China rebuffs accusations of major cyber hacks on UK and US December 21, 2018 China has said it strongly opposes "slanderous" accusations made by foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt, the US and other nations, which criticised the country for utilising cyber hacks for "economic espionage". The UK government yesterday said a group known as APT 10 acted on behalf of the Chinese Ministry of State Security to carry out a "malicious" cyber [...]
Don’t ruin Christmas by bringing Brexit to the dinner table December 21, 2018 The build up to Christmas has almost reached its agonising conclusion. Since November, when the first few flinching bars of Slade seeped from the radio, we’ve crawled through endless reels of TV adverts and Christmas lights. It’s nearly over, though; the bonus has been frittered on tat for loathed relatives, the out-of-office message is on, [...]
Here are all the predictions I got wrong in 2018 December 21, 2018 I should have given up making predictions in June 2017. Three months earlier, I had spoken at a conference on Brexit and suggested that the best way forward for Theresa May would be to call a snap election and strengthen her negotiating hand. I don’t know how the Prime Minister got word of my advice, [...]
DEBATE: As the year draws to a close, do we still have reasons to be cheerful? December 21, 2018 As the year draws to a close, do we still have reasons to be cheerful? Viscount Ridley, author of The Rational Optimist, says YES. Yes, we do. A lot went wrong in 2018 for a lot of people; but a lot more went right. Levels of absolute poverty, rates of infant mortality, age-adjusted death rates [...]
The immigration white paper is a case study in self-sabotage December 21, 2018 If the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics is true, there are alternate worlds in which Ed Miliband beat David Cameron in 2015 and the Brexit referendum didn’t happen. In these worlds, the core of Wednesday’s immigration white paper would be a laudable liberalisation of non-EU migration to the UK. Instead, it’s a massive blow to our [...]
The best Christmas gift for rail users would be more competition and scrapping HS2 December 21, 2018 This week is set to be one of the busiest of the year for domestic travel. So, as London’s train stations are swamped with those endeavouring to get away for the their holidays, it’s worth dwelling on what would be the best Christmas present for travellers: a properly functioning rail system. Amid the whirlwind of [...]
What we all need for Christmas is a little perspective December 20, 2018 Perspective can be hard to find and even harder to appreciate. Having moulded my life into the rhythm of a daily print operation, looking further ahead than tomorrow has become a challenge. Life, as they say, comes at you fast. And if it's your job to catch as much of it as possible, filter it, prioritise [...]
Labour MP Ivan Lewis resigns from party over antisemitism concerns December 20, 2018 An MP has resigned from the Labour Party citing the party's failure to tackle antisemitism within its ranks. Ivan Lewis, who was suspended from the party a year ago over sexual harassment allegations, accused Corbyn of being unwilling to allow Jewish people the right of “self-determination in their own state.” The MP for Bury South [...]
Foreign Office slams China for cyber attack campaign December 20, 2018 The Foreign Office has accused China of conducting an “extensive” campaign of cyber attacks against the UK. The government today said a group known as APT 10 acted on behalf of the Chinese Ministry of State Security to carry out a “malicious” cyber campaign targeting intellectual property and commercial data in Europe, Asia and the [...]
Government edits no deal documents to remove the word ‘unlikely’ December 20, 2018 The Brexit department confirmed it had stepped up ‘no deal’ planning by updating government advice to remove the claim it is an “unlikely” outcome. A tranche of technical notices released by the government since the summer repeatedly claimed the chance of leaving the EU without an agreement was “unlikely”. However, following Tuesday’s cabinet meeting, where [...]