As a Brit, it is frightening to see how progressively emasculated and fawning the UK has become in chasing after the Chinese, in the last 28 years.
Successive straw men, advised by very clever SPADS, nearly all of whom, regardless of whether Labour or Conservative, suffer from the Dunning-Kruger effect.
The result is a Britain without a sense purpose and no order of priority, which doesn't make it a useful friend or ally to anyone
That’s just it Kieran; in practical power terms this inability to strategically choose has immediate real world consequences; it weakens the UK, which derives no benefit from an annoyed and distrustful US as well an annoyed and distrustful China. Lack of strategic clarity is leading the UK to try to be all things to all people; in reality they are being nothing to anyone. On the menu in such a case, indeed.
John, Thanks for bring in the Five Eyes alliance, as an American, this is extremely troubling. (I mentioned, UK MI6 fecklessness last week)
The hesitance for the UK to fully acknowledge this threat from within and misjudge Beijing's cunningness as mere diplomatic noise is alarming. The hesitance to fully acknowledge this treat within our intelligence -sharing network risks weakening the Five eyes unity, leaving vulnerability to China's covert maneuvers.
As a Jeffersonian American, I’d say the UK’s Five Eyes complacency is likeBrad Marion’s clients, blissfully unaware of the con while China’s spies, like a slick “Bad Brad,” fleece the alliance’s trust with covert precision. Their failure to see Beijing’s espionage as more than diplomatic static risks leaving the Five Eyes as exposed as Marion’s duped investors, chasing losses in a rigged game..(movie Molly's Game)
"Hoisted by your own petard" is one of my favorite expressions, and it has a wonderful visual back story. A petard is the wooden pin with a round handle used on sailing ships, and they sit together in holes drilled in racks at deck level. The ropes that hold the sail in place are wrapped under and over the petard. If a sail needs to be released quickly, the idea is to run over, grab the petard and quickly yank it out. If there is too much pressure, or the sailor is too slow, the rope catches the petard after it is yanked out and up you go!
Hey Bill, I read the phrase as a kid from somewhere in Shakespeare and have used it ever since, as it humorously describes so many inept political situations. Saying that, I never knew its origin. Our community is all about the back stories of life so thanks so much for this!
Hey Bill, I read the phrase as a kid from somewhere in Shakespeare and have used it ever since, as it humorously describes so many inept political situations. Saying that, I never knew its origin. Our community is all about the back stories of life so thanks so much for this!
I do stand corrected on this! Explosives is correct. I was told this by my very nautical father, so I took it at face value. However, the correct term for what I called petard is belaying pin and the risk is the same. Thanks all for the additional information. The origins of expressions can be fascinating -
I always thought it meant "blown up by your own bomb" (I looked it up years ago - a Shakespearean term where he referred to a bomb maker blowing himself up, where a petard is a military explosive).
I'm running it through AI and it agrees with that definition, and not the sailing pin definition, but being hoisted does seem better suited to a sail, rather than a bomb!
Unless he is just incompetent (a sound theory), at some point questions about Keir Starmer's loyalty to the UK (or perhaps the Anglosphere) surely have to be discussed in public:
- Chagos Islands betrayal
- Unchecked mass migration and his pathetic response to it
- Deliberately not moving on the Rape Gang enquiry
- Chinese embassy in UK scandal
- Prematurely declaring Palestine a state while the war was ongoing
- Digital ID mandate (while overseeing the arrest of ~30 people a day tweeting on line, no less)
I knew he'd be bad, but not this bad (although he is officially the most unpopular prime minister of all time, so at least I'm not the only one!)
Hey Simon, I think the problem is at base philosophical, as we talk about here in the community all the time (though I accept the Starmer lot are breathtakingly incompetent). If you are a member of the centre-left Wilsonian globalist elite your imperatives (the ‘international community’, international institutions, multilateralism) are simply different than a nation-based realist has for everything. You might care (mildly) about actual humans living in the UK, but that is not the imperative that drives Powell (I know this first-hand), Starmer, or the Wilsonian centre-left globalists that run the ministries in much of the UK and Europe. Actual British people are thought of far less than these other imperatives. And, boy, as your list makes clear, does it show.
I get so annoyed with him that I lose sight of this very fact (that globalism is his guiding light), and start thinking of grander conspiracies (that he wants to implement a Chinese social-credit score inspired statist takeover) .. a little much, I accept, but it's just so sad seeing a government so clueless and out of touch run roughshod over the populace.
Yes, we must not let Wilsonian derangement syndrome (WDS) take over our thinking faculties as Trump derangement syndrome has done for so many on the left (TDS). There are not grander conspiracies here; just a very misplaced sense of the people one ought to be serving and the means to do so. the problem with 2029 is that it is so far away; given the horrendous polling About will hold on like barnacles until the last minute. This means the social pressure is bound to rise in the UK; and this instability is a huge risk
You just can’t argue with some people’s logic, I guess — even when the evidence is staring them right in the face (as you’ve found in your European political interactions…).
Its very hard to judge intent at the moment, even if the gormless actions are clear. ‘Useful idiot’ or agent of influence, or perhaps a bit of both? Perhaps as more comes out it will be clearer. What is beyond doubt is the ruinous nature of the policy.
The mass migration, the rape gang block and Palestine is Labour needing the tribal vote of the entire mosque for being first-past-the-post anywhere in the UK.
Without the tribal muslim vote, no members in parliament whatsoever.
The digital ID is Tony Blair having lined up all the contractors and already taken in the bribes via via the "Blair Institute". He now expects Starmer and Labour to deliver before they get knocked out of Parliament in 2029.
The contractor for producing the ID's is none other than the company owned by Tony Blair's son - you couldn't make it up.
Anyway, Farage has just come out and said they can arrest him if he doesn't comply, so if Starmer was too stupid to realise the idea wasn't already dead in the water, he surely must now - but that still won't stop him trying.
(I couldn't think of anything worse than an authoritarian government, lead by a lawyer who likes more and more rules that suit only his world view, which arrests literally 000's of people for mean tweets, who wouldn't have the first idea about rolling out a national tech project, let alone on time or on budget, proposing the most authoritarian, dystopian tech project of all - it is delusion of the highest order)
It is infuriating how out of touch the elites are ... My saving grace is knowing that, finally, the jig will be up in the most dramatic of ways in 2029, with the local elections next May promising to be a very enjoyable portent of things to come.
Matt, as you well know I am far more a believer in the ‘Hamlet view of history’ than the ‘MacBeth view of history.’ Far more often, arrogance, hubris and stupidity explain things, rather than diabolical competence. I impinge this is another such case. As for intelligence agencies, yes, far easier and better to let the myopic useful idiots do their thing, and deny involvement!
John, given the mention of Jonathan Powell in today's podcast I'd also suggest as an option the Good Friday Agreement period as one to be explored under the ethical realist lens.
I wasn't too bothered when labour got in because I thought it's just 5 years. And it'll probably help consolidate feelings against the left similarly to before Thatcher got in. I just didn't consider quite how much damage could be done in 5 years.
This may already be answered in the chat, which I will read after work. I was wondering why Starmer is appeasing the Chinese.. is he dependent on them for something?
Hi Terri, the carrot for appeasement is ongoing and close access to one of the world’s greatest markets for an advanced industrial economy desperately in need of growth
Love this one, John! The Huawei proposition was both reckless and irresponsible. Surely key telecoms should be operated solely by the nation itself, not even by friendly states. The involvement of CGN at Hinkley is another example of misplaced trust. The new embassy proposal is absurd. We do not need a Forbidden Palace in London.
I remember the LSE tumbling after the universal tariff imposition. The response was to roll out the red carpet for China’s Ministry of Finance, seemingly to block the leaks. Incredibly myopic. Should we also pay attention to how Europe is squeezing the already comatose UK steel industry through its own tariffs, leaving it with nowhere to turn but the US or China? Perhaps Trump can assist, although it is difficult to see what we could offer in return.
Totally agree Kieran; I think the key is for the UK to go back a step, figure out its strategic place in the world, its primary interests and then devise a global strategy based on this. Otherwise there will be merely more of this boneless wonder nonsense, alienating all the other great powers and gaining nothing. First deep thought; then action. But that may well be beyond this lot.
Yes, you are surely right, John. The starting point is the realisation that we are largely acting as an agent of others today. The key is choosing which partnerships to formalise and which principal(s) to align with. The Anglosphere is the natural centre of gravity, with Europe to a sensible extent. We cannot try to serve two primary principals with the same authority, the US and China, and still have a coherent strategy.
Here you go: Ineos shutting in Rheinberg. This is irreversible, irreplaceable, structural damage to the EU economy from the EU climate nonsense. The EU is a dysfunctional, toxic cancer with devastating impact on the European economy.
Yes, Erik, the data points are all around, and will be coming in greater frequency all the time. I’m very proud we saw this fully two decades ago but now its undeniable; even or more mediocre competitors will see the obvious soon. The EU’s green new deal virtue signalling (one of our big 3 problems along with immigration and growth in general) has and will cause the continent to decline in absolute terms, as has already been the case for the past 15 years. Its already much further gone than most people realise, but soon the signs will be apparent to all.
Yes, Erik, the data points are all around, and will be coming in greater frequency all the time. I’m very proud we saw this fully two decades ago but now its undeniable; even or more mediocre competitors will see the obvious soon. The EU’s green new deal virtue signalling (one of our big 3 problems along with immigration and growth in general) has and will cause the continent to decline in absolute terms, as has already been the case for the past 15 years. Its already much further gone than most people realise, but soon the signs will be apparent to all.
Would be nice if Radcliffe and co would stop messing about with dysfunctional football teams and Land Rover relics and instead help sort out the UK’s strategic energy policy mess.
Hi Erik. We need to find a way to get Ratcliffe 2.0 and others like him reinvesting in the UK again. Purpose, pride, and legacy matter too. That spirit’s clearly there; otherwise, he wouldn’t be throwing himself into Manchester United, which might be more of a sinking ship than the UK (spoken as a Liverpool fan).
Calling the UK an undervalued opportunity might be a stretch, but with cheaper, more secure energy sourced at home, it could be the start of something. Miliband should take his input seriously and make him a stakeholder in the outcome. I’d like to think he’s not completely mercenary.
Same thing Germany. My ex-colleagues in Ludwigshafen are the ultimate very best there is in chemical manufacturing, but with Berlin and Brussels as they are, I would not invest € 0.01 in them right now.
As a Brit, it is frightening to see how progressively emasculated and fawning the UK has become in chasing after the Chinese, in the last 28 years.
Successive straw men, advised by very clever SPADS, nearly all of whom, regardless of whether Labour or Conservative, suffer from the Dunning-Kruger effect.
The result is a Britain without a sense purpose and no order of priority, which doesn't make it a useful friend or ally to anyone
It may also put us on the menu, which is even more worrying than being just Billy no mates.
That’s just it Kieran; in practical power terms this inability to strategically choose has immediate real world consequences; it weakens the UK, which derives no benefit from an annoyed and distrustful US as well an annoyed and distrustful China. Lack of strategic clarity is leading the UK to try to be all things to all people; in reality they are being nothing to anyone. On the menu in such a case, indeed.
Right John. No point fence sitting if the fence has already fallen over, so maybe it’s high time for a few good people to actually do something.
Wow…listened again. That is unbelievable about that embassy. I try so hard to avoid buying anything from China..
John, Thanks for bring in the Five Eyes alliance, as an American, this is extremely troubling. (I mentioned, UK MI6 fecklessness last week)
The hesitance for the UK to fully acknowledge this threat from within and misjudge Beijing's cunningness as mere diplomatic noise is alarming. The hesitance to fully acknowledge this treat within our intelligence -sharing network risks weakening the Five eyes unity, leaving vulnerability to China's covert maneuvers.
God save the King.....
As a Jeffersonian American, I’d say the UK’s Five Eyes complacency is likeBrad Marion’s clients, blissfully unaware of the con while China’s spies, like a slick “Bad Brad,” fleece the alliance’s trust with covert precision. Their failure to see Beijing’s espionage as more than diplomatic static risks leaving the Five Eyes as exposed as Marion’s duped investors, chasing losses in a rigged game..(movie Molly's Game)
"Hoisted by your own petard" is one of my favorite expressions, and it has a wonderful visual back story. A petard is the wooden pin with a round handle used on sailing ships, and they sit together in holes drilled in racks at deck level. The ropes that hold the sail in place are wrapped under and over the petard. If a sail needs to be released quickly, the idea is to run over, grab the petard and quickly yank it out. If there is too much pressure, or the sailor is too slow, the rope catches the petard after it is yanked out and up you go!
Hey Bill, I read the phrase as a kid from somewhere in Shakespeare and have used it ever since, as it humorously describes so many inept political situations. Saying that, I never knew its origin. Our community is all about the back stories of life so thanks so much for this!
Hey Bill, I read the phrase as a kid from somewhere in Shakespeare and have used it ever since, as it humorously describes so many inept political situations. Saying that, I never knew its origin. Our community is all about the back stories of life so thanks so much for this!
I do stand corrected on this! Explosives is correct. I was told this by my very nautical father, so I took it at face value. However, the correct term for what I called petard is belaying pin and the risk is the same. Thanks all for the additional information. The origins of expressions can be fascinating -
I always thought it meant "blown up by your own bomb" (I looked it up years ago - a Shakespearean term where he referred to a bomb maker blowing himself up, where a petard is a military explosive).
I'm running it through AI and it agrees with that definition, and not the sailing pin definition, but being hoisted does seem better suited to a sail, rather than a bomb!
You are correct, thank you - clarification is posted above. For bonus points - Is the proof in the pudding?
"The proof of the pudding is in the eating", and not in the pudding itself - who knew!
Thanks for this Bill!
Unless he is just incompetent (a sound theory), at some point questions about Keir Starmer's loyalty to the UK (or perhaps the Anglosphere) surely have to be discussed in public:
- Chagos Islands betrayal
- Unchecked mass migration and his pathetic response to it
- Deliberately not moving on the Rape Gang enquiry
- Chinese embassy in UK scandal
- Prematurely declaring Palestine a state while the war was ongoing
- Digital ID mandate (while overseeing the arrest of ~30 people a day tweeting on line, no less)
I knew he'd be bad, but not this bad (although he is officially the most unpopular prime minister of all time, so at least I'm not the only one!)
Hey Simon, I think the problem is at base philosophical, as we talk about here in the community all the time (though I accept the Starmer lot are breathtakingly incompetent). If you are a member of the centre-left Wilsonian globalist elite your imperatives (the ‘international community’, international institutions, multilateralism) are simply different than a nation-based realist has for everything. You might care (mildly) about actual humans living in the UK, but that is not the imperative that drives Powell (I know this first-hand), Starmer, or the Wilsonian centre-left globalists that run the ministries in much of the UK and Europe. Actual British people are thought of far less than these other imperatives. And, boy, as your list makes clear, does it show.
I get so annoyed with him that I lose sight of this very fact (that globalism is his guiding light), and start thinking of grander conspiracies (that he wants to implement a Chinese social-credit score inspired statist takeover) .. a little much, I accept, but it's just so sad seeing a government so clueless and out of touch run roughshod over the populace.
2029 can't come soon enough.
Yes, we must not let Wilsonian derangement syndrome (WDS) take over our thinking faculties as Trump derangement syndrome has done for so many on the left (TDS). There are not grander conspiracies here; just a very misplaced sense of the people one ought to be serving and the means to do so. the problem with 2029 is that it is so far away; given the horrendous polling About will hold on like barnacles until the last minute. This means the social pressure is bound to rise in the UK; and this instability is a huge risk
Capitalism vs. Socialism
Aristotelianism vs. Platonism
Realism vs. Globalism
You just can’t argue with some people’s logic, I guess — even when the evidence is staring them right in the face (as you’ve found in your European political interactions…).
No Wilsonian Globalism is a faux religion; they don’t let facts get in the way of their theory!
Those pesky French and Frankfurt philosophers have a lot to answer for!
Clueless or intentional?
Its very hard to judge intent at the moment, even if the gormless actions are clear. ‘Useful idiot’ or agent of influence, or perhaps a bit of both? Perhaps as more comes out it will be clearer. What is beyond doubt is the ruinous nature of the policy.
Great summary Simon, going to use it as a list to read more
As I keep saying to friends who don't live here, it's like we are in an episode of Black Mirror ...
The mass migration, the rape gang block and Palestine is Labour needing the tribal vote of the entire mosque for being first-past-the-post anywhere in the UK.
Without the tribal muslim vote, no members in parliament whatsoever.
If Britain ever falls, this is going to be the reason for it.
The digital ID is Tony Blair having lined up all the contractors and already taken in the bribes via via the "Blair Institute". He now expects Starmer and Labour to deliver before they get knocked out of Parliament in 2029.
The Blair Institute (like that of his buddy, Bill Clinton) is art of the USAID/EU//NGO globalist ecosystem. We shall return to it in good time
It's money laundering (like Soros, Gates foundation etc.)
The supposed private "wealthy sponsor" covers up the origin of the funding.
Gates billed the German Bundestag more than €400 million a few years back.
The contractor for producing the ID's is none other than the company owned by Tony Blair's son - you couldn't make it up.
Anyway, Farage has just come out and said they can arrest him if he doesn't comply, so if Starmer was too stupid to realise the idea wasn't already dead in the water, he surely must now - but that still won't stop him trying.
(I couldn't think of anything worse than an authoritarian government, lead by a lawyer who likes more and more rules that suit only his world view, which arrests literally 000's of people for mean tweets, who wouldn't have the first idea about rolling out a national tech project, let alone on time or on budget, proposing the most authoritarian, dystopian tech project of all - it is delusion of the highest order)
Yes, Simon, Nepo-Baby, corrupt authoritarianism isn’t a good look; my Jeffersonian blood begins to boil
It is infuriating how out of touch the elites are ... My saving grace is knowing that, finally, the jig will be up in the most dramatic of ways in 2029, with the local elections next May promising to be a very enjoyable portent of things to come.
I as a legal but foreign resident owe the rental agency a verification from a government server that I am legally here.
The system worked once (at launch) and since has never worked.
The rental agency therefore pays the fine every year.
This was a Tory invention...
The Soviet United Kingdom.
We are ruled by virtue signalling performance clowns.
Useful idiots are much better than actual agents…100% deniable, cheaper, still doing the work.
Matt, as you well know I am far more a believer in the ‘Hamlet view of history’ than the ‘MacBeth view of history.’ Far more often, arrogance, hubris and stupidity explain things, rather than diabolical competence. I impinge this is another such case. As for intelligence agencies, yes, far easier and better to let the myopic useful idiots do their thing, and deny involvement!
John, given the mention of Jonathan Powell in today's podcast I'd also suggest as an option the Good Friday Agreement period as one to be explored under the ethical realist lens.
Hi Misbah, that’s a very good idea! Lets do an historical event that actually worked, from an ethical realist lens. Its on the list!
I wasn't too bothered when labour got in because I thought it's just 5 years. And it'll probably help consolidate feelings against the left similarly to before Thatcher got in. I just didn't consider quite how much damage could be done in 5 years.
Yes, totally agree, Phil; the pace of decline is truly shocking under them. 5 years seems like an eon now
😩
About the digital Id in the UK, do you think this is paving the way for the rest of Europe?
If it works in the UK, there is no doubt they will try it in the rest of Europe. If it doesn’t, they may still try it!
Knew I’d like this one just based on the title.
Hi Matt, yes, its very much up your alley!
This may already be answered in the chat, which I will read after work. I was wondering why Starmer is appeasing the Chinese.. is he dependent on them for something?
Hi Terri, the carrot for appeasement is ongoing and close access to one of the world’s greatest markets for an advanced industrial economy desperately in need of growth
That’s what I thought
I don’t recall if you mentioned this but the Guardian has run a story, “Jonathan Powell had no role in dropping of China spy case…”
Hi Ally, it that’s the Guardian’s view than I must be right!
ha, ha, my sentiments exactlyl.
Love this one, John! The Huawei proposition was both reckless and irresponsible. Surely key telecoms should be operated solely by the nation itself, not even by friendly states. The involvement of CGN at Hinkley is another example of misplaced trust. The new embassy proposal is absurd. We do not need a Forbidden Palace in London.
I remember the LSE tumbling after the universal tariff imposition. The response was to roll out the red carpet for China’s Ministry of Finance, seemingly to block the leaks. Incredibly myopic. Should we also pay attention to how Europe is squeezing the already comatose UK steel industry through its own tariffs, leaving it with nowhere to turn but the US or China? Perhaps Trump can assist, although it is difficult to see what we could offer in return.
Totally agree Kieran; I think the key is for the UK to go back a step, figure out its strategic place in the world, its primary interests and then devise a global strategy based on this. Otherwise there will be merely more of this boneless wonder nonsense, alienating all the other great powers and gaining nothing. First deep thought; then action. But that may well be beyond this lot.
Yes, you are surely right, John. The starting point is the realisation that we are largely acting as an agent of others today. The key is choosing which partnerships to formalise and which principal(s) to align with. The Anglosphere is the natural centre of gravity, with Europe to a sensible extent. We cannot try to serve two primary principals with the same authority, the US and China, and still have a coherent strategy.
Absolutely and categorically beyond this lot - between Australia and the UK, this is easily the least competent government of my life time ...
LSE with the stamp duty has no way to attract capital from anywhere in the world.
NYSE & NASDAQ essentially have no competition for as long as the stamp duty is alive.
The EU is equally strangling the EU steel industry. It is just shutting (as well as a lot of other industries).
Here you go: Ineos shutting in Rheinberg. This is irreversible, irreplaceable, structural damage to the EU economy from the EU climate nonsense. The EU is a dysfunctional, toxic cancer with devastating impact on the European economy.
Yes, Erik, the data points are all around, and will be coming in greater frequency all the time. I’m very proud we saw this fully two decades ago but now its undeniable; even or more mediocre competitors will see the obvious soon. The EU’s green new deal virtue signalling (one of our big 3 problems along with immigration and growth in general) has and will cause the continent to decline in absolute terms, as has already been the case for the past 15 years. Its already much further gone than most people realise, but soon the signs will be apparent to all.
Yes, Erik, the data points are all around, and will be coming in greater frequency all the time. I’m very proud we saw this fully two decades ago but now its undeniable; even or more mediocre competitors will see the obvious soon. The EU’s green new deal virtue signalling (one of our big 3 problems along with immigration and growth in general) has and will cause the continent to decline in absolute terms, as has already been the case for the past 15 years. Its already much further gone than most people realise, but soon the signs will be apparent to all.
Would be nice if Radcliffe and co would stop messing about with dysfunctional football teams and Land Rover relics and instead help sort out the UK’s strategic energy policy mess.
Radcliffe has stopped investing in Europe - which he had done since the early 90ies.
His formula for acquiring and turning around industrial capacity in Europe has no further legs.
He will do no further acquisitions or investments in Europe, pay off his leveraged loans on what he acquirecmd so far and get out.
His investments, from an economic rationale rightly, will be away from Europe: North America and Asia (China, India) or quite simply not in industry.
I personally cannot see any fault in Ratcliffe 2.0 in the circumstances that we are. Ratcliffe 1.0 has no future in Europe. That window is shut.
Hi Erik. We need to find a way to get Ratcliffe 2.0 and others like him reinvesting in the UK again. Purpose, pride, and legacy matter too. That spirit’s clearly there; otherwise, he wouldn’t be throwing himself into Manchester United, which might be more of a sinking ship than the UK (spoken as a Liverpool fan).
Calling the UK an undervalued opportunity might be a stretch, but with cheaper, more secure energy sourced at home, it could be the start of something. Miliband should take his input seriously and make him a stakeholder in the outcome. I’d like to think he’s not completely mercenary.
Same thing Germany. My ex-colleagues in Ludwigshafen are the ultimate very best there is in chemical manufacturing, but with Berlin and Brussels as they are, I would not invest € 0.01 in them right now.
Need to get rid of Labour (including Starmer & Miliband). Otherwise it is money down the drain.