The President has boldly set as his main aim uniting a fractured and divided USA. He wisely accepts this will not be easy. Too many of his followers seem to think if they just insist more strongly on theirĀ views of the world and claim the electoral right to enforce themĀ the country will come together behind a new left wing Democrat settlement. If they reinforce this with tough action against any who disagree, through court cases against certain types ofĀ speech and protests, and censorship on media and social media, they will impose a more disciplined conformity on an unruly country.
They need to understand some things about how normally healthy democracies like the USAĀ work. They provide in the constitution for strong opposition to government or Presidential plans. There should always be a good democratic alternative government on offer, that has an alternative view of the more contentious or questionable policies pursued by the incumbents. A great democracy does not have 95% support for what the majority government does. It debates choices and options and exposes the chosen course of government to criticisms. Exercising majority governing power is a constant exercise in persuasion, listening, seeking improvement, compromising with the Opposition when they have a good point. A good Opposition know when to disagree and when to campaign hard against a policy or law. A good government gives ground when it isĀ wrong but does not compromise its main aims, pledges and beliefs.
A successful democracy asĀ the USA usuallyĀ is has top level agreementĀ between all the democratic parties over two crucial things – the system by which governments makeĀ and sell their decisions to elected bodies and the wider public, andĀ the results of free and fair elections. There has to be a belief by the main elected officials that an election produced a fair and accurate result. In oppositionĀ partiesĀ need to believe they have sensible opportunity to make their case and to seek change peacefully. When the Commons has a government withĀ a decent majority the Opposition accepts that governmentĀ has a mandate to get through the main business from its Manifesto and from its statements of aim and principle. A good Opposition also makes it difficult every time government stumbles, wanders too far from its promises or principles, or offers incompetence instead of good administration. In the Commons an Opposition can only win a vote by working with governing party MPs who also think on that occasionĀ the government is wrong, which can happen quite often. Opposition is there to question, to ask for second thoughts, to offer alternatives but not to stop government governing. Only the electorate can do that when they come in an election to judge the result, short of a major governing party split and collapse.
The tragedy of the USA in the last few weeks is the breakdown in trust or belief inĀ the system by the main Opposition party. A large number of Trump voters think the results in a handful of key swing states were fiddled, but their side has been unable to persuade the courts or the Senate of that allegation. As those institutionsĀ hold the reserve powers to order a re run or insist on a different electoral College result President Biden can fairly claim he won and passed all the checks and balances inĀ the system. It leaves Trump voters arguing that the whole system is corrupt and out to get their man. This impression is not going to be stilled or calmed by the Democrat decision to impeach President Trump after he has left office. It will build the sense of grievance amongst many Trump supporters. If President Biden is to heal his country he cannot avoid tackling and talking aboutĀ the issues around voting systems that perturb Trump supporters.
The Republican leaders have an important role to play. They need to show that they can now offer strong but sensible opposition to this new President. Going through his back history to try and find a way to impeach him as has becomeĀ all too common in US politics would not be helpful. Setting out a positive alternative vision to the left’s, and making it difficult in a 50/50 Senate to get through anything the Conservative half of the country disagrees with makes perfect sense. The Senate and House elections produced no landslide or big majority for a Democrat solution to US problems. Republican legislators need to show Trump voters they can use the power of opposition afforded to them to resist hated Democrat policies for their followers. For his part the President needs to show which parts of the Republican offer he thinks has some merit if he wants to build bridges. He needs to see just how divisive to Trump followersĀ the Democrat position is onĀ gun control, relaxation of abortion, bans on carbon fuels and completely open borders to name but four highly charged US issues .
January 22, 2021
Good morning
Firstly I wish to congratulate President Biden on his election despite the controversy surrounding it.
I would also like to thank outgoing President Trump for his service to his country. Whatever one may think of him and his style of leadership one cannot deny that he was a true patriot much like those who strove for independence.
I find it rather odd that the Democrats wish to unite the nation after effectively keeping it divided during President Trump’s tenure. As I always say, show me a Socialist and I will show you a hypocrite.
Good luck America, by all accounts you are going to need it.
January 22, 2021
show me a Socialist and I will show you a hypocrite.
An authoritarian, hypocrite indoctrinated and irrefutable, one who believes anyone who disagrees is uncaring scum.
January 22, 2021
Mark B
Well said Mark.
January 22, 2021
Reply to Mark B,
“show me a Socialist and I will show you a hypocrite”.
So very very true. There are also many champagne socialists.
January 22, 2021
+1 – a hypocrite or just stupid fool. Alas even the Tory party is stuffed with them.
January 23, 2021
MarkB, PotUS Biden does not wish to unite the people of the USA. One of his first acts is to announce he will codify Federal abortion law. Abortion is a major political dividing line in the USA, with the Democrats strongly supporting abortion. Some Democrats even demand abortion up to birth – “partial birth abortion” (ie infanticide). Biden could not have selected a more divisive issue if he tried.
January 22, 2021
There is surely a good chance Mr. Biden will fail in his task for it is an immense one and we need to be ready for that.
Meanwhile, I see Victoria “**** the EU” Nuland is back as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs.
January 22, 2021
Formula57, Of course PotUS Joe Biden will fail at uniting the people of the USA. It is an impossible task because people are as diverse in their political opinions as in everything else. And quite rightly so. Only natural authoritarians could think otherwise. Which is what Biden is.
January 22, 2021
Biden in his inaugural address made a distinction between the people being united and them retaining diverse political opinions and seemed to expect both.
January 23, 2021
So, “united” in what sense then?
January 22, 2021
The US election was a farce that would disgrace a banana republic.
I donāt know who won. Given the widespread breakdown of checks and controls it is impossible for anyone to know.
Democracy certainly lost.
The best that Biden could do now to improve trust in the system would be root and branch reform of the electoral system before 2024.
January 22, 2021
Surely if that happened Biden & the Democrats would try to rig the system even more. More postal voting, younger voting and various other gerrymandering. This is what history suggests would happen. After all Biden even wants to rig Government Pandemic financial help towards businesses owned by BAME, women and latinos by his own admission (to attempt to buy votes with taxpayers money one assumes).
January 22, 2021
You don’t know much else, either, do you?
So that tells us nothing.
January 22, 2021
Indeed. Due to the Chinese flu they had to have postal voting so used a Canadian based, but Chinese owned counting system called Dominian. I have no idea why this hasn’t been investigated thoroughly but assume it’s the same problem with the left wing MSM here. They report their own views/ as news.
January 22, 2021
GilesB, Yes there are too many witnesses with nothing to gain and everything to lose who confirm vote fraud. From Republican monitors forced out of the count, to trucking in extra vote boxes (which “just happened” to be mostly for Joe Biden), to dead people voting, it is a banana state mess. And then there is the rampant censorship by the media, including “social” media. It’s absolutely blatant – they’re not even pretending any more.
January 22, 2021
Er … Biden won fair and square. Same way Trump did four years ago. I didn’t hear Donald crying fraud back then, even though he actually had a minority of the overall vote. Indeed he himself declared ‘I will only declare it a fraud if I lose’ before the elction. If the Republicans could have wrangled a win by any legal means, they would have – as we know from the ‘hanging chads’ fiasco. Yet both Republican Judges and the Republican Supreme court could find no substance to his outlandish claims. and I say this as someone who generally leans right. I must say I am astonished anybody actually believes these claims of fraud. It should an shocking lack of trust in the democratic system.
January 23, 2021
Ignoramus, So you’re saying President Trump won “fair and square” four years ago, yet you complain he had “a minority of the overall vote”. Didn’t you know the USA uses the Electoral College system? So Trump won fair and square – fullstop. However PotUS Biden’s win is mired in controversy with considerable evidence of vote fraud, hidden by the MSM and the social media tech giants. “Judges” have not – as you claim – found “no substance” in the vote fraud claims – because the courts have so far refused to consider the evidence. Roll on Biden’s impeachment.
January 22, 2021
Yesterday Boris Johnson said there was nothing wrong with being WOKE.
He might as well have said there is nothing wrong with being Communist.
Of course since March we have been in Lockdown, a policy invented in January by Xi Jinping and cruelly imposed on the people of Wuhan.
I will never be voting Conservative again
January 22, 2021
Boris Johnson says we should expect to remain in lockdown until the number of cases drop dramatically. Matt Hancock counters by suggesting that the government should offer Ā£500 for anyone testing positive in order to encourage more tests (anyone want to pass me an old swab?) … It certainly exposes the fact that the government has no wish to get the economy back on its feet. It is also turning a blind eye to the collateral damage it is doing to those forced to remain in lockdown and it refuses to release evidence it possesses as to the extent of that damage compared to the benefit from remaining in lockdown.
Meanwhile decisions on when or even whether our freedoms should be returned to us are not being taken by parliament aftr proper scrutiny of the facts. They are being made in closed chambers.
Democracy is not working here in the UK. They donāt deserve our vote.
January 22, 2021
Sorry to reiterate the point. But democracy is working in the U.K, as Brexit showed full well (I say this as someone who voted Remain). And if you don’t like it, perhaps you might like to live in China or Russia and see what it is really like to live in an authoritarian state. I feel you really don’t appreciate how lucky you are to live in this great democratic country.
January 23, 2021
Ignoramus, Maybe you should cite your comments where you refuted or opposed continuity Remain’s attempts to overthrow our democratic win then?
January 22, 2021
I missed Boris saying it is all right to be woke! I agree it is a bit like agreeing to communism!
However, he is standing in a puddle of wokeness. Heās attacked daily by these woke characters – perhaps heās trying to stay in his job.
On the other hand heās also agreed in speeches with all the green crap and the great Reset issues….
Like you, Stephen, Iām afraid the Conservatives have shown themselves up badly on too many issues. Reform UK from now on.
January 23, 2021
I had to look āwokeā up; its an adjective, originating in America meaning āalert to injustice in society, especially racism. “we need to stay angry, and stay woke”.
I think it is fair to say that conservatives are woke. It is for Boris to speak to people who donāt believe Conservatives are āwokeā to demonstrate what his party have done in the past decade and further back in time to demonstrate their alertness rather than let anti-newspapers spread misinformation. Interesting quote in the NYT from David Brooks āThese days we think of wokeness as a left-wing phenomenon. But it is an iron law of politics that every mental habit conservatives fault in liberals is one they also practice themselves.ā
January 22, 2021
SP,
Watch Kristi Neome’s, Governor of South Dakota, state address. A true inspiration what common sense conservatism is about and how she has put that in action in her state. It also highlights just how bad the Fake Tory party is in this country. A person and party like that in the U.K. would romp home. She even talks about nuclear families needing fathers! Johnson would cringe.
January 22, 2021
He does not have a clue does he? Iām done too.
January 22, 2021
“Woke” is simply a trendy word for knowing your history and the law, and for being polite on that basis.
What is wrong with that?
January 22, 2021
You haven’t even been polite on here today!
January 23, 2021
Well, that’s alright then, Martin, I’m woke too! Hahaha . . .
January 22, 2021
The Prime Minister is making the tired old mistake of reaching out to a base that will never vote for him in the hope of garnering their favour.
As an example in his own constituency he is voted in by aspirational Conservatives, the other side despise him and bus in from miles around to campaign against him. He needs to keep the vote he has not seek extra votes. Trans (as per Biden’s executive decree) and green issues will not shore up his vote in Uxbridge and South Ruislip, race yes but anyone who was going to vote for him already did.
So pander to the North with cash but pander to the Conservatives with conservative (yes small c) policies to protect that majority please Mr Redwood and party. I lent you my vote to see us leave the EU. The principle has been repaid and we are now square so you need to give me a reason to invest again.
January 23, 2021
Boris did reach out to another base and he did persuade them to vote for him. The left presume they know who voted for him and in their mind ātheyāre all simply racist; simple minded; uneducated and to nick an American phrase dĆ©plorablesā. They are expecting him to deliver and if he doesnāt he will be a massive disappointment to them. I agree he doesnāt only have to keep his new voters on board.
January 22, 2021
74 million voted for Trump, more than last time I think he may have had a point.
Biden has already reversed many policies especially regarding fossil fuels and immigration, I don’t think that the average Joe is going to be happy.
January 22, 2021
Expensive intermittent energy is a disaster and does nothing significant for climate anyway.
January 22, 2021
Did you spot that Joe Biden’s inauguration video is so unpopular it has been marked “unlisted” on the White House’s YouTube account – it received around 4 times more ‘dislikes’ than ‘likes’, yet he was supposed to have received more votes than Obama.
January 23, 2021
“Supposed” being the operative word.
January 22, 2021
Ian Wragg
Not too sure about Joe not being happy.
I think they will be incandescent when as the results of his decisions on fossil fuels result in sky high increased in energy costs that will impact on ALL sectors of American life.
They have only got to look at Australia and the UK to see the real cost of all this renewable all electric way of life emanating out of the Church of Saving the World and all its congregations.
January 22, 2021
Ian,
it is clear from Biden’s speech he is going to “wage war” on them. With help of big tech and MSM. It sounds a bit like the Chinese Communist Party re-educating the Muslims in their slave camps
Understand what is exactly meant by white supremacists- which the majority would be against in its normal definition. This is interpreted very differently. A bit like here a couple of years ago anyone opposed to mass immigration is a racist. It is not about equality for all at all, it is promoting identity politics anyone who disagrees is a white supremacist.
Rise up America your democracy is under threat. For those who were always bemused or baffled by the right under the US constitution to bear arms his veiled threatening speech and the immediate future will show you. There was nothing unifying in his speech. Those poor white dumb deplorables who disagree were able to realise it straight away!
January 22, 2021
Sorry correction 133 million US voters registered, not 143 million.
January 22, 2021
It is a great shame the Biden won, his policies and his actions so far have all been very bad for the USA, the EU and the World. Without COVID and the large postal vote Biden would surely not have won. His Climate Alarmist stance will be a disaster for the economy and the environment (if he is actually serious about it). It will be in the UK too if Boris is remotely serious too.
January 22, 2021
Obviously you have no way of knowing. A broken record springs to mind.
January 22, 2021
Correct, without eighty million plus voting for Biden, Trump would have won.
You’re getting that hang of this election lark, aren’t you?
January 22, 2021
Itās a pity remainders didnāt get the idea of a referendum
January 23, 2021
Oh, but we do.
It’s a pity that some Leavers don’t get the idea of a free society, where people can campaign for anything lawful, such as a closer association with the European Union.
A referendum is not an authority in perpetuity by any means.
January 23, 2021
Martin, You can campaign for what you like. Yet you joined in the attempt to overthrow a fair vote that has just taken place, which you lost, and which had not even been implemented. For democracy to work there must be “losers’ consent”. You didn’t show any.
It was the same in the USA – the anti-Trump fanatics would not accept his win. There were five months of far left riots in the USA (which you endorsed), but only one pro-Trump riot. But according to the MSM (and you) only the Capitol riot was bad. You were warned there would be consequences to this attitude, and there will be.
January 22, 2021
His party could and should oust him. He is a never ending horror show. You cannot believe anything he says, cannot plan anything he states because you know the next he will change. A gutless jelly fish with no plan or direction just drifting along.
Johnson’s servitude agreement unraveling by the day. Not in EU orbit, directly under its control!
January 22, 2021
An excellent summation. Trump was divisive and has left a fractured Republican Party. His disgraceful attempts, without evidence, to bully people to overturn the legitimate vote fomented the mob that we saw on Capitol Hill will forever be his legacy, unfortunately many of his supporters including the supremacists/cranks etc will continue to blame the media rather than accept what a thoroughly unpleasant person he was.
Biden is a consummate politician and will realise to get his policies through the two houses he has to rein in his left and acknowledge that he also represents the 70 million, mostly decent, people who voted for Trump.
If a moderate Republican emerges to unify the party and move on from Trump the future for them and the US is positive. Unfortunately that requires the egomaniac, a classic example of power corrupting, to show some statesmanship and humility. I am not holding my breath.
January 22, 2021
Trump was decisive. But I guess you think it had nothing to do with 4 years of Democrats denying that he was a legitimate president, pursuing a Russian collusion hoax, actively encouraging rioting and violence from Antifa and BLM during the year. Then calling for unity while simultaneously trying to impeach Trump for a second time for purely political reasons having no sound legal basis for removing him from office.
January 23, 2021
Surely encouraging people to overturn the result of an election is a bit of a reason.
January 23, 2021
Mike W, That’s the point. Remains here, and anti-Trump agitators in the USA, would not accept the voters’ decisions. Now the boot is on the other foot, the far left are calling foul for exactly the same things they have been doing for four years. Hypocrisy or what? And Biden neither controlled the extremists, nor distanced himself from them.
January 22, 2021
You shamelessly repeat the big lie “without evidence”. You could have said “untested allegations” or even “inflammatory allegations” and I would not take issue. But to say that the evidence doesn’t exist when it is patently obviously all over the internet is disingenuous at best. It may well be mistaken or even fabricated evidence but until it is examined in court we can have no certainty either way.
January 23, 2021
If there was any actual evidence, Trump would have published it.
January 22, 2021
Successor ? No please read it is predecessor
January 22, 2021
‘Biden is the consummate politician’
And there lies the problem. Not a man of the people but of politics. Trump saw this and wanted to change things. He was thwarted by the big global interests from the start. At least he never had troops coming home in body bags and achieved more in the middle east than the useless Obama. He was clumsy and should never had gone on the moronic Twitter which was really his biggest problem due to ego. Did you see the inauguration? All of them self congratulating themselves, hugging and kissing, no social distancing whilst the plebs outside were all separated. The war mongers were all there and very pleased with themselves. There will be no reconciliation. The swamp is full again.
January 22, 2021
Nigel,
What utter uninformed garbage. Do you work for CNN! Perhaps you listened to Hilary Clinton. 74,000,000 citizens legitimately voted for him. Not all poor white dumb deplorables as the Democrats would have you believe.
January 22, 2021
“His disgraceful attempts, without evidence, to bully people to overturn the legitimate vote”
There was considerable evidence but no wanted to examine it.
January 23, 2021
If there was ANY evidence, donāt you think, in this age of social media, the evidence would have been published? What has stopped anyone from publishing the evidence? Will Trump show the evidence at his impeachment trial?
January 23, 2021
They did want to examine it, but that which was claimed to exist could not actually be produced, quite simply.
January 22, 2021
For democracy to flourish, acceptance of democratic decisions and self-restraint in office, also respect for institutions must be adhered to. The latter is now an existential problem in the US, not just because of the Democrats’ willingness to use organs of state to pursue narrow political ends but also because there has been no legitimate means to subject the electoral fraud allegations to independent scrutiny.
January 22, 2021
The important thing we have to teach our kids is that you don’t have to be a bully to do well in life (some people think you do – HERESY – and if you do have success being a bully it will ALWAYS be accompanied by being MISERABLE inside).
The Quakers, who built so many great companies in this country, were certainly not bullies.
Cyrus the Great (revered by the ancient Greeks, Romans, Persians, Jews and Christians), the Emperor of the 1st great Persian Empire, was certainly no bully either.
The Quakers in business and Cyrus the Great weren’t pushovers. But they knew when to use their power – and to use it BENVOLENTLY (this requires wisdom, courage and hard work) – a BENEVOLENCE that leads to GREAT JOY in life!
(Then on the other side of the coin from the bullies, are the wets, who think power is necessarily evil – rubbish – HERESY).
January 23, 2021
Ed M, I think I’ll stick to Lord Acton’s view that all power tends to corrupt, rather than your views, thank you.
January 23, 2021
@Nick,
It is not true that all power corrupts. That’s a kind of anarchic heresy (similar to people who say that money and sex are necessarily corrupt as well). Sure, if often does (look at the terrible wars of the 20th century), but that doesn’t mean it necessarily does.
Sex, money and power can ALL be BLESSED things. But I agree, they can also be curses too. But they are not evil in themselves but, rather, the FREE CHOICES we make towards them.
Again, look at Cyrus The Great. He was NOT corrupted by power. Both Jews and Christians agree on this. As well as the ancient Greeks, Romans, Persians and more. But sure we have to be very, very careful about power too – it can so often be deadly.
January 22, 2021
Sir John,
“There has to be a belief by the main elected officials that an election produced a fair and accurate result”
But even after Jen Psaki, White House Press Secretary posted a briefing on YouTube on the Biden inauguration which attracted 10k dislikes, YouTube came to the rescue and kindly reduced them to 3.1k to protect their beloved new President.
With Big Tech like this, in total control of what we are fed, how can we believe anything? The US Election has highlighted so much of how the general public of so many countries are being manipulated for the benefit of the few and to the detriment of the rest. It will, I fear, not end well. True democracy is essential. It would be good to have total faith in the declared results, but too many questions remain.
January 22, 2021
Agreed, here is an opportunity for our BBC to rediscover it’s Reithian principals and fill this void with fact as is known and a balance of opinion about it. I am not holding my breath. Without government resetting the BBC corporate mission plan and ensuring the right people are there to execute it, I doubt it will happen, however it desperately needs to happen.
January 22, 2021
invented. Stupid auto spell.
January 22, 2021
Agreed. George Carlin described it accurately in his āAmerican Dreamā. A large proportion of the electorate now have absolutely no faith in the electoral system.
Their concerns about the actual voting irregularities were raised but not addressed in detail as officials simply decreed that there was no case to answer.
It is not just Big Tech that is the issue. Vested interests are at loggerheads with huge swathes of ordinary voters. They would like to go back to the old system where big donors could buy influence. Many in the Republican Party always hated Trump anyway. They are glad to see the back of him. However, Trump may take much of the Republican vote with him. It may be the end of the GOP and the two party system.
Violence may not end either. The hypocrisy surrounding Antifa and BLM is noted and resented.
January 22, 2021
You were delighted with it, when it did what Banks and Wigmore wanted it to do for them, weren’t you?
January 23, 2021
Martin, Real votes are really important. When did you accept that we should Leave?
January 22, 2021
Indeed. They need to be regulated. They cannot be the sole arbitrator on who or what can be said.
January 22, 2021
The White House site has to unlist the inauguration of the 46th President – the comments were amazing. The unlike numbers exploding.
This President was finished before he began.
January 22, 2021
How true, Pom.
January 22, 2021
Government when elected has a responsibility to govern for all the people as far as is possible and not to act in a purely partisan way in pursuit of its cherished declared thinking.
The Republican opposition in the USA has a primary need to heal itself, necessitating the emergence of a persuasive charismatic leader who can bring its factions together.
The Democrats need to realise that Trump was not all bad. While what he communicated was at times unintelligable or only appealed to the basest of instincts, what he achieved in the Middle East and tried to achieve with North Korea was commendable.
Time for Biden to show he is a statesman, not just a political retread.
January 22, 2021
Good post. Unfortunately the questionable things in Trumps past demonstrated his personality weaknesses and ego and they surfaced during his presidency. Leopards and spots spring to mind.
January 22, 2021
+1
January 22, 2021
Trump is clearly an egomaniac and most certainly not my idea of an ideal President – far from it. But I agreed with some of his policies and there is certainly an attempt to rubbish these policies by simply attacking Trump for his personal attributes. I also believe that Trump would have won, if not for the huge postal vote (100M) which was prompted by the pandemic. So I guess he was unlucky from that point of view.
My main concern is that people were so focused on Donald trump that there was very little examination of what Biden’s policies and beliefs actually were – let alone Harris’s. Given that I think that Joe Biden is only 50% likely to finish his first term – and that Kamala Harris will automatically take over – this should be of some concern. I wonder how long Joe Biden’s ‘Honeymoon’ period with the US media will last?
January 22, 2021
Biden’s plan to bring both sides together seems to be to immediately repeal any presidential decree Trump made, which seems like an odd way of going about it. Trump had some notable successes: a great economy with record low unemployment pre-Covid, Mid-East peace accords, a descalation in North Korea, and Project Warp Speed which developed Coronavirus vaccines. Personally he seemed to be an unpleasant character but so does Biden with similar allegations against him. I think Biden will find that some problems he hoped would disappear with Trump – BLM/XR riots, conflict at the border – will continue entirely as before.
January 23, 2021
Roy Grainger, An excellent comment, with food for thought. Though whether a politician’s character is regarded as “unpleasant”, or otherwise, seems to be down to propaganda, rather than reality.
January 22, 2021
It seems to me that democracy is not that difficult, most people know the difference between one biscuit and two.
Just lately though, it seems that the left does not want democracy to work. it seems that some states, indeed almost all states have spent many years quietly undermining those very democratic institutions with the express aim of destruction.
Very difficult for a conservative to outdo that, since conservatives believe in preservation rather than destruction.
What many of us see here is a democracy that is operating in cahoots with the official opposition, a completely different manifesto from the published one.
We are seeing the development of a globalist economy designed to cut out one of the most important aspects of humanity, people’s need to feel a sense of control over their lives, and a sense that their own tribe will make it through the current crisis (whatever that may be), they need to feel as if they can do something.
Take that away and people and families begin to flounder…
Taking back control did not mean exchanging one set of dictators for another, we do not want your macro-policies, one size fits all was one of the main problems of the EU. Taking back control meant, actually leaving the EU and abandoning EU style government, that with the opposition removed before it can do any damage to “the project”. And returning the sort of personal sovereignty that less connected human beings used to have.
Same for the USA, that apparently wants to jettison its constitution so that the globalist communitarians (a particularly nasty brand of leftism), can insinuate “expert” government, this is where any major decision is made by the government and the individual is irrelevant.
2016, the year that included a new conservative US president and just before that a heartfelt cry to get us out of the EU. It was the year that democracy received its fatal blow…. The state lost, their plan had to be put on hold, and now a convenient virus has been found to make the western nations look exactly like China.
Conservatives seem to have no idea just how destructive the left will be in order to get its way, even after four years of increasingly angry rebellion at the blancmange type character of government to fight the left, we suddenly see a new attitude, the conservatives seem to have thrown in the towel in order to try to save themselves from leftist ordure.
Like Denis Praeger’s guilty liberals in the US, our conservatives always seem to indulge the least humane proposal, as long as the element of control and the expectation of revenue continues, they will excuse anything.
January 23, 2021
Stephen J, Well said.
January 22, 2021
The reason for a break down in trust in the US system was the baseless assertion by Donald Trump that the system was fraudulent . Those people who for a variety of ignoble reasons supported or failed to condemn his behaviour are implicated .
The “Big Lie” has often been used by extremists of right and left in the past , none of whom have ever shown the slightest interest in “,listening ” having grabbed power. On Brexit, which is a cousin to Trumpism ,I would agree to this extent .
The smug and refusal by the Liberal and left if this country to allow the claims or English ethnic Nationalism any place in a moderate settlement at all ,was dangerous and wrong. I wish there had been more listening .
Those who currently ignore and politically subjugate o0ver half the country now may wish to bear this in mind .
January 23, 2021
Newmania, There are a lot of “little” people in America who have highlighted the failings in the USA voting system. It is not just Trump. There was also interference by the MSM and the tech giants in favour of Biden. From what I have seen of your comments, you have spent your time on here attempting to de-legitimise our democratic Leave win, and supporting continuity Remain in overthrowing our votes. If you think there are no consequences to such behaviour, you are much mistaken.
January 22, 2021
What ever is said cannot solely work the wonders it sets out to do. Clearly, with many, Trump was unpopular because he was misunderstood . His comments were clumsy to those who did not understand his fighting talk but he found solutions which others could not change into peaceful reorganisation . Perhaps Biden can . It is difficult dealing with thousands of families who have lost their loved ones . It is difficult trying to make USA great again when many don’t want it to become great again , they just want a living and that doesn’t include greatness.
January 22, 2021
What you have outlined Sir John, is absolutely right but unfortunately the American people have elected a tired old man, exhausted by the campaign who will become a puppet with his strings in the hands of his VP, Kamala Harris.
To devote a major part of his speech from Capitol Hill on uniting the country and then stage a TV poppy show signing 16 Executive orders, reversing current policies, is not only stupid in the extreme but also illustrates a serious lack of judgement. To tell 73 million who did not vote for you to get stuffed is not clever.
January 22, 2021
I wish President Biden well. He clearly won a closely-fought election and the American people have also rewarded his stance on protecting the environment with Democratic control of the Senate. Americans can now look forward to enjoying their wonderful widerness areas and national parks without fear that they will be defiled by coal mines, oil extraction, pipelines, logging etc
During his first moments in the Oval Office on Wednesday, President Biden returned the United States to the Paris climate accord and directed federal agencies to begin unraveling Donald Trumpās environmental policies ā the first step in what Biden has vowed will be a sustained effort to safeguard the nationās air and water, protect endangered species and combat climate change at home and abroad.
One cannot avoid comparing Biden’s immediate commitment to environmental protection with those of George Eustace (Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) whose first act once we left the EU was to re-authorise the use of the highly dangerous neonicotinoid pesticides on sugar beet fields in East Anglia, which are still banned by the EU. Not to protect the beet from any pests – but to increase yields. So much for Johnsons’ “unequivocal” commitment to protect our environment post Brexit.
January 22, 2021
No, those pesticides are NOT banned by the EU, and France has just been granted permission to use them for the next 3 years. Other EU countries are also using them, as in the UK, to destroy a severe aphid infestation.
January 22, 2021
Your last paragraph is completely inaccurate.
I suggest that you research the pest that has been causing tremendous problems with sugar beet recently. You should also note that the EU has provided for these chemicals to be used in specific situations.
Perhaps you might also take note that the pesticide is being applied as a coating for the seed of a plant which does not produce a flower and therefore will not harm any pollinating insects.
January 23, 2021
Not so. The pest of sugar beet for which Eutace has approved – aphids – are not currently causing a serious problem, this being the winter. The NFU wishes to use this dangerous pesticide as a preventive – just in case – which is totally unjustifiable. In any case only 5% of the applied neonicotinoids does the job, the rest is washed off the seeds into the soil and hence our watercourses.
I suggest that rather than criticise opponents of pesticide use here in the UK you read Rachel Carson’s 1968 book “Silent Spring” which may inform and educate you about the dangers of dumping powerful chemicals on our countryside just in case we get a pest problem. Most of the things predicted in Rachel’s book have come true.
January 23, 2021
The use of neonicotinoids is definately banned in the EU – however the ban has been subjected to extreme lobbying by agribusiness interests and the EU has now allowed “emergency use” in certain, specified circumstances. The Wildlife Trusts regard this as a retrospective step which will damage insect populations, particularly bees.
January 22, 2021
Not for publishing – re the site upgrade.
Sir John, the update does in deed make the site better laid out and cleaner although I am not a fan of the multi coloured that is frozen at the top from an appearance perspective, from a usability angle it means that links are always available so possibly making it less garish (with better contrast for the writing for accessibility) would improve it. Another issue with the header is that on entry to the site it takes up the whole screen until (this) user scrolls down at which point it resizes. A casual visitor might not scroll down thinking that is the screen’s whole content.
Also from a usability perspective, only being able to access the daily blogs by going back up to the top is inconvenient, the link should also be at the bottom to the posting on the front page.
The text in the postings does not have sufficient contrast and is therefore inaccessible.
Having your tweets visible is a good touch, is the map of site visitors which the tweets have replaced available elsewhere on the site?
I am using Edge on Windows 10 and Samsung Browser on Android.
January 22, 2021
Always thought it totally barmy to hand democracy over to what are basically entertainers.
( Something like the āsoap operasā on USA TV in the 50s).
Donāt give mere providers power over your life!
Who would have thought this would not happen?
Social media started flexing its bigoted, greedy, anti-democratic little muscles years ago.
But all politicians beware….these revolutions grind awful small.
January 22, 2021
The American people got the President they think they voted for, sadly for a couple of elections the choice has not seemed to have been good.
Amazed that the voting system allows voting over one month duration, that you can register and vote on the same day, and that postal votes are counted up to a week after the polls close.
Not a good advert for democracy or postal voting.
January 22, 2021
Sir John
The BBC repeatedly said that that Trumps allegations of fraud were without evidence. I have seen bucketloads of evidence but not on any MSM source other than snippets on Fox News. It suggests that the BBC could not be bothered to look or, perhaps, have an agenda. With almost half the US electorate regarding the new President as there on false pretences and with a program that is anathema to them the next four years do not look to be happy ones.
Roger
January 22, 2021
Trump said, in October 2016, that the ‘election is being rigged, the whole thing is one big fix, one big ugly lie’ – this was when he thought he might be losing. Once he had won, he said the election was ‘beautiful’. If he had doubts about the honesty of the whole process, why did he not institute an investigation, perhaps by the FBI, once he was President?
January 23, 2021
This is a tactic which will be used more frequently by the BBC and others slipped in to undermine individuals and views they oppose. Many things are said and claimed the whole time by all manner of people and on all manner of subjects but we don’t here the phrase ‘without evidence’ every time. It is intended to be subversive.
January 22, 2021
Not only is Democrat and Republican opinion widely divided (well illustrated by Lord Ashcroft’s recent analysis) but, it seems to me, the parties themselves are split internally. President Biden was a late nomination to head off the left wing of the Democratic party. That left wing has not gone away. The Republican split between Trump loyalists and traditional Republicans is clear. The potential for damaging splits is obvious.
January 22, 2021
President Trump has trashed his legacy with his absurd denial of the election result and appalling whipping up of a mob in Washington. Pence and the cabinet should have chucked him out under Amendment 25. But the democrats would do better to have a motion of censure than an impeachment which will just make him a martyr.
Letās nevertheless recognise Trumpās main achievements in office: no wars and a dialling down of US military presence where it wasnāt doing any good; a strong economic recovery until Covid wrecked it – not only good GDP growth but employment and real incomes across all segments up; excellent peace deals in the Middle East; the crushing of ISIS; the containment of Iran and its sponsored terrorism; a calming of the situation with North Korea; waking the world up to the threat of China.
No doubt Biden will cut a calmer and more emollient figure (though many other democrats wonāt). But letās hope his actual substance matches up to Trumpās achievements.
January 22, 2021
In the context of uniting the USA, President Biden needs to consider the distinct possibility that not everyone who voted for him supports his policies, some of them probably voted just to remove Donald Trump.
Neither Democrats nor Republicans can look back at how they behaved in the last two elections with any sense of satisfaction. Concocting conspiracy theories about foreign collusion or cheating in elections is nothing to be proud of. They need to bury the hatchet and work for the interests of the majority, if not all of the people.
I wish them well.
January 22, 2021
I love the new website design!
Please end the scandal in this country of postal votes. At Peterborough (my hometown) it was scandalous. Unless someone has a doctor’s certificate or serves abroad in the armed services, they must not be allowed to vote by post. Donald Trump had a good case. Nigel Farage at Peterborough had a good case. Tower Hamlets in London, according to Conservative Home today, is ruined by election fraud and intimidation and postal voting.
Please do something!
January 22, 2021
Spot on Mike ! +1
January 23, 2021
+1
January 22, 2021
Biden needs to stop interfering in the affairs of other nations like the UK as Obama tried to do and concentrate on the USA. He has very deep wounds to heal and preventing Trump from standing for election again will stir up nothing but hate. The media both here and the world never had a good word to say about Trump even when there were great things that he achieved and hopefully we won’t have to look at Sopel’s gratuitous grin anymore when reporting for the Biased Broadcasting Corp.
January 22, 2021
Biden has wasted no time in returning America to the World Economic Forum agenda, which bodes badly for America and for us. We know that Boris hankers for an amnesty for the illegal immigrants he is bringing in, and if America does this first it will give him impetus to follow. Obviously this will remove the threadbare remains of credibility from the assertion that illegals will be returned.
January 22, 2021
It should be clear to even the most distant observer that the US democratic system is badly broken.
Ignore by all means the truth of external involvement in the US elections, but please do not ask us to condone the methods used to install a Marxist candidate in top office.
Why do commentators keep saying the courts were not persuaded of the evidence – The courts never got to review the evidence…!
As for what is to follow – The MSM will be fawning over the new president, gushing his praise, with no alternative view. No doubt they will be suggesting he should get some award, as happened with Obama shortly after becoming president for doing nothing.
The hypocrisy will be astounding, demonstrating the real power of the media.
The world will not be a safer place, nor a better place. We will see Christians and Republicans targeted by the media and others.
In short, there will be more chaos, more chance of wars and certainly more chance of the world entering a new dark age.
January 22, 2021
The pigeons will come home to roost.
When you think back over the last four years from day one the media and political aanalysts were voicing the impeachment word and the majority of the media and press were never giving solid support always seeking to down play the man and his decisions. The business cartels were afraid of what he could potentially achieve. Even in the UK the BBC were always negative about him and no matter what the programme they were in the vanguard to have a pop.
He has changed American politics forever and it would be foolish for the new president to ignore the obvious.
There is a very good insight to the new presidents political career in the Not Many People Know That Blog which does place a different direction of thought about his perceived track record.
Biden will ignore Trump at his peril he is a business man and knows how to play the long game and if he can (he will) keep his 74 million followers fired up with hopes and dreams he can orchestrate a constructive opposition that will ensure that the Republican politicians are always at the top of their game for the next four years. That in its self will ensure a strong opposition and hard fought lively debate in both houses of American government.
January 22, 2021
‘The President has boldly set as his main aim uniting a fractured and divided USA’.
The PM hasnāt boldly set as his main aim uniting a fractured and divided UK’.
January 22, 2021
Perhaps we should expect the US to begin to break apart like the former Soviet Union, like the EU is currently doing at the moment, and plan accordingly.
It would be interesting to read what you think a post US would look like.
January 22, 2021
Sadly the headline phrase “belief in the system” is indeed what President Biden/Democrats/MSM/bigtech etc is commanding/engineering. There is sufficient evidence to show that what might be hoped for, i.e. ‘a system to believe in’, is lacking . The fourth sentence in President Biden’s inauguration speech (“This is democracy’s day.”) is part of “belief in the system” not ‘a system to believe in’.
The purpose of government is to secure the rights of individuals from whom governments derive their (just) powers. Tragically this is lost in the U.S.A. at the moment and rapidly deteriorating, though, glancing around, it is hard to criticise from the U.K., the tragedy is widespread.
January 22, 2021
Oh, Boris thinks he’s serious about the electrification of homes, cars, commerce, and industry. Or what’s left of them, after his pointless lockdowns. It’s just that he is neither practical, nor scientific, nor principled. Hence while commanding 40GW of nominal Wind capacity (actually 16GW avg), he’s failed to command the building of the 16GW backups. After all, if he did he would give the game away – twice the capital cost, plus dependence on imported electricity and fossil fuels.
January 22, 2021
Irrespective of one’s personal view of President Trump, the liberal US media was united and determined to get him out of office from the day he won the 2016 election. He might have spent four years doing his best to help them in that objective, but nevertheless, even a media-savvy Republican President would not have been given a fair hearing over those four years.
As for the election, the press immediately laughed at his arguments over fraud, saying the Republicans offered no proof, yet, sworn affidavits as to events at the election counts were dismissed without due consideration.
I have no idea whether there was widespread fraud within counts controlled by the Democratics, but there was surely enough doubt to require a proper investigation, but this never took place. Had they been investigated properly and proved to be false, Biden’s task of governing for all of the people would have been made immeasurably easier.
January 22, 2021
I quote Vice President Harris about BLM riots/protests last June:
āTheyāre not going to stop, and everyone, beware. Because they are not going to stopā¦ and they should notā?
Hardly a uniting message.
January 22, 2021
If Biden pardons Trump then he stands a chance of uniting the country.
January 22, 2021
Pardon Trump for what exactly?
January 23, 2021
@confucius
BBC News – Trump impeachment: Senate trial delayed until next month
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-55761044
The suggestion is that the chances of a conviction are nil anyway.
January 22, 2021
Biden is doing nothing to unite his country. Just more hatred. He should drop his unjust impeachment of Trump otherwise the 70 million-plus Trump supporters will hate him. He has already stirred up division in womenās sport by allowing trans people to compete against them. He has slighted the British by removing Churchill from the Oval office. This is all on day one.
If the election was above board then why not allow a proper audit of the votes to put the issue to bed? I just hope that GB tightens its voting system to ensure voter ID is demanded like they do in Northern Ireland. If people lose faith in the voting system then democracy will fail. The May elections should go ahead spread over three days. If itās safe enough to go to the supermarket then itās safe enough to have an election.
January 22, 2021
Boris says there is nothing wrong with being WOKE. He has proved it by doing more to destroy Capitalism than any other WOKE person.
How long is the Tory Party going to tolerate him?
January 23, 2021
Up until the polls head due south, and not before.
January 22, 2021
Sir John, an additional crucial element of democracy is the role of the media. As long as they continue largely to reflect only one side of the issues, it will be impossible to achieve your admirable objectives, either in the USA or here. In this country , a great deal could be achieved by putting the BBC on notice that if they continue to ignore their obligation to present balanced, unbiased news, they will have their licence to tax people removed. It is distressing to see your government’s lack of appetite to sort out this crucial issue, which is alienating many natural voters for your party.
January 22, 2021
Sir John,
It would be lovely to have a strong democracy, however such a thing no longer exists. It appears that politicians cling to power and ignore the country (with exceptions). The March through the Institutions is complete including the media, military and judiciary. When conspiracy theories unfold, do they just become conspiracies or agendas? Sadly any dissent will be dealt with harshly and people will be cancelled and proclaimed “deniers”. Politicians including Conservatives are calling for clamp downs on alternative opinion social media and re-education. Watchlists are being built with calls for dismissals, including Mr Gove et al. When all politicians are heading for the same agenda (The Great Rest/Build Back Better), it’s extremely worrying.
January 22, 2021
Dear Mr. Redwood,
It would help good government if politicians, especially senior ones, answered in a straightforward manner, questions on policy that are put to them so that the electorate might know what is happening.
I have little time for most journalists and presenters who seem more intent on getting their ‘gotcha’ moment rather than getting to the truth with penetrating questions and well-crafted follow-ups. However, politicians have brought evading any kind of truthful response to a new level. Witness the latest method – the ‘I wouldn’t rule it out’ manoeuvre. A news hack asks ‘will the lockdown last until Spring now Minister’? ‘Well, I wouldn’t rule it out’ comes back the reply! Nobody is any the wiser on a question of profound importance.
A strong democracy requires that the government be bold, assertive and committed. It would help if it explained what it is doing and why along the way. Our politicians go about their work nervously, frightened of being held to account. Fearful of losing their jobs they opt to say as little as possible. The opposition merely offers criticism. It has even less to say about its policies, terrified that the voters might find out what it is planning. Every few years the roles are reversed. One questions if the whole edifice purports to serve the people or just itself.
Trust and belief in the system? I’m afraid the people who are meant to uphold its integrity have done a great deal to destroy it.
January 22, 2021
Whether Biden won the election fairly we shall never know, but he is clearly NOT a friend of the UK (to put it mildly) and, despite his rhetoric, has no intention of trying to be a unifying president. Whatever he does – whether domestically or internationally – is likely to be negative, but the only saving grace is that he is unlikely to achieve very much at all. He will be another Carter: a failure in almost every respect. We need to distance ourselves from the US and ensure that we are not reliant on them in any way.
January 22, 2021
I see under the new website Sir John, you have dropped the claim that you are ‘speaking for England’. If I have missed it I apologise.
January 23, 2021
I am not bothered by it since it leaves the field free for those that truly wish to.
January 23, 2021
Sir John is following the Government policies of not speaking for England !!
January 22, 2021
A very good balanced narrative concerning the US elections. I don’t know enough about the USA or the countries Politics to comment further about the US, it’s not a country I have visited or ever want to.
Closer to home I do believe in proportional representation and hope in future this system is adopted here.
January 22, 2021
Everything JR says here is correct, but fortunately the US Constitution was written in an age of very robust and contentious politics, so it is designed to handle conflict. Trump was never able to enforce his views on the government system, hence his frustrated 3am tweets, and Biden won’t have much better luck. At best, Biden will be able to take the US back to the centre-left consensus under Obama, and most people found that possible to live with.
The real crises will be in foreign policy, which has little to do with US domestic politics.
January 22, 2021
Just like Obama’s, Biden’s Nobel Peace Prize presentation will already be planned, to be shared, of course, with Harris.
Naturally, they won’t have to do anything to earn it, Obama proved that just not being a Republican is enough.
January 23, 2021
Tucker Carlson’s nightly commentaries / opinion pieces over the last few days ( Fox News ) which I’ve only discovered recently, echoes & expands on some of these comments and opinions I’m seeing and hearing here and elsewhere. Good and fair speaker I’ve found.