Insights

General Politics

Is Starmer breaking through the tartan ceiling?

General Politics

Benjamin Wegg-Prosser
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It’s the simplest of one-fact stories: Labour cannot secure a majority in Westminster without a significant number of parliamentary seats in Scotland. In 2010 Labour slumped to 29% of the vote in the UK and lost 91 seats nationwide, but still picked up 41 Scottish seats out of the 59 contested, and 42% of the vote. Fast forward five years and Labour were left with one…

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General Politics

Ukraine-Russia: Inside Kyiv and Moscow

General Politics

Benjamin Wegg-Prosser
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Global Counsel Managing Director Benjamin Wegg-Prosser is joined by Owen Matthews, Newsweek’s former Moscow correspondent, and Sergii Drobysh, a Ukraine-based political analyst, to discuss Russia's shifting internal politics and the mood inside a besieged Ukraine.

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General Politics

Russia-Ukraine: the impact on Asia with Bilahari Kausikan

General Politics

Benjamin Wegg-Prosser
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The Russian invasion of Ukraine has provoked one of the strongest non-military reactions from the West seen in decades. What explains Asian reactions to the invasions, and how are their economies coping with the fallout on global supply chains and energy markets? And what lessons will China take from this in regard to its rivalry with the West?

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Russia – Ukraine: how much worse can it get?

Financial Services

Benjamin Wegg-Prosser
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Benjamin Wegg-Prosser and Rebecca Park are joined by Chris Weafer, a Moscow-based investment strategist and founding partner of Macro-Advisory, to talk through the sanctions’ impact on corporates and investors and the specific challenges they face in Russia and the wider region.

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The Ukraine invasion - a global perspective

General Policy

Alexander Smotrov
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On Wednesday morning, Russian troops entered Ukraine. As stressed by policymakers in London, Washington, and Brussels, everything is now on the table in terms of further sanctions against Russia. Whatever new measures might ensue-and depending on Russia’s counter-response-the immediate costs and possible risks for investors and corporates in the region have never been…

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Bloomberg’s bandwagon rolls into Singapore

General Policy

Benjamin Wegg-Prosser
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Singapore hosted its first major international conference last week since the start of the pandemic.  After aborting the mini-Davos, which they had planned for last August, this event was an even bigger deal. With Hong Kong closed off to international travellers and now a more challenging environment politically for global businesses, the Singaporeans know they have…

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Global Counsel Holiday Reading List 2020

General Policy

Benjamin Wegg-Prosser
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At the end of each year, the Global Counsel team has a tradition of sharing among ourselves a selection of our favourite articles (or podcasts) from the past year for Christmas consumption. We started sharing the list with our network in 2017, and the response has been positive enough for us to continue. 

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The future of physical retail

General Policy

Benjamin Wegg-Prosser
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As the national lockdown ends and the UK government promises a substantial return to normality by Easter, the big question for retail is what “normal” even looks like. On a recent event, Global Counsel convened a panel of experts including Emma Bridgewater, founder of her eponymous ceramics firm, Archie Norman, chairman of M&S, Laura Citron, CEO of London &…

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Seven lockdowns

General Policy

Benjamin Wegg-Prosser
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Along with many of our clients, family and friends, GC staff have found themselves under varying levels of quarantine this week, in some cases far from home. Here some of the team consider the covid-19 politics and policies playing out around them.

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General Politics

Global Counsel Holiday Reading List 2019

General Politics

Benjamin Wegg-Prosser
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At the end of each year, the Global Counsel team has a tradition of sharing among ourselves a selection of our favourite articles (or podcasts) from the past year for Christmas reading. Two years ago, we decided to risk sharing the tradition. The response was positive enough to encourage us to do so again. 

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General Politics

Global Counsel Holiday Reading List 2018

General Politics

Benjamin Wegg-Prosser
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At the end of each year, the Global Counsel team has a tradition of sharing among ourselves a selection of our favourite articles (or podcasts) from the past year. Last year, we decided to risk sharing the tradition. The response was positive enough to encourage us to do so again. 

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Getting into bed with a FAANG

TMT

Benjamin Wegg-Prosser
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What connects Jean-Claude Juncker with Netflix? House of Cards? Perhaps, but no. Orange is the new black, certainly not. Mathias Döpfner. Maybe. Back in 2014, at the peak of the horse-trading during the Spitzenkandidaten process, legend has it that this article in Bild (owned by Axel Springer, whose CEO is Herr Döpfner) played a decisive role in encouraging Angela Merkel…

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General Politics

Has the final whistle of the World Cup changed the score for Russia?

General Politics

Benjamin Wegg-Prosser
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The torrential downpour which greeted President Putin as he walked onto the turf at the Luzhniki Stadium as the final whistle brought the 21st World Cup to an end was the only cloud over a tournament graced with many footballing silver linings. His counterpart at FIFA, President Infantino, had declared before the final that the championship was “changing the perception of…

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General Politics

The analytics of football’s possible return home

General Politics

Benjamin Wegg-Prosser
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The twenty-three men of the England World Cup squad in Russia have done more to restore respect for Britain abroad than any number of ministerial visits, soft power exchanges and cultural tours. The irony of this turnaround taking place in Russia, at a low-point in Anglo-Russia relations, something which the death of a British citizen yesterday linked to the nerve agent…

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General Politics

Ukraine: the election and after

General Politics

Benjamin Wegg-Prosser
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The election to choose a new Ukrainian president is scheduled for 25 May. Instability in the country’s east means it is not yet certain that the vote will take place at all. The election is a crucial test for post-revolution Kiev, which needs to produce an administration capable of representing all parts of the country, delivering a painful reform agenda and presenting a…

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The Moscow election: too big to jail

General Policy

Alexander Smotrov
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Later this week Moscow will go to the polls to choose a new mayor in an election for control of a city that is both the centre of the Russian political economy and not quite like anywhere else in Russian politics. The Russian President, Vladimir Putin, appointed the current mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, and he released from jail his chief critic - charismatic lawyer and anti…

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