Insights

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A Hard Day's Right: A Brit’s experience of Trump’s base

General Policy

Joe Armitage
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CPAC – the Conservative Political Action Conference – is a bewildering experience for a British immigrant to the US whose understanding of what constitutes ‘right-wing’ is completely unreflective of the Republican party’s most vocal and influential contingent. I expected sophisticated panel discussions espousing the virtues of supply-side economics and speeches…

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After Adobe/Figma, what next for tech mergers?

TMT

Conan D'Arcy
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This week on Top in Tech, Conan D'Arcy is joined by Joe Armitage, GC's Lead Analyst on UK politics, to talk us through the collapse of Adobe's acquisition of Figma, the Competition and Markets Authority's (CMA) role in it and the political fallout in the UK. 

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General Politics

Regulatory diplomacy: new frontiers?

General Politics

Joe Armitage
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From Brussels to Beijing, diplomats are increasingly focused on winning the battle to establish the standards and norms governing emerging technologies. New structures for Whitehall departments may be a step in the right direction for the UK. 

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Unpacking the UK's Autumn Statement

General Policy

Alex Dawson
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UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced the long-awaited Autumn Statement yesterday, detailing the new government’s tax and spend commitments alongside the OBR’s economic forecast. The delay of the budget provided Sunak and Hunt with more time to agree on areas of public spending to potentially cut. It seeks to demonstrate the economic competence and fiscal credibility that…

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General Politics

Rishi Sunak becomes prime minister

General Politics

Alex Dawson
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Rishi Sunak entered 10 Downing Street yesterday as the UK's third Prime Minister in as many months. On this recording of a GC client briefing call, recorded on October 25th, Lead Political Analyst Joe Armitage is joined by UK Country Director Alex Dawson and Director Lilah Howson-Smith to talk through Sunak's agenda.

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General Politics

The final two candidates for UK Prime Minister

General Politics

Alex Dawson
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After less than two weeks of campaigning, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak have emerged as the two candidates vying to replace outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The 180,000 members of the Conservative Party will now choose between the two over the summer. 

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What is the UK doing differently after Brexit?

General Policy

Alex Dawson
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Alex Dawson, Practice Lead for UK politics and policy; Lilah Howson-Smith, Senior Associate; and Joe Armitage, Lead Analyst for UK politics discuss UK policy divergence after Brexit, following our recent event series.

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Determining whether the AUS-UK FTA is a success for London

Trade & Manufacturing

Joe Armitage
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Following a post-NATO dinner between the premiers of Australia and the UK, it was announced that a free trade agreement between the two countries had been agreed in ‘broad terms’. Further details are expected to be fleshed out soon, but it is not yet clear when the full text of the agreement will be finalised from a technical perspective and published.

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Three views on the US election

General Policy

Joe Armitage
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At this point - with Joe Biden likely to win the presidency - the UK government has probably started to build and strengthen relationships with individuals in Biden’s team who are set to lead the transition process. However, given that President Trump still has a slim chance of successfully contesting the outcome in key states and remaining in office, any such outreach to…

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General Politics

New cabinet secretary Simon Case has a lot to prove and even more to do

General Politics

Joe Armitage
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Simon Case, who was appointed permanent secretary of 10 Downing Street this May, has been confirmed as the next cabinet secretary. At 41, he is the youngest person in the position since Lord Hankey, for whom the role was created in 1916, during the middle of the Great War. Like Hankey, Case will sit next to the prime minister at meetings of the Cabinet and assume ultimate…

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The politics in the UK suggests that the BBC is in danger, but practical considerations might protect it

General Policy

Joe Armitage
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Boris Johnson is no fan of the BBC. In 2012, after being elected as mayor of London for a second term, he wrote that he sometimes felt that his chief opponent was the local BBC news and that “the prevailing view of BBC newsrooms is, with honourable exceptions, statist, corporatist, defeatist, anti-business, Europhile and, above all, overwhelmingly biased to the Left.”…

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General Politics

The new speaker of the British House of Commons could influence the Brexit outcome

General Politics

Joe Armitage
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In modern times, the speaker of the House of Commons has not been a significant determinant of political outcomes in the UK. This makes the current speaker, John Bercow, an unusual figure. Whilst navigating the fraught Brexit process, he has authorised several procedural innovations that have enabled backbench MPs to commandeer control of the chamber from the government…

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General Politics

The British parliament can stop prime minister Boris Johnson achieving a no-deal Brexit

General Politics

Joe Armitage
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The attorney general, Geoffrey Cox, has reportedly advised prime minister Boris Johnson’s new government that a no-deal Brexit cannot be prevented from occurring on October 31st by the British parliament, even if it loses a vote of no confidence. He has advised that parliament’s passing of the Article 50 act – which authorised the triggering of Article 50 - and the…

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General Politics

Can the new prime minister of Britain stop parliament blocking a no-deal Brexit?

General Politics

Joe Armitage
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The UK stepped back from the precipice of a no-deal Brexit in April by requesting and receiving an extension of the Article 50 period up to October 31st this year. This has provided short-term relief from the immediate risk of a no-deal for many businesses on the continent and in the UK. But political turmoil over how to handle Brexit has again engulfed the UK in the last…

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General Politics

The race for a new Conservative leader

General Politics

Stephen Adams
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UK: Senior Director, Stephen Adams, Practice Lead for UK Politics and Policy, Alex Dawson, and Senior Associate, Joe Armitage, discuss the process of selecting a new leader for the Conservative Party, differences from the leadership race in 2016 and potential front runners.

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General Politics

Can the UK parliament take control of Brexit?

General Politics

Joe Armitage
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As Brexit reaches a critical point, the UK parliament and the UK government seem poised to start a high-stakes battle over the future of the UK’s constitution. Parliament is set to reject the prime minister’s negotiated treaty and strongly opposes the idea of exiting the EU without a negotiated agreement. The government insists that this is what will happen without…

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General Politics

Negotiating a Brexit deal has proved hard enough, but the ratification process could be just as challenging

General Politics

Joe Armitage
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With British prime minister, Theresa May, stating that the Brexit talks are in their endgame, it is worth looking ahead at where the risks for the government will be most acute in the process required to ratify an agreement under the Article 50 framework.

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General Politics

The UK government's Brexit strategy

General Politics

Stephen Adams
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Global Counsel Senior Director, Stephen Adams, and Senior Associate, Joe Armitage, discuss the UK government's Brexit strategy and the likelihood of a second referendum.

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