Lonon Calling is a weekly rundown of the top ten emerging issues from the past seven days shaping US-UK commercial relations.
London Calling is for global communication strategists and C-Suite executives.
#G7 #Cornwall #CarbisBay #Singapore #Brexit #COVID #UKvariant #GordonBrown #KeirStarmer #NicolaSturgeon #AlexSalmond #Scotland #UKUSSpecialRelationship #USUK #BorisJohnson #Enviroment #GreenEnergy #JoeBiden #GlobalBritain #London #No10
Memo: London Calling | January 19, 2021
1. Cornwall to host G7 meeting at Carbis Bay: This year, the United Kingdom assumes the presidency of the G7. At the forum in June, Johnson will seek agreement on a plan to tackle COVID-19 and lead efforts to curb Facebook, Google, and Apple's power.
2. "Singapore of Europe": Johnson held talks with UK business leaders about cutting red tape as ministers draw up plans to invigorate Britain's business climate now that it has left the European Union.
3. Britons lament 'UK variant' label: Britain is in the difficult position of not only facing one of the world's highest per capita coronavirus death tolls but also being implicated as the source of a highly contagious version of the virus now spreading around the world: the feared "UK variant."
4. PM Johnson told his cabinet ministers the COVID situation in Britain was still "very serious" despite infection rates beginning to decline, urging others to follow the lockdown guidelines.
5. Former PM Gordon Brown is being urged by allies of opposition leader Keir Starmer to return to frontline politics leading a campaign to save the Union. Many party members believe the Scot is best placed to head Labour's campaign in any second Scottish independence referendum.
6. Salmond v Sturgeon could derail the independence express: Alex Massie writes, Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish first minister, and Alex Salmond, her former mentor, are fighting 'like ferrets in a sack.' Can the nationalist cause survive?
7. From Suez to Brexit and back again: Britain's long search for a role: Philip Stephens writes, Britain's departure from the EU reopens a problematic debate over its place in the world.
"The days of great power posturing have passed."
8. The big question - where does the UK-US special relationship go under Biden?
BBC: “Mr Biden, a quick word for the BBC”
Biden “The BBC? I’m Irish” (walks away, smiling)
9. Biden has never met Johnson, but his initial impressions were not favorable. Biden in 2019 called the British prime minister "a physical and emotional clone" of Trump, plus he views Brexit as a strategic disaster. Rarely has the personal relationship between PM and President started so low.
10. Johnson has put the environment at the heart of a new strategy to reset Britain's global role for the era of Biden and Brexit. He told his cabinet ministers that Global Britain will be a "pragmatic and problem-solving partner" worldwide.
