20 Sep 2016

Theresa May’s first address at the ‘superbowl of espionage’

We are awaiting Theresa May’s first address to the UN. The UN’s mind is elsewhere. The attack on a humanitarian convoy in Syria has dominated the coverage here. Also President Obama’s farewell.


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(Trump building – on the right- like the man, looms over UN)

President Obama has been giving  his  8th and final address to the UN General Assembly. In the packed media centre a handful of US journalists clapped as he walked to the podium. You don’t get that in the UK press pack. Amidst the perils of the imperfect world, President Obama tried to leave this stage with a message of hope about the power of democracy and the technology. He called for “new models for the global marketplace,” acknowledged a growing contest between liberalism and authoritarianism.

The UN General Assembly remains the “superbowl of espionage,” a moment when the world’s leaders and their top officials are in New York and America hopes it can get to know them a little better. Honey traps and much ear-wigging are the order of the day.

Of course, that goes for other world meetings too. At the G20 in Hangzhou, delegations including the UK one will have assumed that every single word they uttered was listened to. The purpose-built conference centre will have been rigged up like a recording studio. This morning in New York, Theresa May had a bilateral with the Japanese Prime Minister Abe. I understand they postponed some of the chat they could’ve had in China because the two leaders didn’t feel like sharing their thoughts with their Chinese hosts. They certainly didn’t rush to small talk when they met in the UN building just now. There were grins, silence and more grins before the cameras were asked to leave.

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(The world gathers – the speaking list for the General Assembly. Theresa May’s team were chuffed she got to speak straight after the heads of state who take precedence over heads of government)

Amongst her other meetings here in a sweltering, humid New York, Mrs May has been chatting to US business. But no sooner had Mrs May finished speaking to Wall Street bigwigs  than their traders were sending the pound to its lowest against the US dollar since mid-August.

The FT has calculated 5,500 firms could lose out if EU passporting rights are lost. Their commentator Martin Wolf is the latest to wade in on the increasing likelihood of “hard Brexit,” a trade deal with a few add ons.

Mrs May continues with her mantra about seeking an “ambitious” renegotiation, code for the best of both worlds, a bit of single market traded for some immigration control. Mr Wolf says, echoing Charles Grant of the Centre for European Reform, that seems very unlikely.

Good thing too, some Tory MPs say. Michael Gove is said to be working on a book about how Britain should take advantage of the freedoms Brexit brings to re-imagine itself, an optimistic counter to the doom and gloom that dominates some outlets.

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