Can rhetoric match reality? Britain’s international development future 27 April 2023 — 9:00AM TO 10:00AM Anonymous (not verified) 12 April 2023 Chatham House and Online

In conversation with Andrew Mitchell, minister of state, UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. 

Last month’s updated Integrated Review positioned international development as a key pillar of British foreign policy which sets out the importance of the UK’s efforts to shape the ‘global strategic environment’.

Focusing heavily on Africa and the Indo-Pacific, international development will be central to the ambition of a ‘Global Britain’.

The Integrated Review outlines seven priority areas to revitalize the drive to meet the Global Goals, with a climate security strategy at its heart, while seeking to go beyond official development assistance (ODA).

However, there are major challenges ahead. Since 2021, the UK’s ODA has been cut from 0.7 per cent to 0.5 per cent gross national income (GNI). Some are concerned that since being subsumed by the UK Foreign Office, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has diluted the effectiveness of UK international development. Then there is the question of the strength of British public support for development assistance at a time of domestic economic hardship.

Can rhetoric match reality?

This event tackles questions including:

• What does the UK’s vision for international development mean in practice?
• Will aid and development help push Britain’s influence around the world?
• Can policymakers and politicians garner domestic support for international aid in times of economic uncertainty, and if so, how?
• Can the UK rebuild its reputation in the world while it doesn’t meet its 0.7 per cent GNI target?

This event will be balloted for in-person attendance. Register your interest to join and a confirmation email will be sent to you on Tuesday 25 May at 12:00 BST to confirm your place at the event.

As with all member events, questions from the audience drive the conversation.

A coffee reception will immediately follow this event.

Health officials in Britain have detected the country's first confirmed human case of a new strain of mpox that has been spreading throughout Africa.

Two additional cases of a new strain of mpox have been detected in Britain, national health officials said Monday, less than a week after the first case was announced to the public.

An additional case of a new strain of mpox has been detected in Britain, bringing the total number of infections in the country to four.

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has opted to quit as head of the Church of England after a critical report over his handling of an abuse scandal, it was announced.

A small pebble with ornate markings is Britain’s earliest piece of Mesolithic art—but what do the markings denote, and was it worn for cosmetic purposes or spiritual ones?

One of the most evocative and breathtakingly beautiful coastal landscapes in Britain is the historic county of Cornwall. It’s also a place steeped in legend, including that of Britain’s legendary King Arthur.

The so-called Chew Valley Hoard, which just sold for a record $5.6 million, includes 2,584 coins featuring the likenesses of Harold II, William the Conqueror and Edward the Confessor

The brick-built botanicals celebrate the UK’s 2017 City of Culture

LILLE, FRANCE — More than 360 migrants were rescued Sunday while attempting the perilous crossing between the north coast of France and the south coast of England, in small boats, French officials said.    Regional maritime boats and a French Navy patrol ship made multiple trips to rescue groups of people in difficulty in the Channel, the French coastal authority Premar said.   In all, they rescued 367 people, taking them to the French ports of Calais, Boulogne and Dunkirk.  Increasing numbers of migrants seeking to reach England are trying to cross the Channel in makeshift boats now that officials have increased security at Calais and the cross-Channel tunnel.  The waterway is one of the busiest sea routes in the world, with more than 400 vessels crossing it every day and the weather conditions are often difficult.  Since the beginning of the year, a record 33,500 people have crossed the Channel in small boats.  According to figures from Britain's interior ministry, 94% of the migrants who reached the U.K. in the past four years went on to apply for asylum. Of those who had received a response, most had been successful.  As the law currently stands, a migrant must be physically in the U.K. to start the asylum process. 

Britain should be too cold for the invasive Aesculapian snake to survive, but it is thriving by exploiting the warmth of attics, wall cavities and compost heaps

The technologies introduced by the Romans after they conquered Britain led to the kind of economic growth seen in the industrial age

Title: Mandatory COVID-19 Tests Lifted for Vaccinated Travelers to Britain
Category: Health News
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Last Editorial Review: 2/14/2022 12:00:00 AM

… a big upset in his Davis Cup debut on Friday, defeating Spaniard ….

Britain could revise its medals target for London 2012 following the team's success at the Beijing Olympics.

UK's Prince Charles has tested positive for coronavirus for the second time and is now self-isolating, said Clearance House. It is the second time

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Discover the rise of English wines, from picturesque vineyards to award-winning bottles, amidst a changing climate and growing acclaim

Harmanpreet Singh-led outfit has lifted its game steadily in the Olympics and is likely to throw a different challenge against Great Britain

Harmanpreet, Sukhjeet, Lalit Upadhyay and Raj Kumar Pal scored for India in the shootout, which had more drama in store than one expects in pure action.

“Sreejesh is a legend, he is one of the best we have. He is saving us from day one. But when you ask him, he will say it was a team effort, so team first, then individuals,” said Harmanpreet.

Dilip Tirkey, who was present at the stadium to witness the match, praised the Indian team for defending well after Amit Rohidas’ expulsion owing to a foul early in the second quarter.

Four groups have been playing in four cities to qualify for the eight-team Finals in Malaga, Spain, in November

"Before her visit to India, Theresa May must come clean about the role played by the UK in the attack on the Golden Temple in 1984 and subsequent events," Mr. Watson said

National Bureau of Economic Research

It will end over 140 years of coal power in Britain

From parking fines to airline fares, society’s financialisation is seeing the collective cake shrink as the rich claim an ever larger slice

It is the dog end of August and the sun is shining in many places. A cue for all sorts of predatory people in the thriving British holiday trades to rip off customers who don’t always have a choice and feel ambushed.

In a remote and empty Lake District car park the other day my sister fell foul of an unclear car parking regime. It led to a fine being levied for outstaying the time she had paid for by a few minutes. It happens to us all. In crowded Notting Hill last week, a man told me his car had once been given a penalty notice while he was away at the ticket machine paying his £1.60 for 30 minutes.

Related: Corbyn promises to 'democratise the internet' - Politics live

Catch up on our debate on Theresa May’s plans to push ahead with Brexit and what this means for workers and business

2.08pm BST

Nearly four months after June 23’s fateful Brexit vote, even more half baked nonsense is still being talked by both sides than was spouted during the shabby campaign. Nothing is clear except that it is all going to be a lot trickier to disengage from the EU than some foolish people said – and still say despite mounting evidence to the contrary.

So my starting point is one of humility as I learn stuff I didn’t known before. It’s safe to say that some things will be better outside the EU, others worse, some sectors and individuals will thrive, others languish. The consequences of Britain’s leap in the dark – 37% of the total electorate voted Brexit by a very slender margin – are still largely unknown for all 28 members states. Only charlatans and romantics pretend otherwise.

If we left the EU, we would end this sterile debate and we would have to recognize that most of our problems are not caused by Brussels, but by chronic British short termism, inadequate management, sloth, low skills, a culture of easy gratification and underinvestment in both human and physical capital and infrastructure.”

1.57pm BST

We will be wrapping up the debate in the next four minutes, but we welcome any final comments and remarks.

We will keep comments open until 2.15pm

1.56pm BST

A view from Nigel Stern, who runs a design agency in London:

The biggest impact will hiring staff with the right skills. It’s already almost impossible to find skilled staff for our design agency - I say this having battled to keep an Australian whose Visa ran out, and lost the battle. I can’t imagine how difficult it will be when Brexit happens. Good skills are literally the biggest growth driver, so for my business Brexit is a disaster waiting to happen

1.43pm BST

An anonymous take from a bookseller, who thinks that Brexit will be bad for business and will have profound consequences for non-British citizens living and working in the UK.

I am a small on-line antiquarian and used bookseller. Since Brexit I have noticed an uptick in sales to the United States, but I have noticed a distinct decline in sales to Europe, though they do still take place. The effect of Brexit on Europe’s perception of Britain as a country is very negative - and the announcements from the Tory party conference will only reinforce the impression that Britain is not opening up for business. In fact, the very reverse: closing down for business and pursuing policies of discrimination against foreigners, especially from Europe.

The level of discrimination against immigrants from Europe is most definitely alienating what should be Britain’s closest friends. As someone with a slight foreign accent I no longer feel entirely safe in this country. A hard Brexit would be a disaster for me - as many books go abroad and the customs paperwork would add a considerable workload as well as extra costs in the case of more valuable books. There literally is not a single advantage to be derived from Brexit except for the lower pound, which could have been lowered by other means which would have done far less damage to Britain’s economy and society. I don’t know whether in future I will be able to continue business in this country and am wondering whether to move elsewhere.

1.33pm BST

News of job losses in Scotland are alarming.

The Scottish economy would suffer a severe shock if the UK has a “hard Brexit”, losing up to 80,000 jobs and seeing wages fall by £2,000 a head per year, an economics thinktank has warned.

The Fraser of Allander Institute (FAI) has told the Scottish parliament that entirely leaving the EU single market – known as a hard Brexit – would see the Scottish economy decline by 5% overall, or by £8bn within a decade.

Related: Hard Brexit could cost Scotland £2,000 a head and 80,000 jobs

1.21pm BST

One commenter says that Brexit will cause some economic pain, although the extent of this is not yet known.

What we know for sure is that Brexit of any substantial kind will certainly cause some economic pain in the short, medium, and long-term, from breaking existing trading relationships and loss of easy access to a large pool of human capital. The additional opportunities, on the other hand, are all long to very long-term, and are uncertain and beyond the UK's control.

Even the bits which are under the UK's control (like massive investment in training and education in a way which actually achieves something instead of pfaffing around with needless re-structuring and testing kids to the edge of mental breakdown) are all things that would have made sense before, so it's optimistic to imagine that they'll happen in a future where the public finances are under more pressure than ever before (once Brexit decline takes hold).

1.16pm BST

Here’s a view from Richard Rose, who is worried about Brexit’s impact on the car industry.

I am an engineer working at Rolls-Royce in Derby but I have spent most of my working life so far in the car industry. I am 100% certain that if the UK Brexits out of the single market, it can wave ¾ of its car industry goodbye within 5 years. The idea of replacing the current arrangement with one of tit-for-tat tariffs on cars sold into and out of the UK is preposterous – we will be in the absurd situation of paying taxpayers’ cash to car companies in the form of ongoing subsidies, and every successive government will be looking for ways to reduce or avoid these payments every four years.

The whole arrangement sounds ridiculous and seeing as all the manufacturers who build here have sites inside the Eurozone where they can avoid all that uncertainty, what do you think they’ll do? Its keeping me awake at night as I feel ‘my’ industry is potentially about to be rendered economically unviable just as my right to live and work abroad is being curtailed.

12.54pm BST

Quitting the European Union’s single market is considered bad for business unless you belong to the small band of economists who believe that Brussels’ employment and environmental protections stifle innovation, that maintaining a low pound is easier outside the EU, and restrictions on migrants is unlikely to ever be enforced.

But the threat from Nissan to switch investment in its next car away from the north east without some form of compensation is the clearest indication yet that multinationals based in the UK to benefit from the single market are going to drift away as they consider an upgrade or new factory that would be cheaper abroad.

12.46pm BST

John Flahive, 51, a documentary producer and sales agent, is concerned about the implications of a “hard Brexit” on his business.

The impact on business is inevitably negative. At the moment we have free movement of goods throughout the EU, all I have to do in my own business is put an address on a shipment and off it goes. It’s just not possible for whatever is put in its place to improve on that.

A ‘trade deal’ usually involves reduced tariffs which is a dis-improvement on no tariffs at all. This would bring back customs paperwork and all the associated admin, whereas currently we have none at all. There is no upside, only a downside.

12.42pm BST

This has just launched online. Polly Toynbee asks why the health secretary would insult the one third of our doctors who were born abroad by suggesting that they’re only “interim”.

Hunt’s claim that we will be “self-sufficient” in medical staff is nonsense – and he knows it. These new doctors won’t qualify as consultants until 2030, while everywhere has ageing populations and the WHO estimates a global shortage of 2 million doctors. The number of people in Britain over the age of 85 will double by 2037 – and who is to care for them if we chase away all foreigners?

Related: Telling NHS doctors to go home is self-harming madness | Polly Toynbee

12.36pm BST

An interesting take from one commenter below the line:

The main reason I don't think it'll be good for business is the way it is and has effected Britain's image around Europe and probably the world. Made in Britain isn't actually very popular in Europe at the moment. When I am with my girlfriend in Spain what image of Britain is on the television? Farage, Boris Johnson and their xenophobic rhetoric. After all it's the consumers who are the most important when it comes to our exports. Do you really want to buy goods from a nation who's image is one of distaste and xenophobia to their neighbours. Look at the effect the Iraq war had on French products in the U.S when they went ( rightfully ) against the Iraq war.... Everything Farage and Boris do is making it far easier for the E.U to take a tough stance in negotiations with support from their people. Especially when they act so arrogantly by saying the E.U has too much to lose and will have to take any deal we offer.

Brexiters seem to have no idea on how politics will effect us more than anything else.

12.25pm BST

Comments are open below the line and our debate is underway.

Kicking us off from the form is a small business owner in the south east of England, who has noted a definite impact of the vote:

I’ve already seen an impact in car buying attitudes in the months following the referendum. Traditionally, September is a busy time for my business (my company move new and used cars around the U.K.) and already the volume of movements compared to March and this time last year is worrying.

Every dealership I visit, staff say the same thing; “It’s unusually quite for this time of year”. The uncertainty created by the referendum is clearly having an affect and I worry for the future of my business once article 50 is triggered. If people are out of work they won’t be buying cars, meaning I won’t be moving them round the U.K.

12.22pm BST

Polly Toynbee raised some interesting questions about the impact of hard Brexit this week. She wrote:

As speech after speech salutes “taking back control” as “a fully independent sovereign country”, only old sober-sides Philip Hammond throws cold water. There is a price to pay, he warns. He didn’t disagree with Institute for Fiscal Studies estimates that Brexit will cost the UK 4% in growth in coming years.

Related: Will Theresa May be the next Tory leader to be bulldozed by the Europhobes? | Polly Toynbee

11.02am BST

Theresa May made one thing perfectly clear during this year’s Conservative party conference: Brexit means Brexit.

The Tory leader said controlling immigration and withdrawing from the jurisdiction of the European court of justice would be her priorities during European Union (EU) exit. She says Article 50 will be triggered before the end of March 2017.

UK will be pushed to take part in detailed discussion on fishing waters and other EU priorities

The transport company Optare is using the Government scheme despite owners - the Hinduja family - building a huge fortune. Pictured are the brothers Srichand and Gopi Hinduja.

Prince Charles praises their "dedication, resilience and hard work" in a letter left outside his home.

British airlines said they have been told the government is planning a 14-day quarantine for anyone arriving there from any country other Ireland.

Source: www.reuters.com - Sunday, May 10, 2020
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will set out a five-tier warning system for the coronavirus in England on Sunday when he outlines the government's plans to begin slowly easing lockdown measures, British media reported.

Jaston Khosa was one of 600,000 men from African countries who fought for Britain. He was quietly buried on VE Day after a life of abject poverty In a crowded, Zambian slum on VE Day, a family gathered to bury one of the last veterans of Britain’s colonial army. Jaston Khosa of the Northern Rhodesia...