I liked this from Paul Krugman's Substack today, in which he discusses Canada:
Just two months ago, Canada's governing Liberals seemed set for a historic collapse, with Conservative leader Pierre Polievre the all-but-inevitable next prime minister. Now, if the polls are to be believed, Polievre — who has been trying to escape his image as a Canadian Trump, but apparently not successfully — is effectively out of the running:
The moral for politicians who are not pro-Trump is clear: mess with him at your own risk, but you face oblivion if you do.
When will Starmer notice?
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Thank you, Richard. Good question.
Jockeying for the 2027 French presidential elections has begun.
Marine le Pen has ordered her family business to avoid Trump. Her niece, Marion Marechal le Pen, who broke away, but has returned, still courts the American right, but avoids being photographed with Trump.
Former PM and foreign minister, Dominique de Villepin, is running on a Gaullist platform and using Trump as the reason why France, if not Europe or with Europe, needs to distance itself from the US.
This is the dividing line now
Inevitably when it’s too bloody late
He really is a dumb, dull and incurious man
Trump’s regime attacks our European allies. Starmer offers himself as a ‘bridge’ between the EU and US.
Trump attacks a Commonwealth country that has our king as its head of state. Starmer invites him to visit.
Trump’s main sponsor personally attacks Starmer and potentially endangers one of his MPs, Jess Philips. Starmer does nothing.
Oh wait, the last part was incorrect. Starmer offers them £800 million in tax cuts.
So no, Starmer will not notice. He’s got his eyes on the prize!*
*A career as an after-dinner speaker and an adviser on a government think tank.
Let’s hope so.
“The moral for politicians who are not pro-Trump is clear: mess with him at your own risk, but you face oblivion if you do.”
Do not understand this statement.
Should it not be “The moral for politicians who are pro- Trump is clear” if this Pierre Polievre person is lollygagging in Trump Land but losing political support at home in Canada?
I’m still reading right wing commentators/media outlets offering muted words on Trump and team being realistic about Russia etc or that Tariffs have a role. I don’t think their support has gone away they have changed tack. I also think Starmer, Badenoch regard almost every option as unthinkable with the US hence the renewed push for a trade deal. With someone who doesn’t standby his agreements eg NAFTA 2.0.
Book I’m reading might be worth a read: Vassal State by Angus Heaton.
How America Runs Britain.
Warning it is sad in parts.
Can I also recommend Robin Ramsey’s little book “The Rise of New Labour”?
He has plenty of interesting things about Blair’s gang and the US, which puts much into perspective.
There can be no illusions about the Labour right’s infatuation with the American political scene, and Ramsey adds a certain depth to our understanding of it.
Clearly we now have a new policy to help “balance the books”, now the neighbourhood bully has weighed in.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/mar/23/starmer-is-warned-against-appeasing-trump-with-tax-cut-for-us-tech-firms#img-1
“Those with the broadest shoulders should get the biggest tax breaks.”
At long last, Starmer is responding to critics who said, “No one knows what he stands for…”.
We know now.
He stands for fascist bullies and perpetuating gross inequality. Favouring tech bros and hammering the disabled.
Thank you Mr Starmer for making that so clear.
It looks like you are right
Really good poll about pp, which is what he’s known as here in Canada. But, woe is me, the alternative is Mark Carney who, while I’m happy he’s taking down pp, is an alumnus of goldman sachs, and who as a central banker didn’t use the power of government money creation to benefit the people. So alas he’s status quo. I can only hope…
Agreed
He is also sure he is the smartest man in the world. I am self confident, but always share my doubts.
As I predicted ‘we are a bridge between EU and US’, has now collapsed into’ we are really close to the US’.
Angela Rayner when asked on R4 World at One , about the leaked comments from the US admin about ‘loathing Europe’- she wouldn’t even let the word Europe pass from her lips.
Just repeated ‘we are close’ ‘we share intelligence’. ‘whoever is the US govt’.
We are indeed the Vassal State..
She really has sold out
As a Canadian I am delighted about this ONE thing that Trump seems to have done for us; deliver us from Trump Lite… this could change who knows.! BTW it was the King who invited Trump for a visit.. not Starmer ….although maybe he did too. I wish the situation in Gaza could arouse the same kind of General Loathing and outcry.
As Trump is head of state, then for a “state visit”, it has to be our head of state who invites him (but always on the advice of the Prime Minister). It is v unususl for a 2nd term presodent to get a 2nd full stste visit, and Starmer handed over the letter personally and publicly with maximum PR impact.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-0e9e50fe-06e4-4df2-a93d-ec3ac9db2148
We can only hope that Farage (and Reform) suffer a similar popularity plunge in the near term.