Britain Is Heading Into a Nightmarish Winter

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OPINION: GUEST ESSAY
THE NEW YORK TIMES: LONDON — Long lines outside gas stations. Panicked drivers fighting one another as the pumps run dry. Soldiers deployed to distribute fuel across the country. And in the background, the pandemic stretching on, food rotting in fields and families sinking into poverty. This is Britain in 2021.

Not long ago, as Prime Minister Boris Johnson lifted all pandemic restrictions in July, the mood across the country was cautiously optimistic. A successful vaccine rollout had finally restored cherished freedoms to daily life: visiting friends and family in their homes, socializing with strangers, eating in restaurants. Cases of the virus continued to multiply, but the number of hospitalizations and deaths fell markedly. The nightmare, it seemed, was over.

But any sense of normality has been banished in the past few weeks. A dramatic fuel crisis, caused in large part by a lack of truck drivers and which at its peak forced around a third of all gas stations to close, is only the most glaring concern.

A convergence of problems — a global gas shortage, rising energy and food prices, supply-chain issues and the Conservatives’ decision to slash welfare — has cast the country’s future in darkness. Even Mr. Johnson, known for his boosterish optimism and bonhomie, has struggled to make light of the situation.

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One of the main causes of this predicament is Brexit, or at least the government’s handling of Brexit. Britain’s protracted departure from the bloc, undertaken without any real effort by Mr. Johnson to ensure a smooth transition, led to an exodus of European workers — a process then compounded by the pandemic. As many as 1.3 million overseas nationals left Britain between July 2019 and September 2020. Read the whole essay here » | Samuel Earle | Friday, October 1, 2021

Aukus: French Minister Bemoans Lack of Trust in British Alliance

THE GUARDIAN: Clément Beaune says Brexit fallout and secret defence pact have undermined Franco-British relations

‘We cannot pretend there is no problem’: Clément Beaune leaving the Élysée Palace in Paris earlier this month. | Photograph: Daniel Pier/NurPhoto/Rex/Shutterstock
The British-French alliance lacks trust, France’s EU affairs minister has said, citing Downing Street’s approach to the post-Brexit arrangements for Northern Ireland and the secretly negotiated defence agreement with the US and Australia.

Clément Beaune, a close ally of the French president, Emmanuel Macron, said that while the two problematic issues should not be mixed, together they highlighted the flaw in the relationship.

“We need to rebuild confidence, we need to discuss together – we are not in this context at the moment,” Beaune said, before a meeting of EU affairs ministers and the Brexit commissioner, Maroš Šefčovič, in Brussels.

During a visit to New York for the United Nations general assembly, Boris Johnson had insisted on Monday night that the alliance with Paris remained strong and “absolutely vital”, adding: “Our love of France is ineradicable.”

But a British-French defence meeting due to take place this week has been cancelled by Paris in the fallout over the Aukus defence pact, and there has not been a bilateral leaders’ summit for three years, despite attempts by Downing Street to organise one.

Beaune admitted there was a need to rebuild confidence in the relationship. On Brexit, he said the UK was not implementing the deals it agreed on fishing rights for EU boats nor on checks on goods travelling into Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK.

“They are not well implemented … they are not fully respected,” he said. » | Daniel Boffey in Brussels | Tuesday, September 21, 2021

British ‘Baby Shortage’ Could Lead to Economic Decline, Says Thinktank

THE GUARDIAN: Social Market Foundation suggests measures including better childcare provision to increase birthrate

Britain is facing a “baby shortage” that could lead to “long-term economic stagnation”, a thinktank has said.

The Social Market Foundation (SMF) said the birthrate was almost half what it was at its postwar peak in the 1960s, and the country’s ageing population could lead to economic decline.

It said ministers should set up a cross-government taskforce to consider the issue, and one helpful measure might be better childcare provision. The thinktank said typical British working parents spend 22% of their income on full-time childcare, more than double the average for western economies.

The birthrate in England and Wales peaked in 1964 when the number of children per woman averaged 2.93. Last year it was 1.58, well below the 2.1 replacement level needed to keep the population rate stable, and in Scotland it was even lower at 1.29. » | Andrew Sparrow, Political correspondent | Monday, September 20, 2021

Submarine Deal Gives Post-Brexit Britain Its Moment on the Global Stage

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The British government played an early role in brokering the alliance with the U.S. and Australia to deploy nuclear-powered submarines in the Pacific, officials in London and Washington said.

President Biden with Prime Minister Scott Morrison of Australia, left, and Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain joining him via video conference on Wednesday at the White House. Doug Mills/The New York Times
LONDON — As relations between France and the United States sink to their lowest depths in decades, Britain has emerged as the unlikely winner in a maritime security alliance that has sowed anger and recrimination across three continents.

The British government played an early role in brokering the three-way alliance with the United States and Australia to deploy nuclear-powered submarines in the Pacific, according to officials in London and Washington. The landmark agreement was announced hours after Australia canceled a $66 billion deal for diesel-electric submarines with France, provoking fury in Paris and quiet satisfaction in London.

For Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who will meet this coming week with President Biden at the White House and speak at the United Nations, it is his first tangible victory in a campaign to make post-Brexit Britain a player on the global stage.

Since leaving the European Union 18 months ago, Britain has cast about for a place in the world. Brexiteers latched on to the phrase “Global Britain,” which always seemed more a marketing slogan than a coherent foreign policy.

Yet the deal sealed on Wednesday, in which the United States and Britain would supply Australia with the submarines, confirmed Britain’s status as a military power with nuclear expertise, as well as a trusted ally of the United States. It also lent credibility to Mr. Johnson’s effort to build a British presence in Asia, a strategy that at first looked mostly like a nostalgic throwback to its imperial past.

Now, Britain has negotiated trade deals with Australia, Japan and South Korea, and deployed an aircraft carrier to help the United States keep an eye on China in the South China Sea, where Beijing is asserting its own imperial ambitions by constructing a chain of military installations. » | Mark Landler | Saturday, September 18, 2021

Post-Brexit Britain & The Fragile States Index. Truth To Power

Don Winslow Films - #TexasWarOnWomen

Who in his right mind would ever vote Republican? There was a time when I held the Republican Party in high regard. No longer! The Party is not fit for purpose. They are destroying the once wonderful USA. The USA used to be a beacon of progressive thought and forward-thinking. That, alas, was long ago.

To think that my own country has cut the umbilical cord with the European Union only to get tied to the apron strings of the USA sends shivers down my spine!

Sooner or later, this country will have to re-join its European brothers and sisters. It is imperative that we do so. We also need to start thinking of a federal Europe, of which the UK could take a leading rôle.

Recent events in Afghanistan should have shown us all that we can no longer depend on America for our security. We need to go it alone. And for that, we Europeans need to work closely together and form our own military: a European army, a European air force, and a European navy.

This crooked Brexit referendum should also have shown us all that it was neither fair nor sensible. IT MUST BE REVERSED. Sooner rather than later.

If we do not re-join Europe, the once 'United' Kingdom, a nation of which I was once so proud, will break up: the regions will go their separate ways. Scotland is sure to be the first country to break away from the disUnited Kingdom. The Scots are proud Europeans; and so they should be. – © Mark

To read my comment on the Texas insanity, click here.

Britain Is Like a Bottle of Non-homogenized Milk!

In a bottle of non-homogenized milk, one can observe all the cream in the milk rising to the top of the bottle; and so it is in British society! All the cream rises to the top, so that those at the top can live off the fat of the land! – © Mark

With many thanks to Google Images and Farmer Bob for this image.

German Police Arrest Briton on Suspicion of Spying for Russia

THE GUARDIAN: Employee at British embassy in Berlin suspected of passing on documents in exchange for cash

German police have arrested a British man who worked at the British embassy in Berlin on suspicion of spying for Russian intelligence in exchange for cash, according to prosecutors.

Germany’s highest public prosecutor said the man, identified only as David S, was arrested at his Potsdam apartment at 2.20pm on Tuesday, and his home and embassy workplace were searched.

The 57-year-old, who does not hold diplomatic immunity, is suspected of having worked for a Russian intelligence agency at least since November 2020, passing on documents he had acquired through his work to a handler.

He is alleged to have received cash payments of an as yet unspecified sum in exchange for information. » | Philip Oltermann in Berlin | Wednesday, August 11, 2021

‘Chronic Corruption’ & Neoliberal Capitalism’s Role in Boris Johnson’s Britain’s COVID Disaster

We speak to Prof. Guy Standing. He discusses his new book ‘The Corruption of Capitalism’, the shocking revelations made by Dominic Cummings about disastrous Coronavirus pandemic mismanagement by the Boris Johnson government, arguable neglect and chronic corruption, the revolving door between big finance and politics in the UK, the financial sector’s tremendous control and influence over the British economy, the mainstream media being a part of the rentier economy system, how big financial companies groom people to go into politics to ensure favourable policy, why work doesn’t pay in the UK and how the economy directs most wealth to the capitalist class, why the furlough scheme was fundamentally unfair, the prospect of economic catastrophe coming out of the pandemic for the working class killing more people than Coronavirus in the UK, mass privatisation of public services due to neoliberal economic doctrine and much more!

Germany Suspends Travel from the U.K. amid Concerns of a Variant’s Spread

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Germany is banning most travel from Britain starting on Sunday amid concerns about the spread of a coronavirus variant first discovered in India, the German authorities said on Friday.

German citizens and residents will still be allowed to enter the country from Britain but will be required to quarantine for two weeks upon arrival, Germany’s public health institution said as it classified Britain as an area of concern because of the variant.

The move came just days after Britain reopened its museums and cinemas and resumed allowing indoor service in pubs and restaurants. Many people in Britain have been looking forward to traveling abroad in the coming months, and Spain is set to welcome visitors arriving from Britain without a coronavirus test starting on Monday. » | Elian Peltier | Sunday, May 23, 2021

On Smoking: Mark Littlewood in Conversation with Simon Clark

On 16th May 2019, to mark the 40th anniversary of the smokers' group FOREST (Freedom Organisation for the Right to Enjoy Smoking Tobacco), Mark Littlewood, director-general of the Institute of Economic Affairs, spoke to Forest director Simon Clark.

France Claims UK Will Struggle to Source Second Covid Jabs

THE GUARDIAN: EU will not be blackmailed over Oxford/AstraZeneca doses, says foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian

Britain will struggle to source second Covid jabs for those who have already had their first dose but the EU will not be “blackmailed” into exporting vaccine to solve the problem, France’s foreign minister has claimed.

Jean-Yves Le Drian, a close political ally of the French president, Emmanuel Macron, claimed that the UK’s success had been built on driving forward with first jabs without having secured the second doses necessary for full vaccination.

The EU and the UK are locked in talks about the fate of Oxford/AstraZeneca jabs produced in a factory in the Netherlands.

In an interview with FranceInfo radio, Le Drian suggested that the EU should not have to lose out on the doses to help Britain with a problem of its own making. EU officials and top-rank politicians have repeatedly said they will block any export request by AstraZeneca.

“The UK is proud to have vaccinated many people with the first dose, but they will have a problem with the second dose,” Le Drian said. “And we are fully vaccinated with two doses, not one. Today we have the same number of fully vaccinated people in France and the United Kingdom. » | Daniel Boffey In Brussels | Friday, March 26, 2021

Smokefree: A Better Britain?

Talking Liberties webinar, 10th March 2021: 'Smokefree: A Better Britain?', featuring Andrew Allison, campaigns director, The Freedom Association; Liz Barber, friend of Forest and confirmed smoker; Mark Oates, director, We Vape and the Snus Users Association; tobacco investment analyst Rae Maile; and Simon Hills, former associated editor of The Times Magazine and author 'Strictly No! How We're Being Overrun by the Nanny State'. Is a smoke free Britain achievable let alone desirable? Join the conversation. 73 minutes, including audience interaction.

In a Slight to E.U., U.K. Says Not All Ambassadors Are Equal

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Just weeks into its official break from the bloc, Britain is refusing to grant the bloc’s ambassador the same status as other top diplomats.

BRUSSELS — For all the complications and wounded feelings Brexit has introduced in the relationship between the European Union and its erstwhile member, Britain, this week saw the addition of a diplomatic spat reminiscent of a similar argument initiated by former President Donald J. Trump.

So far, at least, Britain is refusing to grant the European Union ambassador the same diplomatic status as other ambassadors.

The British argument is that the European Union is an international federation, not a nation state, and should receive the same treatment as other international organizations, further down the diplomatic ranking. There is also the suspicion that the British government is trying to embarrass Brussels and contrast its own status as a nation state with the confederation it chose to leave. » | Steven Erlanger | Thursday, January 21, 2021

World's Media Ask How It Went So Wrong for 'Plague Island' Britain

THE GUARDIAN: Boris Johnson comes under fire as countries suspend travel from UK over new Covid variant

In the eyes of the world’s media, Britain – a “Plague Island” led by a man who thinks “optimism is a substitute for hard truths and proper management” – is currently getting a good lesson in “what ‘reclaiming sovereignty’ means”.

If never quite explicit, the schadenfreude is palpable as dozens of countries, days before the end of the Brexit transition period and with no trade deal yet agreed, suspend travel from the UK in response to the new, more contagious coronavirus variant.

Much of the blame was on Boris Johnson, whose U-turn on Christmas had “once more shown the yawning gulf between the prime minister’s airy promises and the real world,” said Germany’s Die Welt.

That vacuum, however, is now “fast being filled with the anger and fear of a nation hit ever since by horror story upon horror story”. The continental blockade could well be “preparing the British for what Brexit might actually mean”, the paper said, “since there is still no agreement on a trade deal, 10 days before the deadline.” » | Jon Henley | Tuesday, December 22, 2020

Unicef to Feed Hungry Children in UK for First Time in 70-year History

THE GUARDIAN: UN agency will help fund food parcels for those affected by coronavirus crisis in Southwark, south London

Unicef has launched a domestic emergency response in the UK for the first time in its more than 70-year history to help feed children hit by the Covid-19 crisis.

The UN agency, which is responsible for providing humanitarian aid to children worldwide, said the coronavirus pandemic was the most urgent crisis affecting children since the second world war.

A YouGov poll in May commissioned by the charity Food Foundation found2.4 million children (17%) were living in food insecure households. By October, an extra 900,000 children had been registered for free school meals. » | Rhi Storer | Wednesday, December 16, 2020

This is to our enduring shame! So many untaxed billionaires; so many poor children! This is enough to bring tears to the eyes of any decent human being! Disgusting! – © Mark

Almost 700,000 Driven into Poverty by Covid Crisis in UK, Study Finds

THE GUARDIAN: Total includes 120,000 children, according to thinktank that is calling for anti-poverty strategy

Almost 700,000 people in the UK, including 120,000 children, have been plunged into poverty as a result of the Covid economic crisis, according to a thinktank analysis.

The Legatum Institute also said an additional 700,000 people had been prevented from falling below the breadline by the chancellor’s temporary £20-a-week boost to universal credit, introduced in April to help claimants cope with the extra costs of the pandemic.

Overall, the pandemic has pushed the total number of people in the UK living in poverty to more than 15 million – 23% of the population – according to the institute, which uses poverty measures developed by the independent Social Metrics Commission. » | Patrick Butler, Social policy editor | Monday, November 30, 2020

US Election: What a Biden or Trump Victory Could Mean for Britain

THE GUARDIAN: It could be the most significant election for US foreign policy since 1940, with huge implications for the UK

The British government has a long history of misreading America – from Lord Palmerston expecting the Confederacy to survive the civil war, to Ernie Bevin being shocked that the US would not pay the UK’s postwar bills, to Tony Blair believing in 2003 that he could ride the US military tiger in Iraq and create a democracy.

Few serving or former British diplomats are confidently predicting the outcome of this November’s presidential election, or even whether an increasingly erratic Donald Trump will accept the result as legitimate. The collective delusion about the 2016 election hangs heavy.

Between now and polling day, two fears will stalk the Foreign Office. The first is of a late October surprise – a Trump military showstopper in the Middle East or the South China Sea, designed to convulse America. The betting is that caution will prevail. “Trump talks very tough, but he has a habit of not following through” said Peter Ricketts, the former UK national security adviser.

The second is of a November impasse – a constitutional crisis as Trump disputes the result. One former Foreign Office staff member said: “It is noticeable that Trump’s most consistent message this election is that it is rigged.” Kim Darroch, the former UK ambassador to Washington and an early Trump sceptic, notes all the preparations being made for a challenge in the supreme court.

All observers agree that if the US can reach a consensus on the outcome, it will be the most consequential election for American foreign policy since 1940. The implications, in turn, for the UK and for the kind of government Boris Johnson will lead are enormous. » | Patrick Wintour, Diplomatic editor | Thursday, October 15, 2020

UK Is at 'Tipping Point' of Covid Crisis, Says Senior Health Official

THE GUARDIAN: Jonathan Van-Tam says UK must act quickly to avoid history ‘repeating itself’

The UK is at a “tipping point” in the Covid-19 crisis and must act swiftly to avoid history “repeating itself”, the deputy chief medical officer, Jonathan Van-Tam, has said.

In a stark warning highlighting “the worst is yet to come if we don’t all act now”, Van-Tam said the country was “at a tipping point similar to where we were in March” and that the approach of winter made the situation even more grave.

“Winter in the NHS is always a difficult period, and that is why in the first wave our strategy was ‘contain, delay, research and mitigate’ to push the first wave into spring,” he said. “This time it is different as we are now are going into the colder, darker winter months. We are in the middle of a severe pandemic and the seasons are against us. Basically, we are running into a headwind.” » | Natalie Grover | Sunday, October 11, 2020

‘Everyone Is Fighting’ – How Downing Street Lost Its Grip on a Divided Nation

THE OBSERVER: As public trust falls, No 10 insists on dictating a national response to coronavirus; local leaders believe that they can do better

When he addressed the nation on 23 March to announce a national lockdown, Boris Johnson knew he had most of the British people with him. “Each and every one of us is now obliged to join together to halt the spread of this disease,” the prime minister said in his TV broadcast. “We will beat the coronavirus and we will beat it together.”

Six and a half months on, as he prepares to announce the introduction of more restrictions and a new three-tier system across the country – at what ministers say is a “critical” moment – hospitals are filling up and death rates are rising once more.

Unlike March, however, calls for the British people to unite behind a response directed from No 10 no longer command the attention or respect they did then. The many changes in rules and regulations have left people confused and choosing to rely on their own instincts as much as on what politicians tell them. » | Toby Helm, Political editor | Sunday, October 11, 2020