National Grid's underlying profits grew 15% YoY from £4bn ($5.7bn) to £4.6bn ($6.54bn) in the year to 31 March, while renewable energy developers are complaining about delays of up to a decade to be connected to the grid. CEO John Pettigrew said the operator was committed to net zero but argued fundamental regulatory changes were needed to resolve the connection issues. National Grid has promised to spend £40bn ($56.9bn) on upgrades from 2021 to 2026 but it said more could be spent if rules were changed to allow the company to invest proactively, rather than waiting for demand.
Stellantis, formerly PSA, has warned that if the UK and EU do not adjust the so-called rules of origin requirements for the automotive industry, they may be forced to close their factory at Ellesmere Port in north-west England. These tariffs are set to rise to 10% for exports next year. This story shows that Brexit is becoming a ‘live’ issue again, especially as Sir Keir wants to arrest the slow death of the car industry, but doesn’t want to join a customs union with the EU? It raises broader questions about how ambitious the UK should be in the five-year review of the TCA in 2025, and with EU relations more generally. The Windsor framework deal has unblocked relations with Brussels but the Windsor framework still needs to be delivered in practice.
Slovakia's parliament is expected to vote on a proposal that would prohibit transgender people from changing their gender identity on official documents, effectively removing their legal recognition. The amendment would only allow a change in gender on documents if a genetic test showed that it had been incorrectly identified, which would block transgender people from being able to make the change. Human rights groups have criticised the proposal and it is expected to be challenged in the constitutional court. At present, transgender people can legally change their gender and other personal information on their ID cards.
Why are some British Conservatives behaving like the next election is already lost?
CNN
23-05-18 15:19
A three-day National Conservatism conference, promoting the ideology of a strong nation state and traditional family values, among other things, took place in London this week. The conference was hosted by the Edmund Burke Foundation and was seen as a direct challenge to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's authority. UK National Conservatism is the right-wing political movement that puts strong nation states and traditional values of home, law and order, and sovereignty. While this movement has been gaining popularity overseas, in the UK, evidence suggests that it is not popular with the public. The Conservatives have experienced their worst polling numbers for a year, however, supporters of Sunak believe his slow-and-steady approach is what the public want rather than ideas and culture wars. The general theme of the conference was that British Conservatism is having an identity crisis and the National Conservatism ideas could be the solution. The UK’s tax burden is at its highest since World War II. Tax and Brexit are major issues for people on this side of the party.
Rishi Sunak has ruled out a coalition with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) after the next general election, closing off one option for the Conservative government to retain power. Political analysts have suggested there is a high likelihood of a hung parliament after the vote, due by early 2025. Despite the Labour Party’s double-digit lead in current opinion polls, an absence of an overall majority makes a pact between political parties at least possibly important. Sunak’s refusal of a coalition with the DUP means he would have few potential allies except the Liberal Democrats.
UK's Labour Party leader, Sir Keir Starmer, proposes reducing trade barriers with the European Union within 18 months of entering Downing Street, if it wins power, and make trading of food, medicines and animals seamless between the UK and the EU. The proposal would enable European farmers to sell their products into the UK, just as British farmers would find it easier to export into the bloc. It is expected to be a major talking point of the next general election campaign, as the ruling Conservative Party attempts to hold on to traditional Labour-voting constituencies it acquired in 2019.
Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is deciding between Spain and the UK as the location for its electric vehicle battery factory, a move seen as critical for the future of Britain's car production in the face of a looming ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars. The UK is believed to have offered financial support for the gigafactory, with Chancellor Jeremy Hunt suggesting earlier this week that the country is in line for good news on the EV industry. JLRs biggest competitor, Nissan, is the only other UK company with a domestic battery supply.
The Group of Seven (G7) needs to target companies in 'secrecy jurisdictions' to tackle Russian evasion of sanctions, according to investigations cited in an op-ed in the Financial Times. Secrecy jurisdictions have provided a key tool for Russia to gain access to critical goods, such as machine tools and semiconductors, for the US-led alliance. The multinational Russian Elites, Proxies and Oligarchs Task Force have identified avoidance vehicles “located in jurisdictions that are tax or corporate formation havens, which may afford a degree of secrecy to Russian elites and their proxies” and a focus on enforcement could reduce sanctions evasion.
As G7 leaders meet in Japan to discuss a range of subjects, it is thought that new sanctions against Russia could be on the cards to increase economic pressure on Moscow's war machine. Targets include ships, aircraft, individuals and Russia’s diamond exports, which still remain relatively unscathed by western sanctions. The initiative to curtail diamond imports seeks to implement a mechanism for tracking and tracing individual gems throughout the industry. The fall in Russia’s energy revenues, which fell more than 50% in the first quarter of this year, has increased the importance of other sources of funding for the Kremlin’s war machine with diamond exports contributing $4bn in 2015. The G7 has been grappling with how to trace Russian diamonds, and impose restrictions on the import thereof, but this summit manifestly aims to finally achieve progress.
The alleged price-capping mechanism introduced by the Group of Seven against Russia last year has failed to limit the Kremlin's crude oil revenues since it continues to flow while revenues remain almost unchanged. Initiated by the US government, the mechanism focused on cutting the Russian government's revenue while enabling global exports to continue. The plan hoped to reduce oil prices by limiting the buyers' payment structure for Russian crude and diesel to $60 and $100 a barrel. However, troubling statements have emerged, which indicated that the sanctions in this regard pushed Russian oil trading away from reliable, well-known shipping companies and related trades to new, little informed ones.
The UK government will provide up to £1bn over the next decade to chip companies to increase Britain's resilience in the sector, which has faced severe supply chain disruptions during the pandemic and is threatened by worsening geopolitical tensions. The government's National Semiconductor Strategy will give UK chip companies £200mn between 2023 and 2025 with the rest to be distributed by the end of 2033. The strategy is aimed at boosting areas where the UK has a strategic advantage, rather than building specialised fabs, which can cost up to $10bn.
The US, EU and Japan are putting forward a strategy of cooperating with China but adopting a "de-risking" approach to sensitive sectors such as quantum computing and artificial intelligence. This stance appears designed to avoid full decoupling with China and maintain economic interests while also protecting national security. The approach is backed by Ursula von der Leyen of the European Commission and the UK, Japan and the US. However, each country has adopted its own version of the strategy shaped by its exposure to the Chinese economy. The G7 has stressed the need to protect critical technologies and supply chains.
The G7 summit in Hiroshima is particularly important given the current geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine, and tensions between China and the US. President Biden is keen to coordinate with democratic allies to deal with both issues. Observers will be watching for a convincing show of unity from the G7 on both China and Russia, and to see if that unity extends beyond rhetoric. The American emphasis on the G7, rather than the G20, marks a shift from a period dominated by economics and globalisation to a new era defined by politics and strategic rivalries.
The UK government has unveiled a 10-year strategy to boost the country's semiconductor industry, but its £1bn ($1.35bn) set aside to support the sector has been criticised by opponents as "insignificant". Last year both the EU and US announced funding totalled around $90bn to support their semiconductor makers. The UK plan, which will focus on R&D as well as semiconductor design, will allocate £200m between 2023-25 to provide industry infrastructure, promote international co-operation, and fund research, while Labour MP Darren Jones said that the £250m earmarked was "a very small amount of subsidy compared to other countries".
A group of Conservative members gathered in Bournemouth for the formal launch of the Conservative Democratic Organisation (CDO), founded by allies of Boris Johnson who want to hand Tory decision-making powers to members. However, the conference was more notable for member complaints about the direction of the party. Compounding such complaints is a sense of uncertainty following the Conservative’s local election results earlier this year. With members seen as the bedrock of the party’s activist base, it’s unclear what the party will do to coalesce with a broad coalition voter base while listening to increasingly divergent concerns from members. While some party members blamed the Conservatives’ state on a “bloated bureaucracy” and taxes, one key issue raised was discontent over the government’s immigration and Brexit policies. The CDO was a haven for many “disgruntled Conservative supporters” with its central calls for party reform. Meanwhile, a separate three-day National Conservatism Conference in London hosted a broader range of right-wing speakers, with the notable absence of the Conservative party present.
Although the Tory party’s leadership appears united, there are worries over how long this could last, with some speculating about the possibility of replacing Sunak before the next election, while more discussions have generated speculation on whether the Conservatives can maintain its current coalition voter base. With polls indicating an average 17-point lead for Labour, there is concern among Conservative members about what the party should be offering up as its core vote-winning policy. Conservative MP Andrea Jenkyns, who opened the CDO conference, raised eyebrows by noting that “I look around colleagues myself and think, you belong in the Lib Dems, actually”. Former home secretary Priti Patel suggested the local election results “is a moment to recalibrate”.
Despite the issues facing the Conservatives, there was one unifying theme across the two right-wing conferences – a vehement criticism of political correctness and a pivot toward more traditional conservatism/populism. Attendees such as Miriam Cates and Danny Kruger have cited "reproductive rights” and “sense of family values” as central tenets of their politics. Former business secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg warned that a change of leadership once more would make the party look “ridiculous”. Nonetheless, the unease and increased discussions among party members could lead to a fracturing if they perceive that the party is shifting too far from its traditional base.
Leaders from the G7 nations are set to unleash new sanctions against Russia as they meet for a summit in Japan, though Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz urged for “pragmatic measures” to avoid circumventing sanctions imposed on Moscow. G7 leaders will discuss the possibility of an international peace summit over Ukraine at the meeting. The EU has suggested tracking the trade in Russian diamonds with a view to imposing restrictions at a later stage, while the UK has announced a ban on Russian diamonds and imports of metals from Russia in support of Ukraine. Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden recently met Japanese PM Fumio Kishida to discuss ways of strengthening defence cooperation and counteracting coercive behaviour by China, with whom divisions are appearing within the G7, though leaders are expected to show a unified front regarding a common approach to dealing with the country based on shared values.
The UK's Office for National Statistics (ONS) initially underestimated the country's population of foreign nationals by almost half a million, due to a flaw in how data was collected. Many of the migrants were employees of Wizz Air, the regional airline that frequently lands at airports inspected by personnel conducting the International Passenger Survey (IPS), which offers estimates of migration to and from the UK. The survey targets random individuals and questions cover issues such as how much was paid for airline tickets. The experience made Brexiteers question the ability of the IPS to produce accurate data.
The owner of a Latvian bank, Mihails Ulmans, faces a murder conspiracy trial on 8 January, accused of inciting the murder of a lawyer who had reported the bank for money laundering. The trial has reignited concerns over the sector, which has previously faced a number of claims of corruption and money laundering. Bunkus was shot in May 2018 after he complained to authorities about the LPB bank. Ulmans has denied any involvement in money laundering.
The resumption of flights between Russia and Georgia has sparked concerns that Georgia is drifting closer to Moscow's orbit at the expense of its pro-European and pro-western stance. The ruling party, Georgian Dream, is known to have pursued a strategic ambiguity since gaining power in 2020, courting the US, the EU and also the Kremlin.
The leaders of G7 countries have called for “guardrails” to be established for the growth of AI, particularly around the risks of its large language models. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak were among those to raise concerns at the summit in Japan, citing the “potential benefits” of AI to citizens and the economy. The state leaders call for development of AI that is “accurate, reliable, safe and non-discriminatory” reflects the wider worries of governments worldwide. Earlier this month, the competition watchdogs in the UK and the US began indicating plans to regulate the sector. The European Union also recently agreed tighter rules on using AI, including restrictions on chatbots, while the ministers for digital and technology of the G7 nations agreed to base AI policy on democratic values, protective of human rights and personal privacy, and risk-based to maximise benefits whilst mitigating risks.
