Will 2017 be one of the best years ever for the United Kingdom? January 3, 2017 Alex Deane, a City of London common councilman, says Yes. We live in a great country – and what’s even better is that our best days lie ahead of us. When historians write the book on 2016, it will be seen as the year in which – despite the doomsaying pronouncements from some who were [...]
Will allegations of Russian interference in the US election tarnish Donald Trump’s presidency? December 19, 2016 Brian Klaas, fellow in comparative politics at the London School of Economics, and author of The Despot’s Accomplice, says Yes. Republicans and Democrats agree that Russian hacking was used to help Donald Trump win the presidential election in November. While both Republicans and Democrats were hacked, only e-mails that would embarrass Hillary Clinton were released. [...]
A small band of Remain useful idiots wrongly thinks Brexit won’t happen December 7, 2016 We have a problem. An odd little group of people – who make up with fervour and confidence what they might lack in numbers and logic – is presently touring the world of the commentariat. Unlike most Remain campaigners, principled and reasonable people able to accept a decision contrary to their will and move on, [...]
As the photograph of a Tory aide’s memo invites even more speculation, has the government’s silence on Brexit now become untenable? November 30, 2016 Sarah Olney, Liberal Democrat by-election candidate for Richmond Park, says Yes. The British people have no cake and they certainly aren’t eating it. The scribbled notes spied in Downing Street – the public’s only way of learning what ministers’ plan is on the most important question facing the country in a generation – show that [...]
Let’s face it, Hillary Clinton was a terrible candidate – and Trump could be very good for Britain November 9, 2016 It is sadly commonplace to sneer at Americans in our country – a lamentable tradition of biting the hand that freed us. As the 2016 Presidential election is prompting the emergence of another bout of this regrettable tendency, I thought that I’d counsel against it here. Don’t get me wrong. I do not claim that [...]
Parliament will now debate whether to invoke Article 50: So what? November 3, 2016 The government has taken one in the eye. This will please many observers, but I’m afraid, if you’re one of the many rejoicing on social media now, this result will be short-lived. I confess to thinking that the decision is an odd one. After all, two previous legal challenges brought by the McWhirter twins (yes, [...]
Stop flapping: The government’s direction of travel on Brexit couldn’t be any clearer October 24, 2016 Uncertainty in the face of great change is no fault. On the other hand, it is a fallacy – in business, in politics, in life generally – to think that, just because one doesn’t know something, it isn’t knowable. As copious comments given to City A.M. in recent days have made clear, some say that [...]
London’s fanatical cyclists from hell are taking crazy risks with pedestrians’ lives October 20, 2016 Every morning on my walk into the City, I see the brand-new cycle path along the side of Blackfriars Road being put to good use. But every morning, I also see some of you cyclists riding on the pavement next to it, weaving among pedestrians. The special lane made for you, carved out (at significant [...]
Has Labour under Jeremy Corbyn become completely irrelevant? September 28, 2016 Alex Deane, managing director at FTI Consulting and common councilman in the City of London Corporation, says Yes. While I’m a Tory, there’s no schadenfreude for me in answering “yes” to this. Our country needs a strong opposition; while Jeremy Corbyn continues to lead Labour, we do not have it. Legislation which should be challenged goes [...]
Is a hard Brexit looking increasingly likely? September 12, 2016 Alex Deane, common councilman in the City of London Corporation and managing director at FTI Consulting, says Yes. Those obsessing about “the deal” we get with the European Union miss some basic truths. People and companies trade with one another, not nations. We are highly successful in economic relationships entirely without a trade deal: we have no [...]
