I suppose this is the traditional stalking horse move, to see what support it flushes out? But it is amazing that Lewis is playing these games when Putin is openly threatening the U.K. with nuclear and hypersonic missiles

So Trump is just the same as Biden in your view?

Thanks for spotting, Michael

I think “ were making” is perhaps a fairer description, Michael? German companies were making very good money in the early days of China’s emergence in global trade. And they didn’t want to recognise that the world was changing. So now they are left with a range of equally unpalatable options

I was there too and lived round the corner from him. Nobody I knew was surprised - and the YouGov poll was very clear. There's a long tradition of pundits being out of touch with voters. The same people who thought Labour would win, were also convinced Brexit would lose a year later. I rest my case

Polls suggest that few people saw Miliband as a future premier? YouGov suggest he was key to the defeat yougov.co.uk/politics/art... The defenestration of his brother was one of those issues that cut through to voters and raised doubts about his credibility

Good point. The linking factor is that none of them faced strong opposition. So they didn't go through the normal testing process of a hard-fought general election. Instead, the questions that should have been raised in the campaign, only appeared afterwards when they were in government.

It’s become a Trade War. Tariffs were always just a first step. The difference is that a Trade War, the strongest player wins - unless others band together to resist them. Europe, Canada, Australia and others need to focus on making this happen