Hello from The National and welcome to the View from London – your weekly guide to the big stories from our London bureau
Afghans fear
This weekend marks five years since the Taliban swept across Afghanistan, retaking the country after the withdrawal of US and international military forces.
While the Taliban government was shunned in Europe for many years, the situation is slowly changing, with countries gradually accepting that the regime is here to stay and could even be a partner in the deportation of migrants.
That has sparked fear among the Afghan diaspora.
Roqia Saee thought she would be safe when she arrived in Germany with her two children in 2023, having fled her homeland a wanted woman.
Born in the central Afghan city of Bamyan in 1995, six years before the Taliban blew up its 1,400-year-old Buddha statues, she grew up hearing about atrocities perpetrated by the insurgents. When the group returned to power five years ago, she was arrested and treated brutally after leading a series of protests, before escaping through Pakistan to Europe.
“It's a nightmare,” Ms Saee said. “It has made me relive my trauma. Where will I go if Germany does this to me and sends me to the Taliban? It's because of the Taliban that I'm in Germany.”
The deal: the Taliban accept repatriates on condition the Afghan administration sends it own diplomats to Germany. The German government has already publicly acknowledged accrediting two Taliban diplomats. The Taliban have welcomed the move, viewing the openings as a diplomatic victory that cements their international status.
Engagement with the Taliban has been fruitful, Germany says, while also arguing that talks remain strictly technical and do not constitute diplomatic recognition of the Taliban.
Last month, Germany deported for the first time an Afghan with no criminal record, after he had exhausted his asylum claims.
Afghans in Europe are “sandwiched between two very difficult situations”, said Omar Sadr, non-resident fellow at Princeton University's Afghanistan Policy Lab. They are stuck between a Taliban regime that persecutes them and host countries seeking to bring migrant numbers down.
Building boom
The boss of Arada London has put forward his proposals to get "spades in the ground" to boost the UK’s property-reliant economy.
Jonathan Seal, chief executive of the Sharjah developer's UK arm, has made three suggestions he believes would speed up housebuilding and restart the property market: ease lending to first-time buyers, update stamp duty and simplify planning.
He put forward his ideas during a recent visit to Downing Street to meet government advisers, and expanded on them in an interview with The National at one of its construction sites, near the Roundhouse music venue in Camden.
Arada acquired mixed-use developer Regal London last September, taking a 75 per cent share in the company.
Almost immediately after, it acquired an 80 per cent stake in a landmark waterfront regeneration project at Thameside West in the east of the city. In June it unveiled its first residential project, 100 Avenue Road in Swiss Cottage, while its other projects include plans to transform the former Salvation Army headquarters in Elephant & Castle into a new urban quarter.
Mr Seal – who before property developing worked as a lawyer, investment banker and in private equity – is upbeat about the opportunities in London for Arada, despite a sluggish economy struggling with challenges such as the Iran war.
London’s struggles could actually play into Arada’s hands. “Now's a pretty good time to be buying land, and develop and grow,” he said.
Grown-ups required
Andy Burnham appears to have made a pretty good fist of his first few weeks in charge, especially considering his sprint to Downing Street meant he did not have the time to court the City.
Reassurance came in the form of those said to be influencing Mr Burnham. For a while it seemed as if he would be appointing Lord Jim O’Neill, the former chief economist to Goldman Sachs, well-regarded worldwide as inventor of the "Brics" acronym and an ex-minister, and Andy Haldane, once head economist at the Bank of England.
These were men the City held in high esteem. In the parlance of the bars and boardrooms, they were "grown-ups", writes Chris Blackhurst.
Now, though, comes the news that Mr O’Neill and Mr Haldane may not be by Mr Burnham's side; that they will not be taking up official roles in his regime.
That has acted like a jolt to the City. One minute, they thought they had their duo in the room; the next, the couple are claimed not to be there. It’s possible the two can steer from the sidelines but that is not ideal. It affords them no place in the hierarchy, no underpinning foundation. They can be too easily discounted by the Whitehall machine, in which initials and position in the pecking order are essential weapons.
Read more
The National produces newsletters across an array of subjects. You can sign up here.
