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Category: Boris

Special relationship: the British right’s appeasement of Donald Trump

Special relationship: the British right’s appeasement of Donald Trump

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Barring a much bloodier insurrection than the one mounted two weeks ago, Joe Biden will assume the presidency of the United States on Wednesday.  Where does that leave the UK? Britain has long prided itself on its special relationship with the US, choosing to overlook the fact that the US tells France that is its oldest ally, that it has a strategic partnership with Israel and so on.  For many Leavers, focusing on the Anglosphere was a central rationale for…

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Back to British politics for a change and a possible threat to Boris

Back to British politics for a change and a possible threat to Boris

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Making such a call at “peak COVID” appears naive The problem with this attack by Steve Baker is that all the efforts to control the pandemic according to the polling are supported by significant numbers. This to the question “Do you think that the UK Government is currently overreacting, or underreacting, to the Coronavirus?” Opinium found last week just 15% saying the former with 44% saying “underreacting”. By 72% of those in the same poll thought that the government hadn’t…

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Let’s stop this faux outrage over Boris being seen cycling 7 miles from Downing Street

Let’s stop this faux outrage over Boris being seen cycling 7 miles from Downing Street

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For a man in his early 50s that is well within his “local area” There’s been a lot of fuss over the past 24 hours over the PM being spotted cycling near the Olympic park which is about seven miles from Downing Street. LAB MPs and those opposed to him have accused Johnson of following a “Do as I say not as I do” approach to the lockdown restrictions. As PB regulars might have deduced I am no fan of…

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After a quick & successful vaccine rollout, this is the second most thing I want to see in 2021

After a quick & successful vaccine rollout, this is the second most thing I want to see in 2021

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On New Year’s Eve The Spectator dropped a very interesting story. As many hospitals struggle to cope with a surge of Covid-19 patients, the most important judgement yet to be made about 2020 is how much difference it would have made had England been pre-emptively locked down in September. This is not an academic question. Because there were two separate occasions in September when the prime minister’s political and scientific advisers urged him to impose tough national restrictions and suppress…

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The start of the mass vaccination programme should do wonders for the public mood

The start of the mass vaccination programme should do wonders for the public mood

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The government’s gamble looks set to pay off On a personal note I am a 74 year old male with a pre-existing respiratory condition and ever since the COVID crisis began last March my overwhelming objective each day has been not to catch it. My recurring nightmare has been dying alone in hospital without my loved ones around me. The most pleasurable moment of my life was being given oxygen at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford in September 2003…

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With just eight days to go before the end of the Brexit transition the majority of those polled say they’d support an extension

With just eight days to go before the end of the Brexit transition the majority of those polled say they’d support an extension

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My guess on this one is that there will be some conclusion before the year end with Johnson preferring to resolve this according to the original timetable. After all his winning slogan at GE2019 was “Get Brexit Done” – though whether he is happy with a no deal I am not convinced. The current issues with cross-channel trucks is probably a taster for what a no deal might look like and, indeed, Michael Barnier, is making this point in seeking…

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After the weekend’s dramatic Boris U-turn the papers are not good for the PM this morning

After the weekend’s dramatic Boris U-turn the papers are not good for the PM this morning

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The dramatic U-turn by Boris on Saturday and the travel ban that many countries have now imposed on the UK will make uncomfortable reading for the PM and his team at Number 10 this morning. Probably the most powerful is the one linked to in the Tweet above in the Times because it comes from a close aide to Boris who knows him well and highlights what she regards as a central weakness – his desire to be liked and…

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