Q: What happens when a pope dies?
A: Another one just popes up.
Not a very good joke, but it’s my only papal conclave gag and I first heard it I think during the papacy of John Paul II, so it’s venerable if not particularly funny.
This is exactly how to respond to Trump. He wants you to be running round frightened of him. A shrug is the best response. And delivering the shrug *from a cocktail party* is 💯.
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It's long been the case countries can sign a thin deal with India if they want, but they won't get a very substantive one. The UK now joins Australia, the UAE, Efta and probably someone else I've forgotten in doing so.
Will the EU follow suit? Who can tell? Doesn't make much difference anyway.
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Fun fact: the first agreement opening the French market to Hollywood films was the 1946 Blum/Byrnes deal, which for France was negotiated by one Jean Monnet. So the father of European unity honed his skills defending the great French tradition of forcing its people to sit through unwatchable movies.
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Top-drawer trolling from the Indians. "Hey would you like some of our low-cost high-carbon emissions steel to undercut the industry you're obsessed with protecting? No?"
10/10, no notes.
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