Portrait of the week | 12 May 2016

Home

David Cameron, the Prime Minister, made a speech in the British Museum warning of war if Britain left the European Union: ‘And if things go wrong in Europe, let’s not pretend we can be immune from the consequences.’ George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, said that if Britain left, house prices would go down. The government changed its policy, announced during the budget, of turning all schools into academies. The government changed its policy of denying admission from Europe of unaccompanied children originating in countries such as Afghanistan and Syria. Mr Cameron was heard on television to say to the Queen at Buckingham Palace: ‘We’ve got some leaders of some fantastically corrupt countries coming to Britain. Nigeria and Afghanistan, possibly the two most corrupt countries in the world.’ The Archbishop of Canterbury replied, with reference to Nigeria, ‘But this particular president is actually not corrupt.’ The Queen was heard separately saying that some of the Chinese delegation had been ‘very rude’ to the British ambassador during President Xi Jinping’s state visit last year.