What is going on in HK is fascinating. Beijing signed a deal in 1984 as to what should apply as of 1997. There are now just 28 years to go. So what on earth does Beijing think it is achieving? The fact is that the youth of HK oppose. The fact is that Beijing dare not send in troops. The fact is that the only possible outcome for Beijing is to look stupid and dictatorial: can they possibly wish such a result?
Incidentally, I understand that tourism revenues have halved since Beijing kicked off trying to break its contract.
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Today’s Daily Mail is a cracker of an issue. There are no daily hate pieces cooked up by the old crooks that dominate Associated Newspapers. There is Sarah Vine passing on a terrific snippet on the Rees-Mogg family. There is Ruth Sunderland on the City pages editorial talking common sense which is interesting. None of this populist rubbish on Cobham etc.. Let’s have more of Ruth.
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Prince Harry may win against the Mail on Sunday and thus respect his lawyers’ advices. But if I were an adviser I would caution him. It was Bill Deedes who described Diana as intriguing. Here he used two senses of ‘intriguing’. The first was that she engaged one’s attention. The other was that she arranged intrigues. Troubles can follow the Prince’s victory. If indeed he does win.
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Meanwhile, the wind down to the Prix de L’Arc de Triomphe gets under way. The draw is not yet disclosed. But I just have to get Enable beaten. This is not easy.