James Cleverly defends first China trip by foreign secretary in five years as MPs call for openness on policy

Published

2 years ago

August 30, 2023

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The foreign secretary has insisted “diplomacy makes a difference” as he meets senior members of the Chinese government in Beijing – despite questions back home over his party’s approach to the country.

The officials James Cleverly is meeting include foreign affairs minister Wang Yi and vice president Han Zheng and he is expected to discuss issues ranging from climate change to international security in what is the first visit to China by a UK foreign secretary in more than five years.

Politics live: Cleverly meets top Chinese officials in landmark trip

But it comes amid a rift in the Conservatives over whether the government should take a tougher stance on Beijing, with former party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith going as far as comparing the current approach to the appeasement of Nazi Germany in the 1930s.

After meeting Mr Zheng early on Wednesday morning, Mr Cleverly told reporters his visit was about “making sure we are able to speak regularly about bilateral issues – both the areas where we disagree but also areas where we need to cooperate [such as] the fight against climate change”, as well as making sure China understands the UK’s core positions.

“[China] is an important country, it is a large country, an influential country, and a complicated country, and therefore our relationship with China will necessarily be just as complicated and sophisticated,” added the foreign secretary.

“We are clear-eyed about the areas where we have fundamental disagreements with China and I raise those issues when we meet, but I think it is important we also recognise that we have to have a pragmatic sensible working relationship with China because of the issues that affect us all around the globe.

“So, of course, we will pursue a pragmatic working relationship, but that does of course mean raising the issues where we disagree when we have the opportunity to do so.”

Asked if words in meetings would be enough to spark change, Mr Cleverly replied: “Diplomacy makes a difference, that’s why it exists, that is why it is a function of international relations that has endured for centuries.

“Regular face-to-face discussions, where you can raise those issues where we disagree directly, unambiguously, without being filtered through media, are incredibly important.

“I am clear-eyed… that we are not going to change China overnight and we are certainly not going to do it in one individual meeting. But it is important that we maintain regular dialogue.”

‘Confusion across Whitehall’ on China

Mr Cleverly’s trip comes on the same day MPs on the Foreign Affairs Committee called for an unclassified strategy on China that does not just deal with trade and security, but also diplomatic engagement, human rights and technological cooperation.

The committee’s 87-page report is in response to the “Tilt to the Indo-Pacific” announced in the Integrated Review of 2021, in which the government identified Russia as an “active threat” and China as a “systemic challenge”.

But the committee’s report said there was “confusion across Whitehall” about the new policy focus, arising from a “failure to explain” it.

Alicia Kearns, the Conservative chair of the committee, told Sky News the government’s current China strategy was “at the highest possible security level”.

“That means that some government ministers have not even seen it,” she added. “So I question how you can have a comprehensive cross-government strategy where ministers themselves don’t know what they’re working towards.”

Ms Kearns said there was “big uncertainty” for the business community and academics, leaving them “unsure of the boundaries between caution and collaboration” with China.

“Now, the Chinese Communist Party are very explicit on what they’re seeking to achieve, and they are therefore exploiting this uncertainty, which is why we have to end it for the publication of an unclassified China strategy,” she said.

In the report, the chair also described Taiwan – which fears an invasion by China – as an “important ally and partner of the UK” and urged the government to “stand shoulder to shoulder” with the island and make clear that attempts to undermine its self-determination were “unacceptable”.

‘China cannot be ignored’

Responding to the report, a government spokesperson said the Integrated Review refresh “outlines clearly and in detail our commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific”.

They said Mr Cleverly had set out the China strategy too, “including strengthening our national security protections and engaging where it is in the UK’s interests to do so – that is what he is now doing during his trip to China”.

The spokesperson added: “We are reviewing the report’s findings in detail and will respond in due course.”

The visit signals a further move in government policy to engage with Beijing, despite ongoing calls from Tory MPs – some of whom have been sanctioned by China – to take a harder line on the country’s activities, especially when it comes to human rights violations.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has already softened his language – moving from calling China “the biggest long-term threat to Britain” in his leadership campaign last summer, to instead saying the UK should stand up to China “with robust pragmatism”.

But his predecessor in Number 10, Liz Truss, has criticised the direction of travel and called for a more robust approach, saying in a speech earlier this year that French President Emmanuel Macron’s own visit to China was “a sign of weakness”, and Western governments had been “appeasing” the autocratic regime.

Ms Kearns didn’t criticise the foreign secretary’s trip, saying it was “more important James Cleverly is in the room vociferously disagreeing with them” and backed the idea of Mr Sunak meeting with Chinese President Xi at the upcoming G20 summit.

‘Chop and change’ should end

Labour Party chair Anneliese Dodds said the UK needed “a far more strategic approach towards China”, telling Sky News: “The Chinese leadership always takes a long-term approach when it comes to their interests, but as a country over the last 13 years, we’ve really not had a strategic approach towards China… We need to have that longer term approach.”

Asked if she would be happy for Labour’s shadow foreign secretary David Lammy to make the trip to Beijing, Ms Dodds said: “There needs to be engagement, but it can’t be ad hoc.”

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Budget 2025: Hospitality pleads for ‘lifeline’ as Rachel Reeves accused of imposing ‘stealth tax’

Published

3 hours ago

November 29, 2025

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Budget 2025: Hospitality pleads for 'lifeline' as Rachel Reeves accused of imposing 'stealth tax'

Rachel Reeves has been accused of failing to “support the great British pub” as she promised in the budget, with owners facing skyrocketing business rates bills.

In her speech in the House of Commons on Wednesday, the chancellor said she was backing small businesses by introducing “permanently lower tax rates for over 750,000 retail, hospitality and leisure properties – the lowest tax rates since 1991”.

But while the government gave itself the powers to discount the business rates bills for high street businesses through legislation earlier this year, the chancellor only implemented a reduction of a quarter of what the government is able to, and she is being accused of imposing a “stealth tax”.

It has left small retail, hospitality, and leisure businesses questioning whether their businesses will be viable beyond April next year.

A Treasury spokesperson said: “We’re protecting pubs, restaurants and cafes with the budget’s £4.3bn support package – capping bill rises so a typical independent pub will pay around £4,800 less next year than they otherwise would have.

“This comes on top of cutting licensing costs to help more venues offer pavement drinks and al fresco dining, maintaining our cut to alcohol duty on draught pints, and capping corporation tax.”

Business rates, which are a tax on commercial properties in England and Wales, are calculated through a complex formula of the value of the property, assessed by a government agency every three years, combined with a national “multiplier” set by the Treasury, giving a final cash amount.

Over the last few years, small businesses were given business rates relief of 75% to support them over the COVID pandemic, and Ms Reeves reduced that to 40% at last year’s budget.

The idea was that at the budget this year, the chancellor would remove that remaining relief in favour of reforming the business rates system to compensate for that drop, while shifting the tax burden on to much bigger businesses and companies like Amazon with lots of warehouse space.

However, the chancellor only announced a 5p in the pound discount for small retail, hospitality, and leisure businesses, rather than the assumed 20p drop which the government gave itself the powers to implement, and which trade bodies had been lobbying for.

On top of that, small businesses have seen the government-assessed value of their property increase dramatically, which wipes out the discount, and sees their business rates bill shoot far above what they had previously been paying.

One pub owner near Hull, Sam Caroll, has seen the assessed value of one of his two properties increase from £67,000 to £110,000 in just three years – a 64% increase.

He told Sky News that there is a “continual question” of business viability, and while he thinks they can “adapt” in the short term, “there will be a tipping point at some point”. Even at the moment, packing out their pubs seven nights a week, “it’s difficult for us to break even”, he said.

There will be a discount for small businesses to transition to the higher business rates level, but by year three, almost the full amount is expected to be payable, and Mr Carroll described it as “getting f***** slowly, instead of getting f***** overnight”.

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Sean Hughes, who owns multiple hospitality venues in St Albans, has also seen vast increases in the assessed value of his properties, and was sharply critical of the transitional arrangements the government is implementing.

He told Sky News: “Fundamental business rate reform was promised and we have total chaos. If [the system] was fair, why would they need transitional relief periods?”

A spokesperson of the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), which assesses the value of commercial properties for business rates purposes, told Sky News: “At the last revaluation, some sectors including hospitality were significantly affected by the pandemic, which resulted in much lower rateable values than they would have seen otherwise. Businesses that have now seen a recovery in trade are also likely to see an increase in their rateable value.”

However, Sky News has seen evidence of businesses whose assessed value did not decrease when assessed during the pandemic, but actually rose, and has risen dramatically this year.

Data compiled by the Pubs Advisory Service, shows that the number of pubs in the UK has decreased by nearly 5% in three years, but the average value of the properties has risen by an average of 36.82% per pub.

And analysis by UK Hospitality, the trade body that represents hospitality businesses, has found that over the next three years, the average pub will pay an extra £12,900 in business rates, even with the transitional arrangements, while an average hotel will see its bill soar by £205,200.

The body adds that by 2028/29, an average pub’s business rates will have increased by 76% and an average hotel’s by 115%, compared to 16% for a distribution warehouse like the ones the web giants use.

It’s not just the business rates rise that is worrying owners – it is the increase in employers’ national insurance implemented at the last budget, the increase in energy bills over the last few years, and the rise in the minimum wage, particularly for young people.

With the budget set to squeeze disposal income, there is little room for price increases to make up the shortfall either.

In a letter to the chancellor on Friday, Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper said small business owners “have been pushed to tears as they’re hit with the bombshell of higher business rates bills”, noting that “the government has chosen not to use the full powers it gave itself to throw high streets a lifeline”.

She added that businesses had been promised “permanently lower business rates”, but it appears the government has “broken yet another promise, by imposing a stealth tax not just on people, but on treasured high street businesses too”, and called on ministers to “throw our high streets and Britain’s hospitality sector a lifeline”.

Conservative shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith published his own analysis of the government’s budget measures on Friday morning, that found they will “hammer British pubs”.

Of the chancellor, he said: “She pretended in her budget speech to be supportive, whilst the true detail is that a combination of rate revaluations and scrapping reliefs will leave most pubs paying thousands of pounds more than they cannot afford.”

Kate Nicholls, Chair of UKHospitality, said in a statement: “The government promised in its manifesto that it would level the playing field between the high street and online giants. The plan in the budget to achieve this is quickly unravelling, and will deliver the exact opposite.”

She said they “repeatedly warned the Treasury” of the impending impacted of the value reassessment, but nonetheless, hospitality businesses are now facing “eye-watering increases”.

She added: “We agree with its reforms to deliver permanently lower business rates for hospitality and we appreciate the package of transitional relief, but its current proposal is not delivering lower bills. A 20p discount for hospitality would. We urge the chancellor to revisit.”

Politics

Polymarket puts December rate-cut odds at 87% as crypto stocks climb

Published

10 hours ago

November 28, 2025

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Polymarket puts December rate-cut odds at 87% as crypto stocks climb

Several crypto-linked stocks climbed on Friday as prediction-market odds of a December rate cut surged to 87% on Polymarket, the highest level this month.

Three US-listed Bitcoin miners led the rally, with Cleanspark, Riot Platforms and Cipher Mining all rising in the session and showing double-digit gains over the past five days.

Federal Reserve, United States, Predictions — *Probability of a US rate cut in December. Source:* *Polymarket*

Yahoo Finance data showed Circle, the issuer of USDC, jumped nearly 10% in early trading, while Michael Saylor’s Strategy and Coinbase notched more modest increases at the time of writing.

Bitcoin (BTC) was also up around 7% on the week, after dropping to around $82,000 on Nov. 21, according to CoinGecko data.

Much of the volatility in prediction-market pricing this month has been driven by comments from Federal Reserve officials.

On Oct. 29, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said a December cut was “not a foregone conclusion,” a remark investors took as hawkish — which means the Fed could delay rate cuts and keep conditions tight. Polymarket odds slipped from 89% the day before to as low as 22% by Nov. 20.

Sentiment shifted on Nov. 17 after Fed Governor Christopher Waller said the central bank should consider cutting rates next month, arguing that “the labor market is still weak and near stall speed” and that inflation is now “relatively close” to the Fed’s 2% target.

Prediction markets expand as demand surges

Prediction markets, such as Kalshi and Polymarket, which enable bettors to wager on the outcomes of real-world events, have expanded their reach and influence this year.

On Nov. 13, Polymarket inked a multi-year agreement with TKO Group Holdings to serve as the official prediction-market partner for the Ultimate Fighting Championships and Zuffa Boxing. The partnership came shortly after it partnered with North American fantasy sports operator PrizePicks.

The same month, Kalshi raised $1 billion from Sequoia Capital and CapitalG, pushing its valuation to $11 billion, according to a TechCrunch report citing a person familiar with the deal. The new round followed a $300 million raise in October.

On Nov. 19, rumors emerged that Coinbase is developing its own prediction-market platform after tech researcher Jane Manchun Wong posted screenshots of an unreleased site. Wong’s images indicated the product would be offered through Coinbase Financial Markets and backed by Kalshi.

On Wednesday, Robinhood said prediction markets have quickly become one of its fastest-growing revenue drivers, with more than one million users trading nine billion contracts since the product launched in March through a partnership with Kalshi.

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