Since 1947 the City of Oslo has sent us a Christmas tree in gratitude for our support in the Second World War. We really appreciate the gesture….but…the tree tends to be tall and thin, decorated in energy efficient white lights. It sits in Trafalgar Square, worthy but dull. It is time for a change!

We need more glamour in London. Returning from outsized New York, eyes still dazzled by the Rockefeller Centre Christmas Tree (capitals essential!), it is time for more colour, brighter lights and, yes, if you insist, a bit more Camp at Christmas. Things are getting better but it would be great to see huge decorations adorning London’s walls, a Trafalgar Square tree which is bushy, humorous in the sheer audacity of its decorations with lights everywhere. Who cares, let’s go over the top!

And whilst we are at it, why can’t we have a Garden Bridge in London too, paid for by private funds. It would be a ‘statement’ (and we need a few of those in a post-Brexit world…), competing with the undoubted success of the High Line in New York. Oh, and glass pyramids a la the Louvre, and an amazing new concert hall showcasing radical architectural ideas.

Austerity Britain is making us all weary. London is a dynamic, exciting city. Let’s take a few risks, ditch the moaning Minnies and make it a bit more fabulous too. Manchester, Birmingham etc. you can follow or take the lead. If Britain is to be a Little Island, we should be as lit up as possible.

Merry Christmas!

 

There are a lot of gloomy people out there. Brexit and Trump have ‘triumphed’, the far right and far left in western democratic societies have all gathered more support than feels comfortable (Corbyn, Sanders, Le Pen, the AfD to name but a few) and ‘elites’, whatever this title means, are despised. Nationalism is on the increase and King Canute-like, key economies are trying to turn their back on globalism. The world feels a much less safe place nowadays.

Why are we at this point? For decades in western democracies politicians have over-promised and under-delivered, telling the electorate what they want to hear and racking up deficits in their attempt to deliver. At the same time, post the 2008 crash, the rich seem to have got richer with cuts disproportionately impacting the less well-off. The long term benefits of globalisation for many have been out-weighed by shorter term pain.

What is the solution? Well, first, things are only going to get worse before they get better. The anger with the establishment is not going to abate soon. Trump is still absurdly popular amongst his core base (don’t be reassured by the Democrat win in Alabama); Brexit is happening (regardless of MPs now having the final say on terms) and deficits mean there will be no helping the relatively less well off soon. Corbyn looks alarmingly electable in the UK whilst extremists in continental Europe continue to prosper. And that is before all these populists with their manifest incompetence fail to deliver for their supporters.

And financial markets seem oblivious to any sort of geopolitical risk. A journalist from The Economist speaking recently on rising tensions, reached the conclusion that growing disillusionment with the current order is simply not reflected in the level of markets or price of real assets. If threats cause the bull market in bonds and equities to end sharply, there will be even less money around to oil the wheels of consensual capitalist democracies, further fuelling extremism.

Now back to the solution…What is required is a new political class of higher calibre politicians who tells it to the electorate as it is. Firm on budgets and over-blown promises, socially liberal and willing to take the risk of walking away from existing Party structures, they must act and talk long term, ignoring the 24 hour media cycle. They must measure their success by creating a new economic consensus not by how long they remain at the top.

Remind you of anyone? Well let’s start with Macron in France. Then let’s look to the future; individuals forming a break away Labour Party, a moderate Conservative Party leader not obsessed with Europe or a full political party realignment in the UK? A rejuvenated Democratic Party in the US? That’s just the start.

Sounds optimistic? I hope so. It is the only option.

America is our closest ally. The world has benefited from American global leadership and so have we. Corbyn and his allies don’t get this. The Government and most of the British public do.

And yet, America is currently led by an appalling president. Let’s just run through a few of his actions in the past week whilst I have been here:

• he has resurrected claims that Barack Obama is not a US citizen
• he claims that the tape recording of his comments about assaulting women which he apologised for during his campaign may now be fake news
• he has retweeted racist, far-right videos to the horror of the UK and then had a public spat with the Prime Minister
• he is driving forward tax reform, now just passed by the Senate, which rewards the rich and further undermines Obamacare (it also allows for drilling in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge…)

American politics is in turmoil reflecting a divided country – one half of the country appearing to live in a parallel universe to the other.

And the Democrats are not without blame in all this. They have ignored many voters to their cost believing an alliance of minorities and support for, seemingly at times, extreme political correctness is enough. Their hypocrisy over a recent torrent of sexual abuse claims where they have condemned Republicans but have been found to ignore dubious behaviour within their own ranks has only compounded divisions. They lack fresh leadership and a new narrative which allows Trump to get away with far more than he should.

But the real issue is Trump. He corrodes public discourse, taking a scorched earth approach to political debate. He is petty, vindictive, divisive and a blatant liar. Factual reporting is undermined by reckless accusations of ‘fake news’. It will take much longer than the tenure of Trump’s presidency to heal the wounds.

On foreign policy, he is also  dreadful. His withdrawal of America from the international stage is leaving a vacuum nicely filled by a far from altruistic China. Let alone giving carte blanche to his corrupt friend Putin. It is not so much about ‘Making America Great Again’ as ‘Making America Small’. The long term damage is incalculable.

As America’s closest ally, it is time to cut ties with Trump, withdrawing an invitation to visit the UK. Such is public opposition to him, the trip would be a disaster anyway. A famously inward looking country needs to know what impact their president is making internationally and in particular to a friend like Britain.

The Republican leadership don’t like him, nor do much of the American public. We will get our post Brexit trade deal without him. We should embrace the rest of America as we always do, positively, but without Trump. In doing so, we would be doing ourselves and, equally importantly, America a favour.