POLITICS CORNER

[Stanley]

See THIS disturbing report.
3 hours ago
Sir Keir Starmer's plan for an international force to support a ceasefire in Ukraine has been dismissed as "a posture and a pose" by Donald Trump's special envoy. Steve Witkoff said the idea was based on a "simplistic" notion of the UK prime minister and other European leaders thinking "we have all got to be like Winston Churchill". In an interview with pro-Trump journalist Tucker Carlson, Witkoff praised Vladimir Putin, saying he "liked" the Russian president. "I don't regard Putin as a bad guy," he said. "He's super smart."
I don't envy Starmer his job if this is what he is up against. I am not a fan of 'simplistic notions' but on balance I prefer Churchill to Putin.

[Whyperion]

In cold reality Starmer is pose and speech. Though Challenger tanks and training have been useful. The obvious place for boots on ground or whatever is along Belarus border, and/or upping forward bases in Poland for supplies and medical treatment.

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster has written to govt departments to give 10 to 15percent savings in running (admin) costs by 2030. As the unions have pointed out what things dont you want the govt to do (or what should the govt not be doing assuming front line facing gets no real term cuts ?)

[Tizer]

See THIS disturbing report.
3 hours ago
Sir Keir Starmer's plan for an international force to support a ceasefire in Ukraine has been dismissed as "a posture and a pose" by Donald Trump's special envoy. Steve Witkoff said the idea was based on a "simplistic" notion of the UK prime minister and other European leaders thinking "we have all got to be like Winston Churchill". In an interview with pro-Trump journalist Tucker Carlson, Witkoff praised Vladimir Putin, saying he "liked" the Russian president. "I don't regard Putin as a bad guy," he said. "He's super smart."
I don't envy Starmer his job if this is what he is up against. I am not a fan of 'simplistic notions' but on balance I prefer Churchill to Putin.

Sadly, and worryingly, the US seems to have been dragged down a dangerous hole by its current leaders who are unashamedly courting Putin at the expense of the rest of the world and are hoping to make a fortune out of country-wide land and property transactions. I now know where Trump got his idea for turning Gaza into a Mediterranean resort for the rich. Do you remember Mariupol, the Ukrainian city on the Black Sea coast where the Ukrainians were driven out by the Russians in 2023? Since then Putin has had a building project underway to make a luxury coastal resort for rich Russians. Putin and Trump were probably communicating all through Biden's presidency. No wonder Trump wanted to give Zelensky a kicking!

[Whyperion]

Not Only Rich Russsians. Crimea was the warm retirement place for the workers in Siberia under the USSR

Can we sell Trump Blackpool ?

[Stanley]

I agree Peter, apart from being disruptive for his own ends, Trump is being immoral in ignoring (Being ignorant of) Putin's crimes. We see the same attitudes displayed towards Netanyahu in Gaza. It is quite obvious what the IDF's intention is, to depopulate and level Northern Gaza at least ready for Israeli settlement and development. The UN believes this is genocide and I have to agree with them. The only hope for Gaza is paradoxically a backlash in Israel itself where Netanyahu's actions are inflaming the general population against him. I thought it was very significant when the Israeli lady said yesterday that she was hearing the language of civil war on the streets.
Meanwhile, closer to home I am seeing my worst fears becoming reality. Labour have got themselves into a position where they are going to cut the incomes of the poorest to shore up the economy.
I note the analysis by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation which predicts that the average household will be nearly £800 a year worse off in real terms by 2029, with the poorest third of households seeing the biggest fall in real disposable income over the current Parliament. I trust the Rowntree Foundation and when they are backed by the Resolution Foundation as is the case in this matter, we can be certain that a Labour government is taking cuts to benefits further than any Conservative government would have dared.
What's the point of being in power if you don't improve the lot of the poorest people in the economy even if it is at the expense of the wealthy?

[Tizer]

On the front page of today's FT there's a news report that Trump tariff's are causing mayhem in the US business world and stock markets. Unfortunately I can't access the article itself and the BBC front page images have disappeared already.

[Stanley]

THIS is the latest BBC article on Trump Tariffs I can find Peter.
5 hours ago
President Donald Trump has threatened to impose tariffs of 25% on US imports from countries that purchase oil from Venezuela. Trump described the move as a "secondary tariff" aimed at punishing the Latin American country "for numerous reasons", including allegedly "purposefully" sending gang members to the US. Separately, Trump suggested he was softening his plans for tariffs on imports from other countries, saying he "may give a lot of countries breaks". Markets ended the day higher after the comments, which appeared to confirm reports that he was narrowing the taxes he plans to announce on 2 April. Trump has previously said he was looking to impose "reciprocal" tariffs on countries around the world, outlining plans for a system whereby "they charge us, we charge them". But on Monday he suggested the White House might be "nicer than that" when it came to the new tariff rates. "We may take less than what they're charging because they've charged us so much, I don't think they could take it," he said, while also acknowledging that some countries might be spared from the measures. Leading share indexes in the US, which have fallen in steeply in recent weeks following Trump's tariff threats, all rose on Monday. The S&P 500 closed 1.7% higher, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 1.2% while the Nasdaq finished 2.2% ahead.
There's a lot we are not hearing about the effects of Trump's policies are having internally in the States. Immigration curbs must be affecting seasonal workers on US farms with subsequent effects on the agricultural economy and food supplies but all we get are whispers.

See THIS report on matters nearer to home....
"Definitely not a Budget" is the basic message emerging from the Treasury about Wednesday's economic statement. There will not just be no red box outside Number 11, there will only be a "thin book" of new policies with a "light scorecard" of measures with no further tax rises. So what is the point of this Spring Statement? It is principally a spring forecast from the government's official forecasters the Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR). In that process it has had to take into account a slower economy than expected, and higher government borrowing costs. This OBR forecast has wiped out the room for manoeuvre against the "non-negotiable" rules Chancellor Rachel Reeves has set on government borrowing in the future. She has made a number of further adjustments to keep the numbers on track.
How can it be said that what we are experiencing is not Austerity. The OED defines Austerity as difficult economic conditions created by government measures to reduce public expenditure. Isn't that exactly what is happening?
They must be using a different definition.....

[Tizer]

I assume you've seen this bit of fun from the US. Trump's henchmen have been using an easily cracked chat app to talk about their military antics...
`US defence secretary calls Europe 'pathetic' in air strike chat accidentally shared with reporter' BBC Live report

[Stanley]

Quote.... "I fully share your loathing of European freeloading". With 'friends' like that, who needs enemies?

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report on the US security breach.
Updated 4 minutes ago
US President Donald Trump and his intelligence chiefs have played down a security breach that saw a journalist invited into a Signal group chat where he reported seeing national security officials plan airstrikes in Yemen. US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe denied at a Senate hearing that any classified information was shared in the message chain. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth also faced scrutiny for the messages, though he did not testify. Democrats on the panel rebuked the cabinet members as "incompetent" with national security. Over at the White House, Trump stood by National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, who was at the centre of the leak. The revelation has sent shockwaves through Washington, prompting a lawsuit and questions about why high-ranking officials discussed such sensitive matters on a potentially vulnerable civilian app. Atlantic magazine editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg was added to the 18-member group, apparently by accident, and reported that he initially thought it was a hoax. But he said he realised the messages were authentic once the planned raid was carried out in Yemen.
So there was no breach..... That's all right then!

Later at 06:30. It's just been announced that J D Vance, Trump's attack dog (Sorry, vice-president),is going to Greenland on Friday. No doubt to open negotiations for buying it...... All part of Trumps agenda to corner the market in rare earth minerals....
(Do you ever share my suspicion that the world has gone mad?)

[Tizer]

So there was no breach..... That's all right then!

Another reason it's not alright is that all such communication is supposed to take place in a `SCIF'...
Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (pronounced “skiff”), a U.S. Department of Defense term for a secure room. It can be a secure room or a data center that guards against electronic surveillance and suppresses data leakage of sensitive military and security information. SCIF

I see the Metro papers front page headline this morning is `Trump backs chump' and the Daily Star has come up with a good name for the US VP - JD Dunce.

[Whyperion]

Trump says there was nothing of security value in the messages and the journalist was a sleezeball for publishing them anyway

[Stanley]

If it had been anyone else the US government would be livid. As for Vance..... not the sharpest knife in the box. Trump was thought to have selected him as an attack dog. God knows what he'll be up to in Greenland. They have tried to defuse the alarm expressed by the Greenland politicians by explaining that the visit is to the US base only......

Meanwhile, nearer home. THIS is a useful overview of the key points in the Spring Financial Statement.
I see they are still denying that this is austerity. See my OED definition. This government appears to have made up its own definition.....

[Whyperion]

Even Ken Clarke is reported as saying he would have increased income tax. (The odd thing is through "stealth" and other tax band etc non-changes the amount of income taxable has increased anyway).

Am I correct on universal credit ? the amount you get because you have limited capacity for work , will be cut , with the idea that you can earn in work - which doesnt make sense if you dont have capacity (health as it will be renamed) to work ? Alice's Queen in Wonderland as played by Rachel Reeves ?

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report and weep......
5 hours ago
The number of children in poverty in the UK has reached its highest level since comparative records began in 2002. In the year to April 2024, there were 4.45 million children living in a household of relative low income after housing costs are deducted - the government's own standard measure for poverty. The figure, released by the Department for Work and Pensions, is an increase of 100,000 children from the previous year - and equates to 31% of children in the UK. The figure has risen sharply since 2021 and the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) predicts 4.8 million children will be in poverty by the end of this Parliament in 2029-30. It is calling for the government to scrap the two-child benefit limit in its upcoming child poverty strategy, and to pause the recent proposals for wider benefit cuts.
This is a disgrace. Strip away all the rhetoric about jam tomorrow and this is the stark reality for almost 5 million children. The politicians of all parties have failed. If there is one standard that should be guarded it is how we treat our children and disadvantaged. On that measure this report is one of total failure and massive incompetence. What do we pay these jerks for?

[Tizer]

`Revealed: Trump’s plan to force Ukraine to restore Putin’s gas empire: America holds gun to Zelensky’s head with unprecedented reparation demands' Daily Telegraph
Donald Trump is holding a gun to the head of Volodymyr Zelensky, demanding huge reparations payments and laying claim to half of Ukraine’s oil, gas, and hydrocarbon resources as well as almost all its metals and much of its infrastructure. The latest version of his “minerals deal”, obtained by The Telegraph, is unprecedented in the history of modern diplomacy and state relations. “It is an expropriation document,” said Alan Riley, an expert on energy law at the Atlantic Council. “There are no guarantees, no defence clauses, the US puts up nothing. “The Americans can walk away, the Ukrainians can’t. I’ve never seen anything like it before.” The text leaves little doubt that Mr Trump’s chief objective is to incorporate Ukraine as a province of America’s oil, gas and resource industries.

It dovetails with parallel talks between the US and Russia for a comprehensive energy partnership, including plans to restore West Siberian gas flows to Europe in large volumes, with US companies and Trump-aligned financiers gaining a major stake in the business. The revived gas trade would flow through Ukraine’s network, and later via the Baltic as the sabotaged Nord Stream pipelines are brought back on stream. The new draft states that the United States-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund will control Ukraine’s “critical minerals or other minerals, oil, natural gas (including liquified [sic] natural gas), fuels or other hydrocarbons and other extractable materials”.

[Whyperion]

Perhaps Ukraine should just apply to be 51st state of the US ,

[Stanley]

Thanks for that Peter. That all makes sense, Trump is changing the USA into a cash generating machine for him and his mates and taking over Ukraine and Greenland assets makes perfect sense from his point of view. This is exactly what Putin did by invading Ukraine and he will want his slice of the cake. The thing that strikes me is that Trump's strategies not only ignore the populations of the countries where the resources are but the US population as well because they will suffer in the end from his policies in many ways.

See THIS BBC report on Vance in Greenland.
Updated 2 hours ago
US Vice-President JD Vance has accused Denmark of leaving Greenland vulnerable to alleged incursions by China and Russia, as he asked its people to "cut a deal" with the US. Speaking during a visit to the Arctic island, Vance minimised recent threats by President Donald Trump to take over the island by force. Instead, he urged Greenlanders to sever its ties with Denmark, which has owned the island for more than 300 years, saying the nation had not invested enough to protect the semi-autonomous territory. An overwhelming majority, external of Greenlanders oppose the idea of annexation, a poll indicated in January. Greenland's prime minister has said the US visit showed a "lack of respect". And Denmark's King Frederik also rejected the US plan.
The US is serious about this..... It threatens the whole world as it strikes at the foundations of the established order and normal diplomacy.

[Tizer]

Thanks for posting that - it saved me having to do it!

If I were a Canadian I'd be very worried now. If Trump gets Greenland he won't stop until he gets Canada. Let's not forget that he already has Alaska and that his stated objective it to become `the most famous person in the world'. If he gets Canada then the USA will just beat Russia to having the greatest land mass.

[Whyperion]

Until Russia fully annexes all Soviet Union (and Eastern Bloc) states as part of Russian Federation ? . Maybe the US should take in Mexico . Cuba and beyond.
Never Understood why the US never tried to do deals with Brazil in the past significantly

[Stanley]

It's surreal isn't it Peter. When Hitler and Putin annex states it is described as an act of war. What is preventing that accusation over Greenland and Canada? (Add the refusal of the world to do something about Israel's actions in Lebanon, Gaza and the West Bank and you have a world turned upside down.)
During WW2 we knew exactly who were friends and who were enemies. I don't think we can be sure now. I find it very confusing.

[Tripps]

Stanley - please ask Uncle Bob why there is no voice of opposition (that I see in the British media anyway) to this idiot's actions. The Republicans have only small majorities in the House and the Senate. Surely someone has some guts to oppose him - perhaps someone who wants to put down a marker for a future leadership bid? Has anyone tried mocking and laughing at him, in one of the press conferences. I don't think his ego could stand much of that.

[Stanley]

I've been thinking along those lines myself for a while now. Thanks for nudging me, I shall go and write the mail immediately! Watch your inbox, I shall copy it to you.

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report...
14 minutes ago
The government has agreed a new funding package with pharmacy negotiators in England, leading some pharmacies to call off protests that were planned for later this week. One group representing thousands of local pharmacies was preparing to take action involving cuts to opening hours from Tuesday, but they say that will be delayed while they consider the deal. Others have said the funding package is a "step in the right direction" but it still will not cover all cost increases pharmacies are facing, including a rise in National Insurance. Announcing the deal, ministers said they were working to turn around a "decade of underfunding and neglect". Community pharmacies have been warning of closures and cutbacks in the face of what they say are unsustainable pressures. Among these are a rising workload, funding which has not kept pace with inflation and the prospect of higher employer National Insurance contributions.
That's a blessing!

[Whyperion]

Thumping up ERs seems generally absolutely wrong and only done because of the promise of what taxes would not be increased