Politics (Page 80)

The US president, Joe Biden, is expected in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland next week to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. His visit will be one of historic symbolism and of personal significance, as an Irish Catholic president who has spoken proudly of his ties to the country. A few weeks ago, the UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak, formally invited Biden to come to Northern Ireland to mark the anniversary of the peace deal, which the US helped broker. The UK has much work to do to repair relations with the US following the Trump-Johnson years, especially if they are to pursue a much desired trade deal that has been stymied partly due toContinue Reading

As the French and Chinese presidents, Emmanuel Macron and Xi Jinping, were discussing the need for more constructive international engagement to end the war in Ukraine, it emerged this week that Ukraine, too, was open to reconsidering its options. A top adviser to Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, noted that Kyiv might be open to negotiate the return of Crimea from Russia, rather than taking it by force. The likelihood of actual negotiations and the prospects for their success may appear slim. But things were not that different 25 years ago when, in the early hours of April 10 1998, negotiators in Northern Ireland announced they had reached an agreement, ending a 30-year conflict that had cost more than 3,000 lives.Continue Reading

A Lancashire MP who has been suspended after a lobbying ‘sting’ received five gifts from companies linked to the gambling industry including tickets to watch two England football games, the Brits and Wimbledon it has been revealed. Blackpool South MP Scott Benton has had the whip suspended by the Conservative Party after he referred himself to parliament’s standards watchdog. It came after an undercover sting by The Times, who posed as gambling industry investors looking for parliamentary influence. In a meeting with the undercover reporters, it is alleged Mr Benton – who is also the chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Betting and Gaming – was prepared to leak market-sensitive information to the investment fund and ask parliamentary questionsContinue Reading

The Tánaiste has rejected suggestions that US president Joe Biden’s visit represents a snubbing of Northern Ireland. Mr Biden is taking part in various events across the island of Ireland next week, with his visit beginning in Belfast to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. The US president is to arrive on Tuesday along with UK prime minister Rishi Sunak. Mr Biden will not visit Stormont Buildings, and is to leave Northern Ireland on Wednesday. US president Joe Biden (Niall Carson/PA) He will also visit Dublin – during which he will address TDs and senators – as well as Co Louth and Co Mayo, where Mr Biden’s ancestors hail from. The scheduled events end on FridayContinue Reading

The results of Finland’s parliamentary elections signal a tumultuous period ahead. This was to a certain degree foreseen by pre-election polls, which indicated that prime minister Sanna Marin’s Social Democratic Party (SDP) was about to lose to the opposition conservative National Coalition Party (Kok), led by Petteri Orpo. The final election result showed a significant shift to the right – and increased success for rightwing populists in particular. The next government is therefore likely to be a coalition of rightwing parties but difficult negotiations lie ahead. Marin received a very high number of personal votes and her party actually increased its vote share and parliamentary seats but it was not enough to make up for the significant losses suffered byContinue Reading

At a time of almost constant political upheaval across the UK in the last few years, sometimes it feels that nothing would surprise us. But the astonishing events that unfolded in Glasgow on the morning of April 5 managed to detonate that notion. At the end of the new first minister Humza Yousaf’s first seven days in charge, the Scottish National Party (SNP) was in the global spotlight for all the wrong reasons. Police Scotland announced that they had arrested a 58-year-old man as a “suspect in connection with an investigation into the funding and finances” of the SNP, the governing party of the country. Minutes later the media revealed that person was Peter Murrell, ex-chief executive of the SNPContinue Reading

On April 4, Americans lived through a new experience: a former president of the United States officially charged with a criminal offence. Donald Trump has achieved many firsts across his media and subsequent political career – but it’s unlikely this was a first he was aiming for. Not that you could tell from his demeanour. Although news reports from journalists in the courtroom noted he appeared “sombre”, on his own turf Trump pulled few punches. On his social media platform TruthSocial, shortly before he left Trump Tower to head to the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse, Trump blasted the judge in charge of the hearing, Justice Juan Merchan, as “highly partisan” and whose family are “well-known Trump haters”. He repeated these accusationsContinue Reading

Finland has been the happiest country on earth for the past six years, according to the World Happiness Survey. This survey relies on the Cantril ladder life evaluation question: Please imagine a ladder with steps numbered from zero at the bottom to 10 at the top. The top of the ladder represents the best possible life for you and the bottom of the ladder represents the worst possible life for you. On which step of the ladder would you say you personally feel you stand at this time? Finland comes out top, followed by Denmark and Iceland. Just why Finns are happier than others comes down to a number of factors including lower income inequality (most importantly, the difference betweenContinue Reading

This month’s trade tracker takes a deep dive into EU trade deals. It looks at what deals the EU has recently signed and is currently negotiating, as well as the economic impact they may have and divergence from the UK since it left the single market. This is the second instalment, with last month’s tracker focused on the UK and its current trade negotiations. Signed but not in force The EU has signed two economic partnership agreements (EPAs), one with West Africa and the other with the East African Community (EAC). They have yet to come into force. Upon ratification, the deals will reflect one of the first major trade divergences between the EU and the UK from the EUContinue Reading