The King’s Speech

“Mr Vice President, Mr Speaker, Members of Congress, representative of the American people across all states, territories cities and communities I would like to take this opportunity to express my particular gratitude to all for the great honour  of addressing this joint meeting of Congress and on behalf of the Queen and myself to thank the American people for welcoming us to the United States to mark this semi- Semiquincentennial year of Declaration of Independence. As my Prime Minister said last month Ours is an indispensable partnership.The executive power is   Subject to checks and balances.” It was a Masterclass in soft diplomacy … Continue reading The King’s Speech

Dispossessed, displaced, politically homeless and economically excluded immigrant

Ever wondered what is it like to be an immigrant- without a home in a world where people with home make the rules? Longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Non-fiction from the internationally acclaimed Turkish Ece Tmelkuran author of How to Lose a Country: The 7 Steps from Democracy to Fascism: A personal exploration of exile and a galvanizing new vision of home. Dear stranger. Are you home? Do you feel home? For how much longer? Across the world the number of refugees and exiles, the dispossessed and displaced, the politically homeless and the economically excluded is growing. In the … Continue reading Dispossessed, displaced, politically homeless and economically excluded immigrant

Immigration practical pitfalls of making policy

Alan Manning – former chair of the UK’s Migration Advisory Committee- makes it clear, this doesn’t mean that we can’t do much better. In Why Immigration Policy is Hard, Manning says we should start by ditching simplistic views that frame immigration as either wholly good or wholly bad. We will always have, and need, some level of immigration. But just as inevitably, we will have rules on who can and cannot immigrate as more people are likely to want to move to high-income countries than residents will want to admit. To set those rules, we need reliable evidence to adjudicate … Continue reading Immigration practical pitfalls of making policy

Consequences of making poor decisions affecting billions

Presidents turning into monarchs. Tech tycoons and autocrats intent on global regime change. Armies of cyber trolls. The old order is at an end. The Hour of the Predator has come. Former political adviserGiuliano da Empoli takes us on an insider’s journey through this new reality, from the Glass Palace of the UN to the Riyadh Ritz-Carlton, from top secret meetings to violent power struggles. We encounter dictators and tryants, strongmen and AI billionaires – geopolitical predators, and the flailing leaders whop desperately try to appease them. In the age of the Borgias or the conquistadors, cynical scheming and brute … Continue reading Consequences of making poor decisions affecting billions

Challenging expectations

Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google thinks why Britain has much more global influence than it thinks. Ever since the global financial crisis, Britain has been through a difficult period, leading many to conclude the country is doomed to inevitable decline. Jeremy Hunt was at the top of government as both Foreign Secretary and Chancellor, in the last two Tory governments, and he rebuts those who think Britain is no longer capable of shaping the world we live in. There is a real urgency, in that the UK’s need for growth and security through foreign policy is clear. Hunt writes … Continue reading Challenging expectations

Democracy is in Crisis

Democracy is in crisis across the globe, especially in UK, it has been rocked by Brexit, the pandemic and successive attempts by governments to bypass legal norms.  Jonathan Sumption renders acute analysis of the state of democracy today – from the vulnerabilities of international law to the deepening suppression of democracy activism in Hong Kong, and from the complexities of human rights legislation to the defence of freedom of speech. One of the finest examples is of Jonathan Sumption, whose career has been an unusual combination of medieval historian, barrister, supreme court judge, member of the House of Lords. The … Continue reading Democracy is in Crisis

Top ten richest people gained $64billion after Trump victory

The Rich became richer as top ten richest people gained $64billion after Donald Trump victory. Elon Musk, the world’s richest person whose wealth leaped from $26.5 billion to $290 billion last Wednesday after Donald Trump’s victory. Jeff Bezos wealth also grew from $7.1billion a week after defending his decision to withhold the Washington Post’s endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris. Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, another Trump supporter, saw his net worth rose $5.5billion. Former Microsoft executives Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer, former Google executives Larry Page and Sergey Brin and Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett all Trump supporters also gained. … Continue reading Top ten richest people gained $64billion after Trump victory

Trump triumphs after spectacular fall

Republican Donald Trump elected US President to return to pinnacle of global power with is America First agenda, after defeating Democrat  Kamala Harris in historic comeback. Trump takes key swing states in decisive win and his Republican Party gains control of the Senate as millions of Americans voted to give him a second chance. Trump secured 279  (71, 315, 400 votes) to Kamala Harris 223 (66,231, 247 votes). Four years after leaving White House, Donald Trump is set to move back in, The election campaign which saw him survive two assassination attempts and his original opponent President Joe Biden dropped … Continue reading Trump triumphs after spectacular fall

Media credulousness fuelled Trump’s rise

Donald Trump do not involve paying hush money to a porn star or conspiring to subvert 2020 election, and his notion that he is a self-made billionaire who personifies the American dream.  Born to a rich father who made him the beneficiary of his own highly lucrative investments, Trump received the equivalent of more than $500 million today via means that required no business expertise whatsoever. Drawing on over twenty years’ worth of Trump’s confidential tax information, including the tax returns he tried to conceal, alongside business records and interviews with Trump insiders, New York Times investigative reporters Russ Buettner and Susanne … Continue reading Media credulousness fuelled Trump’s rise

Trump hails ‘big win for democracy’ after US Supreme Court verdict

The US Supreme Court has sent Donald Trump’s claim he is immune from prosecution for his actions while president back to a lower court. The former president had been charged with conspiracy to defraud the US, conspiring against the right of Americans to vote and corruptly obstructing an official proceeding and conspiring to do so. In a historic 6-3 ruling, the justices said for the first time that former presidents have absolute immunity from prosecution for their official acts, but no immunity for unofficial acts. The Supreme Court’s justices ordered lower courts to work out precisely ow to apply their … Continue reading Trump hails ‘big win for democracy’ after US Supreme Court verdict