Why Osborne was wrong to trash Auntie May

When David Cameron and George Osborne were in government, the pair heralded a new ‘golden era’ where the UK would be China’s ‘best partner in the West’. However, since Theresa May moved into No 10, questions have been raised about the health of this partnership. Osborne ally Lord O’Neill has criticised May for a focus on New Zealand when the priority should be China. Meanwhile, just last week Osborne appeared underwhelmed by May’s trip to China – telling the Today programme that she needed ‘a plan to engage with the rest of the world like China’. Further still, the paper Osborne edits – the Evening Standard – claimed that May had held a chinese symbol for luck ‘upside down’.

But Mr S can’t help but wonder whether Osborne and his allies are being a tad harsh. Steerpike’s woman in Beijing reports that May’s trip to China – where the Prime Minister was nicknamed Auntie May – has been a hot topic for the Chinese.