Hello from The National and welcome to the View from London – your weekly guide to the big stories from our London bureau
New path
The mark of a good corporate behemoth is how long it takes to turn a corner. Strategic decisions are planned months in advance, repercussions are examined from top to bottom and consultants are brought in to delve into the minutiae of the proposed changes.
Heathrow Airport indicating an apparent readiness to turn back on its generational expansion plans is a case in point, writes our columnist, Chris Blackhurst.
As far as we know, the board has not yet gathered to discuss, review and decide. Sending the third runaway scheme back for a second look, to be refined and analysed further, has not yet been broached. And yet … something is in the air.
Always view with suspicion something being portrayed as a response to an unforeseen external event, such as companies blaming the sudden onset of recession for making thousands of redundancies and branch cutbacks.
Moves like that do not just happen overnight, but that is how they are presented. It’s good PR, using the cloak of something outside their control, which affects lots of people and which everyone understands. Yes, of course they would embark on a programme of lay-offs – even though the downturn may prove temporary and the long-term prognosis is positive.
Reports, therefore, that "spooked investors could ground Heathrow’s third runway", should be treated with a healthy grain of salt. As should: "Foreign stakeholders appear to be getting cold feet as the Iran war drives costs even higher."
Instead, look at the factor of the Heathrow chairman being new. Philip Jansen took over at the start of the year. His previous job was at BT, where he had a reputation for being an investor and a customer-facing boss.
News that the chairman has opened talks with airlines and with billionaire local landowner and hotels owner, Surinder Arora, to collaborate on the building of a new runway and terminal could pave the way for a fresh start.
Arora’s concept of a shorter new runway entailed no rerouting and disruption of the M25, together with a new terminal, for half the price of Heathrow’s proposal.
Germany's focus
When it comes to Europe addressing the loss of its supply lines to the Arabian Gulf, it is the French and the British – not the Germans – who are leading consultations with 50 nations on the matter of reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
Berlin has not led any proposal projecting its forces in a protective role during the current crisis.
I argue that German leadership of a strong European defence power will be land-focused, with a strong eastern Europe bias.
Given its resources and a relatively larger population, Germany is inevitably the prime mover in the effort to bolster Europe’s hinterland.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz has proved to be an enthusiastic proponent of spending more on European defence. In a shift from his predecessor, Olaf Scholz, Mr Merz has also preferred sending weapons capable of hitting targets inside Russia. He is more proactive on the Ukraine war, and his position is much more about pushing back against the Kremlin.
Hence, Mr Merz is braced for the US drawdown that was announced last week. It was this lack of an ultimate stake in a military contribution to Hormuz that led him to bait President Donald Trump over the Iran War. “A whole nation is being humiliated by the Iranian leadership, especially by these so-called Revolutionary Guards,” he declared.
Union address
The International Criminal Court’s top prosecutor took to the stage of a packed Oxford Union last night, making his first public address since a UN investigation into alleged misconduct began last year.
“I expected it to be one man and a dog,” he said of the audience.
Those gathered inside the ancient halls heard him lament that the law was threatened by “a world of brute force”, warning of a “sledgehammer approach to justice”.
He told the students: “We see in so many institutions an onslaught against the structures that were built by a generation that suffered almost Armageddon. We’ve seen that independent decisions are not universally welcomed.
“We’re living in the 1930s. We need to defend our borders, defend our frontiers and our values."
Mr Khan faced serious complaints directed against him during his 12 months absence and this was something of an attempted public rehabilitation. Allegations of sexual misconduct were made against him by female colleagues. Three judges in the court have said they have found no evidence of misconduct in the evidence presented to investigators, but the case remains open.
Man up
Man Group, the world’s largest listed hedge fund firm, is set to establish a presence in Abu Dhabi, in a significant boost to UAE ambitions to place the nation as the heartbeat of global capital flows.
The London-listed investment manager, which oversees about $228.7 billion in assets, has submitted an application for a licence to operate within Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM).
The licence would allow firms to carry out regulated investment activities such as managing assets and advising on investments.
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