His blunt remarks last week about the delay to the Hinkley Point nuclear power station project ordered by Theresa May also jarred badly. Britain was often the target of vituperative abuse in the period leading up to the Hong Kong handover in 1997. But times change and so, too, does the balance of power, which has swung decisively in China’s favour in the succeeding two decades. Yet the question nevertheless arises: how does Britain, no longer working in close concert with France, Germany and Poland, propose to manage the Russian problem? Brexit’s champions promised to forge a range of post-Brussels international relationships, thereby creating a more vibrant, prosperous Britain.

Source: The Guardian August 13, 2016 22:52 UTC