By: Eliot Wilson

Eliot Wilson is a writer, commentator and contributing editor at Defence On The Brink. He was formerly a clerk in the House of Commons and writes regularly on politics, defence and international security, and Parliament and the constitution, including for The Spectator, The Hill, The i Paper and CapX

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Happy birthday Adam Smith, your ideas are still fresh at 302

June 16, 2025

On the 302nd anniversary of Adam Smith’s baptism, his enduring insights into free trade and the folly of protectionism remain a powerful rebuttal to today’s rising economic nationalism, says Eliot Wilson Three hundred and two years ago today, in 1723, in the Old Kirk in Kirkcaldy, a baby was baptised. His precise date of birth [...]
What does 10 years of Trump mean for the West?

June 16, 2025

It’s a decade since Donald Trump announced his intention to run for President but it’s still no clearer what he stands for or why he does anything he does, says Eliot Wilson Ten years ago today, property entrepreneur and reality television star Donald Trump descended a golden escalator in his palace of vulgarity, Trump Tower, [...]
What a difference a day makes for Russia

June 12, 2025

Today is 38 years since Ronald Reagan’s ‘tear down this wall’ speech, which ushered in the most free and fair election Russia has ever had, says Eliot Wilson There is such a thing as coincidence, and sometimes a specific date arises again and again in the same context. Today’s date, 12 June, was like that [...]
Can populists survive in public office? Ask Geert Wilders…

June 9, 2025

Right-wing firebrand Geert Wilders has withdrawn from government in the Netherlands after discovering that governing is harder than criticising from the fringes. It’s a lesson Nigel Farage may learn too, say Eliot Wilson Last week, greeted by more weary fatalism than surprise, the government of the Netherlands collapsed. On Tuesday, radical nationalist Geert Wilders withdrew [...]
The first Europe referendum proved that the people don’t always know better than politicians

June 5, 2025

50 years ago today, the British public voted decisively to stay in the European Economic Community. The winning side in a referendum always think they have settled the question, but the 1975 vote proves how wrong they are, says Eliot Wilson Fifty years ago today, on Thursday 5 June 1975, British voters did something unheard [...]
Repeat after me: Working from home is NOT an ideology

June 2, 2025

When work from home becomes a question of culture, not practicality, we have completely lost the point, writes Eliot Wilson.
On this day: May 26 1896 — the first Dow Jones Industrial Average is published

May 26, 2025

Charles Dow was a financial journalist with a rare gift. A high school dropout from rural Connecticut, he was able to explain the arcana of investment, stocks and bonds in clear, straightforward terms. In 1882, he and two other journalists, Edward Jones and Charles Bergstresser, founded Dow Jones & Company Inc. in a basement at [...]
Was Rayner’s leaked memo an early play for party leader?

May 26, 2025

Rayner's 'leaked' memo was a reminder that she is cut from different stuff than our iron Chancellor, but was it strategic, asks Eliot Wilson.
The defence industry shouldn’t expect a gold rush

May 19, 2025

Despite all their talk, Labour's promises won't mean a gold rush for the defence industry, writes Eliot Wilson.
US-UK deal is free trade in name only

May 8, 2025

The newly announced UK-US trade agreement under Trump is a modest, tactical rollback of recent protectionist measures rather than a true free trade deal, aimed more at political optics than economic transformation, says Eliot Wilson Donald Trump advertised last week’s trade agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom as “full and comprehensive”, a [...]

Starmer fears ‘untold damage’ to UK economy from Iran war

Champions Cup hits attendance lows as Leinster crowds slump at Aviva Stadium

The Crime Lord: Peter Capaldi on the manosphere, London and rocking out with his band as he approaches 70

By: Eliot Wilson

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