This week, the Supreme Court gave its bombshell ruling – Boris Johnson’s prorogation of parliament was unlawful. With parliament resuming the very next day, Boris Johnson has been dealt a humiliating defeat. Yet, MPs still won’t trigger a general election, until Boris requests a Brexit extension. So is there any escape for the Prime Minister, or for Brexit?
In this week’s cover piece, Rod Liddle is less than optimistic, arguing that, as he predicts in his book, the Establishment just will not let Brexit happen. On the podcast, Lara Prendergast speaks to Rod and Anand Menon, Director of the think tank UK in a Changing Europe. Rod rails against the partiality of the judges, saying:
‘I don’t agree with Supreme Courts, I don’t believe we should have one.’
Also in the episode, one year on from the murder of Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi, how is the country faring in its relationship with the West? In this week’s magazine, John R. Bradley suggests that the curtain has closed on the seventy-year partnership between America and the House of Saud. He cites the decreasing U.S. reliance on Middle Eastern oil and a cautious approach to conflict with Iran by the Trump Administration. We talk to Sir John Jenkins, the former British ambassador to Saudi Arabia, and LSE Professor Madawi Al-Rasheed about the Saudi Arabia’s pivot from West to East (China and Russia are looking more attractive now than before), and the recent attack on Saudi oil fields.
And last, the needles are out in the world of knitting. Recently, one famous knitter, known online as ‘Sockmatician’, has been ostracised from the knitting community. He had been calling for more civility in online discussions, especially on topics surrounding racism. In this week’s magazine, our Assistant Editor (and keen knitter in her own right) Isabel Hardman ponders how a radical hate mob have stitched-up the debate over inclusivity. She joins Lara and author Bonnie Greer to discuss the politicisation of what seems on the surface to be an uncontroversial hobby.
Comments