Eamonn Butler
12.1K posts
@eamonnbutler
Director, Adam Smith Institute - @ASI
Reeves says in her Mais lecture that “Brexit did deep damage” and that “our fate as a country is inescapably bound with that of Europe”, vowing to make the case for closer alignment. This is the most pro-European speech a cabinet minister has given since 2016.
Britain was early in banning slavery. But, unlike other countries, it did not stop there. It poured blood and treasure into a campaign to stamp out the foul business globally. It signed treaties with African kings, who were determined to keep the institution alive, and enforced those treaties. Even while engaged in a life-and-death struggle with Bonaparte, it diverted gunboats to hunt down the slavers. It closed down the traffic in human beings from East Africa to Arabia. Abolitionism became a popular cause, with working-class families donating to missions. Between 1808 and 1867, Britain spent 1.8 per cent of its GDP on anti-slavery operations, the most expensive moral foreign policy in human history. What recompense does it get today? What recognition? Its reward is to be targeted by every shakedown artist, Third Worldist, grifter and halfwit. It is now seriously proposed that the country that stamped out the slave trade should pay reparations to the African states that took the slaves. Truly no good deed goes unpunished. telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03/1…
For the love of all that is holy, man, just stop. You have sidelined our country. Whether from fear of anti-Israel voters or from exaggerated deference to foreign courts, you have excluded us from the conversation. Fine. But please stop advertising that fact.
My update on the situation in the Middle East.
Off the phone with Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani of Qatar. We discussed the aftermath of Iran’s reckless and indiscriminate strikes on the country. With the region in deep upheaval, Qatar can count on strong European solidarity. Just as we could count on Qatar’s support to European citizens, and I thanked the Sheikh for this. The risk of further escalation is real. This is why a credible transition in Iran is urgently needed. One that restores stability and paves the way for a lasting solution. This must mean the halt of Iran's military nuclear and ballistic missile programmes and the end of destabilising actions on air, land and at sea. Above all, it must reflect and support the democratic aspirations of the brave people of Iran.
