The Democrats face a beating if they choose Bernie Sanders as their presidential nominee February 26, 2020 In December 2019, a peculiar experiment in British politics hit the buffers in a most brutal manner. One of our great political parties — Labour — had gambled that it could swing radically leftwards away from the ideological centre ground. Its expectation was that it would win a sweeping victory with an enhanced coalition of [...]
Trump’s tweets ‘make it impossible for me to do my job’, says William Barr February 14, 2020 US attorney general William Barr has said President Donald Trump’s use of Twitter “make it impossible for me to do my job” amid a high profile court case. His comments came in response to claims Trump pressured the Department of Justice (DoJ) into recommending a reduced jail sentence for the President’s former adviser, Roger Stone. [...]
After New Hampshire, the search is on for someone – anyone – who can take on Trump for the Democrats February 13, 2020 It was Harold Wilson, the Labour Party’s mid-twentieth century great hope and conjurer of election victories, who first coined the phrase “a week is a long time in politics”. How America’s Democrats could use a politician of his skills and standing as they examine their last week. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. At [...]
Amazon seeks to depose Trump in $10bn Pentagon contract battle February 10, 2020 Amazon is seeking to depose Donald Trump and US defence secretary Mark Esper in a legal battle over whether the president was trying to ‘“screw Amazon” in handing a Pentagon cloud computing contract to Microsoft. Amazon Web Services said Trump influenced the decision to give the $10bn (£7.74bn) Joint Enterprise Defence Infrastructure Cloud contract, which [...]
Trump fires two impeachment witnesses February 8, 2020 US President Donald Trump has removed two senior officials from their posts after they testified against him at his impeachment trial. The US Ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland, issued a statement on Friday saying he had been recalled from his post by the president. Sondland, who was a Trump political donor before being [...]
China tells Trump ‘no effort spared’ on fighting coronavirus after doctor’s death February 7, 2020 Chinese President Xi Jinping told his US counterpart that everything possible was being done to contain the spread of the coronavirus following an outcry over the death of a doctor who had warned of the impending epidemic. The death toll currently stands at just under 650 people, including Dr Li Wenliang, who had been threatened [...]
Republicans acquit Donald Trump in impeachment trial February 6, 2020 President Donald Trump was acquitted yesterday in his Senate impeachment trial, saved by fellow Republicans who rallied to protect him nine months before he asks voters in a deeply divided America to give him a second White House term. The businessman-turned-politician, 73, survived only the third presidential impeachment trial in U.S. history – just like [...]
Trump’s peace plan has shifted the Palestinian direction of travel February 5, 2020 History is usually a cruel mistress to its losers, particularly in the case of peoples attempting to create new nations who failed in their aspirations. Not much is heard today of the Republic of Biafra, for example, an attempt led largely by the Igbo people to create an independent state carved out of Nigeria’s eastern [...]
Donald Trump set to be acquitted in impeachment trial February 1, 2020 US President Donald Trump is all but certain of being acquitted in his impeachment trial. On Friday, senators voted against calling witnesses or admitting new evidence. It was a move from Democrats that would have in all likelihood only extended the trial without changing its outcome. However, they had been dependent on four possible swing [...]
Has the business world found its purpose? Trust, but verify January 29, 2020 Last week’s Davos carnival was an orgy of virtue signalling. A group of senior executives flew in on private jets to talk about how to tackle climate change. Leaders of companies that have been highly active in lobbying for corporate tax breaks signed a letter calling for higher taxes on the rich if we are [...]