David Cameron – STUFF HAPPENS

London clay

The grey stuff inexpertly photographed by me from the platform at Royal Oak Tube Station is a big pile of London clay, excavated from somewhere under central London to create Crossrail, a new commuter train service operating east-west across London. By the time the new trains begin operating in 2018, 26 miles of new tunnel […]

by Alex Hickman

Notes on UK Strategy for C21 iii

Sorry – still going on this. My bullet point analysis of Britain’s malaise … Britain is caught – even now – between an imperial sense of responsibility, know-how and engagement; and limited post-imperial capability. This gap has become wider since the financial crisis. The context of international relations has been transformed by technology, population growth, […]

by Alex Hickman

Notes on UK Strategy for C21

I’ve written before about the UK’s need for a strategy for the 21st century. I think David Cameron’s EU referendum pledge + his announcement of a new generational struggle against Islamic terrorism in Africa +the looming referendum on Scottish independence + the shifting priorities of the US under Obama etc. etc. pose interesting questions about […]

by Alex Hickman

India stumbles

I’ve learnt a little about India since 2006; enough to understand the size of the opportunity, and the problem, its complexity, the talent of its people and how little I really know about them. My first proper look at India was through the prism of UK policy. Organising David Cameron’s visit here in 2006 gave me an […]