The Prime Minister’s tasks

 

As the PMĀ  takes up arms against a sea of troubles it is a good idea to determine which are the battles to fight and where his powers as PM can make the most difference. His five aims set out clearly at the beginning of the year were a good start.

The PM isĀ  with all Conservative MPs the custodian of the 2019 Manifesto. The central theme was to get Brexit done. The millions of Brexit voters who backed us did not just mean to complete our tortured exit, Ā but to follow up to secure some Brexit wins. There is still much to do to deliver.

The EU has behaved badly to Northern Ireland, distorting the meaning of the Protocol to enforce laws on NI against its will, to impede GB Ā to NI trade and to refuse to respect the UK internal market and sovereignty of our country clearly set out in the Agreement. Worse still, the EU has undermined Ā Stormont and the Good Friday agreement. There can be no compromise on these central constitutional matters. Unionists expect the UK to stand up for their interests as the EU does for the Republic. The PMĀ  should be friendly but firm with the EU and hasten the passage of our NI legislation. We are quite entitled to legislate an answer all the time the EU refuses to understand why current arrangements subvert the peace agreement.

The PM’s first priority he told us is to stop illegal migration by small boats across the Channel. We now have the freedoms to legislate and to instruct our courts and border authority accordingly. The legislation should be clear and targeted on the specific issue of illegal arrivals and can include a clause telling the courts that the Act overrides any other laws and rules that courts might like to apply, including any European Court of Human Rights intervention. Ā We held out against votes for prisoners without leaving the ECHR and can exempt ourselves from any ECHR attempt to impose illegal travellers on us.

His second priority must be toĀ  get growth back into the economy. His wish to get borrowing down in five years time is best advanced by getting growth, as growth brings higher revenues and less benefit spending. His wish to get inflation down will be assisted by more investment in additional supply of things like energy and food which have fuelled the inflation.

His third priority is to cut NHS waiting lists and waiting times. That requires better management of the substantial extra money and additional people committed to the NHS in the last three years.

140 Comments

  1. Mark B
    February 18, 2023

    Good morning.

    You could have said many of these things back in 2010. Thirteen years later immigration, both legal and illegal is worse. The NHS, despite even more money being thrown at it, is worse. Our situation with regards to the EU and its law that are still on our Statute Book, is worse. ie We have not ALL left !! A sort of Hokey-Cokey, one foot in and one foot semi-out ! The National Debt is worse. The economy is worse. And so on.

    You are facing re-election in early 2025. What do you think your chances will be given the above ?

    I feel sorry for you, Sir John, I really do. There ain’t many like you in politics today – Conservatives that is.

    1. Lifelogic
      February 18, 2023

      Agreed. Sunakā€™s priorities should be scrap net zero, stop and deter all migration other than legal, high skilled & approved in advance migration, ditch the ECHR, halve the size of the appallingly inefficient state sector, cut and simplify taxes, scrap HS2, scrap soft loans for worthless degrees (circa 75% of them are), get real, fair and unrigged competition in energy, housing, education, healthcare, bankingā€¦ relax planning, have a bonfire of red tape, stop talking drivel about green energy, go for easy hire and fire, kill all the woke lunacy on diversity etc. just hire the best personā€¦

      1. glen cullen
        February 18, 2023

        +1

      2. a-tracy
        February 18, 2023

        I was reading an article this week and thought of you LL. A barber employed a female barber to work in his university barber shop, she repeatedly took Mondays off work, causing him to have to cancel her appointments on a regular basis. Heā€™d had a hard time during covid lockdown because students werenā€™t at Uni, he took a job doing something else himself. Finally he snapped and let her go. She took him to a tribunal and won and claimed her Mondays off were because of period problems, even though sheā€™d not been medically treated for a condition she claimed she had, nor had she been referred about quite a serious problem she claimed she had. She still won, even though his shop is closed down. Ā£3k. He hadnā€™t followed the official disciplinary meeting procedure of giving her two days notice of her disciplinary meeting, writing to her when he gave her verbal warnings, not logging a written warning properly. Previously just letting things go with a ā€˜chatā€™ about the problems it was causing the business.
        What happens is you give two days notice of the disciplinary hearing, the wise ones that have done it before go off sick extending it so you canā€™t sort it out and find a replacement worker.

        1. Lynn Atkinson
          February 18, 2023

          Horrific. Women are becoming unemployable in the private sector. Their poor attendance in the NHS has brought that institution to its knees. Advantages to some mean disadvantages to others.

          But the lawmakers will learn nothing.

          Reminds me of Trafford Park, once it employed more people per sq ft than anywhere else on earth. The Manchester City Council taxed it until I saw the last employee leave the derelict site. Then they made it a ā€˜tax free zoneā€™ šŸ¤¦šŸ»and someone built a shopping mall.

          Out with production, in with consumption.

          1. a-tracy
            February 19, 2023

            Lynn, these women disappoint me with their antics, if they canā€™t work full time they should work part-time and give the rest of us a break. I have had male skivers in the workplace too. Iā€™ve been saying for months the NHS needs more diversity by employing more men, there are too many women who wonā€™t or canā€™t work the shifts, the name nurse needs changing to ward medic, paramedics attract male ā€˜nursesā€™ to those roles but I truly feel the name nurse puts men off even thinking about it as a career but with shift allowances, weekend, Night Shift allowances etc. And a willingness to work 40 hours per week to 45 hours per week regularly would give them an excellent income.

            I used to run a warehouse in Manchester City you donā€™t have to tell me about the Council. In our day you could apply to the Council for a development grant but only if you could afford to cover the funding in the first instance! We applied for one and had to beg, borrow and well not quite steal, to make improvements to a warehouse without ever knowing if the Council would award the grant or not, they were a nightmare to work with and businesses had no say in who was elected. They allowed the council tenants who voted them in to run up an average of nine months rates arrears whilst the businesses all paid for it.

        2. Lifelogic
          February 19, 2023

          +1 the latest proposal is that employees can sue employers if they have merely overheard something sexist or racist that offends then even from customers in say a pub, restaurant, on a train or bus or similar. How is the employer expected to control the free speech of customers?

          1. a-tracy
            February 19, 2023

            We are all treading on egg shells with this legislation. What happened to personal responsibility to tell someone they are offending you and walking away, or go straight to a Manager tell them someone has offended you and ask them to resolve it and remove you from the situation. Why is it always just about money and making the lawyers and courts more money. This next generation are going to really regret their current actions and demands.

      3. Ian B
        February 18, 2023

        @Lifelogic +1
        That could well be what is needed. But this is NOT a Conservative Government about to step up and do what was asked of them they have a different agenda, destroy the Conservative Party, the UK and move on to the jobs we have lined up elsewhere

      4. David Cooper
        February 18, 2023

        Absolutely correct, to which I would only add a further priority of cracking down on road blockers and high profile vandals, notably by reminding the police that they are not simply social workers in bovver boots. However, this is a list of priorities that the party of Thatcher and Churchill would set in hand forthwith. It would perhaps be circumspect to let the point rest there.

        1. a-tracy
          February 19, 2023

          Did you read about the Judge who let them off with a well done I support you. That judge should be disciplined for this and the case recalled. We are being controlled by the minority.

      5. NickB
        February 19, 2023

        I would also add to scrap the stupidity of 15 minute ghettoes – sorry – cities, that the woke left and eco loons are coming out with. I used to think Brits were pretty level-headed and sensible, and perhaps most are, but our political leaders seem totally corrupt and self-serving. We need to wipe the whole establishment clean and start again. Revolution anyone?

    2. Nottingham Lad Himself
      February 18, 2023

      The “sea of troubles” is for the most part engendered by John’s absolutist brexit, which he and the rest of the ERG have extorted from the Government.

      1. Dave Andrews
        February 18, 2023

        An absolutist Brexit meant leaving on WTO terms, no NIP or money paid. The Remainer Parliament begged for a bad EU deal to punish the people of Britain for voting to leave. The ERG was just a minority pressure group easily outvoted in Parliament.

        1. Enough Already
          February 18, 2023

          Well said. 100 upticks for you.

        2. turboterrier
          February 18, 2023

          Dave Andrew’s
          + many

        3. Bill Smith
          February 19, 2023

          Dave Andrews

          I agree tha would have ended up being even more epensive for Britain

      2. a-tracy
        February 18, 2023

        Have the ERG got anything they asked for? Tell us what NLH?

        The UK would have had the complete and utter withdrawal, not held in for five years paying up as usual, with a further three years down payments, stitching us up to not get on and sign trade agreements elsewhere and find replacement products to buy.

        The laws would have diverged by now, kept on our statute books whilst they were reviewed to suit the UK, not all off or none out.

        The VAT 5% would have been taken off energy bills.

        Corporation Tax would have been reduced or held not increased 25% to fit in with Sunakā€™s G7 buddies.

        It is Badenhochā€™s job now to tell us what trade deals we now have, what bargains are available, how our traders can buy wiser. But more importantly to tell SMEs how to trade to these new Countries easily.

      3. Mickey Taking
        February 18, 2023

        extorted? – if only they could!

    3. Peter
      February 18, 2023

      ā€˜Carry on Regardlessā€™ is more like it with Sunak standing in for Sid James.

      The words and promises are irrelevant and the Prime Minister has no credibility anyway.

      So we are left with a globalist agenda until his removal. Northern Ireland will be sold out, illegal arrivals will continue to be ignored and the NHS will struggle under the burden of its massive bureaucracy.

      1. Ian B
        February 18, 2023

        @Peter +1 I wonder if he would have been elected to represent the Conservatives if the Party, the Membership had been permitted to vote for a leader, instead of being excluded

        1. Peter
          February 18, 2023

          Ian B,
          The Conservatives are allegedly looking to limit the power of the membership and the local associations so they don’t get another Liz Truss.

          Back to the Cameron days of parachuting in Liberal Democrat style candidates.

    4. graham1946
      February 18, 2023

      I had a belly laugh when Sir John said the PM wants to get borrowing down in five years time. They’ve been in for thirteen years and have trebled the debt, so why believe them now? They don’t have as clue. I expect in the next five years it will be doubled again as they show no signs of shrinking the state and get more repressive by the day. Fifteen minute cities on the blocks next – we are headed for totalitarianism. All for our ‘own good’ of course as they aye following WEF nonsense. Klaus Schwab seems to be our PM.

      1. Ian B
        February 18, 2023

        @graham1946 +1 there is nothing to believe left in UK polatics

      2. a-tracy
        February 18, 2023

        Trebled the debt due to worldwide covid and demands that we locked down too or Boris would have blood and death on his hands.

        Test and Trace free for all
        Ventillators
        Too much PPE

        All demanded by the people via the Media, go back and read some of the articles from March 2020. Macron demanding Boris closed down to match him. The Germans and French stopping our PPE imports and keeping them for themselves and others. Problems with PPE stock control and missing stock in NHS Provision Departments. Ventillator cry outs by the NHS. The UK was following World Wide instructions (other than blocking flights in with tonnes of new arrivals coming in to our hospitals from abroad)!

        1. graham1946
          February 19, 2023

          The debt was more than doubled after ‘austerity’ by Osborne long before the pandemic. Take off your rose tinted glasses and see what has happened in the first ten Tory years if you want to excuse them because of Covid.

          1. a-tracy
            February 19, 2023

            Wasnā€™t that because of the 2008 crash graham, the gift that kept giving from no bust Brown? I donā€™t have rose tinted glasses on about the Tories, they do plenty I disagree with frequently on here. Osborneā€™s austerity was too much for too long and he was a puppet to his masters.

            In my opinion Blair/Brown followed Clintonā€™s free for all on unsecured federally backed mortgages by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac style into the UK using Browns favourite Banks/BS Northern Rock and RBS, you canā€™t pass ā€˜allā€™ the resultant crash of the economy just onto to the Tories surely? The packaged up bad debts from the socialist controllers screwed us all up. It was savers, new pensioners that had pathetic low returns on their private pension savings, and endowment policies that were supposed to clear long held mortgages that paid for that screw up, with ultra low mortgage rates the likes not seen for so long before, averages before that were 7%.

    5. Ian B
      February 18, 2023

      @Mark B +1
      It would have been oh so different if we had left the EU and had a Parliament and Government taking up their responsibility to manage the UK

  2. turboterrier
    February 18, 2023

    Which type of person is he really?
    One that makes things happen.
    One that wants things to happen
    One that wonders what the hell happened.
    We have too many years of talk, talk talk and not enough action on completion of what was expected.
    It is hard when you are a leader by default to get your followers and those who have to implement the policies, to command total allegiance to you personal mandate. Too many do not give total commitment to the agenda’s set as their support is not total.

    1. Ian wragg
      February 18, 2023

      And none of these will be achieved because he has no backbone. Like many in government he supports immigration and has a chancellor who is working against the country.
      You have 22 months left and 13 years passed just to leave us in one unholy mess.

    2. glen cullen
      February 18, 2023

      I wouldnā€™t speculate for the type of Tory legacy after 13 years ā€¦but rather will they have any legacy at all

    3. Mickey Taking
      February 18, 2023

      One that hopes things might happen?

  3. DOM
    February 18, 2023

    Betrayal on the cards not just of Northern Ireland but of the United Kingdom

    1. Denis Cooper
      February 18, 2023

      Betrayal in Northern Ireland is, and it seems will continue to be, betrayal of those who are loyal to the UK.

      Those who are not loyal to the UK are looking forward to the UK government continuing with its betrayal.

    2. Cuibono
      February 18, 2023

      +many
      I reckon.
      And I think ( from local political shenanigans) that this trapping of us in small zones is just going to happen whatever we say, and they have done away with ā€œdemocracyā€ to such an extent that we can no longer vote our way out of it ( or out of anything actually).

      1. Christine
        February 18, 2023

        Iā€™ve said it before that the Government has allowed unpopular protests to pave the way for the publicā€™s agreement for draconian measures against activists to be introduced. This is all a ruse to stop the inevitable protests that will occur when people are locked in their 15-minute cities. We have already seen the huge damage that has occurred to businesses in Oxford. Soon to follow are other cities. A number of other UK councils have put forward plans to develop 15-minute cities, including Ipswich, Sheffield, Bristol, and Canterbury while planning reforms in Scotland approved in January also propose 20-minute neighbourhoods to tackle the climate crisis and reach net-zero emissions. This plan is being rolled out worldwide. John will probably label me a conspiracy theorist but as George Orwell wrote – ā€œThe Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.ā€

    3. Alan Paul Joyce
      February 18, 2023

      Dear Mr. Redwood,

      It is hard to believe that the Prime Minister is also Minister for the Union and is supposed to ensure that all of government is acting on behalf of the entire United Kingdom: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.

      It looks like he cannot wait to sell Northern Ireland down the river as he scuttles around Brussels cobbling together his grubby little deal all the while keeping his fingers crossed that he can pull the ECJ wool over the eyes of the DUP when he goes to Belfast. If he can get it past the DUP, will he care about the ERG?

      It is no wonder that the EU’s Chief Negotiator Mr. Sefkovic praised Mr Sunak as the ā€œmost constructive UK leader in nine years.ā€ I take that to mean he is the man most likely to give the EU what they want.

      If Unionists expect the UK government led by the Minister for the Union to stand up for their interests, they are likely to be sorely disappointed.

    4. glen cullen
      February 18, 2023

      Is it still Betrayal if every political party in parliament wants Sunak to make a deal with the EU to keep NI within their court
      Itā€™s the highest betrayal of all ā€¦.its called treason

    5. Mickey Taking
      February 18, 2023

      ‘there is work to be done’ meaning I’ve ordered a white flag to be sent out, but am waiting for it.

  4. Shirley M
    February 18, 2023

    What about the thousands of failed asylum seekers that have yet to be deported? They are not allowed to work, so I assume we provide them with comfortable lifestyle too, or maybe they survive by criminal activities. Start deporting in earnest. Get the Home Office processing new arrivals in weeks, rather than years. Other countries manage it. Anyone without valid ID cannot be guaranteed as checked, so just deport them or imprison them until they can be deported. That alone would reduce the workload and the number of immigrants to be maintained at taxpayers expense.

    We MUST stop unchecked, and sometimes, unidentified, immigrants from roaming our towns and cities, for the safety of our legal citizens. It is no surprise that deported criminals return to the UK time after time. The Home Office is so lax they may as well send out invitations to all known foreign criminals.

    1. MPC
      February 18, 2023

      The government wants them here. They are a reserve army of unemployed waiting to be deployed/allowed to work in low paid jobs with work permits, just as Labour did when it was in power. The government doesnā€™t care about the threat to our safety, and particularly the safety of women and girls.

    2. MFD
      February 18, 2023

      Process in weeks Shirley! It does not take more than 20 Seconds to know they are not to be allowed into Britain as they have disposed of all ID, no ID no entry finito!

  5. Donna
    February 18, 2023

    Sir John: Sunak’s handlers won’t let him do any of that.

    Which is why the Not-a-Conservative-and-Unionist-Party is facing a cataclysmic electoral defeat in about 18 months time, as a large number of your colleagues are acknowledging by jumping the ship before it goes down.

    Why should the Establishment care about that? They have the other two legs of the Westminster Uni Party to do their dirty work in betraying the wishes of a majority of the British people – as Starmer demonstrated by scuttling off to Ukraine to assure Zelensky that the UK’s policy won’t change when he becomes PM.

    1. agricola
      February 18, 2023

      Donna,
      UK politicians and their scribes have failed democracy and the UK population. While there are the odd good ones there are not enough. From extensive World travel over many years and many years overseas residence I can assure you that our fifth/sixth largest economy in the World has been managed by the above to be the number one dump in the developed world . Nothing that government touches works. My advice to anyone in the UK, if you have any real talent to offer, is to take up Australias offer. If you remain in the UK you will get screwed, and the result will be a metaphorical miss carriage.

  6. BOF
    February 18, 2023

    We should not abate our breath as we await the latest stitch up on NIP, and neither I expect will Unionists in NI. All it will take is a commitment to THIS country and the courage to ditch the ECHR and bin the Protocol.

    Stop illegal migration? Well I see Serco is having a big ‘event’ to sign up landlords for houses for these illegals, so that aim will be wide of the mark.

    As for growth? With this level of taxation and no intention to deviate from EU rules, not a chance.

    I think you are spitting into the wind, Sir John.

    1. Cuibono
      February 18, 2023

      I saw a recent vid of Grant Schapps and Bill Gates gleefully proclaiming their intention of turning the entire world NZ. Schapps was almost dancing a little jig.
      Zealotry is a terrifying spectacle.

      1. David Cooper
        February 18, 2023

        What would make a self proclaimed philanthropist morph into a misanthropist, indeed a near megalomanic, without appearing to realise that this had happened? Are there not lessons to be learned from the many examples of multi-billionaires such as Warren Buffett who simply quietly continued to exercise their natural skills and talent, and indirectly improved ordinary people’s quality of life that way?
        For clarity, that was not a reference to Mr Shapps. His ability to morph from the Anti-Transport Secretary into the Dodgy Business Secretary and then the Energy Insecurity Secretary is telling in its own right, but similarly detrimental.

      2. BOF
        February 18, 2023

        Cuibono.
        Not just Schapps, but the PM and Sir Kier. Gates certainly does get around, as does his super generous funding……….

        1. Cuibono
          February 18, 2023

          +++
          Yup!
          All in it together!

    2. Christine
      February 18, 2023

      We are heading for a huge catastrophe as the number of houses for rent reduces. We can already see it in London where rents have risen sharply and rented housing stocks have reduced. All this has been caused by our governmentā€™s constant war on private landlords. It is soon to get much worse as properties that donā€™t achieve an EPC energy rating of C or above will not be allowed to be rented out. It isnā€™t cost-effective to improve old housing stock so landlords will sell up. This government would rather see people sleeping on the streets than change their net zero policies. The constant importation of illegal immigrants, who are put at the front of the housing queue, with SERCO hovering up thousands of rented properties exacerbating the problem, is a disgrace.

  7. Javelin
    February 18, 2023

    The number one goal of any Government is to make us easier to sack incompetent staff.

  8. Mick
    February 18, 2023

    Why as this Northern Ireland rubbish taken so long, surely the easiest thing would have been if the U.K. was exporting to Ireland then ship to the Dublin sea port with the essential checks, and if we were exporting to Northern Ireland to its sea port without checks, whatā€™s so bloody complicated about that

    1. a-tracy
      February 18, 2023

      I agree Mick, checks could be done on the boat journey, random spot checks in the ports, Paperwork trails are all digital. The slow speed is just ridiculous. Northern Ireland is in the UK, we change the UK law to say no movement to Southern Ireland without requisite paperwork and travel agreement, the end. If you get caught doing it a prison sentence – end of.

  9. Brian Tomkinson
    February 18, 2023

    Talk is cheap and government ministers are all talk and no action. Trust in this government, the Conservative Party and Parliament is at an all time low. The sovereign people of the UK are being badly let down.
    I see Bill Gates has been over to offer his guidance gushingly accepted like star struck schoolboys by Barclay and Shapps.

    1. Ian B
      February 18, 2023

      @Brian Tomkinson +1 the refusal to do what we ask them and pay them to do is still increasing – they still need the unelected unacccountable in the EU to push them around

  10. Denis Cooper
    February 18, 2023

    The DUP have their seven tests but when a proposal emerges I will start with just one simple test – will the UK be expected to operate a system of export controls for goods crossing the land border into the Irish Republic?

    Because if there is no way to exclude unsuitable goods from the trickle going across the border into the EU Single Market then all goods production in Northern Ireland will still have to be governed by swathes of EU rules, with dynamic alignment of those rules, without anybody in the province or indeed even elsewhere in the UK having any say, and with supervision by the EU Commission and with the EU court as the ultimate arbiter.

    1. Anselm
      February 18, 2023

      When we left the EEC the problem started. The EU does not want externals like us importing and exporting into their private area (aka Single market). So the Northern Ireland Protocol was put in jeopardy.
      If we can become a trusted trader with the EU in return for a decent offer, that would solve the problem.

      1. Denis Cooper
        February 18, 2023

        The decent offer would be that suggested on this blog days after the Irish government started to issue threats:

        https://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2021/10/19/the-state-of-the-union-2/#comment-1269044

        Dec 7 2017:

        ā€œMy possible solution was for the UK government to give an undertaking to the EU that it did not intend to allow its territory to become a source of unsuitable goods placed upon the EU Single Market, and so it would introduce a system to licence UK exporters to the EU which would force them to meet EU requirements or suffer penalties under UK law, with the possibility of EU officials being invited to assist in investigations.”

      2. a-tracy
        February 18, 2023

        What ā€˜decent offerā€™?

    2. graham1946
      February 18, 2023

      We should not be complying with any of this border nonsense. If the EU are so worried about sausages and their internal market it is up to them to do the checks on their side of the border. Nowhere else in the world is it done this way and they want us to believe they don’t want to take us back in. I see the NFU now says our borders are wide open to food scandals like the horsemeat one a few years ago as we don’t do any checks. Why is it all one way? To keep us in line for another re-join scam by the looks of it.

      1. a-tracy
        February 18, 2023

        We trust the EU do we fine them when they breach? Is there any evidence of this two way fining?

      2. Christine
        February 18, 2023

        We have two new UK slaughterhouses opening up reserved for foreign imports. This meat will be sold as British but the animals could have been reared in appalling conditions. As checks aren’t being carried out we are open for disease to spread to our own well cared for herds. Our farmers can’t compete when they have to meet strict expensive environmental rules but these imports can bypass them. Yet again our politicians have let us down.

      3. blearyeyed
        February 18, 2023

        Yes we might rejoin at some stage but it won’t be in the same way as before – next time we’ll probably line out in the junior league

        Then consider this – the NI position in the UK was never going to be the same as it was before brexit – for one thing NI is the only part of the UK now that has an absolute right under international law ie. the GFA to join a foreign country and with that also the EU – just as soon as a majority of its people wishes – and I don’t think a vote on that can be too far away now – the whole basis for the GFA was that NI was different.

        In the real world of politics the protocol problem has to be put to bed – Sunak and Co. have many other pressing problems to get on with like the economy and our trade relations with EU and elsewhere also on top of that we now have a war in Europe right on our doorstep.

      4. MFD
        February 18, 2023

        Got it in one Graham, but we must be punished and brought back into the Sty, we are hampering their great plan for the control of peasants

  11. Cuibono
    February 18, 2023

    Havenā€™t we already had illegal immigration imposed by that Refugee Compact?
    I thought that the reason we are obliged to put up with it was because we are trapped in ECHR?
    Has all this money hotels etc been totally unnecessary?
    Most confusing!

    1. Shirley M
      February 18, 2023

      I may be wrong, Cuibono, but there are 2 sets of opposition for the UK government to satisfy. The Migration Compact says illegal immigrants don’t exist, ie. they are all legal asylum seekers even though they come from France, and the ECHR prevents us deporting them anyway. A much simplified explanation but I think I got it right.

  12. Lifelogic
    February 18, 2023

    Sturgeonā€™s downfall showed the strength of the Union that Brussels still seeks to dismantle
    The UK still has a hard road to walk, but it cannot look to the EU to find the correct path ahead

    Charles Moore in the Telegraph today is sensible.

    Alas tying us further into the EU is exactly what Labour/SNP/Libdems/Plaid will do after the election if they can do. Cheered on by very many fake Tory MPs like May, Gove, Handsā€¦ and Sunak(?) who have made such an appalling mess of Brexit, Covid and the UK economy.

  13. Sea_Warrior
    February 18, 2023

    Good to see you on GBN last night. Mark Steyn’s Youtube channel next?

  14. agricola
    February 18, 2023

    The abomination of the NIP is the fault of the remainer UK government who negotiated and agreed it. Yes the EU were of evil intent abetted by the Irish government and Sien Fein, but for the UK government to be so tardy in realising their mistake and not rectifying matters with the clauses the NIP provides, has been criminally lethargic.

    The keys to illegal immigration are the limiting of the ECHR and Legal Aid, the teat at which too many UK lawyers feed to the point of obesity. Are there too many fifth columnists among parliamentarians and scribes to achieve a sensible resolution. Time wasted suggests so.

    Twenty thousand pages of tax law, a socialist taxing Treasury, and a Chancellor with little imagination beyond more tax do not bode well for successful resolution. Covid was a war situation, treat its cost like war debt and run it down over a hundred years. Trying to do it in time for the next election is less a suicide note , more the leap from a skyscraper viewing balcony.

    The NHS requires a radical re-think, a 1947 model is inadequate in 2023. Solutions must be outside politics and fit for the next 50 years.

    1. rose
      February 18, 2023

      The NIP was forced on the PM by the antics of the Traitors’ Parliament which passed illegitimate directives including the Surrender Bill. The NIP was only ever intended to be temporary and within a month of the PM winning a majority he brought the Internal Market Bill to Parliament to override it. Once again Parliament, not HMG, betrayed us. Now HMG has brought forward further legislation to deal with the NIP and it is stuck in the Lords, having cleared the Commons. Blame where blame is due, Parliament, though HMG with could use the Parliament Act.

    2. Clough
      February 19, 2023

      Covid was indeed a war situation, Agricola. It was a war on the public, waged with restrictions on freedom, massive propaganda, and outright lies. Now at last some people are waking up and realising it shouldn’t have been fought.

  15. Anselm
    February 18, 2023

    Ireland is composed of two peoples who hate each other. With some very good historic reasons. Oliver Cromwell and good King Billie have never been forgotten and every year, the sore is picked open and rubbed.
    The EU knows very well how to exploit this. Yugoslavia, Catalunya, Northern Italy, Macedonia…
    We have to save Northern Ireland for the UK and a businessman like Mr Sunak has a good chance of some detailed bargaining.

  16. Glenn Vaughan
    February 18, 2023

    Migrants knocking at the door
    Migrants ringing the bell
    Migrants filling up hotels
    Migrants claiming life’s hell
    Labour is clear
    Open the door and let ’em in!

    1. Cuibono
      February 18, 2023

      +++
      Lovely.
      Says it all!

    2. ASHLEY
      February 18, 2023

      +1

    3. Mickey Taking
      February 18, 2023

      I don’t think Paul McCartney imagined you’d do that to his refrain.

  17. Des
    February 18, 2023

    If Sunak had the slightest intention of tackling any of these problems he would have started quite a while ag, especially as all of them were created by the conservative government. His tasks are determined by the WEF and not the poor dumb sheep that didn’t even get the chance to vote on his appointment.

    1. Denis Cooper
      February 18, 2023

      What has the UK government been doing for the past eighteen months, apart from trying to find ways to avoid confronting the central problem with the protocol that the mandated checks are being applied to the wrong flow of goods?

      At least Neville Chamberlain could claim that his policy of appeasement bought us time to prepare for the war that was bound to come, but what have any of the last three Prime Ministers done in that regard?

      1. Denis Cooper
        February 18, 2023

        And now, according to The Times:

        “Downing Street is considering holding a vote on Tuesday”

        I seem to recall that Boris Johnson pulled a rather similar stunt and look where that has led us.

        Reply I donā€™t expect a vote

  18. Cuibono
    February 18, 2023

    The little boats are now allegedly carrying many people from India ( pretending to be from elsewhere).
    Bit awkward that ( if true) isnā€™t it?

    Maybe this is literally a punishment for Brexit and our doing away with freedom of movement?
    They are taking away our freedom of movement too!

    1. glen cullen
      February 18, 2023

      Very True

  19. Dave Andrews
    February 18, 2023

    We don’t need growth. Growth is just a government aspiration to massage the woeful borrowing figures. What we really need is a cutting out of waste. Impossible with the current cohort of MPs; they just don’t have the wit to implement it.

    1. turboterrier
      February 18, 2023

      Dave Andrew’s
      Sooner or later the fact of what it really is, will come out and be recognised by the people.
      90% of our so called elected politicians are totally unfit for the position they hold. Neither use or ornament.

  20. Jerome
    February 18, 2023

    There are no brexit wins – no cake for anyone only salt and vinegar – who said that before?
    If there are some wins would someone please point them out to me.

    this protocol was negotiated and agreed by several making up the UK team it was agreed and went through parliament – eyes wide open – the DUP dud not even argue – ERG had tte running on things – so how can you now blame the EU or the ROI who were only looking for themselves.

    That the EU has undermined Stormont and the GFA is a scurrilous thing to say in fact it is so wide of the mark it is off the scale. Donaldson and the DUP were against the GFA from the very start – remember No No No! all the way – and for a while they even held the whiphand in Westminister with No No No tk everything however the landscape has changed now and they are still whinging. Well from what I can see they can whinge on because it’s not going to stop progress and progress is what Sunak and the government have in mind – also don’t forget DUP makeup is only a small number in the NI context probably 25 per cent and that number is fast dwindling.

    1. a-tracy
      February 18, 2023

      Jerome, yes there are Brexit wins, read Robert Kimbell on twitter e.g. our goods exports to South Korea surged +79.5% 2019-2022 source ONS. UK fastest rising food and drink export markets in the world in the 12 months to end of November 2022. Source Department and Trade overseas trade statistics Nov 2022 posted Jan 2023.

      Also check out Gully Foyle #UKTrade on twitter.

      Payments to the EU are dropping now. The payments in to the NHS in real money have increased more than the Ā£350m on any bus but what that has shown is that the NHS Managers donā€™t know what to do with it. The % of minorities working in the NHS is massively over targets and not balanced and all the diversity managers in the system still donā€™t sort out grievances, its a mess and it needs sorting out in the next six months, not six years.

      1. hefner
        February 19, 2023

        Could you please give the actual value of the UK exports to South Korea in GBP .
        Was it from Ā£1 to Ā£1.795 or Ā£100 bn to Ā£179.5 bn?
        Thanks in advance.

        1. a-tracy
          February 20, 2023

          I’ve only just seen your question so the scroll down on his twitter is too far to give you the stats. Whilst I was scrolling down there was more good news on his twitter feed.
          All figures on the ONS website. Change in value of UK exports of goods alone 2019 -2022
          India +84.1%
          Switzerland + 72.7%
          Netherlands + 52.9%
          Brazil + 31.2%
          Malaysia + 29.8%

    2. Dave Andrews
      February 18, 2023

      To get the wins, it’s not sufficient to get the UK out of the EU, you also need to get the EU out of parliament and the civil service.
      We get to keep receipts from import duties now, whereas previously they had to be sent to Brussels. One win.

    3. MFD
      February 18, 2023

      Short memory mate, Convenient !

    4. hefner
      February 18, 2023

      What might be inconvenient, MFD, is that the interview of PM Johnson by the BBC Laura Kuenssberg on 30/12/2020 is still easily accessible on bbc.co.uk. It points out the 521-73 vote for the Johnson-Frostā€™s TPA and the courageous abstention of only two CUP MPs, Sir John and Owen Paterson, on the ā€˜oven-ready dealā€™ allowing ā€˜the country to have its cake and eat itā€™ and ā€˜to go our own way but also have free tradeā€™.
      I just wonder who has the shorter memory ā€¦

    5. rose
      February 18, 2023

      The DUP are not the only Unionist party in the Assembly. Together, the Unionists make up the majority and they are all opposed, quite rightly, to the NIP. By the way, have you heard of the principle of dual consent?

      1. rose
        February 18, 2023

        The NIP was only ever intended to be temporary. Its demise is written into it.

      2. blearyeyed
        February 18, 2023

        Rose – it’s not as simple as that because the overall nationalist population in NI has the edge now – and the middie ground party ‘Alliance’ membershop is growing with younger people joining its ranks so it’s difficult to know how things will be by next elections – also total Unionist parties membership is softening – not as it once was. Then consider Sinn Fein is so highly organised like a well oiled machine they will hold their own both North and South of the border and that’s what has Sir J.Donaldson and the DUP so worried

  21. Bloke
    February 18, 2023

    Troubles need solutions to enable remedy.
    Fighting battles increases conflict, causing more troubles following to solve.

    1. a-tracy
      February 18, 2023

      Our government should be concentrating on our battles at home not dallying about using Ukraine and Russia as excuses, there are enough of them to delegate and get things sorted.

  22. George Sheard
    February 18, 2023

    As by previous prime ministers it’s just all talk let’s see action now
    we are one of the top countries in the world so why do struggle to make laws to benefit the country. Why do we still allow unelected politicians in foreign countries (EU) tell us what we should do and them pay them millions of pounds.

  23. Sakara Gold
    February 18, 2023

    Sunak’s “tasks” apparently do not include rebuilding our armed forces. Following Foxy’s absolutely disastrous 2010 SDSR the Army in particular is no longer considered by our NATO allies as even third rate, this has been made even worse by subsequent defence reviews.

    We are – rightly – giving much military aid to the Ukraine, which is bravely fighting an imperialist Russia in the East. Better we support them there, than us having to fight Russia on the beaches here. Sunak must approve SoS Wallace request for Ā£10billion to replace ammunition and other materiel we have donated and look to rebuild the Army into the effective war-fighting machine it once was. Time is short, WW3 may have already begun

    1. R.Grange
      February 19, 2023

      So Ukrainians get themselves killed in increasingly large numbers in order that we won’t get killed – that’s your cynical strategy, is it SG? Has it occurred to you that Russia is mainly interested in defending her own borders against encroachment by a nuclear missile armed military alliance, just as the US feared Soviet missiles on Cuba in 1962? Your tired-looking trope about Russia ‘invading our beaches’ is about as likely as US World War I propaganda aimed at getting America citizens keen on the war, claiming that the Kaiser was planning to invade them via Mexico.

  24. Ian B
    February 18, 2023

    Sir John

    ā€˜get Brexit doneā€™ the problem for the PM, is the same as the problem for successive Conservative Governments ā€“ the refusal to even looking at getting Brexit Done.

    It is obvious to all, the Government as with a big chunk of the HoC, they still see their master as the unelected unaccountable in the EU and not their own Constituents. As such there is a general refusal to take on the Management of the UK ā€“ they want, need to be told how high to jump by a foreign power.

  25. Bryan Harris
    February 18, 2023

    The latest reports suggest the PM is about to stab Brexit in the back, with secret meetings going on to take us closer to the EU.

    Can we trust him on anything? Personally I have given up hope that a Tory government, or indeed any government from the greenliblabcon consolidation, will bring us anything but misery.

    Never before has there been so much distrust of HMG and parliament, for it must be very clear to all who are not blinded by MSM propaganda, that the people of the UK do not matter, because the political establishment demands that a foreign agenda be followed, and we will be happy and compliant.

  26. a-tracy
    February 18, 2023

    Sneaky Snake ā€œAn announcement next week is puzzling to some, given it will be the first anniversary of Russiaā€™s invasion of Ukraine. One school of thought suggests the attention on Ukraine will remove the significance of the expected opposition to any deal from the DUP and the ERG.ā€

  27. Chris S
    February 18, 2023

    To have any chance of holding power after the next election, Sunak needs to avoid contraversy and follow the wise policies you suggest in this piece.

    He would get great credit for just telling VDL today that he cannot support the deal they are offering because it does not meet the requirements needed to gain the support of all the parties at Stormont, something that is essential.
    He should remind her, that keeping the Unionists onside is essential to keep to the spirit and the legal requirements of the GFA.

    I can see this all ending in tears : By siding with the EU, he will be putting himself at odds with a large section of his own party, and to rely on Labour to bulldose an agreement through parliament could well prove fatal both for his leadership and any chance of holding on at the next election. (That is already looking more difficult after events in Scotland this week.)

    If Starmer can win back more seats in Scotland from the SNP, now that the toxic Sturgeon is going, a Labour/LibDim/SNP coalition is looking that much more likely.

    1. a-tracy
      February 19, 2023

      Donā€™t you think thats why Sturgeon has gone Chris because she was so toxic to the English and was a real thorn in Starmerā€™s side to remove the Tories next election. A more palatable coalition partner (like a Nick Clegg plant) and theyā€™ll think theyā€™ve sewn it up.

  28. Bert Young
    February 18, 2023

    Sunak’s actions reflect his personality ; he is a modest individual and not a natural leader . He is not really capable of resisting personal challenge and is much more inclined to follow rather than act according to personal instinct . I have never met him so my observations are based purely on the way he has behaved . If you are in a position as critical as that of Prime Minister you must react to priorities and to public wishes ; he has not done this and he is not supported by the right people . The EU has taken full advantage of our present political stagnation and as a result has weakened our position in world affairs .

  29. SimonR
    February 18, 2023

    If Sunak can get the NI protocol sorted to the satisfaction of all, he will deserve praise. That aside, I think the Sunak/Hunt Government is a zombie one. It moves, but it’s dead. Even if the Conservative Growth Group succeeds in wringing a positive, growth budget out of Hunt, he and Sunak won’t get the credit, as the public aren’t daft. The only hope for the party now is that enough MPs read the writing on the wall, someone has a quiet word with Sunak, a new leader is agreed upon by the parliamentary party, there is a confirmatory ballot of members (accept the leader or begin a real leadership election), Sunak stays in the cabinet, and the new Government goes hell for leather to prove that it actually backs Britain. Starmer’s Labour isn’t an enticing prospect for anyone – this isn’t a Blair situation. But the Tories have to offer a positive alternative.

    You are doing wonders with the pressure for growth – keep it up.

  30. Keith from Leeds
    February 18, 2023

    Hello Sir John,
    Do you ever think of giving up because I despair at what is happening re the NI protocol & Illegal immigration? The PM stood up the little haggis in Scotland, now let him stand up to the EU & do something about illegal immigration instead of just talking about it. Why not have a lock in for Parliament, so no MP comes out until the legislation to deal with it is passed!
    Off-topic but a typical example of the appalling management of the NHS is this booklet, costing Ā£164k, telling Doctors not to assume the gender of their patients. That is money that could have been spent on proper health care. This is just one example of the waste in public spending, then you wonder why you can’t balance the budget & start cutting taxes.

  31. Barbara
    February 18, 2023

    As a Royal Navy submarine commander once said, in reply to a man giving a long and detailed explanation as to why he had not carried out his task: ā€˜Bill – results. Results, not factsā€™.

  32. Mark Thomas
    February 18, 2023

    Sir John,
    You say the PM should be friendly but firm with the EU. I say why bother trying to be friendly, they haven’t. It should be obvious by now the EU is a bad actor. What we need is a Prime Minister, any Prime Minister, who will tell the EU how it’s going to be. Margaret Thatcher would never have put up with all this endless nonsense.

    1. Mickey Taking
      February 18, 2023

      tell the EU how itā€™s going to be…and ‘do you agree, else I’m going home in an hour’?

  33. The Prangwizard
    February 18, 2023

    Talk is cheap, but is the way our gutless and duplicitous government operates. They live in a elitist world. We had an example and proof of this from Tobias Ellwood who provided an answer on a tv interview which showed he thinks the deputy leader of the Tory party is beneath him.

    Northern Ireland and accordingly the UK will be betrayed. All will be explained away by the those who like betrayal of the people – they do not wish to mix with ‘the people’.

    We see all this also in the constant insulting of England in their denial of its existence as a nation worthy of its own democracy.

  34. Mike Wilson
    February 18, 2023

    As the PM takes up arms against a sea of troubles

    That made me laugh. It should read ā€¦

    As the PM takes up arms against the sea of troubles he created when he was chancellor ā€¦

    1. Mickey Taking
      February 18, 2023

      He’s not going to fire at the dinghies, is he?

    2. Mark B
      February 19, 2023

      Bang on the money, Mike !

  35. Denis Cooper
    February 18, 2023

    https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/sunaks-ni-deal-the-eu-suggested-it-years-ago/

    “Sunakā€™s NI deal: the EU suggested it years ago”

    “The Brexiters who destroyed Theresa May over her Protocol deal are now copying her ideas”

    Too true.

  36. miami.mode
    February 18, 2023

    Fat chance there is of getting “more investment in additional supply of things like energy and food which have fuelled the inflation” when NatWest, which is almost 50% owned by the government, i.e. us the taxpayers, recently said “it would no longer provide reserve based loans to new customers for the purpose of financing oil and gas exploration, extraction and production” which seems to be in its pursuit of Net Zero.

    The government almost seems to be actively working against its own people and comes across as a bunch of weasels.

  37. Chickpea
    February 18, 2023

    How come we all know this John and the Prime Minister and Chancellor, hose job it is doesnā€™t?

  38. Denis Cooper
    February 18, 2023

    When Rishi Sunak says: “The way that the protocol has been implemented, it’s causing very real challenges for families, for people, for businesses on the ground” that shows he is only seeking a palliative, not a cure.

    The core problem with the protocol is that its design is fundamentally flawed, not how it is being implemented.

    It’s obvious: if you want to control the goods being exported across a border then you need export controls applied to the goods crossing that border, not import controls applied to the goods crossing another border.

    So, with due respect to those who say that we should leave it to the EU to control imports into its own territory, if we are going to be a helpful neighbour then we should apply our controls to the correct flow of goods.

  39. BW
    February 18, 2023

    Let me get this straight. You mention the 2019 manifesto which gave Boris an 80 seat majority to get Brexit done. Boris was brought down irrespective of the massive support. Explain democracy to me again. No point in telling an backstabbing PM what he needs to do to honour a manifesto commitment.
    Get out of the EU
    Get out of the ECHR
    Get our own U.K. bill of rights
    Pretty much what we said in 2016.
    Stop unelected remainers negotiating with the polit bureau.
    Get our elected PM back in office.

    1. Peter
      February 18, 2023

      BW,

      Sorry, I am not sure exactly what you mean.

      Boris Johnson only used Brexit as a means to gain power. Once he was in office it was kicked into the long grass and a globalist agenda, to further his personal ambitions, was adopted.

      Apparently, he is looking to relaunch his career if Sunak screws up/causes splits on Norn Iron.

      ‘Fool me once’ and all that…

  40. glen cullen
    February 18, 2023

    Our Prime Minister might have numerous tasks ā€¦.but whatā€™s his plan, I just donā€™t see any plan ā€¦Iā€™d settle for a description of his vision ā€¦.in fact Iā€™d settle for a few goals

    1. hefner
      February 18, 2023

      1- Halving inflation this year
      2- Creating better paid jobs by growing the economy
      3- Reducing national debt
      4- Cutting NHS waiting lists
      5- Passing new laws to stop small boats
      http://www.gov.uk 04/01/2023 ā€˜Prime Minister outlines his five key priorities for 2023ā€™.

      1. glen cullen
        February 18, 2023

        By any academic or business measure they are not targets, goals, KPIs, nor priorities ā€¦.theyā€™re generalised meaningless platitudes

        1. hefner
          February 19, 2023

          ā€˜Generalised meaningless platitudesā€™, you mean, as are most of your daily comments on this blog?

          Inflation rate is measured, GDP (growth) is measured, national debt is measured, waiting lists are measured. All quantitative KPIs and much better than ā€˜targets, goals, or prioritiesā€™.
          And your daily reports on the number of people entering the UK via small boats would be the other measure showing whether these new laws are working or not.

          1. glen cullen
            February 19, 2023

            Sounds like you’re very supportive of Sunaks government

        2. hefner
          February 19, 2023

          Whether or not I support Sunakā€™s government is beyond the point. Your original comment about ā€˜plans, vision, goalsā€™ without a definition of measurable quantities (KPIs for you) on which to judge the Governmentā€™s success or failure was simply vacuous.

  41. Denis Cooper
    February 18, 2023

    https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/brexit-news-rishi-sunak-prime-minister-northern-ireland-european-commission-ursula-von-der-leyen-eu-b1061333.html

    “The term ā€œdemocratic deficitā€ is used by Northern Ireland unionists to describe the application of EU rules in the region without local politicians having an influence on them.”

    It’s worse than that – it’s not just “local” politicians, those in Northern Ireland, but UK politicians in general.

    So in a few years’ time when the EU sends a letter informing the Northern Ireland authorities of a dynamic change to some EU law which will have adverse effects in the province, who could they appeal to?

    London would say “Nothing to do with us, read the protocol”, so they would have to turn to Dublin.

  42. Lindsay McDougall
    February 18, 2023

    If we have the courage to do so, we could unilaterally scrap the NI protocol. Just have a green channel and minimal paperwork for goods between the UK mainland and Northern Ireland and tell the Republic of Ireland they can build a few customs posts ten miles inside the Republic for goods travelling between the North and the South of Ireland. I don’t think that the Republic would scrap the Good Friday Agreement in response; there’s too much in it for them.

    1. Mark B
      February 19, 2023

      Lindsay

      If we scrapped the protocol and said that the UK will not, as per the Good Friday Agreement, no impose a land border between the Ulster and the RoI, I wonder what the EU would do ? Would they build a wall between the two, and at great expense or, just close the border ? Either of which would nullify the Good Friday Agreement which no one wants to do.

      I say, why don’t we call their bluff ?

      1. rose
        February 20, 2023

        The Belfast Agreement doesn’t say anything about the border. That is Remainiac/EU/SInn Fein propaganda.

    2. rose
      February 19, 2023

      Lindsay, why do you want paperwork at all for goods passing from one part of this Kingdom to another? That would flout the Act of Union.

  43. ChrisS
    February 18, 2023

    I am beginning to despair at the deterioration in the state of our country that is being tolerated by our so-called Conservative government.

    In both the Telegraph and Times today, it is reported that the Iran opposition International News Service has been recommended to leave our country and transfer to Washington because our security services and the Met cannot satisfactorily protect the organisation and its 100 staff in the UK, many of whom are long-term UK residents.

    We can be pretty sure our armed services are now so depleted that they would not be able to even field one battle group, if called on to do so to protect the UK, but surely we should have sufficient internal security forces left to protect a courageous Iranian opposition group’s broadcasting service that has been well established in London ?

    Sunak and Hunt need to get a grip and get their priorities right, otherwise, Sunak should step down and Ben Wallace should take over.

    Of course, comments on both articles are switched off. Why ?

  44. John McDonald
    February 18, 2023

    If the PM helps to start WWIII then he won’t have to worry about the next General Election. Maybe that’s the idea. Can we have a democratic vote on starting WWIII? Perhaps Sir John you could ask for a vote in Parliament ? Has there actually been any motions in Parliament relating to Ukraine ? How many Ā£billions are we spending on arms for Ukraine ? How about we spend the Ā£billions on our Military instead ?

    Reply There have been many statements, questions and debate on Ukraine. There have been no votes as the Opposition supports the government.

    1. Hat man
      February 19, 2023

      Reply to reply: A perfect example of how the party system prevents alternative voices being heard. Escalation of a war in whose outcome we have no direct interest is an obviously dangerous tactic against a nuclear power. I would have thought there is plenty of scope for debate on the wisdom of this policy. Then again, most of the House of Commons don’t seem to be people you’d turn to for wise counsels, so perhaps we haven’t missed much.

      1. ChrisS
        February 19, 2023

        Clearly, you are no student of history, Hat Man!
        Neville Chamberlain found out that appeasing tyrants does not work. It encourages them to go after even more territory. They have to be decisively defeated. Pacifists have no answers to dealing with Tyrants.

        We have had peace in Northern Europe thanks to the sacrifices made between 1939 and 1945 and the establishment of NATO. The EU has actually done more harm than good in this respect with its “External Action Service” blundering in and raising fears that simply fuelled Putin’s paranoia.

        The presence of Nuclear Weapons are a complication, but Putin now knows that his forces are not able to overwhelm even a mis-sized country like Ukraine, and would stand no chance against the modern weapons available to NATO. He would be foolish indeed to use them.

        1. Hat man
          February 19, 2023

          Chris S: Actually, Russia’s forces have already destroyed quite a lot of the weapons supplied by NATO. NATO is holding back other weapons in case Russia destroys them too, and with them, the sales prospects of US arms manufacturers, for whose benefit this war is being fought.

        2. John McDonald
          February 19, 2023

          Actually the Current Ukraine Government is more like the German Government at the time of Chamberlain. Even before the war it was trying to remove Russian influence including the language from the country. The problem is about 1/3 of Ukrainians are ethnic Russians.
          But this did not stop the government shelling the ethnic Russians (their own citizens) in Donbass.
          Does this sound familiar?

  45. ed2
    February 18, 2023

    Don’t be a ostrich with his head in the sand

  46. bitterend
    February 18, 2023

    And tonight sgain I hear thaf Boris is ready to stick his oar back in – the same one who masterminded and agreed the protocol now doesn’t want it it serms – am beginning to wonder- “would the real government of this country please stand up”

    1. APL
      February 19, 2023

      bitterend: “am beginning to wonder- ā€œwould the real government of this country please stand upā€”

      Boris is a fake. Even when he is no longer Prime Minister but still paid to represent his constituents, he’d much prefer to be representing the constituents of Kiev central. It’s just a small thing, but that’s not his job.

  47. APL
    February 19, 2023

    JR: “The PM is with all Conservative MPs the custodian of the 2019 Manifesto.”

    John you should go into vaudeville, with lines like that you’d bring the house down!

    I was going to list all those things that were in the ’19 manifesto but four years later, have not been implemented. Then contrast those things that were not put in a Tory manifesto, any Tory manifesto that were.

    The long and the short of it is, the Tory manifesto is so much soiled toilet paper. The sooner it’s flushed away the better.

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