Step back from the hard brexit brink

This general election campaign was supposed to be about Britain leaving the European Union – Brexit – but was instead dominated by security issues, where Theresa May’s Government had a lot of explaining to do. Now Brexit looms large, with the opening negotiations only days away. Yet for all the talk, the issues are not much clearer. What the incoming Government has to do is to state its priorities for the forthcoming negotiations, not present an undifferentiated wish list. What principles should define British interests here?

Donald trump’s climate disaster

After meeting Pope Francis, President Donald Trump postponed for a few days his decision on whether the United States should remain signatories of the Paris Agreement on climate change. Given that the Pope had given the President a bound copy of his encyclical Laudato Si’ – which strongly recommends international action of the kind Paris envisaged – it may have been that he needed time to read it. Or it may have been that he needed time to placate his daughter, Ivanka, who is located in the White House as a special adviser.