I posted this on Twitter this morning:
I wish I could answer that question positively, but I cannot.
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!
Thank you and well said, Richard.
How about the establishment, having seen off Corbyn, taking over Labour, so as to give the serfs the illusion of choice.
When Johnson veered off script by rightly highlighting Starmer’s inaction over Saville and Worboys, an issue that concerned her directly, Starmer was defended by the MSM and even Tories for what should be legitimate concern.
“When Johnson veered off script by rightly highlighting Starmer’s inaction”
Who is Johnson???
Alexander deWaffle “Boris” Johnson
If I may? & ref energy, – this provides me with light entertainment:
https://app.electricitymaps.com/zone/GB
and this
https://data.nordpoolgroup.com/auction/n2ex/prices?deliveryDate=2024-08-19¤cy=EUR&aggregation=Hourly&deliveryAreas=NO2,UK
Gas prices (Rotterdam TTF) are around Euro36/MWh – which means gas gen is costing perhaps Euro85/MWh. Today Uk wholesale was mostly well above this – circa Euro115/MWh – there was satisfying price oscillations (= traders making money), whilst prices for the most part not reflecting the cost of generation (e.g. elec from nukes is around Euro65/MWh – at least that is what makes EdF happy). Anyway, LINO is no more likely to undertake elec market reform than a squadron of pigs flying past my window ……. which means that… yes UK serfs are human cash dispensers to elec market operators.
On an aside, back in 2020 we predicted negative prices due to more & more renewables (not that serfs, UK or euro would benefit). Oh look (& not just confined to NL btw):
https://www.pv-magazine.com/2024/08/16/netherlands-posts-more-negative-energy-prices/
As I suspected…..
Negative prices (due to excessive production of renewables, I think) meant that I was offered free electricity for an hour last Friday; and again yesterday (Sunday). The hour was in the middle of the day; and it was the excess use over my normal (very low) use that was free. So I timed some laundry and some extra cooking to suit.
It’s all about accelerating fascism .
Always has been.
Here is a tweet that says it succinctly.
‘S.L. Kanthan
@Kanthan2030
Aug 18
Aristotle figured it all out 2000+ years ago!
“The tyrant keeps his people poor, who will be so occupied with their daily tasks that they have no time for rebellion.”
Thanks for the reminder, @RebeccaYChan
#politics #history
Aug 18, 2024 · 5:01 AM UTC ‘
Off thread. there is a major political bust-up in Scotland over Angus Robertson, an SNP Minister meeting the Israeli Ambassador over Gaza. The Israelis exploited the opportunity and rapidly presented the meeting publicly as a friendly meeting, discussing future trade. From a Scottish Government perspective it was supposed to be a meeting for Robertson to make Scotland’s strong condemnation of Israel’s actions in Gaza clear. The sharp Israeli spin caught the Scottish government completely flat-footed, and they were too slow and disorganised to present the story they required to tell. The response in Scotland, and in the SNP is public outrage (especially among SNP supporters); directed at Robertson, the FM (Swinney), and the SNP. The argument is now being made by critics that the Scottish Government should not have had the meeting at all. This is wrong, they should have had the meeting and quickly put out a strong case that they had made clear to the Israeli’s their condemnation of Israeli policy in Gaza.
The Israelis are very good at this kind of spin. They have no shame. They have been running rings round the Biden administration since the war began; with Netanyahu visiting Washington and acting as if he is running American foreign policy; to the suppressed fury of the administration there. Netanyahu does it everywhere he goes, with everyone. The Scots were rabbits caught in the Israeli headlights; ingenues. That is why the Scots need to have meetings like this with tyrants; to learn how to handle the big bad world. I trust they have learned an invaluable lesson.
Now let me turn to the furore in Scotland. The Scots are up in arms about having the meeting. Wrong. Not just for the reason given above. First, some of the critics are Unionists who do not like Scotland having any international presence, because it smells of independence. The Unionists are band-waggoning on the issue. Second, and far, far more important, Mark Smith the British diplomat and specialist in this area, has now resigned because he explixitly fears that Britain is caught up in complicity with Israel over Gaza.
The implications of that for the self-righteous armchair diplomats in Scotland condemning Robertson and the SNP over the meeting; is that given Mark Smith’s position, how can the Scots critics tolerate Scotland now dealing with the British government, or the US government, for that matter? Of course they will not go so far and the critics will back-peddle; but they can only do so, by dismounting their high horse.
If you are going to be independent, this is the world you are dealing with; deal with it. There is no easy way out. Self-righteousness is reserved for Holy Willies.
I oveall agree with you
But let’s put this in context: soemhow the SNP thought they could have this meeting quietly. Why on earth where they so naive?
Thank you, John and Richard.
Is that American ex CIA official still working for the SNP?
It’s interesting how many Israeli former officials were brought in by Starmer when he succeeded Corbyn. They are not in government, but might as well be.
Readers and Richard should note that when the BBC reports a US mission to the Middle East, but do not mention names, unlike in the US, they mean Amos Hochstein, an Israeli citizen and former IOF soldier. He’s not a US citizen and has never served in the US military. Go figure. It’s also why AIPAC and similar are exempt from registering as lobbyists for foreign states and organisations.
No idea….
Because they are naive; but not quite as naive as their supporters.
@ Colonel Smithers
John Le Carre would have known what you were meaning.
Unfortunately John le Carre is no longer with us. Don’t suppose he ever got a ‘booker’ because he didn’t write fiction.
Possibly a vehicle to political power by rabidly self serving persons with inflated delusions about the pleasure sensation of massive control over others and enjoyment of using the hopes dreams and equitable good intentions and energy of others to further the persons self interest with little return to the others they exploit on their path to some inexplicable delusional hell of their own making.
Deep and probably cynical. But I’ve really had a gutful of political manipulators of any persuasion. Reeves will go down with Thatcher in my opinion, but without a stupid inappropriate statue in Westminster
Achieving some sense of happiness can be as simple as being reasonably decent and as equitable as possible.
Probably you should not publish this one Richard, and thats fine by me. You make good points about it all and this may lower the tone.
It seemed fair to me and probably many former active Labour members
Sadly Starmer and Reeves are just a Thatcher Tribute and Shill Band and Thatcher was clueless about economics as we saw with her support for Monetarism which decimated a lot of businesses. Until the British wake up from their siesta and start taking a serious interest in economics and how the country’s monetary system really works the farce of Thatcherite economics will continue. The “Daft as a Brush Single Transferable Party you can say!
Parties interested in changing the world should get on Twitter and take on the self-styled macro-economists and Friedmanites. It’s a genuine field of battle, one which can be participated in by armchair generals of all persuasions. I don’t think Friedman was really an economist as such, by the way, I think rather he was someone who instinctively knew how to manipulate using language and used economics to pursue that end. If he’d wanted to do this as a physicist there’d be an entire cohort trying to walk on the ceiling and blaming socialists because they couldn’t. Just my thoughts en passant 🙂
Thank you, Richard.
One hopes you can rest and recover.
Further to this post and yesterday’s comment by you about Starmer knowing little about economics and relying on Reeves, I would add it’s the same for foreign policy, perhaps more important now that we are out of the EU.
Starmer is happy to allow Israel (and British Zionist donors) and the US dictate British foreign policy, including a rumoured purge or “rappel a l’ordre” as we say in French of officials who oppose the UK’s Zionist policy. As with the economy and health, there’s reliance on the Blair machine (and its donors in the background). Blair is a remainer, but only because he sees the EU as advancing UK (and his donor) interests. The EU has wised up not just to to the UK, but to Blair, too, as they see him as a US and Asian autocrat trojan horse. Blair won’t push too hard on a rapprochement with the EU as he’s no longer in Murdoch’s good books. Murdoch blames Blair for the break up of his marriage to Wendy Deng.
It’s quite unnerving how someone can go so high up the British state and have so little idea, but not, I must confess, uncommon in my nearly 20 years of working in regulatory policy. I know Starmer works for the few, not the many, has long been an authoritarian and has powerful sponsors, but even then. When addressing the City, he speaks in cliches. He rarely speaks about foreign affairs, knowing that the City audience is keen to talk not only about the EU, but avoid alienating emerging powers and markets.
One wonders what policy will leave to the UK whale being beached first, economic, social or foreign.
A good question
It could be a combination of any of them
The Labour Party has been captured, as has the BBC and mainstream media.
The evidence is consistent with this view.
Mainstream Media is only preaching to their choir.
Have intelligent and educated English friends who still do NOT understand that immigration (legal and illegal) are NOT causing the problems with UK social and public services and are definitely not the root cause of problems with UK social and public services.
Well, let’s take that question a stage further shall we?
What is government for?
How about what Aeschylus said ‘ to tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of this world’.
Sounds good to me (and Robert Kennedy).
It seems to me that our political parties fail to do this time and time again. I think these institutions are on borrowed time if the long run of human history is any indicator.
Indeed. We’ve recently had Boris Johnson as Prime Minister. I don’t think you could get more conclusive evidence that, as a culture, we’re circling the drain. Tick tock!
Not sure what Labour is for?
Can’t provide an answer to that Richard, but I do know what Ofgem is for – to protect the energy cartel so they can keep ripping us off.
The government’s purpose is to reduce state spending on all areas except the military. This will ensure we have enough spare productive capacity to wage World War III effectively.
It’s a very responsible thing to do.
Not a lot really.