SA – Thank you for your support. I think if you have Labour membership right now it could be strategically important to hang onto it for a little while longer as there could be an earthquake of outraged backlash against Starmer for his lurch to the right, his treacherous capitulation and recklessness in squandering the membership dues on the cowardly craven grovelling to Ware’s Poison Dart Blowers. There are NEC elections where the progressive Left might just wrestle back control of Labour so that sane individuals can remove Starmer from power once his manipulations to hide the truth are exposed by all pf the Court cases. If the Zionist Israeli Lobby, via the BoD, force Starmer to oust Corbyn then my hope is that Jeremy will decide to continue serving, not as an Independent, but as a Green Party MP. If this occurred you might see a whole slew of progressive Labour MPs join him as Green MPs, precipitating a massive exodus of Labour members to the Green Party and possibly a realization by the Unions that their interests are far better served by funding a fully Socialist Party.
It is now five years on from Angela Merkel’s decision to offer hope and welcome to the many refugees fleeing conflict and privation in countries where our foreign intervention has done little more than exacerbate violence and destruction as a consequence of our proxy wars to control resources. That sea of humanity that flooded over Europe has had an opportunity to recover from the horror of conflict, move on, build new lives and become assimilated within the EU. For a few, the trauma of their experiences was so deeply etched in their troubled minds that the support offered was too little, too late, and as Corbyn stated after the Manchester bombing, our senseless overseas interventions have consequences! We cannot bomb countries into joining our sham democracy of tyrants; we just engender hatred and enlist jihadists to a cause. Perhaps if we were able to create a genuine, truly democratic, fairly elected Government in our own country first, there might be a stable and just society worth emulating with the credibility to negotiate for lasting peace.
I am reminded of more than just the packed trains and lines of people trudging across Europe to seek freedom, but also the awful tragedy of that shocking picture of the body of a little boy washed up on a Greek beach. Yet even that horrific reality failed to instil a universal determination to resolve the carnage we had set in motion. Countries strengthened their borders increasing the risk and desperation of the dispossessed crammed together in camps awaiting rescue that was increasingly refused. While countries with the least capacity to offer sanctuary are still forced to accept the greatest burden, the EU did a deal with a ruthless despot to halt the flow of people who must remain virtually imprisoned in limbo. The boat crossings have become more dangerous and deadly as countries seek ways to contort Maritime Law, searching for an excuse not to rescue those in peril on the sea. Moving vessels away from the area of greatest traffic to police relitively few crossing the English Channel undoubtedly sealed the fate of thousands drowning in the Med.
The Greeks and Italians have grown weary of the lack of cooperation from other EU states, who have refused to take a fair quota of migrants. Dubs battled to secure refuge for a number of unaccompanied children, but our wicked Tory Government rapidly minimized the hope offered only to a token few. All safe passages of asylum entry are being blocked off while the Tories continue to stoke foreign conflict with bombing raids and deadly weapons sold to despots to target and extinguish rival ethnic groups. Across the channel the French are persecuting migrants and breaking up their dismal encampments to essentially drive desperate escapes, while Priti Patel wants to use the Royal Navy to harass refugees on the high seas! Artist folk hero Banksy has sponsored a rescue vessel to save the abandoned refugees fleeing North Africa. Their crew may have underestimated the logistics of managing this valiant effort, but Banksy’s high profile will ultimately help jog the conscience of those rare philanthropists who occasionally step up.
Theresa May of the ‘Go Home’ vans was finally ousted only to be replaced by an even more incompetent Tory PM, who is equally happy to ignore the almighty mess she created with the Windrush scandal. Most victims remain uncompensated for the ruthless persecution they suffered due to May’s targeted bigotry. Despite the protests Black Lives still don’t matter enough to this Tory Government who have stepped up ‘Stop and Search’ during the Covid crisis. Nigel Farage and his Britain trashing Brexiteers are still relentlessly stoking hatred and blaming migrants; when their precious crash out departure prevails, who will they blame for the massive deprivation that will follow? In a Byline Times Article, “Fact-Free Farage UK Asylum Applications Fall,” Sam Bright reports that, “New Government figures show the Brexit Party Leader’s asylum ‘invasion’ for what it is: a myth. The number of people applying for asylum in the UK has fallen in 2020 – exposing the fallacious warnings of an ‘invasion’ stoked by Nigel Farage and the right-wing press.”
Bright shows, “New figures released by the Home Office today show that, in the first half of 2020, asylum applications in the UK stood at 13,305, compared to 19,118 in the second half of 2019 – a fall of 31%. This drop in asylum applications was particularly stark in quarter two of this year – the period from April to June – with only 4,850 applications recorded, 37% fewer than during the same period last year. This stands in stark contrast to the assertions of the political right, which has insisted that the UK is experiencing an uncommon, unacceptable influx of asylum seekers. Indeed, this is such a priority for the Home Office that it yesterday released a video taking aim at ‘activist lawyers’ allegedly blocking the deportation of these individuals. Farage’s lockdown project has been to direct his newly unassigned political fury at vulnerable individuals crossing the Channel on dinghies.”
Sadly despite never being elected Farage still knows how to push the right political buttons to forward his bigoted agenda. Bright reports that, “In response to his outrage campaign – amplified by the tabloid media – Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Home Secretary Priti Patel have buckled to pressure, deploying the Government’s military and rhetorical might to scare off the asylum seekers. While the Prime Minister was labelling the actions of the asylum seekers ‘stupid and dangerous and criminal’, he was scoping out whether the Navy could be used to repel their small vessels, and even let loose an RAF aircraft to patrol the strait between the UK and France. Yet, even ignoring statistics from the past few months, the UK welcomes far fewer asylum seekers than its European counterparts. In both 2018 and 2019, Germany received 150,000 asylum applications, while the UK received roughly 40,000. The UK’s combined total over these two years was less than France, Spain, Greece and Italy.”
Bright points out that, “The pet project of Farage, Johnson and Patel will actually make their war against asylum – incidentally, a human right enshrined in the 1951 UN Geneva Convention – more difficult.” He explains how, “Currently, under EU law, the UK has a right in some circumstances to return an asylum seeker to the first EU country they entered. So, if the asylum seeker in question had made the journey from Iran to France and had then crossed the Channel, the UK could attempt to hand responsibility back to Paris. However, after Brexit, the UK’s participation in this agreement – known as the ‘Dublin III Regulation’ – will end, and the EU has given no indication that it will seek to negotiate a new deal with Johnson’s Government.” The French are notoriously stubborn in EU negotiations, so with the UK determined to enforce exclusive fishing rights they might decide to be a lot less cooperative in dealing with the refugees seeking to cross the channel: the dishevelled camps may be moving to Kent!
Bright comments that, “Having paraded the ‘technocrat’ as an enemy of the people, it seems that Brexiters now have no other option than to pursue irrational, fact-free policies devoid of expertise that simultaneously drum up nationalist fervour while making the nation weaker. As Mike Buckley has noted in these pages, the climate of foreign loathing institutionalised by Brexit and the consummation of Johnson is hollowing out British society and the economy. Doctors, nurses, labourers and academics are either leaving the country or have simply chosen not to arrive. The myths of populism – such as the asylum invasion fantasy – are not just slogans. They are now the prevailing beliefs of the Government, and the nation is suffering the predictable, dire consequences.” The new immigration policy after crash out Brexit will be one of “Scavenge, Exploit, Deport” where the UK reduces the burden of offering UK training opportunities to cash in on the brain drain of cheaper professionals from overseas on fixed term visas.
Aside from an almighty mess over immigration that has stoked so much far-right nationalist fear mongering and senseless hatred in the UK what else can we expect in the dystopian nightmare of crash out Brexit? Asking that very question is another Byline Article entitled, “Project Fear Becomes Project Reality Whither Brexit Negotiations Now?” Mike Buckley “looks at the most likely options for the UK as the Brexit transition phase nears an end – and sees a catastrophic ‘no deal’ break as the most likely outcome. Brexit is set to be a disaster. By January, there is likely to be food and fuel shortages, public disorder and price hikes. The Navy may be called on to protect British waters from European fishermen, while troops may be drafted on to the streets to help police retain a semblance of control. This is not the return of Project Fear – it is a leaked Government document which describes likely outcomes this winter in the face of a COVID-19 second peak and the end of the UK’s current trading relationship with the EU.”
Buckley reports that, “Brexit negotiations are, in the words of EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier, going backwards. Barnier is keen to resolve outstanding areas of disagreement on fishing rights and the level playing field, which covers commitments on state aid rules, workers’ rights, food and environmental standards.” He warns that, “Barnier and David Frost, his UK equivalent, operate at cross purposes. Where Barnier seeks to minimise damage, Frost is tasked with playing to the choir of the Conservative, pro-Brexit, European Research Group (ERG) of MPs and the Leave voters who gave Boris Johnson’s party a majority last December. Under Johnson, the UK position has been reduced to merely restating the UK’s intention to ‘take back control’ of sovereignty, laws and fishing waters, in wilful disregard of the fact that trade deals entail compromise.” The British conveniently forget that the largest market for the seafood we catch is France who will no longer be a free market for the UK to trade with tariff free!
Buckley points out that, “The prioritisation of sovereignty presumably polls well with voters the Conservatives need to keep, but it is also the only possible distraction from the real-world costs of Brexit which are now increasingly hard to hide. Trade Barriers and Hard Borders As the leaked Government document makes clear, the approaching end of the transition period brings with it consequences that the Conservatives have long tried to deny. There will be a border in the Irish Sea between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, destabilising the peace process and increasing costs for business. The building of huge lorry parks in Kent and Hull is an admission that trade will be disrupted, deal or no deal, despite years of claims that all would carry on as before. The City of London faces barriers to trade that will cost it and the Treasury billions. Terrorists and organised criminals will benefit from Brexit as security ties are lost. The list could go on.” You do not have to love the EU and all it stands for, to pragmatically reject Brexit.
Buckley also warns that, “Even if a Brexit deal is concluded, it would make little difference to trade barriers. Checks would still have to be conducted on every piece of freight, taking time and causing chaos. The prioritisation of rhetoric over planning has also left the UK unable to negotiate worthwhile future trade deals. Three years have been wasted failing to agree what Britain wants from its negotiations, argues the Institute for Government – risking trade and regulatory policy being dictated by better-prepared partners. The public is increasingly aware of this, with 60% now believing that Brexit is likely to lead to higher food costs.” Having this self-harm coincide with the massive unemployment that will result from the Covid crisis will create the perfect storm as more and more people experience the Tory Government designed destitution program that is Universal Credit. Living costs are steadily increasing, with the benefit paid delayed by over a month and inadequate to live on despite being raised, people will starve and start rioting.
Buckley says, “The Conservatives provide mixed messages on the Government’s commitment to an EU trade deal. Some in the party apparently want to open the ‘real’ negotiations with the EU next year, confident that Leave voters will have been satisfied by exulting ‘no deal’ headlines on 1 January. If this is the plan, they may find the same response that some hard Brexiters have received on asking for last year’s Withdrawal Agreement to be reopened: it’s a little late. The EU already has the main prize it wanted – Single Market integrity and an enforceable border backed by a legally-binding international treaty. It is unlikely to come back for round two, after a ‘no deal’ rupture – at least until there is a change of government in the UK. Deal or No Deal? If the caricature is true and Dominic Cummings is the power behind the throne in Downing Street, then a ‘no deal’ may be the outcome.” Cummings is a principal instigator of this insanity: we must get him out. Cummings is the grenade; oust him and you pull the pin!
I cannot believe how many people are prepared to accept that this unelected cretin has the right to dictate our future. Buckley says that, “The Financial Times reported that the Prime Minister’s chief advisor wants a ‘minimal, light-touch regime for state aid for British business after Brexit’ – anathema to the EU. It quotes a Government insider who believes that Cummings’ view is ‘once you’ve left, you should just do whatever you want’. There is no chance of the EU concluding an agreement on these terms. ‘The EU is a creature of law,’ argues George Peretz QC, an expert in EU law at Monckton Chambers in London. ‘Having a body issuing reports, saying ‘this was a bit naughty, don’t do it again’ in the place of a proper independent regulator with teeth is just not going to cut the mustard.’ Some believe that the UK will fudge the issue by concluding a deal that allows the Government room to diverge from EU norms on rights, standards and state aid – only to never make use of its new freedom.” The UK is no match for the EU 27!
Buckley explains that, “This ‘Brexit in name only’ would allow Johnson to claim that sovereignty has been returned while retaining a level of market access. But the chance of the Conservatives’ ERG accepting such an outcome is minimal, while the EU is unlikely to want to sign a deal that would require it to monitor UK behaviour for years to come. It is far more likely that the UK is heading towards what has been the logical conclusion of Brexit since day one: a clean break.” I have never considered for an instant that this band of Tory crooks wanted anything more than full on crash out Brexit, but Buckley warns, “With that choice comes consequences the public may not be willing to pay. Voters are increasingly sceptical about the benefits of Brexit and new trade deals, and are concerned about deals that would reduce environmental and animal welfare standards.” The compromises to our NHS will signify the end of free access to care and an insurance based system that makes healthcare another exclusive privilege of the wealthy elite.
Buckley reports on how, “A clear majority of all voters, including 2019 Labour-Conservative defectors, believe that COVID-19 has shown that there is a need for more international cooperation rather than less.” Why do so many totally accept the ‘borrowed votes’ scam that purports to explain a fake Tory ‘landslide victory’ in the Covert 2019 Rigged Election? Severe hardship and deprivation will bring people to their senses to demand a full Investigation. He says, “If Brexit does lead to higher food prices, lower standards of food and animal welfare, fewer jobs and a slower economic recovery than our former EU partners, it could quickly become a millstone for the Government. Johnson and co. have justified Brexit on the basis that it is ‘the will of the people’, but few voted for complete severance. A BBC/ComRes poll in July 2016 found that more than 60% of Leave voters expected to stay in the Single Market, for instance. No one voted for chaos, higher prices and shortages.” That is why we must get the Tories out ASAP! DO NOT MOVE ON!