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 Imitation Game: Turing Scheme could be even better than Erasmus

January 8, 2021

The UK’s final and definitive secession from the European Union has caused the gnashing of Remainer teeth for a hundred reasons, but one of the most prominent in the past week or so has been the end of British participation in the Erasmus+ student exchange programme. This pan-EU project allows students from member states to [...]
Boris must find the bandwidth to take on Sturgeon – and keep the UK united

December 30, 2020

Being prime minister is not an easy job. Whether you adopt the approach of Thatcher’s four-hours-a-night, or Macmillan’s retreating to Trollope novels at moments of extreme stress, it is a position which occupies your every waking (and probably many a sleeping) moment; the situation is not helped by the fact that the vast majority of [...]
Whitbread – at the end of the day, someone has to pay

December 24, 2020

Whitbread, the owner of popular hospitality chains Premier Inn, Beefeater and Brewers Fayre, has written to the landlords of its properties asking for a rent reduction of 50% for the next three months, to “share some of the pain” of the ongoing pandemic and the restrictions on hospitality. It seems, prima facie, a reasonable request. [...]
From John le Carré to Chinese communists: Are there still reds under the bed?

December 16, 2020

Perhaps it was appropriate that the news of a mass infiltration by insiders of Beijing’s ruling party should break in the same week that John le Carré died. The passing of the master of spy stories reminded us all of times past, when the world was dominated by superpowers who employed tens of thousands to [...]
Could Goldman Sachs teach the UK how to level up organically?

December 8, 2020

Almost exactly one year ago, a freshly elected Conservative government made “levelling up” one of its core priorities. Facing a new parliament with a healthy majority and a dynamic Prime Minister (remember that?), the government promised to bring individual prosperity to regions of the UK which had been “left behind”: not just the big cities [...]
Wanted: Someone to take charge and save hospitality this Christmas

December 1, 2020

The excitement is building, and it’s so close now: lockdown is about to be lifted, and at midnight tomorrow we will all slot into our allotted tiers. London will be in a freshly toughened Tier 2, with shops reopening and pubs and restaurants allowed to admit customers — but under complicated limitations. A few lucky [...]
Charity begins at home — which makes foreign aid more important than ever

November 26, 2020

No one can have envied Rishi Sunak yesterday, for it was the chancellor’s task to unveil the Spending Review to the House of Commons, facing (we were told by the Treasury) the worst economic landscape since the Great Frost of 1709. Sunak strove for sombre and minatory, but he has not yet gained enough political [...]
Singing of arms and the man: Behind the big Boris defence announcement

November 20, 2020

The announcement was preceded, of course, by a leak to the media, so that it could make a splash in the morning press. Standard practice these days, unfortunately — but the story was still an impressive one: the Prime Minister was giving the Ministry of Defence an extra £4bn a year for the next four [...]
Cronyism and incompetence: The government is undermining trust in the private sector

November 10, 2020

It should surprise no one that a Conservative government turns to the private sector for the efficient delivery of services. Private enterprise is agile, responsive, innovative and provides good value for money (or at least, it can do), and public money should always be spent in the most effective way possible. This is the ideology [...]
The polls failed again, and blindsided businesses are crying out for better corporate intelligence

November 5, 2020

So Joe Biden will be the 46th President of the United States. Or Donald Trump will squeeze home (though, at the time of writing, that seems less likely). It has been a nerve-wracking 48 hours for anyone who watches US politics — and one of the reasons for that is that commentators and pollsters got [...]

Foreign buyers circle ‘undervalued’ UK firms

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The 11 best pies in London to eat during British Pie Week

By: Eliot Wilson

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