Be afraid – be very afraid …

 

Just one glance at the front pages this morning (link) made me question again the mental attitudes prevailing in the Westminster MSM newsrooms. It’s not just the headlines for their leading articles – it’s the images they plaster across their papers.

Who really wants to see, first thing in the morning, yet another photo of that Scottish tennis player showing us how far he can open his gob? Or the long horse face of the now erstwhile Kiwi PM? To make sure we’ll get in the right mood there are also the screams about ‘lower taxes’ because allegedly inflation has run its course. Well, funny that: my grocery and energy bills tell me otherwise …

There are however some reports which do not bode well for our future. Firstly, there’s an ‘exclusive’ report in iNews, on Starmer who has attended the Schwab get-together in Davos. Put down whatever vessel you happen to hold before reading this:

“EU officials have welcomed Keir Starmer’s plans to rebuild ties with Brussels, saying the bloc is “aching” for a new relationship with the UK. Sir Keir, who has been mingling with business and political elites at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, has ruled out a return to the EU or the single market, but for many in Brussels, a change in government and tone would already be a huge improvement. Veteran MEP Guy Verhofstadt, the former European Parliament Brexit co-ordinator, said he looked forward to better relations with the UK.” (link, paywalled)

Yes – that’s the Verhofstadt as we all remember him. There’s more – keep this for the record (this and other emphases are mine:

“What the Western world needs now is to come together around precisely the areas Starmer mentions: science, technology, research, security, foreign affairs,” he said, adding that “the Conservatives’ cartoon version of Thatcherism isn’t helping”. However, he also warned that Britain’s departure from the EU had undermined their joint efforts. “The devil is not in the detail – the very idea of Brexit is unworkable,” he said. “As long as Starmer continues to rule out re-joining the single market and the EU itself, Britain will be poorer off, as is the EU.” (link, paywalled)

I’m always delighted to see that Mrs Thatcher is still alive inside the heads of Brussels, even after nearly 25 years since her resignation. We know Labour is heaving with what is now known as ‘Rejoiners’. Their performances in the HoC in regard to Brexit have not been forgotten! I’m certain that they’ll regard these utterances as marching orders for Starmer.

Just a the EU so NATO now regards itself as a body permitted tot ell member states what to do, using the latest ‘international’ puppet as spokesperson. The current one is, of course, the ukrainian PM – no, that’s not news, but look at the report in the DT under the headline:

 “Germany must stop stalling Ukraine tanks deal, say Nato allies – Britain and US lead high-pressure campaign warning Berlin that Putin could gain upper hand if Kyiv doesn’t receive weaponry soon” (paywalled link).

It’s not just that NATO ‘allies’ are telling a member state what to do, there’s also the veiled ‘excuse’ that, should Russia win, it’s the fault of Germany. However, it gets worse:

“In an interview with German broadcaster ARD, Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, lost his temper when discussing Berlin’s hesitance. “In plain language: can you deliver Leopards or not?” he said. “Then hand them over!” (paywalled link)

Yes, he really said that, it’s in the top German paper ‘die Welt’ this morning as well. This quote is machine-translated:

“Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi has criticized Germany’s hesitant act on the question of possible main battle tank deliveries to his country. […] Then he added: “In plain language, can you deliver leopards or not? Then give them to me!” (paywalled link, in German)

More knowledgeable people have pointed out that the USA has got loads of tanks, asking why they don’t ‘hand them over’ to Zelenski. The Times in their editorial makes this point:

“Olaf Scholz, the chancellor, has said he is willing to supply Leopards, but only on condition that the Americans promise to send over Abrams tanks, equally effective and available from the huge numbers now in storage. But Washington, too, has been evasive. Various excuses have been put forward: the Abrams uses a huge amount of fuel and would strain Ukrainian logistics; it will take time to train Ukrainian operators and deliver the tanks; modern communications and guidance systems, as well as specialised armour, would have to be stripped out first in case the tanks fell into Russians hand; and Congress, with the Republicans increasingly sceptical over more US help and fearful of US entanglement in another foreign war, has not signed off on the proposed help.” (link, paywalled)

It would of course be rude to wonder if the USA prefers to keep their tanks out of the Ukraine because they’re fit that they won’t look as good against Russian artillery as their propaganda makes out. That would undermine their military-industrial complex …  

I also wonder if any of the great NATO strategists have pondered the question of what might happen in case of a Russian victory. According to their dogma, Putin’s tanks could then roll across the Northern European plains with nothing to stop them because all the precious NATO arms have been destroyed in Zelinski’s war. They surely cannot think of nuking Russia in such case – can they?

Well, as in big things like war and NATO, so in small things, like Brussels: does anyone believe that the EU won’t tell us what to do if Starmer creeps ever closer to Brussels? After all, one of the EU’s Big ‘Uns is in dire straits and Ms vdL needs money. Yesterday, millions took to the streets in France (link). Here’s The Times’ report:

“At least a million people joined marches across the country, with activists and police clashing in Paris and work stoppages hitting the public sector. The threat of further chaos has left the head of state facing what many commentators believe to be a pivotal moment in his presidency.” (link, paywalled)

The Dover-Calais ferry services were stopped as well (link). The French Trade Unions were delighted with the outcome and plan to repeat this on January 31st. They’ve also threatened to cut off electricity to ‘billionaires and lawmakers’ (link). No word from Brussels on this event as of yet.

Will Macron become the next ‘international star’ to resign, like Saint Jacinda in NZ? Here’s the rather interesting report in the DM where a bit further down in the article we read:

“Conspicuously absent from this global outpouring of Left-wing grief, however, was any proper understanding of the reasons behind her decision to step down.” (link).

Just so. I suggest you read this article in ‘spiked online’ which also looks at yon ‘Left-wing grief’. Of course, we all condemn the horrid comment posters who quipped that ‘when the going gets tough, female politicians flee and go into hiding’, don’t we!

That’s all I have for today. The cold snap will continue, sez the Met Office. As for politics and international politics: the outlook is decidedly arctic for western politicians. Keep on keeping warm and keep mistrusting politicians and their propaganda machinery. Have a good day.



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