Transatlantic security, freedom & democracy; Research Fellow @UniKentPolitics; formerly @IRIglobal & @Europarl_EN
UK
Joined November 2013
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During peace time. Let that sink in.
I don’t even like football, but Harry Kane what a man!
Harry Kane’s words to his family, One of the most beautiful #BallonDor speeches ever: 🤍
All those years, the sacrifice, taking me to training, coming to watch me play all around England... There was never any pressure to become a footballer. It was always about working hard.
True, although the UK has over the past decade missed opportunities to build more strategic partnerships with like-minded allies in CEE, Nordics etc.
This makes the current reengagement more like a catch up game & also complicates the EU-UK reset
This is important. While the #EU–#UK reset remains a long and complex process (Made in Europe, public procurement, and more), some Member States are taking the lead and going their own way. Could this set a wider precedent?
euronews.com/2026/10/27/pola…
Mao shattered the Western imperialists’ schemes by hiding in villages while Republic of China forces under Chiang Kai-shek (supported by those evil Western imperialists) bore the brunt of fighting and drove the eastern Japanese imperialists away.
So much for communist heroism.
Igor Merheim-Eyre retweeted
Missed by pretty much everybody, but @GOVUK was defeated 195-155 in the House of Lords last night on a very significant China amendment to the Cyber Security Bill.
Amendment would require Government to keep a list of foreign threat actors, based upon those who attack the UK.
Close thy Draghi, open thy Dimon
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon warns Europe is falling dangerously behind America economically… and blames anti-business, anti-investment, and anti-innovation policies. 🇺🇸🇪🇺
“If you don’t believe me, go to Europe, folks. Europe used to have a GDP per person of 90% of America’s. It’s now 65%. It’s on its way to 50%.
That will jeopardize the health of Europe itself over time.
And it’s all anti-business, anti-investment, anti-innovation. They kind of know it.
If they don’t fix it—and we should help them fix it, because Europe matters—it’s really bad for the Western world, too.
We should do it wisely.”
Europe shift over the past three decades has proven decimating for their economy. Aging population forces mass immigration in order to maintain adequate growth. Crazy regulation and bureaucracy slows innovation and investment… forcing the economy further down. At the same time, the United States has pulled ahead exponentially and will continue to do so. Europe is struggling.
About time after the Government spent months fence-sitting on this.
Now let’s get Rosebank opened up!
UK government gives go-ahead for gas production from Jackdaw field in North Sea bbc.in/4yzB0mv
Igor Merheim-Eyre retweeted
China, as a state-led and state-driven economy, cannot offer fair trade in an open market. Chinese businesses always follow political priorities, and the state is always deeply involved in business.
By 1917 Wilhelm was in no position to discuss peace because he was effectively no longer setting policy. From economic mobilisation to war operations, that effectively passed to the army, which was becoming ever more radical.
Not the same as Putin. Analogies do not always work.
Oh dear, Peter. In March 1917 the Kaiser's ally, Emperor Karl of Austria, proposed precisely such a peace settlement: restoration of Belgian sovereignty and Alsace-Lorraine to France. He urged Kaiser Wilhelm to agree.
It's called the Sixtus Affair. Rather unfortunate to lecture others on knowing “very little about war or politics” while overlooking one of the most remarkable peace initiatives of the Great War.
Like Putin, Wilhelm rejected the approach because Germany's military leadership still believed victory was possible and refused to surrender its territorial gains. A catastrophic miscalculation. Instead of negotiating from strength in 1917, Germany fought on to unconditional military defeat, revolution and the Kaiser's abdication in 1918.
The real lesson of 1917 is the folly of confusing the ability to continue a war with the wisdom of doing so.
I remember times when the Conservatives led on economic security and protecting the UK from Chinese threats.
I find it odd that our peers now prefer to question the EU and its actions rather than work with allies on addressing key questions about security, jobs, or manufacturing
Gone is the luxury of hedging. Successive UK governments (and not just Brexiteers) thought they could have their cake and eat it.
UK can work with its natural partners - or it can become a dumping ground for the Chinese & become increasingly vulnerable to coercion
So this is a big deal, and perhaps even *the day Brexit delusions die*. For the EU threatens to restrict automotive sector access unless the UK follows its trade and investment rules. And China threatens to retaliate if the UK does what the EU wants. politico.eu/article/china-th…
We’ve been here before, and it’s tiring to have this conversation yet again.
Change through trade is an illusion
Igor Merheim-Eyre retweeted
"Conservatism starts from a sentiment that all mature people can readily share: the sentiment that good things are easily destroyed, but not easily created. This is especially true of the good things that come to us as collective assets: peace, freedom, law, civility, public spirit, the security of property, and family life, in all of which we depend on the cooperation of others while having no means singlehandedly to obtain it. In respect of such things, the work of destruction is quick, easy, and exhilarating; the work of creation slow, laborious, and dull." How to Be a Conservative
The Chief of the General Staff candidly saying what our political leaders should be honestly communicating to the country.
🇬🇧 Are Britons ready for the sacrifices needed to strengthen national security?
Speaking to soldiers in Catterick Garrison the head of the British Army warns Britons must face a “frank conversation” about the sacrifices needed for defence and security🔗forcesnews.com/services/army…
Igor Merheim-Eyre retweeted
Informative thread about how the PRC views the risks of connected devices--the kind of devices and connectivity for which Beijing wants the rest of the world to rely on the PRC.
Meanwhile, the EU once again kicked the can down the road, bought off by some reductions in hybrid car exports and vague promises on rate earths.
This will only weaken the EU’s position further rather than restoring some illusory trade balance
NYT: “For now, time favors Beijing. Each passing month adds more than $30 billion to China’s trade surplus with Europe, supporting hundreds of thousands of Chinese industrial jobs. Meanwhile, European manufacturers continue to weaken.”
@KeithBradsher
nytimes.com/2026/10/07/busin…
Igor Merheim-Eyre retweeted
Bloody hell. A former head of the BND, Germany's foreign intelligence service, has been arrested on suspicion of espionage. sueddeutsche.de/politik/hann…
Igor Merheim-Eyre retweeted
Václav Havel believed that truth was better than fear, freedom was worth fighting for, and Europe’s future belonged to everyone. He devoted his life to those convictions and helped change the course of history.
On what would have been his 90th birthday, I’m remembering my friend with gratitude for his courage, his love of our common humanity, and the work we did together to bring the Czech Republic into NATO and build a Europe no longer divided.
We also shared a love of music. So today, I’m playing a few notes in his honor. Happy birthday, my friend. The world could use more of your spirit.