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Under
The
The
Labour
Radar
Leadership
While the media landscape is
Contest
preoccupied 2020
by COVID-19, politics
and business grinds on. ‘Under the
Radar’ provides a concise overview and
thoughtful analysis of critical stories
Summary
currently being & Analysis
overlooked.
Sunderland 1 But this is clearly wrong. Nissan is
reaffirming their commitment to
Barcelona 0 Sunderland because of Brexit. They see
the threat of tariffs as an opportunity
to flood the British market with
What happened? vehicles produced from its biggest car
manufacturing plant.
The Financial Times have revealed
that Nissan are planning to close their Nissan will have been motivated by
Barcelona site, where the Renault the UK government’s pre-Coronavirus
Kadjar and Captur are made, and move budget, which committed £27.4bn to
production to their Sunderland plant. road and motorway upgrades. And more
encouragement was offered yesterday
A major overhaul in global operations is - the Transport Secretary announced a
set to be announced in the coming weeks, £2bn package for transport infrastructure
as part of a concerted effort to repair their projects, £1.7bn of which will go to roads
strained relationship with Renault. and bridges.
And it appears that the Sunderland Perhaps more interestingly, this decision
plant, where £4bn has already been could signal a major shift in the UK’s
invested, will benefit the most from this economic policy. Nissan’s decision may
reconciliation. be fuelled by a belief that Rishi Sunak
will be pressing ahead with one of his
What does it mean? bolder post-Brexit pledges – the creation
of “free ports”. The Port of Tyne has been
Sunderland is a city whose identity is earmarked as one of ten ports in the
closely entwined with Brexit. It was the country that could receive tax exempt
first place to deliver a decisive vote to status. Brexiteers believe this is a sure-fire
leave on Brexit night, while the popular way of kickstarting economic growth,
Netflix show, ‘Sunderland ‘Til I Die’, especially in regions where the ports are
paralleled the unfortunate descent of the based.
local football club to the lower leagues
with the socio-economic decline behind This decision alone does not vindicate
Britain’s departure from the EU. the Brexit vision - Nissan were already
firmly entrenched in the UK market.
During and after the referendum, But regardless, expect to see a wave of
‘Remainers’ often argued that Brexit Brexiteers swapping their Ford Fiestas for
would destroy the little industrial activity Renault Kadjars.
left in places like Sunderland. And the
language being used to report on this
story doubles down by arguing the
decision is ‘despite Brexit’.
Is World Trade Over? His departure will now spark further
uncertainty in the midst of a global crisis.
In normal circumstances, the WTO could
What happened? spend up to nine months selecting an
appropriate candidate, but now it only has
The head of the World Trade until August 31st to find a successor.
Organisation has resigned from his
position, a year before the end of his Three candidates have already expressed
term. Roberto Azevêdo announced the an interest; Abdelhamid Mamdouh of
decision to WTO delegates on Thursday, Egypt, Yonov Frederick Agah of Nigeria
stating that he will step down effective and Eloi Laourou of Benin, but there is
31st August. He noted that the timing no clear frontrunner as yet. If no one is
was motivated by the current slowdown selected in time, which is highly possible,
in the organizations work, owing to the one of the four deputies will serve as
global pandemic. According to Azevêdo, caretaker director-general.
his early departure would allow next
year’s meeting of trade ministers to focus
entirely on reforming the organisation. “In normal circumstances,
the WTO could spend up
What does it mean?
to nine months selecting an
Azevêdo’s tenure hasn’t exactly been appropriate candidate, but
plain sailing, especially since President now it only has until August
Trump took office. As a long-time
advocate of international trade and 31st to find a successor”
global cooperation, he has been unable
to lead the WTO effectively since Trump
redirected the US onto a protectionist One of these is Chinese, while another
pathway. is American – should either take over
it could spark anger in Washington or
By waging trade wars on China and Beijing. And with anti-Chinese sentiment
Europe, and pushing for bilateral trade at an all-time high, a Chinese caretaker
with the likes of Mexico, Canada and may even push Trump to act on his
Japan, Trump has effectively steamrolled threats and withdraw from the WTO
the WTO and sparked an existential crisis altogether
within the organisation. To add insult
to injury, Trump has refused to approve
appointments and reappointments to the
WTO’s supreme court, thereby crippling
the organisation’s primary function. No
wonder Azevêdo felt the urge to leave.
Stocks and shares If Burr sold his stock based on
information he received in those
nightmares briefings, he would have broken the Stock
Act which prohibits officials from making
financial decisions based on non-public
What happened? information.
Richard Burr, Republican Senator
for North Carolina, will step down as
chairman of the Senate Intelligence “The timing has led some
Committee while he is the focus of an to question whether the
insider trading investigation. He is being
investigation may have
investigated over the sale of stocks,
worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, something to do with Burr’s
using non-public information. After role in the Russia inquiry”
his mobile phone was sequestered by
the FBI, Burr denied any wrongdoing,
insisting his decision to step down was a
This is a crucial time for the committee.
way to limit the distraction caused by the
Next week it is due to vote on Rep.
investigation.
John Ratcliffe’s nomination to be the
next director of national intelligence.
What does it mean? Meanwhile, in a few short months,
it plans to release the final report on
The seizure of a sitting Senator’s mobile Russian interference in the 2016 election -
phone, along with a search warrant of an investigation in which Burr has been a
his electronic storage, is a clear sign key driving force, much to the chagrin of
that there must be strong evidence the White House.
incriminating Senator Burr.
The timing has led some to question
Burr got into this mess when he sold whether the investigation may have
stock holdings on the 12th February. something to do with Burr’s role in
At the time, the Trump administration the Russia inquiry. The fact the search
was publicly downplaying the impact warrants - which would have been signed
of coronavirus. But privately, Burr was off by the Attorney General – were made
receiving briefings from the CIA and public, despite Burr’s cooperation with
top health officials, in his capacity as the FBI, has added fuel to the fire. These
chairman of the Intelligence Committee may all just be conspiratorial musings –
and a member of the Senate’s Health although with the current administration,
Committee. The briefings did cover the anything seems possible.
potential economic fallout from the virus,
which at the time was only affecting Asia.
What Trafalgar Is
Reading
The chasm between the UK and EU’s Brexit positions
The Spectator
“It is the fact that the differences between the two sides are so high-level, philosophical
even, that explains why the UK is so uninterested in an extension.”
- James Forsyth on the stalled Brexit negotiations.
Birtherism of a Nation
The Atlantic
“The calls to disavow birtherism missed the point: Trump’s entire campaign was
birtherism”
- Adam Serwer argues that birtherism is more than just a conspiracy theory, it is the
governing ideology of the United States.
But if you must read about Coronavirus
How China Could Emerge Even Stronger After COVID-19
TIME
“During a recent tour of China’s northern province of Shaanxi, President Xi Jinping
instructed cadres to “turn the crisis into an opportunity.” How well it succeeds in doing
so could have ramifications for the entire world order.”
- Charlie Campbell on Beijing’s chance to replace the United States as global hegemon.
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