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This will be the last newsletter until January. We wish readers a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Unionists and independents in the Northern Irish Assembly have combined forces to exercise their right under the Windsor Framework to object to new EU regulations. It now falls to Northern Ireland Minister Hillary Benn to decide whether or not to refer the objection to a joint EU-UK committee, which has the power to enforce or disapply the new rules. This is an opportunity for the Labour government, who say they are in favour of devolved powers, to put their principles into practice, and support elected local representatives against unelected bureaucrats from abroad.
Northern Ireland stands up to the EU
The Governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey, will accompany Chancellor Rachel Reeves on a trip to China in the New Year according to Sky News. The trip is supposed to be an opportunity to restart talks on economic cooperation that were suspended in 2020 in response to China’s crackdown on democracy in Hong Kong.
Peter Mandelsohn has been appointed as the UK’s new ambassador to the United States. The appointment will perhaps establish a precedent for senior ambassadorial roles to become political appointments, where they have traditionally been chosen from within the Diplomatic Service. This seems unlikely to improve the quality of UK emissaries and will certainly come at the cost of continuity — will New Labour cronies really do their best to ensure there are good relations between foreign governments and whoever defeats Starmer at the next election?
Mandelsohn joins the Diplomatic Service
A government minister in the Treasury is under investigation for corruption by Bangladeshi authorities. Tulip Siddiq MP, whose aunt is the recently-ousted authoritarian Prime Minister Sheik Hasina, is accused of helping to embezzle billions of pounds worth of government funds. This is not the first time that Siddiq’s connections to Bangladeshi politics has raised eyebrows — earlier this year it was revealed that Siddiq was living in a home owned by the leader of the UK wing of the Awami League, her aunt’s political party.
Media
Camille Turner on indoctrination in the Home Office
Lord Frost on Keir Starmer’s plans to reverse Brexit
Robert Colville on immigration and the UK economy
