess?!?”. My mother was more pointed: “I’m not reading anything by [...]