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This could get very political very quickly While the United States and the EU continue to deliberate on the Oxford vaccine the big news in the UK is that it has now been approved and that we are told 4 million jabs are ready for distribution. The expectation is very high amongst many who see the vaccine as a way of managing to move on from the dark days of the lockdown which has been going on since last March…

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Following in Robert Smithson’s footsteps, it’s time to nail my colours to the mast again. At the end of each year, I like to set out my expectations for the year ahead, not because I’m particularly accurate (I’m not) but because it is useful to see where my expectations went wrong at a later date. My starting point for the year ahead is always the finishing point for the previous year. Where do we start? The whole world has been hit by the…

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I think it takes a bit of temerity to make forecasts for the year ahead after the year we have just had. Looking back at my forecasts for 2020 there is a notable missing black swan from the list. However, and in the spirit of things: Covid: Although things will be better by the end of the year, at least in the developed world, the ravages of the virus will go on for longer than we hope with severe restrictions…

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(This is the first of several posts this week in which prominent PBers give their predictions for the New Year – if you would like to join them please get in touch – MS) I think sometimes one needs to take a step back and make some reasonably wild predictions. Now, I doubt all, most, or perhaps any of these will come true. But that’s not necessarily the point. These are to stimulate debate, and hopefully I’ll get bragging rights…

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The qualifying phrase that Johnson put in response to the PMQ question in the top Tweet might just be enough to deal with any difficulty in relation to a commitment made to the Commons over the Erasmus programme. But his wording and response was sloppy and ill thought out. You don’t say that something will continue, as in the first part of his response unless it will continue. This is just another reflection of his lack of attention to detail….

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