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On the eve of publication of the long-awaited Sue Gray report on Downing Street parties, the historian Peter Hennessy has described current British political standards as being a “bonfire of decencies”. A system of government which ultimately rests
In 2021 Britain, the chances of a member of the public being solicited for a bribe by a civil servant or local government official, a police officer, a judge or any other figure of authority is close to zero. Government
It has become commonplace to talk about the climate crisis as the greatest threat to the planet. It is certainly right to focus on an existential issue which we can do something about. But I fear there are other problems which could – at very short notice – prove even more pressing. Pandemics we know about. But the risks around nuclear war and weapons proliferation have slipped out of public consciousness. They mustn’t.
July 1st marks the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party. This occasion reminds us that beneath the glitzy modernity of Chinese cities, the ultra-modern infrastructure, the army of affluent overseas tourists and the legion of billionaires,
Who is responsible for the deaths of at least 3.5 million people from Covid? President Biden has asked the American intelligence agencies to find out. Presumably he suspects that the explanation isn’t totally innocent. His predecessor, Donald Trump, wasn’t shy in blaming the Chinese
After four years of the Brexit saga, the last few weeks have been a period of respite. The consequences of leaving the “transition period” at the end of January have not just been overshadowed by the pandemic, but also by the royal family’s real
The UK Budget was said to be about more emergency spending now, with tax rises and spending cuts to come later: what I called in this column last week an Augustinian Budget. In fact, we have discovered that there were quite a lot of hidden spending cuts
The election and swearing in of a president is now more than just another four-yearly American ritual. As Joe Biden is sworn in, it will be seen as a test of the strength and durability of a system which leads the “free world” of liberal democracies.
As the UK contemplates yet again a change in direction, with more restrictions on activity to curb COVID-19, we should reflect on what is happening elsewhere in the world. Only a few months ago, Sweden was the heart of darkness: a country which, for unaccountable reasons, had gone off the rails, embracing weird theories about the pandemic, disdaining lockdown, resulting in the slaughter of its elderly population and ostracism from the club of civilised social democratic countries in Scandinavia. Now it emerges that they may have been on to something, with a consistent – and apparently successful – approach.
History matters. We have been reminded in recent weeks how much the history of slavery influences – to this day – the everyday lives of black people around the world. Perhaps we also need a reminder of how much 19th-century history also influences both Chinese perceptions of the west (Britain in particular) and China’s approach to events in Hong Kong.
Party leader of the Liberal Democrats in the United Kingdom.
