Dear Mr Trump… An open letter to the President-Elect on the foreign policy principles that will maintain America’s greatness November 21, 2016 “Now on the street tonight the lights grow dim/The walls of my room are closing in/There’s a war outside still raging/You say it ain’t ours anymore to win/I want to sleep beneath/Peaceful skies in my lover’s bed/With a wide open country in my eyes/And these romantic dreams in my head” – Bruce Springsteen, No Surrender [...]
The UK’s high earners have seen some of the steepest tax increases over the last 20 years November 21, 2016 High earners in the UK have faced some of the world's steepest increases in income taxes over 20 years, according to new figures. Sums from accountancy firm UHY Hacker Young show the average rate paid by those earning more than $1m (£810,000) has climbed four per cent since 1996 to 43 per cent. By contrast, the [...]
Overrated Angela Merkel is no saviour for a free world fearing Trump November 18, 2016 Before hysterical Glastonbury-style crowds in Berlin in 2008, Barack Obama first burnished his international reputation as a “rock-star”. Then just a presidential candidate, his vision of cooperation between Russia and the West, of Middle East peace, and of “a global commitment to progress” was excitedly greeted as the start of a new chapter in US [...]
As “post-truth” is named word of the year by Oxford Dictionaries, have we really entered the era of post-truth politics? November 16, 2016 Rachel Cunliffe, deputy editor of Reaction, says Yes. Donald Trump was always against the Iraq War. The US has an $800bn trade deficit. Clinton started the birther movement. Three lies told by Trump during the second debate, with a dozen more examples from that 90 minutes alone. The moderators didn’t fact-check him, and even if [...]
BBC World Service launches 11 new language services with new government funding November 16, 2016 The BBC World Service has announced plans to expand with 11 new language services next year. The growth is being funded by a government pledge, announced last year, to pump £85m a year into enhancing BBC services into areas such as Russia, North Korea, the Middle East and Africa. Read more: Government launches hunt for [...]
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin want to “normalise US-Russia ties” November 15, 2016 The election of Donald Trump can help “normalise US-Russia ties”, the Kremlin has said. President-elect Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin shared their first phone conversation on Monday night after last week’s election. Read more: Global leaders react to Trump victory: Putin offers his congratulations The Kremlin said the pair had agreed that the current [...]
Britain needs a culture shift if it’s going to lead the world on free trade November 15, 2016 In her most pro-business speech since she came to power, Theresa May last night made a grown-up argument for Britain to promote free trade. This is excellent. But as the Prime Minister knows, it will take a lot more than pro-trade rhetoric to make things happen. Britain will have to take concrete steps at home and [...]
It’s official: 2016 is going to be the hottest year ever November 14, 2016 It might not feel like it after the cold snap experienced by the UK over the past few days, but this year is on course to be the hottest on record, with global temperatures set to rise 0.88 degrees celsius above the average. Today the World Meteorological Association said 2016's global temperatures were approximately 1.2 [...]
Iran is open for business with a post-Brexit UK November 14, 2016 Iran is officially open for business after four years in the global wilderness. Following the imposition of financial sanctions in 2012 by the US for its burgeoning nuclear weapons programme, it was almost impossible for the west to do any business with Iran. Those sanctions were lifted earlier this year after France, Germany, UK, Russia and [...]
Moody’s predicts global economic growth in 2017 and 2018, after the worst year since the financial crisis November 14, 2016 The global economy is set to strengthen slightly over the next two years, thanks to accelerated growth in the US and G20 emerging markets. In its latest Global Macro Outlook, Moody’s has predicted that the global economy will grow by three per cent in 2017, and 2.9 per cent in 2018, up from 2.6 per [...]