I have already noted Trump's now-stated plan to take Gaza under US control this morning.
The question I need to ask now is, what will Starmer (and other supposed world leaders) do in response?
The UK has not recognised Palestine as a state - although I think it should have done so long ago, joining Ireland, Spain and others in doing so. The Scottish parliament has made its position clear on this issue as well.
The UK has, however, talked about two-state solutions. Now Trump is literally trying to erase that option by suggesting the forcible eviction of Palestinians from their country so that US commercial interests - presumably linked to Trump - might turn Gaza into a leisure resort for the world's wealthy.
Will, in that case, Starmer draw a red line? Will he say that this is unacceptable?
He will have the chance to do so this lunchtime when facing questions to the Prime Minister in the House of Commons. Whilst it is quite easy to imagine Kemi Badenoch ducking this issue, it is hard to imagine it not coming up. So, what might he say?
My suspicion is that Starmer will say nothing. He will prevaricate by suggesting that it is not clear what Trump means. Doing so, he will suggest that this is a hypothetical that does not require him to offer a running commentary.
If that is what he does, he will be wrong to do so. He should have already been saying he - and NATO - should stand up for Canada and Greenland. He should have been condemning the aggression towards Panama. And now he should be reiterating that he believes in a two-state solution for Palestinians, leaving its people free to determine their own future.
There is only one way to treat a bully - and that is to stand up to them. The sooner it is done, the better. It always comes with risk attached. It usually carries a price. But the sooner it is done, the better.
Trump is a bully. His whole schtick is to be the aggressor, taking those he wishes to victimise (and there is, seemingly, an endless list of them) by surprise as he issues threat after threat, all backed up by the seemingly unlimited power of the USA.
Starmer has to say no to Trump. So do other world leaders. They have to make clear that his territorial ambitions are unacceptable.
There is a need for lines in the sand now, even if in some cases (like Canada, Greenland and Panama), the practicalities of defending those places if Trump could persuade US military commanders to invade them appear to be limited.
True leadership against seemingly impossible odds requires that a stand be taken. That is what is demanded when faced with fascism, as we are.
I am not expecting Starmer to show true leadership today or any time soon. Nor is it likely that anything of that sort is going to be shown in Europe right now. And that is profoundly worrying.
Thanks for reading this post.
You can share this post on social media of your choice by clicking these icons:
There are links to this blog's glossary in the above post that explain technical terms used in it. Follow them for more explanations.
You can subscribe to this blog's daily email here.
And if you would like to support this blog you can, here:
Buy me a coffee!
Might we be, and have been, governed by an America favouring client elite?
By this point, with the seizure of control, removal of checks and balances, nakedly unconstitutional fiats, expansionist demands and rhetoric, cult of personality…
Anyone who hasn’t yet acknowledged that the Trump administration is fascist needs to check their actions against the dictionary definitions of Fascism. Whether you support many of the changes or not, you can still consider how the approach matches that definition.
Meanwhile, countries like the UK are hoping to be passed over as victim, avoiding speaking out, which qualifies as appeasement.
One potentially key different is that Germany was a wounded, economically constrained country. The US, despite the negative rhetoric about the economic situation of the country by Trump, is the power broker in the world and therefore even more dangerous if it continues on this path.
@David Burton
You say “Anyone who hasn’t yet acknowledged that the Trump administration is fascist needs to check their actions against the dictionary definitions of Fascism.”
Agreed. And this perceptive article on how Hitler steamrollered the Weimar Republic by using its own democratic Constitution as an offensive weapon is frighteningly revelatory. It’s a long read, but worth it.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/01/hitler-germany-constitution-authoritarianism/681233/
Thanks
Thank you and well said, Richard.
Imperialism and genocide, whether wrapped in Republican red or Dixiecrat blue or Tory blue and Labour red and, back in the day, Liberal yellow, are imperialism and genocide. Outside the west, no one makes a distinction between the labels applied to or rosettes worn by imperialists and genocidaires. This change of plan for the 51st state is not a Trump matter alone. The gas fields off Gaza have been under Israeli and US control since that nice Mr Obama’s presidency.
A year ago, so under that nice Mr Biden’s presidency, two clients of my bank employer approached us for trade finance as they are interested in the developments planned for Gaza once the area is cleansed. Some of the owners of / donors to Starmer(‘s Labour) are involved with the US developers.
At least, one knows where one stands with Trump.
Al Jazeera allows opinions which I fear, would not be expressed on US main stream channels. Probably not the BBC either. I usually agree with Chris Hedges and he has some good phrases. ‘Totalitarianism is the bastard child of failed liberalism.’ And he is not afraid to talk about genocide in Gaza.
Al Jazeera has programs which will invite experts from different places and give the three a 30 minute
program to explain their views with very little interruption.
We need more of this in our media coverage.
I’ve started watching videos on YouTube from Meidastouch. They’re (mostly) not too long for me to be able to watch! The ones on Trump’s recent “ideas” are great fun. When you’re not weeping and yelling at your TV/computer over Trump’s ideas, that is! Here’s a recent example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dftNMsSbWY
Further to my comment, it’s interesting that what’s left of the Gaullists, led by Villepin, in France are mobilising and saying France has to abandon NATO and even the EU. They have been saying that for some years, so before Trump’s return, but they highlight the urgency now.
The Gaullists are beginning to cut through on their left. There’s even talk of an alliance with the Nouveau Front Populaire for 2027.
That would be some realignment
Beyond the sheer moral depravity of this decision, it is also incredibly foolish from a geopolitical standpoint. It will inevitably provoke major terrorist attacks on U.S. interests, reignite a full-scale conflict between the U.S. and the Muslim world, and further inflame tensions between Iran and Israel. Utterly irresponsible.
The American president started his career in the seventies as a racist landlord. And that is who he remains.
Just how feasible and reasonable would it be for nations to decouple as much as possible from the US? Not just economic sanctions but also reducing social and cultural links? Trump’s administration gives the impression of a contagion and isolating it, or at least reducing exposure to it could be one route to slowing its spread and reducing its harm. This would of course be a hefty, long-term undertaking – especially considering the ineptitude and political torpor on display among many national governments but we (the rest of the world) appear to be receiving a very sharp lesson in tipping points as the wealth and power of the US has possibly only one remaining potential rival of the same magnitude in the form of China – cold comfort there. Attenuating US reach wouldn’t necessarily require a complete divestment from the US but other nations learning how to sap the strength from belligerents like Trump and his conspirators in the GOP seems like a good long-term insurance policy for the future. The coordinated boycotts and sanctions made against apartheid SA were effective, so perhaps similar actions could be brought to bear against an expansionist US?
Managers don’t “take a stand” they bend with the wind.
Wonder what the irish tory McSweeney (aka Harry Corbett to Starmers Sooty) is thinking/saying now.
Thank you and well said, Mike.
The Tory Boy, the brains behind Starmer, sees the west as drifting right (Meloni in office, Weidel and Merz from next month, Le Pen in 2027 and Vance in 2028) and thinks Starmer / Labour must surf that wave and ally with them. In addition, “hero voters” approve of this muscular approach, e.g. siding with the zionist war machine, dispensing with DEI etc.
@ Richard: I hear that the Blair machine are beginning to think, especially if the dear leader’s domestic matter evolves, that Darren Jones may be their better leadership candidate as Streeting is a bit excitable and has not been able to keep his owners / donors under wraps. The machine wants one candidate around whom the Blairites coalesce.
Reeves has Matt Pound in her corner and organising. The Blair machine does not fear her.
I strongly suspect you are right about Streeting, Jones and Reeves
I don’t know much about Darren Jones (so will research him, in view of this suggestion) but Streeting and Reeves would both be disasters.
Streeting is not only deeply unpleasant, but is a glaring example of the oxymoronic state of being deeply shallow – no hidden depths there.
As for Reeves, not only an economic ignoramus, but a political thug (See Reeves skewered at https://twitter.com/JackMonaghan1/status/1593265355253846017?t=xIwOt6uraSRupVq3khSDqA&s=07)
If Faux-Labour/Nu-Nu-Labour/Likud-Labour is going to have a female Leader, and first female PM, on present offering, Angela Rayner would make the best sense.
Darren Jones is a canvas anyone could project onto. He is, I am sure, willing to be used.
No steer Keir will, as always take, the do nothing option as the line of least resistance. Utterly gutless.
Damn done it again.
Clicked too soon. Pested by dog
https://www.aljazeera.com/program/upfront/2025/1/31/democracy-doesnt-exist-in-the-united-states-chris-hedges?fbclid=IwY2xjawIQDwhleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHeksq-duF6ZPHMBBiwKY84lWLdPDZFWFWsU2C6MI6YYgYnP9vufz6GXU1g_aem_FHUGGwpPqtHxfTwph3ZXeg
Clearly there are no red lines and perhaps there never has been. All Trump is doing is eschewing the subterfuge and dirty tricks that the U.S. has used in the past.
Trump is prepared to take a route one approach it seems to me, he s not even really dressing it up as anything else. It’s as if he waiting for a reaction from the international community – if it is indeed one.
Thank you and well said, PSR.
Trump has always been like that. Most of his peers, NYC landlords, are, but there are some rare exceptions, one of whom owns and races horses in Europe and has done since the 1980s.
That approach is what kept Trump and his family out of the more polite, but no less aggressive, NYC business, especially banking, and even social circles.
Trump (and Berlusconi and Epstein) are former clients of a former employer. His main bank is a US one. Despite what is reported by the MSM, Trump has one of the better business records / performances in real estate. In addition, Trump, like the Hiltons and Bransons, licences his brand, so many operations called Trump are owned and run by others.
” My suspicion is that Starmer will say nothing. He will prevaricate by suggesting that it is not clear what Trump means. Doing so, he will suggest that this is a hypothetical that does not require him to offer a running commentary.”
Spot on.
We will continue to be US’s airstrip one.
My predictions are already coming true
Thank you, both.
Since 7 October, the UK, so under Sunak and Starmer and before Trump’s return, has operated surveillance out of Cyprus for Israel and aided with materiel, medical facilities etc. as per: https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/new-report-lays-out-full-extent-uk-israel-military-partnership-gaza and https://www.declassifieduk.org/raf-admits-to-making-17-military-flights-to-israel-since-gaza-bombing-began/.
There is vast discontent within the European Commission amongst staff. Probably going to be a staff petition, coupled to a refusal to work with any and all Israeli orgs/government.
163 NGOs, trade unions and civil society orgs have already sent a letter to von der leyen (her track record is as an apologist for Israel).
https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/media_2025/02/Joint%20Letter%20to%20the%20EU_Trade%20w%20Settlements_04.02.2025_EN_2.pdf
Personally? I’d rather go without that buy anything from Israel – an apartheid state.
The end result of all this will be a resurrection of the Nazis.
Thank you, Mike.
The community may be interested in: https://www.theguardian.com/news/2025/jan/30/israel-and-the-delusions-of-germanys-memory-culture.
Mike has written about denazification on this blog.
Mishra wrote about this in the London Review of Books last March and, last week, spoke about it at the Jaipur Literary Festival, alongside William Dalrymple.
Fun facts: Mishra is married to the cousin of David Cameron and daughter of Sir Ferdinand Mount, Mary. All at Oxford.
That is well worth reading
Thanks for posting the G’ article Col Smithers. I would drawn readers attention to a link in it which is jaw dropping
https://thebaffler.com/latest/how-german-isnt-it-cocotas.
Mass delusion?
Regarding Nazis, I was, years ago, married to a German. Supporter of Baader_Meinhof with an Uncle that was ex-Waffen SS (speciality: hunting partisans in Russia apparently). Interesting place Germany you never know who you might meet (knew a Dutch guy that married one of the Philips’ heiresses – again Waffen SS natch – but gave testimony @ Nuremberg so I guess he was one of the good ones nicht war?) . In fairness I don’t think any of them went to Oxford – so I guess that’s a good point? Oh & I knew … one of the guys that headed the East German semiconductor research in the 1980s @ Dresden & knew Putin when he was is Dresden. Small world.
“The Riviera of the Middle East.”
Have the men in white coats turned up yet? It must be time for his medication.
IRichard,
I’m not sure you’re aware if the disdain Trump and his madness enjoys amongst European leaders.
Forget about the EU – as a trading bloc it has no dog in global political fights.
It’s the leaders of the EU nations that will shape ‘Europe’s’ reaction to this Trumpian madness.
My hope is the rise of absolute facism in the states will shake the casual far-right supporters in Europe out of their stupour and this will kill off cadual support for fascist parties in Europe.
The UK – sorry you’re a lost cause. Sucking up to Trump is your only option. Starmer is the right man for that job.
I suspect UK Gov (Lammy, Healey, Starmer & Downing St spokespersons) will need painkillers this afternoon after this morning’s contortions, trying to stay balanced on the fence, opposing US takeover of Gaza, while not mentioning Trump or genocide or ethnic cleansing or war crimes or international arrest warrants.
Starmer will get a hernia if he’s not careful.
It’s as if they got through the Grenfell inquiry without mentioning cladding, the Covid inquiry without mentioning Coronavirus, or Nuremberg war crimes tribunals without mentioning gas chambers.
He used to be an international human rights lawyer once. Can’t he recognise two felons committing war crimes when he sees them?
No
“Starmer will get a hernia if he’s not careful.”
Nah – he’ll get haemorrhoids if he sits there for too long.
That said – there is a well know brand of Italian suppository that is very effective – Inuendo (apparently favoured by George Bush).
The Peace and Justice Initiative are circulating an email request regarding the latest aggressive expansionist statement made by Trump about Gaza; they are urging people to write to their MP. “Stand up to this evil plan. Our politicians must take a stand and stop this in its tracks. Write to your MP today and urge them—and the UK government—to speak out against this plan and uphold international law.”
https://thecorbynproject.com/tell-trump-hands-off-gaza/?
There is a form letter in place for those at a loss for words, but you can augment the letter however you see fit. The importance is to let our MPs know that we have strong feelings regarding this issue and they need to act accordingly. Please do not be deterred by the involvement of Jeremy Corbyn, he is a life-long committed peace activist. This issue is far too important for any of us to focus on political alignments over the need to prevent further brutal ethnic cleansing.
Mr Corbyn’s involvement is not a deterrent – or not to me. The fact that he seems to have been turned into a bogeyman is shameful. Compare and contrast with the reigning party leaders and weep.
Yes, that “don’t be deterred by… Corbyn” remark jarred with me too.
I thought about what might deter me… all his terrible failings.
He didn’t want to be leader.
He had mainstream social democratic policies.
He had principles and stuck to them.
We knew what he stood for.
He believed in social justice, even for foreigners and non-whites.
He was consistently anti-racist.
He warned us about Putin back when others were cosying up to him.
He had an allotment and made jam.
He helped bring about the Good Friday agreement because the IRA could talk to him.
He was acknowledged, even by his opponents, to be a decent honest man.
He wasn’t a hypocrite.
His policies were popular.
He inspired people to vote Labour, to join Labour, and, as individuals, to donate to Labour, freeing it from large corporate donors.
He lacked experience in government.
He wasn’t forensic and his dad wasn’t a toolmaker.
He opposed the Israeli occupation of Gaza, the West Bank & E Jerusalem.
Then of course there were his opponents, the ones we got because of Corbyn’s (planned by Labour) defeat in 2017:
Theresa May
A. B. de Pfeffell Johnson
Liz Truss
Rishi Sunak
and that principled political colossus, Sir Keir Starmer.
Thank God we got rid of Corbyn. Think how awful it would have been if he had become PM in 2017. What a relief that he was betrayed, smeared and defeated.
Apologies for the sarcasm, we Corbyn cultists get a bit irrational sometimes.
Don’t forget there are two Gaza Marine fields estimated to contain more than 1 trillion cubic feet (about 30 billion cubic meters) of natural gas! Do you honestly think Trump has not had that in mind??? I think so he and his Billionaire friends and supporters will gain from this!!!
Thank you, Beverley.
These fields have been under Israeli and US control since the time of that nice Mr Obama. Trump is not the only bad guy in the US.
Nobody seems to be asking why a new “Riviera” in Gaza cannot involve all the local Palestinian population. They might rather like the idea of living in a beautiful beach resort. But the assumption is always that they must be expelled before all these wonderful things are created. Indicating the racist,colonialist nature of the whole enterprise.
Excellent point.
From the pictures I’ve seen on instagram, I believe they used to live in just such a beautiful Riviera…. Before 1948.