Latest news with #HaroldWilson
Evening Standard
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Evening Standard
Snow Patrol frontman to perform home city gig with a difference
Among the other author events scheduled, former Labour cabinet member Alan Johnson will talk about his new book, Harold Wilson, Chris Whitaker will be discussing his international best-selling novel All The Colours Of The Dark, and American writer Karen Hao will be talking about her new book Empire Of AI.
Hindustan Times
03-06-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
What India needs to learn from US-China trade tussle
In the 1960s, British prime minister Harold Wilson quipped that a week was a long time in politics, but in the age of Donald Trump even days matter. The escalating trade war between the US and China suddenly took a turn after both sides agreed to a 90-day truce in mid-May during negotiations in Geneva, reducing tariffs temporarily. In turn, China had agreed to scrap non-tariff countermeasures that it had put in place with respect to curbs on export of critical minerals. The dialling down of tensions had led to jubilation on both sides creating an impression that their ties were on the mend. But, President Trump on May 31 again accused China of breaching the Geneva concord to roll back tariffs and restrictions on critical minerals. The Washington-Beijing armistice remains shaky. China's use of export control to constrict the flow of key components in industries that have the potential for mass employment is causing alarm worldwide. Industry groups in the US have complained about slow issuance of licenses by Chinese authorities for export of rare-earth elements. The New York Times reported that Ford Motor temporarily shut a Chicago factory that manufactures sport utility vehicles after a supplier ran out of the magnets. The magnets are used in automobiles to operate steering systems, brakes, and fuel injectors. Nearer home, Bajaj Auto, has warned that if rare-earth magnet shipments do not arrive from China, then the automobile sector could be affected. The European Union Chamber of Commerce in China has underscored that the tardy pace of approvals by China for rare-earth exports is affecting production schedules at factories. On the other hand, Beijing accuses Washington of violating the spirit to the Geneva truce by issuing guidelines that seek to restrict the usage specifically of Artificial Intelligence (AI) chips manufactured by Chinese tech giant Huawei. Beijing's grouse is that a Chinese company has been singled out in an official US government document. The US government has maintained that its guideline highlights the risks associated with using products developed by China in violation of export controls. Consequently, the US authorities have also spelled out the threat of imprisonment, penalties, and loss of export privileges for the violators. Thus, the Trump administration's new diktat presents a dilemma for international technology firms, pushing them to pick a side when it comes to hardware, which will further exacerbate the divide between the world's two largest economies. The Trump administration has now opened a new front — campus enrolment — promising to revoke the visas of Chinese students with ties to the Communist Party of China. The spotlight is on students pursuing courses related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Secretary of State Marco Rubio has announced that decks are being prepared to change rules related to study visas with an aim to improve scrutiny of applications from China and Hong Kong. While the US-China trade talks have stalled for now, it would be too soon to pronounce a verdict on the trade row. US treasury secretary Scott Bessent has indicated that high-level parleys between President Trump and President Xi Jinping may help in smoothening rough edges. These developments have underlined the primacy of technology and supply chains in the great-power competition. Trump 1.0's National Security Strategy in 2017 credited the US innovation system for China's economic rise and military upgradation, restricting the access of Huawei to semiconductor technology. The Joe Biden administration stressed upon the need for the US to maintain a preponderant edge over rivals in the sphere of technological development. In turn, Beijing has created an export control framework, weaponising the flow of critical elements to settle geopolitical scores. It has toyed with this toolkit as early as 2010 when it cut off supplies of rare earths to Japan over a fishing dispute. Earlier reports surfaced that exports related to dual-use technology from China by tech companies were subject to stringent customs inspections that had delayed deliveries of production equipment and material to India. India's economic dependency on China has increased with imports climbing to a record high of $113.45 billion in 2024-25. New Delhi must build capabilities and innovation to combat Beijing's supply chain warfare. Harsh V Pant is vice president, Studies and Foreign Policy, and Kalpit A Mankikar is fellow, China Studies, Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi. The views expressed are personal. Get 360° coverage—from daily headlines to 100 year archives.
Scotsman
03-06-2025
- Politics
- Scotsman
How Harold Wilson helped shape modern Britain
Harold Wilson was prime minister from 1964 until 1970 and from 1974 until 1976. Picture:. | Getty Images He won more elections than Margaret Thatcher or Tony Blair, held his fractious party together in turbulent times and helped to reform and civilise Britain. Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Harold Wilson - who died 30 years ago, on May 23, 1995 - was not always appreciated and sometimes maligned as a wily operator ..... But political leaders as diverse as Keir Starmer, Ed Miliband and Alex Salmond are said to have recognised him as a politician whose example they could learn from. Harold Wilson was prime minister from 1964 until 1970 and from 1974 until 1976. Picture:. | Getty Images Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad After working as an economist and statistician in the civil service, Wilson became an MP in the 1945 Labour landslide at the end of the Second World War. And two years later, at 31, he became the youngest Cabinet minister in the 20th century. He led Labour to a narrow victory in 1964 after 13 years of Tory rule, which ended in a mire of sleaze and scandal, and secured a much bigger majority two years later. With his trademark pipe and Gannex raincoat and his eagerness to harness the "white heat of technology", Wilson was seen as a man of the people for the modern age. And his government did indeed help to shape an updated Britain. In the 1960s, racial discrimination was rife, not least when it came to housing or employment. Wilson's government passed two Race Relations Acts to outlaw such practices. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Women were typically paid less than men and the government passed equal pay legislation to tackle the injustice. Wilson took a personal interest in setting up the Open University to make higher education accessible for all. And Labour moved the education system in England away from dividing children between grammar and secondary modern schools based on the 11-plus exam towards comprehensive schools. There was legislation to increase tenants' protection from eviction and appoint officials to assess fair rents. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Safety measures taken for granted nowadays were brought in under Wilson - namely, the breathalyser and the requirement for cars to be fitted with seatbelts. And the government also passed or helped to pass legislation to legalise abortion, abolish hanging, liberalise divorce laws and decriminalise homosexual acts between two consenting adults in private. And Wilson kept Britain out of the Vietnam war despite American pressure for UK troops to join the conflict. After losing in 1970, he went on to win two elections in 1974 and stepped down in 1976. Three decades after his death, Harold Wilson deserves to be remembered as a skilled and successful prime minister who made a positive and lasting difference.
Irish Independent
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Independent
Pat Spillane: Dublin can't get carried away yet, but like Limerick hurlers, they have turned a corner
Harold Wilson, the former British Prime Minister, was quoted during the sterling crisis of 1964 when he declared that a week is a long time in politics. He could just as well have been commenting on this year's GAA championship.
Daily Mail
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Inside Queen Elizabeth II 'relaxed' and 'intimate' relationship with her favourite Prime Minister
On paper, Harold Wilson and Queen Elizabeth II could not have come from more different walks of life. Wilson was a proud Yorkshireman from Huddersfield born into a lower middle-class family. Meanwhile, Queen Elizabeth II came from a very different social background as a member - and head - of the most famous family in Britain. Despite the stark differences between the two, Wilson and the Queen devolved a close friendship which led Elizabeth to bestow upon Wilson the honour of being her favourite Prime Minister. Today, is 30 years since Wilson died from colon cancer aged 79 and while the late Queen did not attend his funeral it is likely his death had a profound effect on Her Majesty. As according to author and broadcaster Gyles Brandreth Wilson and Elizabeth enjoyed a 'relaxed intimacy' which was unique as the meetings between the Queen and her PM were typically very formal. Writing in his biography of the Queen, 'Elizabeth an intimate portrait', Brandreth revealed that Her Majesty allowed Wilson to smoke his pipes during their meetings which 'grew longer and longer: one touched two hours, a prime-ministerial record'. Brandreth believes that their friendship developed for a number of reasons. Prior to Wilson's election in 1964 as the Queen's first Labour PM, all of the Prime Ministers were much older than the young Elizabeth. 'Sir Anthony Eden, born 1897, who succeeded Churchill, and Harold macmillan, born 1894, who succeeded hIm, were of a similar vintage and each in his own way, played the old school charmer with the young queen... essentially telling her what was going on rather than seeking to draw any advice,' Brandreth said. Wilson was different. He was the Queen's first Prime Minister who was not educated at a public school, although he was Oxford educated like three of her four previous PMs. But most importantly Wilson was closer to her own age - at just ten years her senior - and treated the Queen as an equal. As a staunch royalist, the Labour politician is reported to have said: 'I have great respect for tradition. I like the real ceremonies of the Monarchy.' Which explains why Wilson made it 'his business to endear himself to his queen', according to Brandreth. His mission was a resounding success with Elizabeth inviting Wilson to stay for drinks after their very first meeting. The late Queen also got on well with Wilson's wife Mary. Brandreth wrote that the Queen 'admired Lady Wilson's poetry and did not like the way it had been "belittled in certain quarters" when Mary first published a collection of her poems.' Wilson with his wife Mary. The late Queen also got on well with Wilson wife Mary. Brandreth wrote that the Queen 'admired Lady Wilson's poetry and did not like the way it had been "belittled in certain quarters" when Mary first published a collection of her poems' Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh leaving Downing Street in 1976. As a mark of their close friendship, the Queen accepted Wilson's invitation to have dinner at Downing Street just before he stepped down. The Queen had not dined at No.10 since Winston Churchill invited her in 1955 According to Robin, Harold and Mary's son, they got on so well that Mary was invited to Buckingham Palace in 2016 to have tea with the Queen to mark her 100th birthday. In 1970, Wilson lost re-election in a surprise defeat at the hands of Tory leader Edward Heath. Elizabeth relationship with Heath was in stark contrast to one she enjoyed with Wilson. 'Heath was socially awkward at the best of times and found it hard to relax and, unlike Wilson, found it difficult to relax with an attractive, intelligent women ten years his junior,' Brandreth said. However, the Queen was given the unusual opportunity to resume her weekly meetings with Wilson when Labour beat the Conservatives in the 1974 election making Wilson PM once again. By now, aged 58, Wilson had grown weary of British politics having been leader of the Labour Party for over a decade. He reportedly told a close adviser in 1974 that: 'I have been around this racetrack so often that I cannot generate any more enthusiasm for jumping any more hurdles.' Two years after he re-entered No.10 Wilson resigned reportedly out of physical and mental exhaustion from his time as Prime Minister. As a mark of their close friendship, the Queen accepted Wilson's invitation to have dinner at Downing Street just before he stepped. The Queen had not dined at No.10 since Winston Churchill invited her in 1955. The Queen also immediately made him a Knight of the Garter, the most senior order of knighthood in the British honours system. After his departure, Elizabeth and Wilson remained close friends. So much so that Brandreth claims Wilson showed him a small photograph of him and the Queen which he kept permanently inside his wallet. In the years running up to his death in 1995, Wilson developed Alzheimer's which caused his health to deteriorate significantly. But through his health struggles in later life the Queen kept in touch with the Wilsons. Tragically, his health struggles meant Wilson struggled to earn money post-premiership as his Alzheimers meant he struggled to write and give speech - which was a traditionally a source of income for former Prime Ministers. Upon his death the then-Prime Minister John Major paid tribute to Wilson describing him as a 'formidable political opponent'. 'In the ledger of life, his credit balance is very high. It is a privilege for me, as one, nominally, of his political opponents, to pay him this tribute and I do so unreservedly,' Major added. A memorial service was held for Wilson at Westminster Abbey which was attended by Major and all the living former Prime Ministers. While the Queen did not attend, the then-Prince Charles was at the service.
