David Cameron’s appointment as vice-chair of the £1bn China-UK investment fund and Sir Danny Alexander’s appointment as vice-president of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank were in part engineered by the Chinese state, parliament’s intelligence and security committee (ISC) found. Their appointment was to lend credibility to Chinese investment as well as the broader Chinese brand, according to confidential evidence given to the intelligence watchdog. Both Cameron as prime minister and Alexander as Treasury chief secretary were at the heart of the plan to usher in a golden age in Anglo-Chinese…
Tag: Conservatives
Committee report is rightfully scathing on UK’s China strategy
If there is one constant in the UK’s policy towards China over the past three decades it has been its short-termism and inconsistency, the scathing intelligence and security committee report on China rightly finds, comparing Britain’s endless course corrections with Beijing’s capacity to think strategically about how to advance the global interests of the Chinese Communist party. If Downing Street thinks in terms of the next news bulletin, China has a planning cycle that in some of its documents takes it to 2049, as the ISC was told by one…
The Guardian view on banning council boycotts: a blow to local democracy | Editorial
In the early 1980s, Margaret Thatcher described the African National Congress as a “typical terrorist organisation” and one of her MPs said that Nelson Mandela should be shot. In sharp contrast, British councils took a stand against apartheid by boycotting South African goods. Mayors around the world signed a declaration calling for the release of the man who would become not only his country’s leader, but a global icon of democracy and justice. These efforts helped to shift public attitudes towards the struggle for freedom. In an increasingly globalised world,…
Labour and SNP face byelection battle after Margaret Ferrier suspension – UK politics live
From 3h ago MPs vote to suspend Margaret Ferrier from Commons, paving way for key Labour/SNP byelection battle The Commons has voted to suspend Margaret Ferrier for 30 days by 185 votes to 40 – a majority of 145. That means a recall byelection in Rutherglen and Hamilton West can now go ahead, provided 10% of voters sign a petition calling for one. This threshold should be met quite comfortably. In 2019 Ferrier won the seat for the SNP with a majority over Labour of 5,230. But Labour has already…
Sunak to urge G7 support for collective action against ‘economic coercion’
The UK and other G7 countries are planning collective action against Russia and China if they threaten trade boycotts for political reasons, announcing a new body to deal with “economic coercion”. Rishi Sunak will urge “bold and pragmatic collective action” against hostile states that stop trading with other countries when they disagree with their geopolitical decisions. He will cite Russia’s stranglehold on European gas supplies last year as a situation that could have been met with a collective response. Other examples include China’s punitive tariffs on Australian wine after Canberra…
Liz Truss’s plan to visit Taiwan called ‘worst kind of Instagram diplomacy’
The Conservative chair of the foreign affairs select committee has launched a blistering attack on Liz Truss over the former prime minister’s planned trip to Taiwan, calling it “the worst kind of Instagram diplomacy”. Alicia Kearns said she thought Truss’s trip planned for next week was little more than a vanity project aimed at keeping her profile high after her brief spell as prime minister last year. Truss is planning to travel to show “solidarity” with the Taiwanese people amid aggression from Beijing. Taiwan is a self-governing democracy, but Beijing…
Boris Johnson became suspicious of Sue Gray during Partygate inquiry, says ex-adviser – UK politics live
From 2h ago Boris Johnson became ‘suspicious’ of Sue Gray as she carried out her inquiry, says Guto Harri Good morning. With the coronation over, politics is back in spades after three days where it has been effectively marginalised. There is plenty around. But let’s start with the latest instalment of the Boris Johnson Tory psychodrama. Guto Harri, Johnson’s communications director when Johnson was PM, is launching a new podcast about his time in No 10 and, in an article for the Daily Mail, he claimed that Johnson and King…
Liz Truss to visit Taiwan and give speech that could upset UK’s China strategy
The former prime minister Liz Truss is to visit Taiwan next week, where she will deliver a speech likely to anger Beijing and potentially upset the UK government’s careful approach to China relations. Truss said on Tuesday: “Taiwan is a beacon of freedom and democracy. I’m looking forward to showing solidarity with the Taiwanese people in person in the face of increasingly aggressive behaviour and rhetoric from the regime in Beijing.” The former Conservative leader’s office said on Tuesday that she was also expected to meet senior members of the…
Keir Starmer says ‘vast majority’ of Labour leadership pledges still stand as he backs away from abolishing tuition fees – UK politics live
From 3h ago Starmer claims ‘vast majority’ of his Labour leadership pledges still stand In his Today interview Keir Starmer said he was no longer committed to the promise to abolish tuition fees that he made when standing for the Labour leadership because “we are in a different economic situation”. But he claimed the “vast majority” of the promises he made in that contest, most famously set out in a list of 10 pledges, still applied. He told Today’s Justin Webb: We are in a different economic situation. You and…
Brexiters have a new threat to focus their nationalism on: China. But their influence is waning | Martin Kettle
Cleverly by name. And perhaps even Cleverly by nature, too? Judging by his Guardian interview this week, and by his step-by-step rebuilding of Britain’s relations with Europe, James Cleverly seems to be quietly cajoling Conservative foreign policy down off the post-Brexit battlements and towards a more recognisably practical and stable place in world affairs. If so, two important questions follow. Where exactly is that new place for Britain? And will the Tory party let him do it? The foreign secretary’s interview in Tokyo exemplifies Rishi Sunak-era pragmatism. The interview’s tone…