India isn’t buying Britain’s trade charm offensive. We should take the hint
The government is ardently pursuing bilateral deals with the subcontinent and other non-EU countries - but why not just do business with our neighbours? I still recall the stinging rebuffs I received as a teenager pursuing some beautiful young woman with whom I was besotted: "Can't you take a hint?" The British government is similarly failing to take the hint that the Indian authorities are not going to succumb to ardent wooing for a bilateral trade deal. A few months ago Theresa May was despatched from Delhi in a rather humiliating manner, and either the message has not yet reached the Treasury or the PM wants to see her chancellor sent packing in a similar way.
