Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss accuse each other of going soft on China | News | The Times. When it comes to China the ONLY sensible approach is to walk softly and carry a big stick. Big talk alone just makes us look impotent. thetimes.co.uk/article/rishi-…

I’d be the perfect communist shill | The Spectator spectator.co.uk/article/i-d-be…

I’d be the perfect communist shill | The Spectator. One yearns for a latter-day Palmerston, fluent in the world’s major diplomatic languages. Our politicians are a depressingly monoglot bunch. And not a single one knows Chinese. spectator.co.uk/article/i-d-be…

Fracking ban in England lifted in bid to boost UK gas supply. This is daft. Fracking in the USA happens on land where no-one lives and the environmental damage matters little. In a small overcrowded island the pain/ gain ratio looks very different. bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politi…

Queen Elizabeth II Wasn't Innocent of the British Empire's Colonial Sins. This could only have been written by someone who doesn’t understand how a constitutional monarchy works foreignpolicy.com/2022/09/12/que…

Liz Truss pours cold water on deal with Greece for the Elgin Marbles | News | The Times. Unbelievable! thetimes.co.uk/article/liz-tr…

Just finished reading Babel by Rebecca Kuang - a Christmas gift from my perceptive and intelligent daughter who always chooses the best presents. A brilliant book that deals with history and language in a novel and creative way. Thoroughly recommended.

And while I’m on the subject, another recommended read dealing with the same broad area is The Perils of Interpreting by Henrietta Harrison. A work of great scholarship offering insights into China’s interactions with the West that are as relevant now as in the 18th century.

European publishers refuse to dilute Roald Dahl | World | The Times. A welcome outbreak of common sense. Go, Europe. thetimes.co.uk/article/roald-…

Staffordshire police called to home of toddler who was ‘naked in a window after bath’ | News | The Times. Can we have a two-minute silence to mark the death of common sense? thetimes.co.uk/article/staffo…

Boris Johnson says Brexit deal won’t take back control — follow latest.It’s been four years. Can Mr. Johnson point to a single way in which British people are materially better off as a direct result of Brexit? thetimes.co.uk/article/matt-h…

China’s prime minister, Li Keqiang, is about to retire economist.com/china/2023/03/… from The Economist. The Shanghai lockdown was not a howling success but it wasn’t Li Qiang’s fault. He wanted to do it differently but was overruled by Xi. economist.com/china/2023/03/…

Cuba cancels May Day parade because of fuel shortages. Another triumph of socialism. bbc.co.uk/news/world-lat…

US-China Geopolitics: Why Xi Is Ghosting Biden. A trenchant analysis. We must hope Churchill’s dictum, that the US can always be relied on to do the right thing- once it has exhausted all other possibilities, still holds good. foreignpolicy.com/2023/05/17/xi-…

Phillip Schofield: MPs to question ITV bosses over This Morning scandal. Do they not have any real work to do? thetimes.co.uk/article/philli…

theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

I just finished Deterring Armageddon: A Biography of NATO by the amazing Peter Apps. A great read and so timely, coinciding with NATO’s 75th anniversary and at a time when NATO never mattered more.