British politics – Dr Oliver Hartwich

Boris, a Cicero reincarnate

He famously claimed his chances of becoming Prime Minister were “about as good as the chances of finding Elvis on Mars, or my being reincarnated as an olive”. It probably means Boris Johnson will be a pizza topping in his next life. [...]

Always look on the bright side of Brexit

Monty Python prepared me for the absurdities of British life. Without Monty Python, I would be even more hard-pressed to make sense of Brexit. [...]

A predictable Brexit disaster

May’s abject failure to deliver Brexit would always pulverise her party and the political system with it. Somewhat naively, I thought she and her party would not let it come to that. How wrong I was. [...]

The wisdom of David Cameron

Of all the people in the world, former British Prime Minister David Cameron is probably the last person anyone wants to listen to on Brexit. But there is no person better qualified to give advice now. [...]

The worst job in global politics

There are no certainties around Brexit at this stage, except for this one. Once Britain has formally left the EU under whatever circumstances, May’s time will be up. She will be driven off the stage, despised by leavers, remainers and everyone in between. [...]

Brexit shootout

As the Brexit negotiations move towards extra time, it takes a team captain with better oversight, strategy and nerves than Theresa May. [...]

How freedom was lost in Brexit

For those people who campaigned for Brexit in the hope that it would yield a more liberal, more free market Britain, Theresa May's repositioning of the Tory party is a huge disappointment. [...]

Brexit: Keep calm and carry on

There is no need to panic over Brexit. [...]

Brexit is a question of liberty

The referendum’s real question is whether in its current state the EU is a club that freedom-loving democrats happily want to belong to. Next week we will find out the answer. [...]

Brexit’s history lessons

A British withdrawal from the emerging EU superstate would be a strong move toward a more competitive Europe. It would be a Europe returning to the strengths of its diversity. Even if Niall Ferguson does not agree. [...]