When Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy became the first foreign leader since Bill Clinton to sit in a UK cabinet meeting last week, the pictures told a story of where the British national interest lies.
There have been four UK prime ministers since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022. Keir Starmer is not alone in hoping that there is not another one before the war ends.
The UK is in the unfamiliar position of offering an outlook of stability at a time when turmoil is stalking other key members of the G7.
Mr Zelenskyy arrived in the UK on a mission to ensure that London remains its loudest supporter when it comes to sanctions, arms supplies and diplomatic heft against Russia. Personalising his appeal, the Ukrainian leader said he wants Mr Starmer to show that he is a strongman in the face of international aggression.
That is obviously something Mr Starmer will have to decide on for himself, for it will be an important part of defining his premiership. To go back to the national interest mentioned at the top, Ukraine is certainly part and parcel of how Mr Starmer wants to change the UK with his overwhelming parliamentary majority.
Labour sees defence as an issue that it can own. With the first duty of any government being to defend the country, Mr Starmer sees an opportunity in the reindustrialisation of the UK. It sees the rearmament of Europe as a trend that can boost its own agenda.
Defence is a core national industry that has already sparked into life as a result of the nature of the threat posed by the war in Ukraine. Making things is suddenly the emphasis of defence, and the British think they are well placed to gain from this process.
BAE, the largest UK defence firm, is one of the main shareholders in the European missile consortium MBDA. It has moved to Ukraine, with a factory line to make artillery guns, and is also running maintenance and repair services for weapons supplied by the UK within the country.
There are others, too. Babcock International has financing from the UK Ministry of Defence to provide operations involved in the maintenance, repair and asset management of vehicles. Last week, officials revived the UK’s ability to produce forgings for gun barrels, working in partnership with Sheffield Forgemasters, supporting the repair and overhaul of Ukrainian vehicles. The claim is that this is a first step towards sovereign barrel production.
Labour will also be hoping to boast that it is the party of the masses once again, as it aims for mass production of arms systems
A few hundred German Leopard tanks, a couple of dozen Abrams tanks from the US and more than one dozen UK Challengers are other illustrations of western support. Only this month, Czech President Petr Pavel’s efforts to supply artillery shells to Ukraine have resulted in a deal to build a new factory, rather than scurry around the world to buy up stores.
So far, the Europeans and Americans have been sluggish in the production needed to match Russia on the battlefield. But the UK defence industry’s support means that Ukraine’s armed forces should be able to rely on more to keep it in the fight.
There is a sense in the Labour party that Ukraine is only just the taster of the opportunity. It has a project to overcome Brexit that in these early days has no final destination.
Look at the graph of EU arms imports: it has shot up on an annual basis from about €2 billion ($2.2 billion) in 2022 to more than €5 billion last year. The trajectory is only going one way and supplying this market presents the UK with a huge opportunity, especially in a world where trade barriers are only rising.
There is, however, a threat to such an opportunity given that the EU disregards the UK as a pillar of European defence. This isn’t just about trade barriers, such as tariffs, but the tendency to exclude the UK from the continent’s build-up plans.
While Mr Zelenskyy was meeting the UK cabinet, Ursula von der Leyen was being endorsed by the European Parliament for a second term as European Commission President.
In the political guidelines that she issued for the next European Commission, there is a commitment to appoint a defence commissioner for the first time. This cabinet-level appointee would be charged with delivering a white paper for common European defence programmes within 100 days of taking office.
The Brussels-based think tank Bruegel has warned that one of the prime challenges for this paper is if a “strategic industrial policy in the defence sector should really be focused only on the EU, or whether it should include partner countries such as the UK and Japan”.
The Europeans promised Ukraine a million shells a year, but another think tank, the London-based Royal United Services Institute, projects it will reach this high-water mark only by 2026. There is an obvious gap that the UK’s capital and expertise in the defence sector can potentially fill. London will be hoping that an opening will be left for its participation.
Labour will also be hoping to boast that it is the party of the masses once again, as it aims for mass production of arms systems not just for the UK but for its neighbours, too.
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
LA LIGA FIXTURES
Friday
Granada v Real Betis (9.30pm)
Valencia v Levante (midnight)
Saturday
Espanyol v Alaves (4pm)
Celta Vigo v Villarreal (7pm)
Leganes v Real Valladolid (9.30pm)
Mallorca v Barcelona (midnight)
Sunday
Atletic Bilbao v Atletico Madrid (4pm)
Real Madrid v Eibar (9.30pm)
Real Sociedad v Osasuna (midnight)
21 Lessons for the 21st Century
Yuval Noah Harari, Jonathan Cape
PROFILE OF STARZPLAY
Date started: 2014
Founders: Maaz Sheikh, Danny Bates
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment/Streaming Video On Demand
Number of employees: 125
Investors/Investment amount: $125 million. Major investors include Starz/Lionsgate, State Street, SEQ and Delta Partners
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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List of alleged parties
May 12, 2020: PM and his wife Carrie attend 'work meeting' with at least 17 staff
May 20, 2020: They attend 'bring your own booze party'
Nov 27, 2020: PM gives speech at leaving party for his staff
Dec 10, 2020: Staff party held by then-education secretary Gavin Williamson
Dec 13, 2020: PM and his wife throw a party
Dec 14, 2020: London mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey holds staff event at Conservative Party headquarters
Dec 15, 2020: PM takes part in a staff quiz
Dec 18, 2020: Downing Street Christmas party
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Hydrogen: Market potential
Hydrogen has an estimated $11 trillion market potential, according to Bank of America Securities and is expected to generate $2.5tn in direct revenues and $11tn of indirect infrastructure by 2050 as its production increases six-fold.
"We believe we are reaching the point of harnessing the element that comprises 90 per cent of the universe, effectively and economically,” the bank said in a recent report.
Falling costs of renewable energy and electrolysers used in green hydrogen production is one of the main catalysts for the increasingly bullish sentiment over the element.
The cost of electrolysers used in green hydrogen production has halved over the last five years and will fall to 60 to 90 per cent by the end of the decade, acceding to Haim Israel, equity strategist at Merrill Lynch. A global focus on decarbonisation and sustainability is also a big driver in its development.
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
The National in Davos
We are bringing you the inside story from the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos, a gathering of hundreds of world leaders, top executives and billionaires.
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
UAE squad
Humaira Tasneem (c), Chamani Senevirathne (vc), Subha Srinivasan, NIsha Ali, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi, Chaya Mughal, Roopa Nagraj, Esha Oza, Ishani Senevirathne, Heena Hotchandani, Keveesha Kumari, Judith Cleetus, Chavi Bhatt, Namita D’Souza.
Founders: Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, Turki Bin Zarah and Abdulmohsen Albabtain.
Based: Riyadh
Offices: UAE, Vietnam and Germany
Founded: September, 2020
Number of employees: 70
Sector: FinTech, online payment solutions
Funding to date: $116m in two funding rounds
Investors: Checkout.com, Impact46, Vision Ventures, Wealth Well, Seedra, Khwarizmi, Hala Ventures, Nama Ventures and family offices
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Scoreline
Arsenal 0 Manchester City 3
- Agüero 18'
- Kompany 58'
- Silva 65'
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
ONCE UPON A TIME IN GAZA
Starring: Nader Abd Alhay, Majd Eid, Ramzi Maqdisi
Directors: Tarzan and Arab Nasser
Rating: 4.5/5
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Global institutions: BlackRock and KKR
US-based BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager, with $5.98 trillion of assets under management as of the end of last year. The New York firm run by Larry Fink provides investment management services to institutional clients and retail investors including governments, sovereign wealth funds, corporations, banks and charitable foundations around the world, through a variety of investment vehicles.
KKR & Co, or Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, is a global private equity and investment firm with around $195 billion of assets as of the end of last year. The New York-based firm, founded by Henry Kravis and George Roberts, invests in multiple alternative asset classes through direct or fund-to-fund investments with a particular focus on infrastructure, technology, healthcare, real estate and energy.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Company%20profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20JustClean%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDubai%20with%20offices%20in%20other%20GCC%20countries%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ELaunch%20year%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202016%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20160%2B%20with%2021%20nationalities%20in%20eight%20cities%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3E%3Cbr%3ESector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20online%20laundry%20and%20cleaning%20services%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2430m%20from%20Kuwait-based%20Faith%20Capital%20Holding%20and%20Gulf%20Investment%20Corporation%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
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