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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The end of lockdown could spell a dinner party renaissance

June 10, 2021

The end of lockdown should be close; we wait with bated breath for a final decision on whether 21 June will in fact see the sweeping away of most of the remaining restrictions. In the meantime, however, we are allowed to gather indoors according to the rule of six (or more, if they are drawn [...]
Britain’s defence procurement strategy wastes billions of pounds and puts lives at risk

June 8, 2021

Ministry of Defence procurement projects running over budget or behind schedule rarely makes its way onto the front pages. It happens so often, you have to wonder if expensive delays are written into the small print by MoD’s commercial arm, Defence Equipment and Support. The procurement of the Ajax infantry fighting vehicle is just the [...]
Black tie, white noise: let’s make summer the new party season

June 1, 2021

With the last restrictions of the pandemic due to be lifted in mere weeks, we all deserve to celebrate. We think of the run-up to Christmas as the typical ‘party season’, but Yuletide seems a long way off. Let’s claim this summer for celebrations, and burst out of lockdown with a grateful song in our [...]
Thinking around corners on UK rental market could transform life for the better

June 1, 2021

With pubs and restaurants open across London once again, the capital’s young professionals can return to one of their favourite pastimes: gathering together over a drink to complain about the rental market. We all know the stereotypical ladder: you begin in a slightly shabby, probably shared flat, you move on to somewhere on your own [...]
In defence of the long lunch: Business needs the human touch

May 24, 2021

No-one quite knows when the long lunch suffered a mortal blow. Perhaps it was the financial crisis of 2007-08, when money lost its lustre. Perhaps it was before that, in the 1980s, when US working cultures flooded the City of London after the Big Bang. The grim phrase “al desko” was first recorded in the [...]
After the Martin Bashir scandal, the BBC must claw back its status as a cultural embassy for Britain

May 24, 2021

It has been a bad weekend for the BBC. The fall-out from Lord Dyson’s report on Martin Bashir and his infamous interview with Diana, Princess of Wales, has exposed not just individual wrongdoing by a rogue journalist but an institutional desire—and ability—to look the other way and excuse appalling behaviour because it delivered a scoop [...]
Like a virgin? The expanding world of alcohol-free cocktails

May 17, 2021

I gave up drinking three years ago, after twenty-odd enthusiastic years, and so I’ve spent the time since then searching out replacements. Some people say that’s a bad idea, that you maintain the habit and tread a dangerous line: all I can say is that the habit, the ritual, the variety was one of the [...]
An unholy alliance between the Tories, Greens and Lib Dems could hold Sadiq Khan’s feet to the fire

May 17, 2021

The London Assembly rarely cuts through in the news landscape. It’s committee structure does not quicken the pulse or stiffen the sinew. This is in some ways a pity, as the assembly has wide powers to scrutinise the activities of the elected mayor and can, in some circumstances, even amend his budget or reject strategic [...]
Members’ clubs in the age of Covid, from Groucho to Boisdale

May 12, 2021

Are you clubbable? Some people are, fiercely, while others disdain the whole idea. It is thought men are more clubbable than women, though that may not be supported by facts. In any event, if you are what PG Wodehouse would have called a clubman, you will be eagerly awaiting Monday 17 May and the reopening [...]
Vaccine patents: When does free for all become a free-for-all?

May 10, 2021

As the UK begins to see the light at the end of the Covid tunnel, at least in terms of mass vaccination and the lifting of most personal restrictions, the virus has hit the headlines anew elsewhere in the world. Its virulent spread in India has been the most eye-catching and heart-rending, with deaths topping [...]

The UK’s risk aversion culture is holding back investment

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The Whisky Exchange’s top Cognac picks ahead of the annual Cognac Show

By: Eliot Wilson

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