I have lost faith both in Western social democracy, and in the institutions of international law. As both have been fundamental to the work of my life, this is rather a blow as I approach 70.
A number of deeply shocking things have happened this past three years, not as extraneous events, but as conscious acts of western governments acting in unison. The Genocide in Gaza has been the most obvious.
When social media started to show us relentless imagery of shredded children and human suffering beyond belief, it was astonishing to me that the governments of the western social democracies almost unanimously continued to support Israel. The UK is actively complicit in the Genocide, providing weaponry, aerial surveillance, intelligence cooperation and vital diplomatic and political support to Israel.
Somehow I thought this would all stop. Equilibrium would be restored, the innate decency of the British people would prevail, and the support for Israel would be reversed. Indeed, I reasoned, in the long term this could break the hold of the Zionist donor network on British politicians, so deep was the popular revulsion at the most public and vicious genocide imaginable.
None of this happened. Instead the more indefensible Israel’s actions have become, the more the UK’s political and media Establishment have rallied to Israel. In the UK as throughout the world, our rulers have responded to dissent over Israel with harsh repression of their own people. To see Burnham stand at the podium of the UN General Assembly in New York and declare the UK’s support for Israel, while the genocide continues and Israel is relentlessly destroying southern Lebanon and is occupying southern Syria, was instructive.
His tactical change of tone to notice Israeli crimes has no practical effect. The UK implements new sanctions on Russia within 48 hours of announcement, or even less. The “sanctions” on Israeli illegal settlements are going to take a year to design and implement, to make certain they don’t work.
When they proscribed as “terrorist” a civil disobedience group and police started arresting little old ladies as terrorists for protesting about it, I thought this too was a temporary madness which would pass. I witnessed outside the Royal Courts of Justice the police lifting up elderly people in wheelchairs to arrest them for holding a sign, and I thought ultimately the system will repudiate this madness.
It has not repudiated the madness. It turns out that policemen are happy to arrest octogenarian priests for expressing the wrong thoughts, and judges are prepared to impose vicious “terrorist connection” prison terms for property damage by persons seeking to hinder a genocide. The English Court of Appeal stated coldly:
The vast majority of those arrested had chosen to hold signs which read, “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action”. We attach little weight to this when it comes to assessing the extent of the interference with Convention rights in this case. All those holding such signs either did or ought to have realised that what they were doing was showing support for Palestine Action.
It is one thing for people voluntarily to hold a placard supporting Palestine Action which they know to be a proscribed organisation. That is a criminal act.
I have mentioned this to you before but I was very struck when I read Irmtrud Wojak’s life of Fritz Bauer by the continuity of individual judges and lawyers, who served on with equanimity under the Weimar Republic, the Third Reich and West Germany without evidence of guilt and remorse. About 70% of West German judges had been Nazi judges administering “Nazi justice.”
Fritz Bauer, a radical German Jewish prosecutor, was continually blocked in his heroic efforts to bring some justice. The book held me so strongly because it is the granular narration of the banality of evil, in its tale after tale of Nazi criminals protected by compromised judges.
The realisation that the law is nothing to do with justice, and that courts are imposing the power of the state rather than seeking some higher ideal, came home to me on Friday as we sat through the expedited hearing of our appeal at the Court of Session in Edinburgh, where we are trying to make the Scottish judicial review of the proscription of Palestine Action actually happen.
This was our sixth or seventh time in court and we have spent about £250,000 trying to protect the liberties of people in Scotland from oppression. Very decent people are being branded as terrorists, with potentially life-changing consequences, for merely holding a placard or wearing a T shirt. I met one person in Glasgow whose home and vehicle insurance had increased by over £600 as a result of a terrorism charge for a T shirt. Others have been debanked. International travel is restricted. The jail sentences are still to come.
The Court of Appeal of England and Wales has ruled all this as proportionate in the interests of “National Security”, to protect the nation from those who would disrupt the Israeli weapons supply chain. Our effort to challenge it in Scotland has met with delay after delay, and a blistering exhibition of trench Lawfare by the UK government.
I don’t think the judges of the Inner House of the Court of Session who heard us on Friday could have been less engaged. Aidan O’Neill KC spoke for us for over an hour about the constitutional right of Scots to have their liberties protected by a Scottish court, about the lack of any provision in Court Rules for suspending – “sisting” – a judicial review as this one had been – about the perverse decision to grant the Review and then continually suspend it, causing us great expense.
What he did not talk about – because this was a purely procedural hearing – was the arrests and lives in turmoil in Scotland, still less the lives destroyed in Gaza.
The three judges sat making notes but did not engage with Aidan, asking almost no questions. This was entirely different when the UK Government lawyer spoke, Mark Lindsay KC, addressed the court very briefly. The judges engaged with him constantly, to reinforce his points or to suggest additional helpful points he might have missed.
Lord Pentland, the Lord President of the Court of Session (and former Tory parliamentary candidate) got most animated when discussing the secret closed court sessions where secret intelligence evidence is heard that we are never told about. Pentland seemed extremely pleased with the notion that these are difficult and time consuming and there could not be enough time for them before the UK Supreme Court hears the English appeal on 4 November.
Mark Lindsay added here the incredible point that the judgement in the judicial review must be cleared with the security services, which would take at least five days. He explained that one reason it takes so long is that it needs to be typed on special secure laptops.
So that is where we are in 2026. Courts hearing secret evidence from the security services that the petitioner in the case will never see, and the security services vetting the judgement of the court.
The other reasons Lindsay advanced for not having a judicial review were equally jaw dropping. It would cost money, and use judicial resources that might be better deployed on something else. It would simply be too expensive for Scotland. Best just follow whatever England said.
I have to say I left court deeply depressed. Judgement is reserved – itself significant when we were arguing for the judicial review to proceed urgently before the Supreme Court meets.
Currently the full video of the hearing is still available here.
If that was not miserable enough, we also had to endure the UN General Assembly being treated, not as a meeting point for nations to speak peace and reach agreement, but as a rostrum for crazed fascism.
We had Donald Trump threatening to annihilate Iran and destroy Iranian culture. We had ICC-wanted war criminal Netanyahu waving around pagers to glory in terrorism while taunting the world. Both spoke from a position of confidence in military power enabling them to defy and humiliate the world community. It may be hubris, but it is currently in the ascendant. China shows no interest in countering it and nobody else really can.
Neither China nor Russia were strong in condemnation of Israel over Gaza – they did not speak the language of war crimes at the General Assembly, let alone Genocide. Both made anodyne remarks about a two-state solution, and said that Israeli actions were endangering its viability. As it is blindingly obvious that a two-state solution is now impossible, this was pathetic. Remember – and this is key to understanding the world today – neither Russia nor China vetoed the UN Security Council resolution endorsing Trump’s Board of Peace and giving it a firm right in international law to control the destiny of Gaza.
The European powers used the UN podium to spout Russophobia and amplify the demand for war with Russia.
I despair for the United Nations. I despair for the International Criminal court, which seems fatally undermined. Its arrest warrant for Netanyahu is ignored by the Western powers. Three EU states allowed his plane to overfly their airspace en route to New York. Karim Khan was ousted as Chief Prosecutor for obtaining the warrant against Netanyahu, on flimsy sexual abuse allegations for which an inquiry by three judges found no firm evidence. The Western powers led a fierce campaign for his dismissal by the member states.
The judges themselves have been subject to US sanctions and debanking. I had always hoped – and believed – the ICC would develop beyond a role of punishing the West’s designated enemies and keeping Africa in line. I did not realise that as soon as the ICC did this, the Western powers would move to destroy the ICC.
The venerable International Court of Justice is also creaking. I had expected it would take three years or so for it to reach a decision in the South Africa vs Israel genocide case. That timetable now looks more like eight years.
In part it seems that South Africa may have blinked. It was South Africa which requested an extraordinary 18 months to reply to Israel’s response to their petition. The Court had already granted Israel two lengthy postponements of their reply. The Israelis will then get to reply again and a further 18 months. I suspect South Africa is going along with kicking the can down the road under US pressure, and the new timetable will take us beyond Trump.
It is however not a good look for the Court to take so long in deciding on a case over a Convention which is supposed to prevent Genocide, not to punish it. It is also notable that Israel has entirely ignored the interim orders the Court gave two years ago, and ignored the separate judgement on the status of the Occupied Territories.
The truth is the Court has no armies, and as the Western powers are actively abetting Israel in its actions the ICJ is, sadly, a dead letter.
The UK is now going to ignore the ICJ decision on the Chagos Islands. The court ruled that the UK must give them back to Mauritius. The US airbase on Diego Garcia is irrelevant to that ICJ decision. The UK has now decided to defy the ICJ because the US has declined to pay for the lease of the airbase from Mauritius. That in no way negates the duty to return the islands. But the UK media have reported Streeting’s decision to cancel the return of the islands with, so far as I have seen, no reference to the ICJ at all.
It is not just that the institutions of law, both domestically and internationally, in which I have lost belief. The social contract of Western nations, in which the government provides for the welfare of the population in return for their loyalty and taxes, appears to have broken down.
The trend towards greater wealth inequality in late-stage capitalism is incredibly, exponentially rapid. Living standards for ordinary people have been static for two decades and, whatever official statistics may say, to many if feels their standard of living has declined. Social mobility is gone. Graduates are stacking shelves and delivering pizzas. Heating and fuel costs are extraordinary. So is rent, and landlordism is rampant.
It is impossible to look at social media without hitting the stark reality that Islamophobia and racism are now deeply seated in a large proportion of the population. The propaganda model has been reinforced by the billionaire capture of all the major social media gatekeeper apps. Rather than being a possible solution to state and billionaire propaganda, social media has become a major part of the problem. It appears particularly effective in amplifying and spreading racism.
We are now faced with a Ministry of Truth in the UK to enforce state propaganda narratives – like the ridiculous Skripal story, the ambulances false flag or the Fairford farrago. The one thing we know for certain about “RAF” – truly USAF – Fairford is that hundreds of tonnes of high explosive have been dropped from Fairford on Iran. The notion of “defensive bombing” – parroted by the entire media – is an Orwellian symptom of what we have become.
There is no escaping the fact that large numbers of people are very susceptible to the propaganda. I know well-meaning left-wing people who believe that Iran machine gunned 50,000 dissidents and that nothing significant happened in Ukraine before 2022.
The focus of hate away from the billionaire class who are enslaving society, and towards immigrants, is most worrying of all. It of course feeds both domestic and foreign policy views – there are vast numbers of people delighted at the mass murder of Iranians, Palestinians, Lebanese or Yemenis because they are brown or Muslim. The same people think that immigrants in small boats are responsible for the decline in standard of living of working people in the UK.
Western social democracy is dying.
The democracy bit offers no meaningful choice at election in terms of wealth distribution or the structure of capitalist society. It offers no significant variation on the increasingly authoritarian nature of the state. It certainly offers no choice in foreign or defence policy. It really only offers a bit more or a bit less racism in immigration and welfare policies.
The social bit is decaying even faster. The very fabric of our cities is visibly crumbling. In the UK the health service is strained beyond utility in a great many cases. State pensions are miserly and insufficient. Many young people have no prospect but to pay rent to landlords for poor quality housing their whole life. Many graduates will never find meaningful or satisfactory employment. All of this is getting palpably worse year by year.
That’s me in the corner
That’s me in the spotlight
Losing my religion
I feel that the rather pleasant world I grew up in has been replaced by something much nastier and more raw. Literally dozens of my friends have been arrested these last three years, simply for what they say and think.
The problem with losing faith is how you replace it.
Another problem is that the legal battle for Palestine Action still has to be paid for. Our CrowdJustice crowdfunder was closed down by the card processors as a result of pressure from the USA. I was informed by the legal team on Friday that legal fees due currently outstrip available funds. If you can help, please do. If you know somebody else better placed to help, please ask them.
These alternative donation methods are still working as of 29 September 12 noon. Any funds received will checked hourly and be paid immediately to the lawyers to avoid possible seizure.
Other donation methods are currently still available even though the CrowdJustice route has been closed.. Obviously we now need funds more than ever to carry on.
Alternatively by bank transfer:
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IIRC, China and Russia did not veto the “Board of Peace” as it was accepted by the local neighbours.
You (and I) despair over Gaza, where there is a daily broadcast of the genocide. But who despairs over the Sudanese, the Libyans, the Somalians, the Rohingya and so many others?
I am convinced that climate change will kill agriculture which will kill human “civilisation”, no later than 2045.
And every day, I’m more convinced that would be a good thing to happen.
China and Russia abstained from voting on the Board of Peace.
Given that the UN Security Council resolution passed with 13 votes (out of 15) in favour of establishing the Board of Peace, and several nations in the Middle East supported the Board of Peace plan, the Russians and the Chinese did not have much other choice.
“)Statement by Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia at a UNSC Briefing on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian Question
Mr President,
We wish to thank Mr. Ramiz Alakbarov, Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, for his briefing on the situation in the Middle East. We have closely listened to Mr. Nikolay Mladenov, High Representative for Gaza of the Board of Peace, as well as to Mr. Rami Hijjo. Frankly speaking, we were somewhat surprised to hear various members of the Council extolling what is happening now.
Today’s meeting is more than a routine briefing. Recently, the Council was presented with the first semi-annual report of the Board of Peace, pursuant to Security Council Resolution 2803. Let me remind you that Russia abstained during that vote as the resolution failed to mention Israel’s obligations, the role of UNRWA, the situation in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, or the universally recognized two-State solution. We chose not to block the document then only in response to numerous requests, primarily from regional States, to allow the US blueprint for Gaza a chance to succeed.
Regrettably, our fears were borne out. The Board of Peace’s report echoes the language of paragraph 33 about “the difference between a framework that exists on paper and one that delivers on the ground for the people of Gaza.” Six months after the vote on Security Council Resolution 2803, the so-called “Trump Plan” remains largely a dead letter, with declarative successes only serving as a smokescreen to conceal the grim reality in the Gaza Strip.
Israel’s demands for the release of all hostages and the return of the bodies of those deceased were fully accommodated. A number of Palestinians were also released. At the same time, the plan contained many other provisions, namely those having to do with a ceasefire, the delivery of full-scale humanitarian aid to the enclave, the handover of control over the Strip to a Palestinian technocratic committee, the deployment of the International Stabilization Force (ISF), not to mention the promises to transform Gaza into “the Middle East Riviera” with “miracle cities,” to “breathe new life into it,” and “create a special economic zone” – all these promises have turned out to be hollow words.
In fact, since the ceasefire was announced on October 10, 2025, Israeli strikes have been killing Palestinian civilians literally each and every day – more than 880 people have died and over 2,600 have been wounded. According to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), most of them died as a result of sniper fire or explosions of tripwire bombs which were positioned at access points to water sources. There is a genuine manhunt underway targeting Palestinian law enforcement officers. Incidentally, the issue of accountability and the number of ceasefire violations are elegantly being skirted in the report of the Board of Peace. On the whole, since October 7, 2023, the number of Palestinian casualties has amounted, by the most modest estimates, to approximately 73,000 dead and 173,000 injured, with tens of thousands still missing and buried under the rubble.
Those who survived in Gaza continue to suffer from acute shortages of food and basic necessities, communicable diseases, and they are being forced to relocate en masse due to the bans and restrictions, which were imposed and are being tightened by the Israelis. As was mentioned at a recent OHCHR briefing, sanitary conditions in the enclave are catastrophic, which is compounded by acute shortages of clean drinking water. According to the available information, the UN emergency humanitarian appeal for $4 billion is financed to the tune of a meager 12%. In essence, it is suffocation and blockade that have become the alternatives to large-scale bloodletting and starvation in the enclave.
Mr. President,
Those who read the report by the Board of Peace might come to the impression that Hamas alone is to blame for all the misfortunes plaguing Gaza. Essentially, it is being proposed that we accept the premise whereby blocking humanitarian aid, investment, and development assistance can be made contingent on political demands. We are explicitly being told that until Palestinian groups disarm, we better forget about the provisions of the Trump plan stipulating that “Israel will not occupy or annex the Gaza Strip” and that the people of the enclave will be given “the opportunity to build a better Gaza.” At the same time, it is being proposed that the Security Council members exert pressure on Hamas and Palestinian factions for them to accept a “road map” and a framework document on disarmament, which have not even been shown to the Security Council. However, such “pigs in a poke” no longer surprise us.
The US plan for Gaza contains no specific political commitments vis-à-vis the Palestinians themselves. The Palestinians, who have been tormented by a decades-long brutal war, are cynically being lured with idyllic depictions of beach resorts, skyscrapers, and promises of jobs. But this will be in exchange for their own State, which was pledged to them by the international community more than 70 years ago.
But these promises of a bright future no longer inspire faith. Although Israel is bound by international obligations to assist UNRWA, now it is not only blatantly violating them but also taking further provocative steps: On May 17, the Israeli government declared plans to build an IDF museum and an enlistment office on the site of the recently demolished UNRWA headquarters in East Jerusalem. We align ourselves with the statement by the UN Secretary-General which firmly condemned this decision and called for the return of the former UNRWA compound in East Jerusalem to the United Nations.
There is also information about the reconsideration of the plan’s provisions stipulating that Gaza is to come under the control of the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG) during the transitional phase. 65 percent of the Strip’s territory is likely to be handed over to the full control of West Jerusalem, while the NCAG is supposed to control only 35 percent. At the same time, entry into the Israeli-controlled part will be subject to quotas and require permission from Israel. We would appreciate it if the distinguished briefer representing the Board of Peace Council would comment on this matter.
Mr. President,
By way of conclusion, we wish to reaffirm that we see no alternative to returning to the comprehensive peace process based on a universally recognized international legal framework with the two-state solution as its core principle, which entails respect for the legitimate rights and aspirations of the Palestinians to have their own State, coexisting in peace and security with Israel. Rather than calling the membership of the Security Council to help address tasks that are pointedly counterproductive, we need to gear international efforts towards ensuring the implementation of fundamental decisions concerning the Middle East settlement process.
Thank you.
The real problem with society in general is the surge in the lack of MORAL FIBRE – there’s a genocide underway and humanity is sitting on its hands and watching it unfold – not only that, many nations leaders and businesses are aiding the perpetrators of the genocide, and unbelievably the head perpetrator (Netanyahu) is allowed to speak at the UN – even though there’s an arrest warrant out for him by the (ICC).
No the problems that need to addressed immediately are lack of morality greed and the me me me culture, on morality many politician and business folk are on the Epstein List so they won’t speak up – many politicians are in the pockets of big business – politicians no longer serve the people they serve big business and themselves – and the me me me culture is one of looking after ones self – no matter what is happening outside and around the world.”
Chin up, you say China shows no interest in countering it and nobody else really can…That isnt really true though, the populations in each respective country can, and easily. I think we are about a year and a half from full scale revolution and its going to be difficult for the western empire to hijack our version of Arab spring since we all know who they are, we know the puppets and we know the paymasters, they continually remind us of their presence (oliogarchs are so uncouth these days). Also, the Chagos Island ruling was non binding as it couldn’t go via the security council for obvious reasons. The UK were going to be paying the lease on behalf of the USA but had to pull out when Trump changed his mind on allowing it and since Trump is the boss of our government, it was cancelled.
My view has always been that our leaders, both UK and USA, are being blackmailed.
The Jeffrey Epstein saga has much to do with this, but whether that is the whole story, who knows?
Someone must have serious secret information on senior politicians, for them to remain silent for this long.
The main scenario appears to be a desire to eliminate Russia and Iran from the equation; (Iran first as they appear not to have the threat of nuclear retaliation, at present).
The mainstream media propaganda channels have been working overtime this year, in order to convince as many US and European citizens that Islam is an immediate threat to the Western way of life – and the missiles could arrive at any time.
This has been brought to a head with the blocking of Hormuz and the destruction of US bases in the Middle East. Now, oil is in short supply and Western economies are in danger of collapse.
Because of this, I believe the USA wants to have free use of British bases in order to launch a full scale attack on Iranian cities and vital installations.
The oil situation has now become so acute, that the US has been planning some form of serious false flag attack on British soil for months. This would have shocked the UK public into allowing full scale carpet bombing from USAF bases here.
Hence the Rees-Mogg video saying the public should prepare for war, and government officials imploring us to stock up on bottled water and canned food.
I believe the Fairford incident over the weekend was a precursor to this, but because of the ‘need to know’ basis, our local police were not in the loop. What was actually planned I don’t know; but it seems that a suspicious farmer raised the alarm to their police and blew the cover wide open.
Hence the curious sight of vans with oil barrels and what look like empty rainwater butts, photographed in a country lane.
It also explains the recent regular criticism, by US politicians, of the British reaction.
I would image the shit is hitting the fan in many secret briefing rooms at present.
I don’t necessarily think our leaders are being blackmailed. I think they are compromised because they are funded by the enemies of the people: Israel, Zionists, Billionaires, MIC. The 1% have all the money and they scatter it amongst their disciples to ensure they do their bidding. Power is Money, Money is Power. The people have neither, and that’s the plan.
“My view has always been that our leaders, both UK and USA, are being blackmailed.”
I think you are right. Basically, you don’t get within spitting distance of the levers of power if you don’t have at least one skeleton in your cupboard or are either so brainwashed or such a fanatic that you would never think of stepping out of line. You only have to look at the number of people who spoke sense right up to the point where they held office in the government or the civil service, whereupon they indulged in duckspeak until they retired. After that they started making sense again. One of the main problems about Jeremy Corbyn was that he was put on the ballot paper as a whim and had neither the brainwashing, the fanaticism nor the skeletons in his cupboard to make a leader who could be relied upon not to rock HMS Establishment.
They are bought and they are indoctronated. Teressa May has made 2 million pounds on the speaking circuit in the US, as has that bint whom served as PM for about 15 minutes. It is the same agency that “hires” all our ex PMs and it is just one of many routes they take to be reimbursed for services rendered. As to the indoctronation bit, have a look at how many of our political and media elites make their way here via the trans atlantic pipeline, i.e, educated in the US or via a US Trust grant. Most also have continual “further” training and career advancement via these routes. The simple truth is, we are colonised. The US us doing the exact same thing to us as we did to india.
The rot set in ages ago, at least as early as 2002-3 with ‘Dubya’ and Blair undermining the UN through spying, in their attempt to get a second resolution authorising the use of force against Iraq. Because the then UK Attorney General Goldsmith’s advice, was that war would be illegal without it. We know this thanks to GCHQ’s Katharine Gun, who felt so incensed she went public. Goldsmith was later ‘persuaded’ to ‘change’ his advice after a visit to the U.S. It’s been downhill ever since; the OPCW’s independence has been systematically undermined, to provide the answers the UK and US want to hear. We all know we are ruled by a bunch of amoral bastards who have no social etiquette and think getting their way and ‘not getting caught’ are the only ‘values’ criteria. The question is, what can be done about it?
Yes. Exactly.
Burnham and Miliband are setting the standard for what western liberal governments are now going to do in relation to Gaza: continue abetting and laundering the ongoing genocide while pretending to oppose it.
No arms embargo on Israel, no stop to surveillance flights, no sanctions, no withdrawing of diplomatic support (the UK still lends its vote and veto to Israel in the Security Council, alongside the US). No action of any actual material significance, but platitudes about a chimerical 2-state solution and pretend symbolic temporary pause of trade with West Bank settlements, which the media will either pretend is a huge massive victory or a shameful antisemitic betrayal of the only democracy in the Middle East, when in reality it means less than nothing.
This will also be the progressive Genocide Democrat position when they run in 2028.
You detail the truly historic collapse of democracy in the West.
With the politicians and the media on board with the new manufactured ‘reality’ I see it only getting steadily worse for the average UK person.
You are looking for something to replace your lost faith in these institutions.
The fact is that those in power are few in number. I think a vast majority of us can see through the new narrative. Focus on speaking with and spending time with those who feel that way too.
I think the path to restoring the balance will involve severe social unrest here in the UK, or it maybe triggered by some external event. We certainly have many unstable leaders throughout the Western world who care more about being in power than ensuring peace and stability for the world.
Exactly Sephen
I was Sickened Long Ago Craig.. Doune the Rabbit hole seems remote ..But Well Said
I have been watching your evolution over the last 15 years to a political position that matches mine. I have evolved 2. I have known since the 80s that the main enemy is the US empire. I was a a “child of Solzhenitsyn” favouring pacifist anarchism and arguing with my leftist comrades that Leninism was the original sin not just Stalinism. Not easy the be a pacifist in Vietnam or Gaza. Just a luxury of a soft 1st world life. The West is despicable but we are of it and so are our friends and families. Australia has been the US compliant lackey since WW2 but now we are letting nuclear basing!!!. It is sobering to realise just how corrupt our western countries are but like you the last 3 years has shown just how total that is. My position is not to reject family on friends for political reasons as they are the most important. I gave up trying to convert them 20 years ago. They think Israel is wrong – now and the US in wrong because Trump is in power but fall for the constant anti-Russia and China propaganda that they are fed on and is historical for them. Keep up the good work I respect your efforts.
I believe that the key to the recovery and regeneration of Western democracy lies in leadership by the United States, sadly found wanting in recent years. The main reason for hope is the probable impending disaster for Republicans in the mid-terms in a few weeks’ time, and the ongoing occasional restraint by the Judiciary on the abuse of power by the Executive. An additional good sign is the next generation of American leaders such as Zoran Mamdani and Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez. Another thing to note is the realisation by middle ranking powers for the need for closer cooperation, given the unreliability of American leadership, as shown by Canada and the EU, also carrying the prospects for closer links between the UK and EU.
In this country the increasing support for the Green Party is also a reason for hope. Burnham must be scared of them as well as Reform, given their exclusion from a “cross party” meeting about social care. He is right to be, because they will probably make big gains at the next election, and that might be the end of Burnham, unless he gets one big success. That could be a national care service integrated into the NHS. If Burnham can pull that off, it could save his bacon. If not, I anticipate a hung parliament after the next general election. I don’t think that Burnham will do away with the pension triple lock, because it would be politically suicidal, so that should be a little comfort at least, for pensioners reading this.
PS. The BBC just reported that Burnham will indeed end the pension triple lock in 2030, to help fund adult social care.
All I can say is, I will be looking at manifestos to work out which (if any) of the political parties treat pensioners better than Labour.
PS2. It seems that the Greens would also end the triple lock, though they would fund social care by taxes on the wealthy. Of the “progressive” parties, that leaves the LibDems (whom I have voted for before). I wonder if we are headed for another Tory-LibDem pact, though I don’t see the LibDems entering a full coalition again, after getting burned the last time they did such a thing.
The progressive Lib Dems attacked the Tories from the right on economics in 2019, with deputy leader Sir Ed Davey pledging he would implement permanent austerity for the UK.
https://evolvepolitics.com/liberal-democrats-pledge-to-implement-permanent-austerity-if-they-get-into-government/
Ordinary Lib Dem members liked that proposal so much they elected Sir Ed party leader after the General Election.
As I understand, it is not true that Sir Ed Davey pledged to implement “permanent austerity.” The article linked from Evolve Politics uses the term which was the outlet’s own critical interpretation of his speech. Davey actually proposed that the government should take in 1% more in tax receipts than it spent on day-to-day public services. He excluded large infrastructure projects. The party planned to borrow billions for green capital investments, provided they met independent economic criteria. However left-leaning critics argued that requiring a permanent surplus would inherently restrict funding for struggling public services like the NHS and schools, labelling it as a form of austerity.
It should tell you everything about Sir Ed and ordinary Lid Dems. Somehow I doubt it has.
I think the ending of the triple lock is common sense, when seen from the government’s position.
With Hormuz basically closed, oil shortages are only going to get worse; and therefore most prices will continue to rise due to transportation costs.
This will add to inflation. Therefore severing the link between inflation and automatic state pension increases will be seen by the Treasury as a sensible financial move.
Yes, it might mean that pensioners can afford less fuel, but they get a free bus pass and winter fuel allowance.
Burnham is not proposing to end the general inflation link, he is proposing to end the wage inflation link, leaving a double lock: 2.5% or the previous year’s inflation rate (presumably CPI), whichever is higher. As you say, inflation is likely to rise if the current wars are not resolved, and the clamour on all sides is for escalation. Alternatively, a BoE rate rise plus unaffordable fuel may cause a crash, putting the minimum pension increase of 2.5% far above GDP growth as tax revenue falls. Either way, there will be no savings to fund social care. If pensions were increased below inflation, i.e. cut in real terms, pension subsidies would be increased through means-tested benefits which are costly to administer, so again no real savings for the state. But the point of the major plans announced at conference is that they are for after the next GE, so what he is really doing is testing a draft manifesto, with a sub-text for the power elites – don’t worry, for the rest of this government’s term, apart from a little tinkering to tame the rabble, nothing is going to change.
Nothing good will be done by any party. They are all the same.
Nobody can see where this is going because nobody studies history anymore. Who’d have thought in the aftermath of WW2 that we’d end up taking the same path and making the same mistakes as Germany in the 1930’s?
Germany is making the same mistakes as Germany because post ww2, we all became vassals of the US. The US wrote Germany’s constitution (as they did Japan’s and S.Koreas) and at the behest of the US today, each of those countries are abandoning their constitution to pursue war…There was even a leak at the start of the Ukraine war of the Japanese PM complaining that the US was forcing him to break the constitution by supplying arms to a country at war. Ironically, the leak came from the US who it turned out were bugging his phone. Our “leaders” are branch managers, your vote means less than a note in the box at tesco for who should get employee of the week.
“Neither fearing nor hoping, hating nor loving, the judge of our days is ready with equal phlegm to administer, upon all occasions, that system, whatever it be, of justice or injustice, which the law has put into his hands”.
– Jeremy Bentham (1747-1832)
Plus ça change… Professionalism, innit?
“Western social democracy is dying”
No, Western social democracy is DEAD. Full stop!
The West has been nazified: https://geopolitiq.substack.com/p/nazification-of-the-west
What else do we need to recognize it, after they remove our freedom of expression?
Elections are a fraud: Rep. or Dem. in US, Labour or Conservatives in UK, right or left or various combinations in Italy (where BTW the Parliament is approving a bill that will make criticizing Israel a crime)… nothing ever changes!
If we want to stop the war machine, if we want to stop the genocide in Gaza, if we want to change our own miserable conditions, we need to act NOW!
As I have been saying for quite a while now here and in my own substack (https://geopolitiq.substack.com/), the only solution to this crisis is a revolution. It will be either a civil war in US, UK and Europe… or it will be a new World War.
“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor” – Desmond Tutu
“China shows no interest in countering it and nobody else really can”.
The genocide in Palestine has little to do with China; and there is also little China could do about it. Meddling with the internal affairs of other nations is not the Chinese way.
But of course almost everyone else could contribute to fixing the problem. The US government, obviously, would just have to denounce the genocide and cut off all aid. That would do it in about a couple of hours. Of course some movers and shakers might feel the consequences.
Tony from September 29, 2026 at 15:01
Bullshit a veto on the Security Council vote which allowed Trump to set up the board of peace would have cost China nothing – absolutely pathetic. Abstaining on the vote made Trumps move legal.
Craig’s visit to Russia shows where they stand.
Putin has been duplicitous as Erdoğan over Israel/Gaza
Why should Russia or China do anything about Israel when the US and the UK don’t? Just because the UK used to and the US does go around the world being World Police, that doesn’t mean that other countries should have to take over when the World Police start doing things that you dislike. Unlike the US and the UK, neither Russia nor China see themselves as World Police. They are the ones with the right attitude. It is exactly the same presumption that Russia or China should “sort out Israel” as it is that the US should “sort out” Iran, you can’t approve of one without approving of the other.
Ffs, the US is hardly going to denounce its own genocide is it? Isralis are just the fundamentalists getting their hands bloody, everything else is NATO, which amounts to the US and its vassals.
The political philosophy today seems to one of demoralisation or perhaps an updated version of the Book of Leviticus, when the Hebrews on exiting Egypt suffered under a mountain of laws to keep them in line. How to deal with a population, keep them too frightened to whisper. The Covid Event was part of the strategy.
Now there are needless wars while being reminded that WE are destroying the environment. Total surround.
The mention of ‘late stage capitalism’ reminded me of a quote by the head of the National Sales Executives, in the USA, in 1956 exclaimed: ‘ Capitalism is dead, Consumerism is King.’
To consume – to destroy by separating into parts that cannot be reunited.
It could be worse. You could be living in Russia
😁
How did it take you so long Craig?
I feel its been so obviously going this way for at least 30 years.
That’s irrelevant, we live in the UK, and for the last 50 years or more things have got worse progressively every single decade. Over the same time period conditions in Russia and China have progressively improved. But that’s irrelevant because we live in the UK, and it can and will get worse because no-one is dealing with it. Your fatuous comment has a limited timespan.
“It could be worse. You could be living in Russia”
The first, fourth and fifth letters of the last word are superfluous and obscure the truth of your assertion.
Do You Write Eh
The West has lost its collective sanity and has become the enemy of all peoples of the world. There is no cure that will secure its existence. In Britain we can start by dissolving the United Kingdom. Four independent socialist republics would ensure no capitalist can pit workers in one independent country against another. We can share in the fruits of our labour and celebrate all that’s best in Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England. No nationalist nastiness. The UK State was formed to super exploit the peoples of the countries invaded and colonised by military terrorism. The empire no longer exists. Let the UK State cease to exist. It no longer has any reason to exist.
Those calling for revolution, which I wouldn’t be against, don’t seem to realise that for a succesful revolution you need the people behind you. The sad fact is that the people are not behind a revolution. Whether it’s complacency or ignorance, ‘the people’ are not going to rise up. Things will have to get a lot, lot worse before a revolution would ever be on the books.
Indeed Stevie – things will need to get a lot worse first, and they will – for instance there we several attempts at revolution in France that failed before the one that was successful, one of the major changes to that one was that the bourgeoisie middle classes rose up with the lower classes and that helped to make it successful.
Transferring that to today, the rich and well to do won’t rise up, they might be suffering slightly but nothing compared to the lower classes who are suffering a lot.
Diesel at £6/litre might do it, once that feeds through into higher prices for everything. Europe (geographical, not the EU) imports 43% of its diesel from the USA. If Trump stops exports, the government will be faced with a choice of buying diesel from Russia or everyone paying £6/litre or more. My guess is that they will go for the latter.
Bayard, no I think it will take quite a bit more – such as widespread food shortages and power cuts no clean water, and brutality from the police and the army on the civilian population – this further divide society into the have and have nots, and create widespread resentment and eventually unrest and action.
RoS. We saw most of that with covid, and the masses just rolled over and said more, more.
It’s hard to think of scenarios where the masses would rise, they are far to comfortable in their oppression.
“We saw most of that with covid, and the masses just rolled over and said more, more.”
Of course they bloody did; they were being offered an extended paid holiday in the middle of summer. That’s not the same as no food, no transport and no clean water, by a very long chalk.
The petit burgoise are currently getting themselves jailed for terrorism so you are clearly underestimating them. All that is needed is a push from the dreaded ‘liberallism’ into socialism and they can actually do something useful and effective rather than this tilting at windmill nonsence.
I beg to differ. The lies are becoming more transparent. The threats against Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese are becoming more uncompromising. Trump stands and spouts his original desire to monopolise oil, trade, and internal fascism for the United States, but he has been out on the world stage. He has met face to face with those his backers disagree with, and today his public acknowledgement of the defeat of Israel and the United States, in his falling asleep speech, is just the initiating of the countdown to pooff. Tucker Carlson has his finger on the pulse of the president and his base support, the travesty of democracy which has taken so many immigrants out of the economy, and the implications of failing to steer the juggernaut of dollar hegemony away from the cliff edge it is approaching. He has detected a degree of fatalism in Trump that wasn’t there before.
Meanwhile the whole world is dropping the pretence that Israel has a right to defend itself in a way that sacrifices not just its neighbours, but also its allies, funders, backers and supporters. The Greater Israel project is a do or die crusade and the wistfulness of protecting it from its folly is stretching to its limit.
Meanwhile we have a new prime minister who presents with positivity, honesty, and a desire to face down the awful train of events which his predecessors stacked against us. Who knows what will happen? If we can have some ethical leadership to somehow get the lawful proscription of Palestine Action overturned on the basis that it should not have been on the same voting table as two different accepted and acknowledged terrorist groups, then that would be a start. The Supreme Court has resisted every previous effort to overturn the proscription but it needs to be done so that democracy can be seen to abide by principles of international law and the Geneva Convention.
Trump is compromised by the Epstein network. His fingerprints are on all the evidence. But for the distraction to be quite so drastic as the show pieces suggest, well the biggest show on earth may have us all in the front row, like it or not
“Meanwhile we have a new prime minister who presents with positivity, honesty, and a desire to face down the awful train of events which his predecessors stacked against us. ”
Which country are you in? Not the UK, obviously.
The only British politician I’d previously seen Alyson praise that highly is Tom Tugenhat.
Peter Thiel has his finger on Tucker Carlson and the whole plan b party or did you fail to notice that?…his investmentcin JD vance is not paying off because no one likes him. Love the optimism, hate the liberalism. Things won’t be the way you want them to be just because thats what you want and every politician is lying to you, even if it is sometimes just through ommission. The replacement of Trump will be with something worse because the people who own him have seen just what they can get away with and Burnham is unsurprisingly a fucking coward, if he wasnt then it would have been Streeting in the role.
So Labour has apparently done away with the pension triple lock.
The UK has one of the worse pensions in europe. Currently up to about £12,548 per annum from age 67 rising to 70. Note that the personal tax threshold is £12,570.
As a monetary comparison: Iceland: £30,251; Ireland £18,318; France: £16, 152.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/pensions/ranked-world-top-pensions/
Apparently, the money ‘saved’ will pay for a care service. How will that work ? Pensioners are already paying tax on their pensions and are having to fund their own care if they have more than £23,000 in savings, which will include their family home.
This whole proposal is total BS. On the positive side Labour will not be in power in two years time.
I don’t expect any other political party to oppose this.
I have always worked on the assumption that the government would shaft me on my state pension before I got to pensionable age and it looks like my pessimism is going to be justified.
I am now assuming I won’t see a private pension given that they are being invested into the AI bubble. I can see banks getting a bailout, not pension funds.
If your pension provider is any good then their investments should be diversified across different sectors. End of the day your private pension is your responsibility, don’t ever leave it to luck. A good, independent financial advisor is essential. If they’re no good move your pot. Here endeth the lesson … 🙂
The lack of funding for any infrastructure has revealed itself in Wales in a delusional bid for independence. The Welsh government can’t even run the trains that already exist and are cutting an already threadbare NHS out of any viable future. If there was a vote now, with 4 options on it, independence, scrap the Senedd, stay as it is, or cut the number of members to 40 it isn’t at all clear how people might vote. With Burnham wanting to devolve funding to mayoral localities Wales might just find that much preferable to putting all the eggs in the Cardiff basket with nothing to spare for the rural heartlands which are being rewilded with brambles, concreted with giant wind turbines, undermined with toxic gas pipelines and crippled by Defra regulations and the threat of inheritance tax. Early days for a new approach. We watch and wait to see which way the wind will blow
Stevie Boy September 29, 2026 at 18:24
“I don’t expect any other political party to oppose this.”
I would say that abandoning the triple lock is an own goal by Labour, and a gift to rival parties who are still committed to it: the Lib Dems, the Tories, even Reform. Especially in constituencies containing a large number of pensioners.
Burnham didn’t make the policy part of his campaign in Makerfield – on the contrary, he insisted that the pension triple lock was “non-negotiable” and pledged to maintain the existing manifesto commitment for the current parliamentary term. Now he’s in power, does he think he can throw under the bus MPs who won on traditional platforms, as he did – especially when directed to older populations?
If Burnham doesn’t abandon this idea, in my view he and his party will be in big trouble come future elections – or even earlier.
It is truly shocking. All we can do is keep up the pressure. We will prevail in the end, or die trying.
I will be 70 next year and and used to sincerely believe our collective activism 40 some years ago had brought humanity back from the brink. Little did we know what monsters would still be ruling us.
I get my pension tomorrow and have made a modest contribution to the fund. Your work and writing is greatly appreciated.
I am not happy about having to use PayPal to send the money but see no other option.
Jean. Details at the top, Acc & Sort code, allow you to make a direct bank transfer. That works smoothly for me.
Yes, but I still got my receipt from Paypal even though I donated through my Lloyds account! I found it very confusing but then I’m 80!
Thanks, but unfortunately if you are outside the UK (I am in Slovenia) the extra fees are excessive now that Britain has left the EU.
So many people need to be standing in the dock at the Hague right now – I say the Hague should bring back executions just for those who enabled this – I for one would applaud as they swung from the end of a rope.
“UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese:
“Some researchers and scholars estimate the actual death toll in Gaza at 680,000.”
“If confirmed, 380,000 of them are infants under the age of 5.””
Dear Craig,
I am so sorry for your disillusionment.
Sadly, it was to be expected.
Why don’t we just pass the torch to the younger generation and enjoy what’s left to us. Being over 70 myself, and having children and grandchildren and a vibrant local community…
why not stay home with your family and help grow local resilience?
you can still write your blog, and I will still read it.
a warm embrace brother,
Mats Arnoldson
The velvet glove is certainly rather tattered, but how rusty is the iron fist revealed?
In spite of your unquestionable intellect, wisdom and the goodness of heart, Mr. Murray, you are totally forgetting the old wisdom that money is behind everything of any importance in the world, here it’s the Jewish money. The tribe of the Jews wised up after the atrocities of the WW2, set up an effective system of buying power everywhere where power resides because like anything else power can be bought as well.
The Arab Muslims may be rich, but they spend the money mostly on the luxuries of life, the Muslim governments have had no need to copy the Jews as the Americans promised to always protect them for their pricing oil and oil derivatives in dollars. As autocracies the Arab Governments care not about the plebeians. Muslims would seldom attempt to buy power and if they do so as happened after 9/11 it’s in a haphazard manner whilst the Jewish money has done the opposite.
You have a look at the AIPEC in the US. it has been the best lobbying outfit ever having bought even the support of the American military in the Israeli war with Iran. There must be an outfit similar to AIPEC in Europe also, only nobody has the guts to reveal it.
Jewish money’s not the only driver supporting Israel’s genocide, it’s however a decisive one.
You generalise, Baron, forgetting the fate of Libya. That was where I understood that our monetary hegemony was not the only structure possible. Gaddafi was building a megalopolis on the Mediterranean shore, where he would build his banking network with the aim of enabling Africa to own its own resources. His son, Saif, Sword of Islam, gained a PhD at the LSE in which he set out a new Islamic banking system, with no interest charges, no usury, just a fee upfront, to be repaid first, and then just pay down the loan. It was a very attractive proposition and many countries might have seen advantages in contrast to our Jewish banking system, which has a long history, given that Christianity said “Neither a borrower nor a lender be” so that is how it was established.
The Financial Times, The Times, and The Telegraph discussed the matter in various editorials, and decided, ‘we cannot allow this and we will not allow this. They sent our little pip squeak peace envoy to tell Gaddafi, we will not allow this. And Gaddafi laughed, and called his bluff, and we all know how that turned out.
MMT is a different perspective because it defines how governments with a sovereign currency can analyse the internal economic strengths and weaknesses of a nation and create currency wherever it will not weaken the international trade balance, or put more money into circulation than goods are available to purchase. The dollar is the exception. It can run a Deficit of trillions as long as other nations want its currency. It is just the way government spending actually works and so Austerity was simply a trick to privatise public assets and make them profitable for rich people to own shares in. No government should borrow from any privately owned bank. To do so is simply to create currency to give to the bankers. Osborne and Cameron were well aware of that. Austerity was a heist. That old photo of the Bullingdon Boys at Oxford included Cameron, Osborne, Boris and Clegg. They knew what they were doing. Sunak was kind enough to give us furlough to keep the economy working as normal during covid lockdown because he understood MMT. He understood that the Bank of England had filled all the gaps after the Banking Crash of 2008, without any need to pursue or prosecute the fraudulent individuals who gained from the crash.
Something to keep in view now, with crypto and other separate currencies handling transfers of real assets….
Points taken, Alyson, but we are talking the ME, Israel and the fate of the Palestinian. There it’s almost fully the Jewish money mostly via AIPEC that has been buying power/influence for decades, listen to Tucker Carlson, he is getting it right.
It is not Jewish money, it is oliogarch money. Oliogarchy has a tendency to convert to Judeasim for the 10 years tax exemption on overseas earnings and because it is essentially a modern day freeport. Isreal has high poverty levels, even amongst its European colonists. Its entirely dependent on US money and the US oliogarchs are entirely dependent on an army of indoctronated fundamentalists to further their ecconomic ambitions in west asia (there are books written on the subject of zionist indictronation in jewish faith scools, and not just schools in Isreal), Francesca Albanesi has written a piece on the corporations profiting from the genocide, I would go further and say “driving” the genocide.
Good points, Dean, but we have to agree to disagree when it comes to the ME.
Oligarchs do have excessive power hence unwarranted influence on policies everywhere, but in the ME it is almost solely because of the AIPEC ie Jewish money that have been buying power/influence bribing US politicians for decades, canceling this bribery would be good not only for the burghers of America, but also the ME and the world at large.
I won’t gloat. Getting wise is no fun.
One cannot solve a problem one does not know one has. Identifying a problem is the first step in creating a solution.
You have been a part of that identification. You have also inspired others.
Let the rest of the world play their part. You have played an important one yourself.
I agree. The problem with getting older is that you acquire historical perspective, so the forest increasingly emerges from the trees. We in the supposedly democratic West live in one of the most corrupt, immoral empires ever. The era of American monopolists had nothing on this. It is immensely dispiriting to anyone with a conscience, any sense of compassion or decency.
I’ve previously pointed to the fact that this kind of imperial collapse and degradation is not new historically or culturally. Carl jung called it “nigredo”, an alchemical name for the decay of the principle of light into the corruption and ooze in which the worm transforms into a phoenix. There is no Renaissance without a Dark Age. The point is that by breaking democracy, neocolonial rulers ensure that change is inevitable and will be chaotic. It will involve the middle class because it always does – and now we can see that the economic decimation of the poor is spreading to the bourgeoisie, as pensions are raided again, as conscription for war approaches, as insane economic policies impoverish all but the wealthiest. https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2026/09/29/it-is-time-for-people-of-courage-to-walk-away-from-labour/#gsc.tab=0 gives a good summary of increasing stress on the economy.
The British shy away from the idea of revolution, unlike the French who still uphold it. But revolution comes in many forms, some of which – like BDS – require only quiet determination and consistency of purpose. Gandhi’s Salt March was revolutionary. And picking a fight on the enemy’s ground is pointless. Vietnam didn’t stop because the US lost militarily, it stopped because it became politically impossible to continue it because of a bottom-up campaign to expose, to attack arrogance with satire, to engage entire communities and demographics.
Religion is a good place to start, both literally and figuratively. Religion is more than a set of requirements and expectations, it is a constant challenge to take action. The only faith we can lose is faith in our own ability to do the next right thing. I think of Craig as a spiritual leader, not, heaven forbid, in any sectarian sense, but simply as a man who continues to act on principle. That’s inspiring. Now is the time for quiet revolutionaries to act together.
Good analysis and lovely sentiment.
This career trajectory of senior administrative roles in the occupied eastern territories during NAZI occupation with routine bureaucratic duties or obedience to orders, a smooth reintegration into society in Post Nazi Germany ended in the failure of criminal investigations. This was precisely the pattern that Bauer had sought to break throughout his entire career as a state attorney. Bauer argued that participation in the industrialised system of killing, even in ‘desk-based’ or organisational roles, constituted complicity in murder. He encountered institutional resistance from a German judiciary and a civil service in which people with a past dating back to the Nazi era were still active. Many cases demonstrated how often these efforts came to nothing, particularly in the case of the very category of officials that Bauer had targeted. These former NAZI law-makers mutated “neutral” lawyers, judges and attorneys in post-war Germany designed the jurisprudence of the Germany today…
You are very down Craig. There is lots of information out there about what really happened in Iran in February. The best source is Alastair Crooke. The same for the Ukraine SMO and events leading up to it, including your blog. Also books – Richard Sakwa and Jacques Baud and there are many others. Your left leaning friends just need to lift their heads over the parapet as you do all the time and I thank you for that. I followed the big meetings in Asia – BRICS etc. Vladimir Brovkin explained the BRICS pay system so well even I understood it. All seem very hopeful. We are stuck in the west so close to total idiots so we can despair so easily. The global south still have faith in the UN principles and so do I despite the efforts of the US and Europeans to undermine them, it does need to be moved out of New York and reformed. Do you follow Richard Murphy, he is very good on social, sustainable, and economic issues and lots of people follow him. I’m 80 and I haven’t lost hope yet, and I’m still hoping to get my Scottish passport!
Thanks, I’d not heard of Alistair Crooke before. Had a look and started by reading his piece A world turned upside down, which in discussing emotive responses references the wonderful work of Iain McGilChrist.
One is taught on speed awareness course how to avoid anger and negative emotive responses to other road users by Driving Like You Know Them and to to Be Curious Not Furious, by asking yourself 3 questions about the others on the road (you decide what questions to ask).
THAT is what you call a ‘ State Of The Nation ‘ address: more accurately a ‘ State Of The World ‘ address. And what a shockingly awful state both * our * Nation and the World are in. Exceptional thinking/feeling/writing, Craig. Brilliant; that it makes * depressing * reading does not diminish it’s quality.
You yourself are a source of light. A constant candle in the engulfing shroud of malignant darkness threatening to extinguish everything of value.
Please, be careful not to let that flame be blown out, eg via physical impairment or weariness of soul at the seemingly unassailable dominance of the emissaries of death, destruction and sadistic glee in others’ suffering: the liars, cheats, perverts, the monstrous egos and pathological vanities pouring their pus & venom over everything that makes Humankind worth preserving. In addition poisoning, blowing-up, smashing, tearing asunder with psychotic malice and disregard the Earth itself.
No pasaran, hermano, NO PASARAN. Vencemeros. Debemos
Ultimately, we, the ordinary, decent, people who value generosity over greed, justice over power and – most importantly – love over hate, shall prevail to inherit the Good Earth.
‘ An aged man is but a paltry thing,
A tattered coat upon a stick, unless
Soul clap its hands and sing, and louder sing
For every tatter in its mortal dress,
Nor is there singing school but studying
Monuments of its own magnificence;
And therefore I have sailed the seas and come
To the holy city of Byzantium.’ ( W.B Yeats )
Don’t forget to allow your soul to clap and sing it’s songs of longing for connection with The All, my friend. There is still goodness in the World
Beautiful. I’m sure Yeats would see in Craig the right stuff.
The fact of the matter is that Britain is no longer fit to live in, it lost its way years ago, and it’s not going to improve, it’s just going to get worse and worse.
I don’t know why you are all still living there if you hate it so much, the young are now leaving in droves. You are neither too old nor too poor to get out, there are plenty of civilised countries to choose from with lower cost of living and better weather. I left it permanently six years ago, I could see the way things were going, and don’t regret it for a moment. White sands, warm seas, I live on a traffic free island and rent a beachside cottage on another for $300 a month for holidays, with practically all year round summer.
If the UK does get split up then I would possibly go back to Wales, but I don’t expect to see that in my lifetime.
Simplistic. The real question is where is really better, where to go ? And, most people don’t want to run away and surrender their homeland to chaos, they want, and expect, improvements. White sands and warm seas may be nice for a holiday but what about everyday life ? Anyway, enjoy your retreat.
Simplistic?
You only get one life, there is no pie in the sky when you die, so why live in hell when there is far, far better in many places elsewhere? People do live everyday lives in other countries too, you know, where the cost of living and the standard of living, the two basic factors, are so much better. And as for my “homeland”, well home is wherever I choose to be. But anyway, you are free to choose for yourself, but if you don’t look, you’ll never know.