London Calling is a weekly rundown of the top ten emerging issues from the past seven days shaping US-UK commercial relations.
London Calling is for global communication strategists and C-Suite executives.
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Memo: London Calling | Edition 8 | March 3, 2021
1. Support for Scottish independence has dropped to 50 percent for the first time since June 2020, suggesting that the civil war within the SNP has dented the campaign to break up Britain. A Survation survey of 1,000 Scots for the Sunday Mail found that support for separation has fallen, losing a lead built up in the past nine months that bolstered supporters' confidence in May's Holyrood elections.
The fall in support for independence ends a run of 22 surveys which put the Scottish nationalists ahead.
2. Alex Salmond's evidence has Nicola Sturgeon on the ropes: Alex Massie writes if there is one thing Scotland does not lack, it is politicians with advanced degrees in humbug and the taking of umbrage. This past week has been another reminder of that.
Sturgeon, the SNP leader, is still standing, although the Salmond vs. Sturgeon bloody battle looks set to rage on.
Sturgeon admits mistake over official's appointment but rejects the "absurd" idea of a plot against her predecessor.
3. Boris Johnson sets up a committee to focus on keeping the UK together: No. 10 seeks to tackle the Scottish independence threat after losing two heads of unit tasked with maintaining the union. The committee will direct a union policy implementation effort so that the broad-brush decisions set from No. 10 can be turned into action across Whitehall and the territorial offices.
4. Current Britain Elects / New Statesman election forecast for May's Scottish parliamentary elections:
SNP: 70 MSPs (+7)
CON: 24 (-7)
LAB: 19 (-5)
GRB: 10 (+4)
LDEM: 6 (+1)
5. The Rishi Sunak and Boris Johnson double act is a powerful political weapon for the Tories: Andrew Grice writes the chancellor can promote the fiscal responsibility that long-standing Conservative voters crave, while the prime minister can use his optimism to appeal to the working-class voters he attracted in 2019.
6. The ugly divorce between Britain and Brussels is just getting started: As trade disputes pile up, the blame game evident in the early months of the split suits domestic political needs on both sides.
"These are not purely teething problems. They are structural problems that arise from not being in the single market. This is what a 'hard Brexit' looks like." -- Kim Darroch, former UK ambassador to Washington
7. Boris Johnson: Workers will return to offices in "a few short months": The PM dismisses the idea that lockdowns will lead to a permanent shift towards working from home. Johnson predicted, "the British people will be consumed with their desire for the genuine face-to-face meeting that makes all the difference to the deal or whatever it is."
8. Boris Johnson and the UK government is funding a 5-country bid to land 2030 World Cup: The UK government announced it will provide about $4 million to pursue a bid for the 2030 World Cup in a unique five-nation proposal with England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Ireland.
"We are very, very keen to bring football home in 2030. It's the home of football; it's the right time. It will be an absolutely wonderful thing for the country." -- Prime Minister Boris Johnson
9. 'Captain Tom,' the 100-year-old who raised millions for Britain's health system, gets a hero's goodbye at his funeral. In Bedford, England, soldiers carried Moore's coffin and performed a firing gun salute for the decorated World War II veteran, who came to be known and loved as "Captain Tom." The ceremony was also marked by the flyover of a World War II-era Royal Air Force plane.
10. Westminster polling intention:
CON: 42% (+3)
LAB: 34% (+1)
LDEM: 7% (-2)
GRN: 6% (-1)
Via Survation
