The question of Hezbollah’s future looms large. Many Lebanese now see it less as a protector and more as a liability. Those I spoke to genuinely believe that competitive elections could diminish Hezbollah’s parliamentary influence.
A tale of what profligate government spending, perennial deficits and rising borrowing costs can do to an economy when partisan politics takes precedence over what is in the best interest of the country and its people.
The question for the UK, as Chancellor Rachel Reeves attends the IMF meeting, should be how can it get hold of some of that reserve privilege, which would translate into lower government borrowing costs than otherwise possible, for Sterling?
Departments have not shrunk as power has gone to ALBs. Instead there is one group of officials working in the ALB and another group in the Whitehall Department assessing how they are doing.
Rachel Reeves is breaking promises like a runaway horse charging through the jumps in the Grand National.
The sovereignty of Parliament, as the representative of the people, has been eroded, and power handed to an increasingly assertive bureaucracy.
The undoubted prestige of having an Irishman in a leading global role would be offset by potential short term political pain, not welcome at any time but especially in a potential election year.
Those who claim the Conservatives would benefit from a spell in opposition to ‘rest and detox’ are misguided. My first nine years in Parliament were spent in opposition, and it was a frustrating experience.
Following days of market turmoil and public statements of reassurance from the Chancellor and Governor of the Bank of England, the International Monetary Fund urged the Government to reverse its recent proposals for tax cuts.
The Prime Minister insisted in a sombre tone that the conquest of inflation is what will help mortgage holders.
It is important to note that real wage growth is a feature, not a bug, of Brexit and one Conservatives should be vocal about. Put simply, leaving the EU has begun to deliver on its promise to give greater economic power to the British worker.
In terms of fiscal policy, if the wider economic picture does not allow the debt to GDP ratio to fall, then the focus of the markets will be on the need to keep the public finances in shape.
The Cassandras of Washington D.C are pointing their fingers at Hunt and Bailey’s “tighter fiscal and monetary policies”. But they were no fans of Trussonomics, either.
My last round of focus groups before the May elections took place in Leeds, where we heard from former Tories who had switched to Labour or Reform, and longer-standing Labour voters considering their options; and Bridgend, where Welsh Labour voters pondered the Senedd elections.