Can We Be Great Again?

Given its title, I expected this to be a short book. In truth, Jeremy Hunt has provided a heartening antidote to current doom and gloom. He is clearly an optimist and can’t find it easy to rub shoulders with those who claim that everything in the UK is broken. In Can We Be Great Again? he sees us as a champion of democracy in an increasingly autocratic world; an advocate of free trade amongst the Trumpian chaos, and a leader in energy, climate policies and human rights. Maybe he makes too much of our ranking 5th amongst G20 countries in the World Happiness League table, but is strong on our economic prospects and the new AI-powered business world. I think he is less convincing on our global influence, but the real question for readers of this positive book is how long his views can prevail against right-wing forces that prefer a more inward-looking, protectionist and less tolerant Britain.