The Presidential election

Over the long campaign so far I have kept off the topic of the Presidential election. I strongly believe that politicians and commentators from another country should keep out of other people’s elections. Today I do not break my silence so far to recommend one of the candidates. US voters do not need another UK MP or commentator telling them how to vote. I was appalled by President Obama’s clumsy and ill judged intervention in the UK EU referendum, though I soon realised he had if anything helped the Brexit cause he wished to damage.

I write today to make two main points. Many of us follow the debates and stories of the election because the USA is still the leader of the democratic world. The person, policies and team the voters choose matters to us all. We need a USA that is strong in the defence of freedom, a good ally and friend, who respects us and our different democratic views and decisions. This election is particularly important, because the USA has before it two champions of very different world views and policy prescriptions that mirror the debates this side of the Atlantic and have read across to us.

I will leave aside the candidates other than Mr Biden and Mr Trump, as practically all UK and European media do as if they do not exist. I accept the polls and past history suggests the two main party candidates will command well over 90% of the vote between them and only those two have any chance of winning.

I will also leave aside all the character and behaviour issues which are part of the US debate because both sides have chosen to make character a big issue. Chance and often unfortunate or unpleasant remarks are in the USA as in the UK treated with undue fascination with extreme reactions to words, when what matters more for US voters and the wider world is what use would either man make of the large powers of the office of President if elected.

The essence of the debate between the two revolves around two major disagreements. The first is rooted in the immediate background. Mr Trump stands for livelihoods and Mr Biden for lives. The President argues fear of CV 19 is overdone and there are limits to what government can do to grant people immunity so he favours getting the USA fully back to work and a more normal life. Mr Biden believes the virus needs strong state powers to block social contact and shut down business that thrives on it to stop the spread and so bring the death rate down. Damage to jobs is a price worth paying to stop or delay infection. These two contrasting views are also very prevalent in our own country.

The second is their attitude to world government and the so called international rules based order. Mr Biden for example agrees with the fashionable consensus that climate change is the most crucial problem besetting our world, and wishes the USA to tread the EU and UN route to closing down the oil, gas and coal industries and forcing a rapid transition to electrical power at home and in transport. Mr Trump backs cheap energy and defends all the jobs dependent today on fossil fuels and fossil fuel using vehicles and machines. He sees that as part of the prosperity machine he sought to unleash.

I will look in a later post at some of the other big differences, especially in foreign policy, their attitude to military intervention and different approaches to the Middle East, terrorism and borders. Be in no doubt this is a big moment in the history of the advanced world and in its impact of the democracies on world politics.

321 Comments

  1. Pominoz
    October 27, 2020

    Sir John,

    You wisely avoid favouring one candidate over the other.

    What a shame the mainstream media and internet platforms in the USA, the UK and the rest of the world do not do he same.

    1. Ian @Barkham
      October 27, 2020

      +1

    2. Mike Wilson
      October 27, 2020

      Why? If you run a newspaper you’re not allowed to express an opinion? I’d say you are.

    3. Cheshire Girl
      October 27, 2020

      Indeed. The BBC and Channel 4 News obviously think they are the UK arm of the Democratic Party of the USA.

      Each evening, they spend copious amounts of time pointing out the faults of President Trump and the virtues of Joe Biden. Anyone would think there was something in it for them.

      1. rose
        October 28, 2020

        I have seen a disgusting “obituary” film on Trump already on the BBC.

  2. Lifelogic
    October 27, 2020

    I will be very disapointed if Biden wins. Trump (for all his many faults) is right on the economy, right on energy and right on the absurd climate alarmism exaggerations. He is right that fear of CV 19 is rather overdone too. Also there are severe limits as to what governments can do on Covid.

    Biden would be bad for the USA and bad for the World in my view. Probably even worse than (BBC favourite) Obama was. I do not think I will be betting on Trump this time though. The 4:1 I took last time was very hard to resist but currently it is 17/10 for Trump and 1/2 Biden. It will be a great shame if Covid gives make the USA suffer Biden. One can only hope that if he wins he will not do all the foolish and damaging things he is promising to do. Indeed he will propably not be able to do them.

    The politics of envy, instigating fear and identity politics are evil to my mind.
    Biden Says “You Ain’t Black” If You Vote For Trump rather says it all!

    If Trump does win (and I think he still might – just about) it will really annoy the appalling “BBC/Guardian think” lefty climate alarmist fools, and these dopes richly deserve this.

    1. Martin in Cardiff
      October 27, 2020

      Oh, come on.

      “Cancel Culture” and Identity Politics are meat and drink to the Right. They have their own strictly-policed politically correct language too.

      Even poor old Jeremy Clarkson has been trashed and dumped by them for voting Remain, and how many times do we hear the identity tags of Englishness, whiteness, and working class membership raised by them?

      1. beresford
        October 27, 2020

        Can you give us some examples of people who have been sacked in response to hysteria from a self-righteous mob for holding ‘left wing’ views? Of people who have had book contracts or academic qualifications or acting roles withdrawn after a ‘right wing’ Twitter storm? Of people who have been forced to leave the country due to threats to their family from ‘right wingers’?

        1. Martin in Cardiff
          October 27, 2020

          You are complaining about Tory employment law, where a worker can be sacked for matters irrelevant to their competence at their job, on the whim of their boss.

          If you want to stop that, then elect a different government with more interest in employee rights.

          1. NickC
            October 27, 2020

            Martin, No, I am not complaining about Tory employment law. Far from it. From Roger Scruton, to a friend of mine interviewed by the police for quoting a dictionary definition, to a teaching assistant sacked for opposing gender choices by children, all have been vilified and subject to a vile and vicious campaign of ad hominem attacks by self appointed hard left Gauleiters. With the advent of covid-snitchers as well we are rapidly mimicking communist China.

          2. No Longer Anonymous
            October 27, 2020

            Yes.

            Says a lot about the Tories.

            Thank you Martin. (Sincerely)

          3. Edward2
            October 27, 2020

            Answer the question Martin

        2. Lifelogic
          October 27, 2020

          No I cannot.

          People on the left really do, very often, seem to be appallingly unpleasant and wrongly convinced they are always right when the reverse is usually the case..

          Witness that silly dope on LBC James O’Brian who displays his stupidity every weekday. He has even written a book – How to be Right. The answer take to opposite line to him on almost everything and you will not go far wrong.

      2. Fred H
        October 28, 2020

        I give up – – how many times?

    2. Ian Wragg
      October 27, 2020

      I think the Democrats should fund the BBC. As with Nobama they rubbish Trump at every news bulletin.
      Trump is 100% correct with his cheap energy policies and Covid strategy.
      The BBC likes to quote deaths in the USA but never mentions the fact that their population is 5 times more than the UK.
      The countries with the worst lockdowns seem to have the most deaths.
      I’m rooting for Trump.

      1. M Davis
        October 27, 2020

        … I’m rooting for Trump. …

        So am I, Ian!

    3. Linda Jones
      October 27, 2020

      I agree.
      But why do you feel you must add ”with all his faults” as if everyone else in the world isn’t beset with ”faults”? It’s as though everyone has to excuse themselves if they believe that Mr T just may be the best thing that’s ever happened to the US, just because he doesn’t actually PRETEND to be anything but what he is?
      No-one in any walk of high profile life is going to appear faultless – we wouldn’t trust them if they did.

      1. Iago
        October 27, 2020

        Well done, Linda Jones, this has needed saying for a long time.

        1. Lynn Atkinson
          October 28, 2020

          +1

    4. Mike Durrans
      October 27, 2020

      + 1

    5. Sandra
      October 30, 2020

      Rather than saying ‘with all his faults’ it would be better to say ‘alleged faults’ if you must bring that up.
      I’m sick and tired of our media lying to us and trashing Trump at every turn. That’s because the media groups are corrupt I’m afraid.

      The truth is he is greatly loved in America. You only need to research and watch his rallies.
      Trump doesn’t take a Presidential salary, he donates it to charities.
      Trump has brokered three peace deals in the last few months between the UAE and Israel, Bahrain and Israel and Sudan and Israel
      He’s refused to take war to any countries, and has brought military personnel home.
      He’s rebuilt the military that the Dems ruined and controlled for their own purposes,
      Trump has brought back manufacturing to his own country from China.
      Trump has forced pharmaceutical companies to charge the same lower price for drugs as they charge other countries around the world reducing public medicine to a quarter of what they were paying.
      Trump has made loads of executive orders for the betterment of the people, child safety, education reforms etc.

      Trump does not take backhanders from China unlike Etc ed
      These are just a few of Trump’s great achievements , there are so many more.

      Now you may say I’m wrong on some of these facts stated above but I don’t believe I am.
      Trump will go down as the greatest President in history, I only hope he is well protected as many attempts on his life have been made by the ones losing control of the stolen cache they have or had.

      I can’t wait to see justice being done, in many forms. It’s coming.

  3. Lifelogic
    October 27, 2020

    You say:- “Mr Biden for example agrees with the fashionable consensus that climate change is the most crucial problem besetting our world”.

    Does he really? Or does he just think there are votes in pretending to believe this religion?
    or indeed in other older religions.

    Boris used to be fairly sound on this issue but has now (perhaps due to the mother of his latest child or just opinion polling) has got it completely wrong.

    Perhaps the endless one sided drivel from the BBC/Greta/Attenbrough types on this issue has formed public opinion and the politicians feel they have to follow. The BBC yesterday was in total overdrive on free school dinner vouchers for “Winterval”. Will Boris cave in on this too. Makes a change from their usual “epidemic of childhood obesity agenda” I suppose.

    1. Sea_Warrior
      October 27, 2020

      We await the design of the No 10 Christmas card with interest.

      1. Lifelogic
        October 27, 2020

        Indeed.

        1. Lifelogic
          October 27, 2020

          Will he copy the dire Trudeau?

      2. Lynn Atkinson
        October 27, 2020

        But our Biden, favouring ‘lives’, says there will be no Christmas!
        Where is our Trump?

        1. Simeon
          October 27, 2020

          This is the point. There is no debate between the two parties here as to how to tackle the virus. Nor indeed is there any debate generally. Both parties are tax and spend, government-knows-better, and supranational organisations know best of all. In the end, differences between Johnson and Starmer, or Redwood and Abbot, are merely confected, apparent and insubstantial.

          1. Lynn Atkinson
            October 27, 2020

            I disagree regarding Redwood, and I never Think of his politics in the same breath as those of Dianne Abbot.
            I think Redwood is our Trump but the difference between the USA and the U.K. is that the Yanks had the guts to force him on their rubbish Republican Party and then return him (twice?). Where are our Conservatives who put conservative politics above party and force a Conservative into the Leadership of this lost and pathetic party of which we are all ashamed – we are NOT ashamed of Conservative politics.

          2. Dennis
            October 27, 2020

            Who wins the US election is not the point – US politics and governance will remain as corrupt as ever, probably more.

            I heard on the radio the voice of new appt. to the Supreme Court this morning – she is older than 8 isn’t she? Even that court is corrupt needing political view to be counted.

          3. John Hatfield
            October 27, 2020

            Redwood talks sense.
            I don’t know about the other three.

        2. Lifelogic
          October 27, 2020

          Boris seems to be turning into a big government, green crap pushing, HS2 pushing socialist – if he keeps going he will become another Trudeau!

          He has a good majority and did thank goodness save us from May and Corbyn. He just need to revert to being a small government, red tape slashing, cheap reliable energy, pro business, free market conservative. Now that the Covid issue is clearly almost over he need to get everone back to work. Except those civil servants who do little of value. These people should be released to get real jobs or start businesses with their pay offs.

        3. Simeon
          October 27, 2020

          Dennis, Peter Schiff’s analysis of Trump and US politics is informative and entertaining. The Supreme Court has utterly failed to uphold the constitution, regardless of its makeup. As much as I have a great deal of sympathy for Trump and his supporters, he is not going to be the solution.

        4. NickC
          October 27, 2020

          Lynn, Biden does not support “lives” – at least not the lives of unborn babies – he supports abortion up to birth (ie infanticide).

          1. Lynn Atkinson
            October 27, 2020

            Oh yes; we – freenations has today published an article on ‘caring’ NZ – women legislating for abortion up to the time of birth. I suppose for harvesting the ingredients required for the CV19 vaccine we need plenty of white abortions.
            Google it please. I don’t want to put the link up. Stomach churning stuff.

      3. Everhopeful
        October 27, 2020

        Would even this govt. be stupid enough to destroy the fake “Christmas” which was designed with the sole purpose of selling stuff?
        It has always raked in a lot of dosh.
        I thought they liked all that commercialism?
        Don’t think a “Greencrap Christmas” would go down all that well.
        Nut roast…or if you must have meat..roadkill roast ( yes really!) followed by home grown stewed fruit. A few Fair Trade choccy locust as a treat maybe?
        As for No 10’s card. Reindeer will be a no no…too much methane etc. And Father Christmas will be masked and on a bike!

        1. a-tracy
          October 27, 2020

          Martin Lewis has been suggesting people cancel the present buying Christmas for years. Perhaps this is just another reset this year.

          I see Amazon are doing a big discount push this month, a month early to gather all the business from all the closed down shops in Scotland and Wales no doubt, is this all a bit of a trial? We’re told Amazon don’t pay UK taxes, local shops are clobbered with VAT, Business Rates and other town costs like waste collection, street decoration suggested parking discount schemes, toilet facilities etc. Yet is Drakeford stopping Amazon from discounting in Wales whilst the lockdown is on to not disadvantage the businesses who will be stripped of trade. Radio advertising is telling us all today to buy Christmas Shopping early – how can people buy when the politicians have told tier 3 shops to close and tier 2 people are avoiding?

          1. Everhopeful
            October 27, 2020

            +1

          2. Ian Wragg
            October 27, 2020

            As I said yesterday, Drakeford has been nominated as Amazon employee of the month.

          3. Christine
            October 27, 2020

            Appalling to see Tesco’s has banned the sale of women’s sanitary products in Wales as they are deemed none essential. It can only be a man who has made this decision. We are living in a world of utter madness. The on-line retailers must be rubbing their hands in glee.

          4. NickC
            October 27, 2020

            Christine, Tesco said it was obeying the rules laid down by Drakeford. There has now been a rapid re-think all round.

        2. Everhopeful
          October 27, 2020

          Christine.
          Sanitary stuff is a GREEN ISSUE. Plastic etc.
          They want to go back 100 years and have WASHABLE items.
          TERRIBLE adverts for it on YouTube. Yuk!
          That is what is behind the banning of sales.

      4. Martin in Cardiff
        October 27, 2020

        Passport colours and Christmas cards – you know what matters, don’t you?

        1. Mike Durrans
          October 27, 2020

          Danger ! Danger spy in the camp. Keep quiet until he goes

        2. NickC
          October 28, 2020

          So why does the EU empire have its own flag, passports imprint, and anthem, if they don’t matter, Martin?

    2. Lifelogic
      October 27, 2020

      Plus we have all the climate alarmist propaganda pushed out by schools (and in the GCSE and A levels) that has done so much to “educate” so many children into abject stupidity (especially on climate alarmism) over so many years.

      Many politicians then feel they have to respond to this scientific stupidity.

      1. Lynn Atkinson
        October 27, 2020

        …to this unscientific stupidity’

  4. Everhopeful
    October 27, 2020

    The leaders (whoever they turn out to be) in this er…”advanced” world had better get down on their knees and pray to God that their policies will work out ok.
    They have stirred up a wasps’ nest with such vigour that it is hard to imagine any good outcome.
    Nothing ever changes for the better. Trump promised a lot but the USA has got a great deal worse and the Democrats have seemed to achieved the impossible. They have stripped the President of any meaningful power while he is actually in office.
    I just don’t think I can bear to follow this election.

    1. Lynn Atkinson
      October 27, 2020

      Such nonsense. Look at the list of Trump achievements. He has a Republican approval rating above 90% (yes Mrs May, just a ‘0’ in it!) and an overall approval rating over 50%. Mrs Thatchers great landslide was on 42%. Black Americans are flocking to Trump a the North flocked to Brexit Boris!

      1. Everhopeful
        October 27, 2020

        Glad you both think that.
        Seems to me he has been thwarted at every turn.
        I just pray that Trump will win again and that we don’t get Biden who is merely a front man for Marxism.
        Your optimism may help!

        1. Lynn Atkinson
          October 27, 2020

          It’s not my enthusiasm, it’s the palpable enthusiasm across America. I’m not telling them what to do, I’m just watching them ditch the professional politicians! It’s a great move which we should emulate!
          We need a PM who does not need to live hand to mouth on the PMs wages, a man who is making a personal sacrifice to be PM.
          I know who I want! MPs tell me there is no chance, but they told me there was no chance of Brexit. Owen Patterson told me (in writing) that I was a ‘headbanger’ – but when he joined me we got Brexit, I will not move and the sooner MPs join me in demanding JR for the hot seat, the sooner we will turn Britain around.

    2. John Hatfield
      October 27, 2020

      Trump was doing fine until Covid shut down the US economy. Elsewhere also he has done well.

      1. Lifelogic
        October 27, 2020

        Alas yes. I do hope he wins out but it looks unlikely. Even if Biden thinks he is trying to stop some chap called George getting 4 more years.

        1. NickC
          October 27, 2020

          Lifelogic, Well, Biden is catching up then – a few weeks ago he thought he was elected to the Senate 180 years ago.

          1. Lynn Atkinson
            October 27, 2020

            😂😂 yes that was a good one; but then he said “We have put together the most extensive and inclusive voter fraud organisation in the history of American politics”
            Trump that!

    3. Everhopeful
      October 27, 2020

      Glad you both think that.
      Seems to me he has been thwarted at every turn.
      I just pray that Trump will win again and that we don’t get Biden who is merely a front man for Marxism.
      Your optimism may help!

  5. SM
    October 27, 2020

    I continue to be utterly amazed that in a country the size of the USA, neither the Republicans nor the Democrats could come up with Presidential candidates who could inspire respect both at home and abroad, and who were of a suitable age to take on what must surely be one of the most demanding jobs in the world.

    1. Lifelogic
      October 27, 2020

      Indeed.

      But few sensible people would actually want the job of a politician let alone that of US President?

      1. Lifelogic
        October 27, 2020

        Trump policies are hugely preferable though.

    2. Lynn Atkinson
      October 27, 2020

      You are wrong. You suffer under the South African all encompassing Communist diatribe.
      One of the candidates is immensely successful. Politicians around the world hate him because he has shown them up for what they are: weak, unthinking, war-mongering frontmen who could not Successfully negotiate with a two year old.
      In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is DANGEROUS!

      1. hefner
        October 28, 2020

        ‘A two year old‘, a nice characterisation of the present PotUS. Isn’t it funny how a ‘slip of the tongue’ is often closer to reality than originally thought when telling it. Is PotUS‘S right or left eye still open?

        1. Lynn Atkinson
          October 28, 2020

          President Trump is a human being. He will have made mistakes as we all do, but overall he has been brilliant, as for instance Churchill was, and even Nelson. It’s you who is blind, and afraid of a man who can see. So you want all men blind so they can’t show you up.
          Tough!

          1. hefner
            October 29, 2020

            In September 1940, Churchill was in London visiting bombed-out sites during the Blitz. Trump had the 200 yards ‘cleaned’ of protesters by National Guard troops to go from the WH to Washington’s Saint John’s Episcopal Church to lift a Bible.
            Are you comparing the two events and give them equal weight?

            In his most recent meetings, DJT appears to finish his speeches with a raised clenched fist. Is there really nobody around him to ask whom he is trying to emulate? the 1913 US Industrial Workers of the World, the 1926 German Red Front Fighters, the 1936 French Popular Front demonstrators, the black sprinters at the 1968 Mexico Olympics, … because this arm signal appears to be something of the left. Does he want to convince the ‘ultra-leftist Democrats’ he is on their side, or is he just a buffoon?

          2. Edward2
            October 29, 2020

            You drag out anything to criticise President Trump.
            As is typical of elite lefties.
            An election is looming.
            We shall see.
            Assuming Biden can stay alert until then.

    3. Dave Andrews
      October 27, 2020

      They probably could find a worthy candidate, but such a person would evoke such envy amongst his peers, he wouldn’t be allowed to get anywhere (or she of course). Just like the UK.

      1. Lynn Atkinson
        October 27, 2020

        😂😂our contributions ‘crossed’ – see above. They had not banked on the sheer strength of the Trump personality.

  6. Stephen Priest
    October 27, 2020

    Biden yesterday announced he wanted to stop “four more years of George.”

    George who?

    George – W Bush?
    George = HW Bush?
    George – Washington?
    George III?

    1. Jack Falstaff
      October 27, 2020

      More than a little disturbing then, when we realise that Mr Biden stands to be placed in charge of the button that controls the weaponry comprising America’s nuclear response.

      1. Mike Durrans
        October 27, 2020

        He would probably push it to call the maid

        1. Lynn Atkinson
          October 27, 2020

          Surely a right-on man like Biden would not have a ‘maid’! Does the dishes himself I’m sure! What else would you use him for?

    2. Martin in Cardiff
      October 27, 2020

      He promptly corrected himself.

      It was hardly a “Princess David” or “herd mentality [immunity]” moment, was it?

      1. Pominoz
        October 28, 2020

        MiC,

        Eventually – when prompted by his wife!

    3. Andy
      October 27, 2020

      I watched the whole clip. Biden was actually addressing the host of the event, who was called George – though he got his words muddled. It is interested though that this shows how fake news spreads.

      1. Lifelogic
        October 27, 2020

        He urges voters “to help prevent four more years of ‘George’.”

        Oh and Trump did not say inject or drink bleach nor did Gove say “he had had enough of experts (just enough of experts who get it wrong)!

        1. Lynn Atkinson
          October 27, 2020

          +1 mischief making ‘reporting’.

      2. Original Richard
        October 27, 2020

        Andy, you must have watched a different video because the one I watched has Biden saying :

        “
the character of the country in my view is literally on the ballot. What kind of country we’re going to be. Four more years of George..er..George..er..he..er
.we are going to find ourselves in a position where if ..er..Trump gets elected..er
we’re going to be
er
we’re going to be in a different world and uh
and so..and the reason why I think people should be voting is for our own self interest right now
.”

        1. Fred H
          October 28, 2020

          reminds me of Kinnock.

      3. Richard1
        October 27, 2020

        I also watched the clip. He was quite clearly muddling up trump and bush

      4. No Longer Anonymous
        October 27, 2020

        Real news doesn’t spread, unfortunately (Hunter Biden)

      5. NickC
        October 27, 2020

        Andy, You should know – you are constantly spreading fake news.

      6. Barbara
        October 27, 2020

        He thinks the host of the event is likely to be in power for four more years?

    4. Dennis
      October 27, 2020

      Surely not Formby – we could do with more of him.

    5. forthurst
      October 27, 2020

      Ronald Reagan was showing clear signs of dementia towards the end of his second term when he was the same age as Biden. It would be very surprising if the Democratic Party were not aware of Biden’s declining health and had not resolved how they intended to handle the Presidency if they succeed in capturing it. Will Biden be moved around like a stage prop whilst other appointed officials run the country or will he be shunted aside early on to be replaced by President Harris?

      1. Cheshire Girl
        October 27, 2020

        He will, if the ‘Diversity’ mob have anything to do with it!

    6. Fred H
      October 28, 2020

      Osborne?

  7. Everhopeful
    October 27, 2020

    Apparently the first thing Mr Biden wants to do if elected is to impose a three month complete Lockdown.
    We all know how successful that will be!
    Well I guess for a front man to Marxists it WILL be a success! Out of chaos…BUILD BACK BETTER etc.
    Apparently, in America they are already destroying produce ( like in Africa) probably the better to stimulate the famine predicted by the UN!

    1. glen cullen
      October 27, 2020

      I was all for the strapline BUILD BACK BETTER until I realised it had nothing to do with the council repairing road pot holes

      1. Fred H
        October 28, 2020

        H of C ?

  8. Sea_Warrior
    October 27, 2020

    I was disappointed to see reporting that HMG was putting out panicky feelers to the Biden camp, suspecting he would win. I can think that that would have annoyed Trump no end, to our short-term disadvantage.
    P.S. I think that Trump is going to win – and having seen the key points of his manifesto, that victory should please the hearts of all proper Conservatives here.

    1. Lynn Atkinson
      October 27, 2020

      +1

    2. Lifelogic
      October 27, 2020

      I do hope you are right but I am not putting money on it! If only to annoy the BBC and Guardian think dopes and for his sound stance on Energy and Climate.

  9. Sakara Gold
    October 27, 2020

    I would agree with most of this interesting post – except that in America, renewable energy is so cheap Trump has attempted to force states with many gigawatts of renewables to raise the price of the electricity produced – so that it will cost the same as energy produced from burning fossil fuels.

    In my view Trump has abused the power of the presidency to help his supporters in the oil, gas and coal industries. Starting with withdrawing from the Paris Agreement.

    1. Edward2
      October 27, 2020

      The market is distorted by huge subsidies for renewables.
      Over $100 billion in total.

      1. Lifelogic
        October 27, 2020

        Indeed and to no benefit at all. (other than the vested interests).

      2. hefner
        October 27, 2020

        Thanks for this information. Could you please tell us the amount of tax breaks that the coal-oil-gas extractive industries have accumulated over the years? I am looking to getting a knowledgeable answer from you.

        1. hefner
          October 27, 2020

          And just to help you start your research here are some hints for such US Tax breaks:
          – Intangible Drilling Cost Subsidies (26 US Code n.263) $13bn over 10 years.
          – Percentage Depletion (26 US Code n.613) $12.9 bn over 10 years.
          – Credit for Clean Coal Investment (Internal Revenue Code 48A) ÂŁ1.5bn in 2005 (I didn’t find more recent years).
          – Non Conventional Fuels Tax Credit (Internal Revenue Code 45A) $12bn over 2002-2010.

          And that’s just for the US direct tax breaks. I’ll let you know explore the indirect ones like Foreign Tax Credit (US Code n.901), Master Limited Partnership (IR Code n.7704), … And you might want to investigate the Chinese, Russian and EU ones, the EU one being around €50bn annually.

          1. Lynn Atkinson
            October 27, 2020

            Phew, if only the Greencrap energy in the UK got tax breaks! Sadly they get billions of hard cash.

          2. Edward2
            October 27, 2020

            Compared to $100 billions of subsidies over the same period for renewable energy you fail Hefner.
            The renewable industries also get similar corporate tax breaks.

        2. hefner
          October 28, 2020

          Coal-oil-gas extractive industries have been around in one shape or another for more than a century. Plus states have spent just ‘a tiny bit of money’ to run coups/wars to keep access to these resources (Iran 1953, for example). Other countries have tried (usually unsuccessfully) to get so-called ‘extractive industries transparency plans’ (recently Australia and the USA).

          Edward2, you simply show you don’t know much about how tax breaks are used in the extractive industries.
          I would think you can go back to sleep now.

          1. Lynn Atkinson
            October 28, 2020

            You are impertinent. You have lost the argument. Accept it.

          2. Edward2
            October 28, 2020

            I think your first paragraph has nothing to do with the real argument.

            Then having failed in your argument, like most lefties, you resort to personal attacks.

            Sad, pathetic and very predictable.

        3. NickC
          October 28, 2020

          Hefner, A tax break reduces a tax. A subsidy is a reverse tax – a gift from the taxpayer.

          1. hefner
            October 28, 2020

            NickC, thank you very much for taking some of your precious time to try to educate me.

            Now tell me, if a tax break reduces a tax, it must in final analysis decrease the amount collected by the state.
            If such a decrease is enjoyed rather systematically by people and companies involved in a particular industry (in terms of reducing the amount of tax they would have had to pay) , please tell me how this is so different from a gift from the common tax payer, a subsidy.

            The big advantage is that subsidies usually appear on the state’s balance sheets as such, as outgoing money whereas tax breaks are much more likely not to appear or only indirectly as money NOT collected, NOT coming in. And this obviously to the detriment of all other tax payers.

          2. Edward2
            October 28, 2020

            They all just distort the market.

            $100 billion to renewables on top of tav breaks for all energy companies.

            Greens say renewable sources are competitive.

            It is a lie.

          3. hefner
            October 29, 2020

            Edward2, a recent study by Lazard (2020) gives the following ranges for the cost of electricity from different sources in US$ per MWh:
            Solar (utility) 29-42
            Solar (residential) 150-227
            Wind onshore 26-54
            Wind offshore 86-113
            Geothermal 59-101
            Coal 65-159
            Gas 44-73
            Gas w CC 151-198 (*)
            Nuclear 151-198
            * assumed Carbon Capture still under development.

            This is based on comparisons in multiple countries (Australia, France, Germany, ‘Middle-East’, Japan, UK, USA). These include subsidies in some countries for some energy sources.

            from Lazard’s ‘Levelized Cost of Energy and Levelized Cost of Storage’ 19 October 2020.

            Reply Yes but you need to build back up capacity if you rely on renewables.

          4. Edward2
            October 29, 2020

            Sounds a bit of a vague survey from Lazards.
            Especially the bit which says ” these include subsidies in some countries for some energy sources.
            The generally accepted view is that renewables are improving their economic effectiveness but that they are still heavily subsidised by governments.

    2. Lynn Atkinson
      October 27, 2020

      If renewable energy in the USA is so cheap, why do we have to subsidise it everywhere else? Why is it not the same cheap price here?
      What you say is absolute bunkum, but that is the only way anyone can attack Trumps record, by changing the ‘science’ and the ‘facts’.

      1. Al
        October 27, 2020

        I would suggest renewable energy is so comparatively cheap at the point of supply because of a) the huge subsidies that go into setting it up, and b) the different climate.

        I have been to the solar power plants outside California, which are ideally situated to take advantage of the climate, lack of clouds, hot arid conditions, and wide flat expanses of their locations, for example, the Mojave Desert. Britain has a different climate, very limited building space, and lacks large deserts, so expecting the same cheap prices to apply in this country is unwise.

        1. Robert McDonald
          October 27, 2020

          We have wind and water and sea.

        2. Lynn Atkinson
          October 27, 2020

          If solar power was the answer Africa would not be in the dark! Blackout regularly even in advanced SA – I mean on a daily basis.

          1. SM
            October 27, 2020

            The coal mining union wields a great deal of power in SA politics – until the last month, solar and wind power beyond a very low production volume could not, by law, be used to produce electricity for commercial use. I don’t have the exact figures to hand, but the President has said that the amount permissible will be raised – I will not hold my breath waiting for the implementation of this new rule. Outages are very frequent partly because the production was left to rot under President Zuma, and partly because electricity is purchased by Municipalities from the national producer Eskom and then sold on to local consumers – unfortunately, due to intense …….., all too Municipalities do not have the funds to pay Eskom, who are now increasing power outages to sometimes 18hrs per day in some areas.

        3. Stred
          October 27, 2020

          Also, most of the wind turbines in the US are on land and this costs half as much as Boris’s wonderful windmills out in the stormy sea. At present these are costing customers around three times that of gas. In the US, like the UK, the variable output of wind relies on gas backup and the cost of running the stations up and down has to be paid for.

        4. Big John
          October 27, 2020

          3/4 billion dollers of tax money wasted on one project alone :-
          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crescent_Dunes_Solar_Energy_Project

      2. Lifelogic
        October 27, 2020

        Intermittent and not on demand energy is of course worth far less anyway. It is not competitive without subsides and huge market rigging.

    3. NickC
      October 27, 2020

      Sakara Gold, Not only are the “intermittents” subsidised, but also the costs of the essential back-ups are not included.

      1. anon
        October 27, 2020

        Intermittents include very large nuclear and fossil fuel plants. They do go offline unplanned at awkward times.

        Maintaining a reserve of older/newer plant for use, is sensible until its no longer needed. These can be brought online over different time periods. Depending on forecasts of weather, demand,supply and outages.

        Importing energy is something we need to do less of. We need that GDP circulating within the UK economy.

        1. Lynn Atkinson
          October 28, 2020

          So interesting that the word ‘outages’ has replaced ‘blackout’. BLM?

        2. NickC
          October 28, 2020

          Anon, Intrinsic intermittency should not be confused with plant reliability.

          Wind may be intermittent by the hour; Solar by the day (obviously). But Gas and Nuclear are not intermittent, normally requiring only occasional planned maintenance and fuelling.

          All plant – whether Nuclear, Wind, Gas or Solar – has occasional unplanned failures. MTBF, used to indicate reliability, is typically measured in 1000s of hours. For example the MTBF of a CCGT may be as much as 50,000 hours.

  10. Jack Falstaff
    October 27, 2020

    One thing that does seem clear is that, for all their claims to occupying the moral highground, the Democrats are still engaging in some kind of 21st century equivalent of book-burning by attempting to prevent the public from consuming information in the media that they would prefer not to reach the public domain.
    Not only this, but the Democrats are the go-to party for Marxist iconoclasts who want to bring down public statues by mob rule, just as the Taliban have in the past crudely dynamited Buddhist figures.
    As for policies, these are few and thin on the ground, and they appear to think it is okay just to stand there and inflame the passions of the wilder elements by weakly calling President Trump a racist, which he is most certainly not.
    For all their pi-jaw, underneath their virtuous veneer lurks an extremely unwholesome and manipulative assemblage of control freaks who care not one jot for the voting public when the chips are down.
    I just hope the American electorate has the good sense not to vote for, er, what was his name again? Obama’s puppet I mean.

    1. Ginty
      October 27, 2020

      ‘or’ the fact…

    2. Dennis
      October 27, 2020

      ‘We are hurtling in the direction of dystopia and armageddon, (population control and nuclear confrontation) and the powerful elites in the driver’s seat have made it abundantly clear that they have no intention of swerving from this trajectory. We cannot use democracy to turn this ship away from the iceberg because the “democracy” we’ve been given is a fake child’s steering wheel given to a toddler to play with so they can pretend they’re driving. Even direct revolutionary action is completely barred from us as long as we are being successfully propagandized into consenting to the status quo by the manipulations of mainstream and social media corporations.’

      Thanks to Caitlin Johnson for this.

      1. NickC
        October 27, 2020

        Dennis, It is not so much that we are consenting to the status quo, more that we are pretending to conform. And what’s truly hilarious is the government, the gender-benders, the BLM kneelers, and the CAGW zealots, don’t realise it. And they don’t get how much we despise them either.

        1. Lynn Atkinson
          October 27, 2020

          I think they may grasp the extent of our disdain shortly. If they want to play rough, I prefer to be in the team that is 66 million strong.

    3. Martin in Cardiff
      October 27, 2020

      Racism?

      So, be honest, if the Mainland, instead of being peopled by French, Germans, Spanish and so on, it had been populated with Australians, New Zealanders, Canadians etc., then do you think that Leave would have won?

      Of course not.

      So what does that inescapably mean?

      1. Jack Falstaff
        October 27, 2020

        There would have been nothing to leave, because none of the peoples you mention appear sufficiently prejudiced against the poorer nations as to concoct anything as thoroughly inimical to the latter’s development as a protectionist customs union.

      2. Edward2
        October 27, 2020

        And that is the classic mistake remainers like you make Martin.
        It isnt about a dislike of any European peoples.
        It is about not wanting to be ruled by the EU.

      3. NickC
        October 28, 2020

        Martin, How parochial can you get? If by “mainland” you mean the continental landmass, then the majority of people on it are not ruled by the EU empire; only the West and North West fringes are.

        It’s being ruled by a self-appointed bunch of corrupt unaccountable apparatchiks that is the main problem with the EU. Inevitably part of the problem is that some of them are British, or French, or German, etc, so what do they know of France, Germany, Britain?

        You also appear to have trouble with self-determination. At least for us. I assume you accept that Indians should rule India (you do, don’t you?), so why do you cavil at Britons ruling Britain?

  11. oldtimer
    October 27, 2020

    An alarming feature of current US politics appears to be the increasing intolerance of each side for the other or for their opinions. That alarm is reinforced by reports of record gun and ammunition sales. I have no idea how the election will play out or who will win. But I hope that it is conducted peaceably and that the result is uncontaminated by charges of vote rigging and cheating. The potential for mayhem seems real.

    1. NickC
      October 27, 2020

      Oldtimer, It is not Trump supporters who are out night after night rioting, smashing up neighbourhoods, burning down houses and businesses, and looting. Less of the “each side” please.

      1. Lynn Atkinson
        October 27, 2020

        +1

    2. Martin in Cardiff
      October 27, 2020

      Yes, false claims of postal vote fraud etc. have been made repeatedly, and that is indeed very dangerous, given that murderous and lawless people are looking for any excuse to turn their weapons against their own people.

      Maybe decent folk have simply been planning to protect themselves?

      1. James Bertram
        October 27, 2020

        Your BBC is just reporting that postal voting has been highly unusual this time. Apparently, according to Jon Sopel, nearly half of Americans have already voted (and its mostly Democrats using postal voting). There has been a massive upsurge in postal voting amongst the young (almost 20 times in some cases) and is particularly strong in the dozen or so swing seats. Like Peterborough, it has a bad smell about it (although I have not had time to research this for accuracy, which, if its on the BBC, then I should). Suspicions raised. Thank you for bringing it to our attention, Martin.

        1. Fred H
          October 28, 2020

          well would you queue for 2 hours to cast your vote for Trump or Biden? A very simple solution Americans have taken up.

      2. Lynn Atkinson
        October 27, 2020

        500,000 postal ballots were sent with no possibility of voting for Trump. He was not on the ballot, a very real fraud.

        1. hefner
          October 28, 2020

          Reference, please.

          1. Lynn Atkinson
            October 28, 2020

            Wait for the court cases, I have seen a ballot paper.

      3. Edward2
        October 27, 2020

        Bit unfair on the Democrats Martin.

  12. Richard1
    October 27, 2020

    There is no doubt some of Trump’s utterances and tone have done real damage, as it’s whipped up more hatred resentment and hysteria in a society which is already divided. As president he is head of state and it is very unfortunate that someone in that position sometimes behaves with such lack of dignity. The president, to the extent possible when an elected politician, should be a unifying figure.

    That said, he had a good economic recovery going before the Wuhan virus struck. His foreign policy has been very successful, completely contrary to expectations, with the Middle East accords and the the crushing of ISIS. He has been right to face up to the Chinese communist party’s trade and IP cheating, human rights abuses, climate humbug and threats to Hong Kong and Taiwan. And Trump, not the EU and the U.K., are right on Iran and the threat from that terrorist regime. He’s taken a tough line with the ghastly socialist regime in Venezuela and at least had a crack at a solution with North Korea – which looked like it was heading for a war 4 years ago.

    In the US it is the states not the federal govt which mostly control the policy on lockdown or not. There is no evidence the lockdown states – generally Democrat like NY and California – have done better than the non-lockdown states. So trump is probably right on that as well.

    Difficult choice. Biden is the more attractive individual but Trump almost certainly the better president.

    1. IanT
      October 27, 2020

      Trump is the Marmite President, people either love him or hate him – no in-between.

      He is also often his own worst enemy when he opens his mouth or tweets but I do some times wonder how much of what is reported is manipulated by the media – who clearly dislike him with a vengeance.

      However, if he loses, I will miss him – if only because he winds these folk up so much, which I’m afraid to admit I quite enjoy.

      1. Richard1
        October 27, 2020

        unfortunately the coverage is either that he is great and does no wrong or terrible and does no right. the truth, as ever, is more nuanced.

    2. Mitchel
      October 27, 2020

      The disgusting regime change effort in democratic Bolivia(nothing to do with it’s vast lithium reserves and close relations with China and Russia;perish the thought!) has collapsed with Evo Morales’s party voted back into power.

      1. James Bertram
        October 27, 2020

        Yes, a good thing, Mitchel. Evo Morales is an indigenous leader, and his people have been second-class citizens for far too long.

    3. Lester Cynic Beedell
      October 27, 2020

      Richard 1
      A more attractive individual?
      Given the amount of corruption revealed on his son’s laptop how does that make him in any way an attractive individual??

      1. Richard1
        October 27, 2020

        Is he to blame for his son’s actions?

        1. Lynn Atkinson
          October 27, 2020

          He was implicated up to the eyeballs. After the election when Nick Clegg is moved on and you see the evidence you might change your mind.

        2. Bryan Harris
          October 28, 2020

          Yes – The father led where the son followed… They are as bad as each other

      2. Bryan Harris
        October 28, 2020

        +++

  13. Everhopeful
    October 27, 2020

    I did check a lot of articles before posting re blocking out sun to cool planet.
    It really doesn’t seem like a conspiracy theory.
    But considering present madness it is a very dangerous possibility I would say.
    Politicians should be aware.

  14. BeebTax
    October 27, 2020

    If you can ignore the personalities then it seems clear to me which of the candidates has achieved more for their supporters and (arguably) for the rest of the electorate over the course of their political careers. That is Trump, despite the continual attempts to undermine and unseat him and the fact that he’s been in politics a tenth of the time that Biden has. Economy, Charter Schools, troop withdrawals, better deals with NATO and others, etc. Black lives were improving under his tenure, if that is a yardstick by which to measure success.

    It’s also clear the Dems have a world view closer to the EU and Silicon Valley and the Woke movement than most Brits and certainly most Conservatives. This could harm our democracy. They are not afraid to use leverage either – look at the promise to push us to the back of any trade negotiations in order to punish us for the Brexit.

    I would not want to invite Trump to dinner because he comes across as such a bore, but I’d prefer him to win this election and be President for another 4 years, whether I was in the USA or this side of the Atlantic.

    1. Nigel
      October 27, 2020

      Spot on. Ignore the personality, consider the policies.

      1. Martin in Cardiff
        October 27, 2020

        You don’t seem to take that approach with leaders, whoever, of the British Labour Party.

        Why the change?

        1. Lynn Atkinson
          October 27, 2020

          It’s their politics we hate! None of us would invite Kier to dinner, either, but that is incidental.

        2. Edward2
          October 27, 2020

          Overall the general public disagree.
          That is why the current government has an 80 seat majority.

    2. Lynn Atkinson
      October 27, 2020

      We have Boris ‘because he is such an engaging personality’. He’s killing us! Give me a bore who created peace rather than wars, wealth rather than poverty any day of the week.

      1. Fred H
        October 28, 2020

        engaging or oft times an idiot? Perfect for a Shakespeare play!

        1. Lynn Atkinson
          October 28, 2020

          Yep. A tragedy!

    3. DavidJ
      October 27, 2020

      Indeed.

  15. Ian @Barkham
    October 27, 2020

    Sir John

    Agree with your thoughts

    The warning to the UK is that the US as a democracy fired a shot across the bows in the last election to basically say, the concept of a political establishment is in itself anti-democratic. No one won but the establishment lost.

    The thoughts on this election, the greatness of the USA is being undermined by the lack of a proper candidate for the top job. As an outsider but and admirer of the system and its people – really is this the best you can come up with?

    The saving grace for the people, the checks and balances in place means that other than declaring war the White House doesn’t have real power.

  16. agricola
    October 27, 2020

    As outsiders to the event our interest should be in the impact the result might have on the UK/USA relationship. I leave it at believing that we would have a better relationship were Trump to retain the White House. Said based on what they have said and done and what their parties have said and done in the past.

  17. Caterpillar
    October 27, 2020

    I look forward to the piece on international policy. The Trump Administration’s progress on normalising Israel in the M.E., which may rely on the Administration’s policy towards Iran is gradually becoming successful (though some axiomatically define it as a failure).

    I also think the Administration’s (pre-Covid) success in helping the lower socio-economic groups has been remarkable; the opportunity zones policy, the funding of HBCUs (none of Obama’s Ivy League bias), the wage growth and employment numbers etc. Even the wish (though not yet implemented) to control low income immigration is a consistent position to aid the social mobility of those already in the USA in the lower socio-economic groups*. And of course, the Administration recognises the need for law and order so that the successes don’t get burned to the ground.

    I hope that when Biden and the Democrats win they do not throw away the ‘on the ground’ progress that has happened in the past few years, just for the sake of virtue signalling.

    (*Something Patel and the Conservatives do not care about in the U.K. as the so called income threshold shows.)

    1. Mitchel
      October 27, 2020

      Iran is being absorbed into the Sino-Russian bloc.Their foreign minister has made three visits to Moscow and at least one to Beijing during the travel ban/lockdown-clearly what they are discussing is too sensitive to be done remotely.

      I heard last week that Iran is replacing Erikson in it’s telecom networks with Huawei and I believe that the international arms embargo will shortly lapse and they may have Russian weaponry on their shopping list.

      1. Caterpillar
        October 27, 2020

        Is this axis in response to Trump, or consistent with Trump’s recognition of the world’s threats?

        1. Mitchel
          October 28, 2020

          It was coalescing before Trump- against US led Atlanticist globalism.This trio in reasonable harmony will dominate the Eurasian landmass and it’s trade corridors, as the Mongols did before them.

      2. James Bertram
        October 27, 2020

        More complex than this, Mitchel.
        Iran will have its own policies – it is a fundamentalist Islamic state. China and Russia are not. Iran is more like Turkey in its economic relations with Russia/China.
        China has its own Belt and Road initiative in this area (and includes Africa). Their aim is to be the number one global power, economically, and then militarily. They oppress Muslims in their western regions.
        Russia, too, intends to be a dominant power. There is considerable rivalry and mistrust between them and China. The Russian economy is heavily dependent on oil/gas (too, Iran); something largely China lacks. Russia aligns itself with OPEC currently. Also Russia is a major arms supplier (something Iran wants).
        Basically many differences between the three; sometimes these match, other times they don’t.

        1. Mitchel
          October 28, 2020

          Of course it’s more complex!I did’t have the time to write a treatise.Iran as a proud nation with a very long history will not be-or want to be -seen to as a vassal of anybody,but it’s options are severely limited for the forseeable future.I disagree with your likening it to Turkey,Turkey has more options(the west does not want to let it go for one thing)and is less trustworthy-in fact totally untrustworthy.It’s bombastic pan-Turkism will likely fall flat-Erdogan should be mindful of the fate of Enver Pasha-the power behind the Ottoman throne during WWI.Ousted by the Kemalist revolution he tried to stir up pan-Turkic sentiment in Russian Central Asia after the Bolshevik revolution but found little support-he was caught by a Mongol cavalry unit of the Red Army and beheaded.I believe his personal copy of the Koran is amongst the vast store of war trophies in the Kremlin arsenal.

          The Russian economy is far more diversified than you are lead to believe.Russia and China have quite a number of joint projects under way,much as the west would like to divide them.Their getting together is a game over moment – the world is big enough for the both of them.I’m sure the Chinese are mindful of their own long history-aggressive Han nationalism usually runs out of steam and decays quite quickly.

  18. Brian Tomkinson
    October 27, 2020

    It seems clear that Mr Biden does not have the mental capacity to undertake the responsibilities of President of the USA, regardless of his policies. The media here and in the USA have indulged in 4 years of Trump bashing and have ignored most of his achievements wwhwilst studiously avoiding reporting the numerous alleged improprietries about the Biden family and other Democrats. Mr Trump is not a traditional politician and to me that makes him a more attractive candidate as do his policies.

    1. Iain Moore
      October 27, 2020

      The US election has , again, exposed the political bias of our media. If a laptop from a Trump family member had been found Sopel would have been giving us minute by minute revelations from the lawns of the White House, as it is , just like Facebook and Twitter, our MSM has censored it . Shameful , utterly shameful, you might have thought that after Brexit they would be on their best behavior , but no, they don’t care, and that should be a warning to the Tories, do something about it or suffer the consequences in the next election. Their reporting on Covid and Schools meals here is also a warning.

      1. Stred
        October 27, 2020

        It is incredible to read that Conservative ministers favour a Biden presidency.. But then Johnson’s new evangelist policy for greencrap and lockdown is similar. And it would give them an excuse for Brino. We definitely need a new competent political party.

    2. Lynn Atkinson
      October 27, 2020

      +1 Biden mental capacity is reflected in his politics.

      1. Lifelogic
        October 27, 2020

        The evil lefty politics of envy, identity politics and apealing to irrational emotions over logic and what works.

  19. Robert McDonald
    October 27, 2020

    Its worrying that the largest world economy, and possibly the most influential, is likely to be led by two totally inadequate personalities. One too arrogant and self serving and one too old and void. I find Trump an awful man, yet I would still vote for him in front of Biden, I am scared of what the world will look like in 4 years if Biden wins, no one tries to escape from a capitalist country to get to a socialist one.

    1. Lynn Atkinson
      October 27, 2020

      See the 3 -4 million EU citizens in the U.K. opting-in to our clean Brexit.

    2. DavidJ
      October 27, 2020

      Trump’s biggest advantage is his not being a career politician with little experience of the real world.

  20. Nivek
    October 27, 2020

    “Mr. Biden [stands] for lives.”

    There is an argument to be made that the most important thing in American politics is “control of the Supreme Court”; that one of the most, if not the most, consistent topics that leading Democrats bring up in this context is Roe v. Wade; and that, therefore, one of the most, if not the most, important topics for those Democrats is abortion. At time of writing, I do not believe that Mr. Biden has confirmed whether or not he desires to increase the number of Supreme Court justices subsequent to Mrs. Barrett’s confirmation; nevertheless, in the context of this particular argument, I suspect it would be strongly disputed by many Americans that the Biden-Harris ticket stands “for lives”.

    1. Lynn Atkinson
      October 27, 2020

      Interesting that in New Zealand the PM, a woman, has legislated for abortion up to the time of birth! So killing is now legal in ‘caring’ NZ, the only discussion is the age limit.

    2. Barbara
      October 27, 2020

      It is the anniversary of the Abortion Act passing, 53 years ago today. Since then, due to its passage, nine million babies have been legally killed.

  21. Narrow Shoulders
    October 27, 2020

    Thought you might cover, climate change, Diesel SUVs and cyclists today Sir John.

    #hypocrites

  22. DOM
    October 27, 2020

    The Democrat’s endorsement of Critical Race Theory which Badenoch declared a criminal offence will lead to social dislocation. The innate racism, bigotry and hate embedded in its assumptions is utterly without precedent in modern times though its origins are well known dating back to Germany, 1929 in which racial identity formed the core of the political movement that some deceptively label Nazi but more accurately National Socialism

    I would like to see this theory labelled a criminal offence and an incitement to race hate to prevent resentment between peoples of differing physical qualities

    The Tories should be exposing the fascism of the left and their use of extremist ideas to stoke hate not embracing their ideas

    We need to embrace individual freedom and humanity not political ideology inspired by racial bigotry

  23. Bryan Harris
    October 27, 2020

    I would sum it up by saying that Trump represents everything decent about America, while Biden is 10 times more destructive of society than the socialist candidates for PM we have had in this country combined, from Foot to Corbyn.

    Look beyond the headlines, because the US MSM want Biden to win, and just like our BBC they offer snippets of innuendo against Trump constantly.
    Trump is right about CV-19 as well as all the other issues, but do not expect any honest debate from his opposition

    A NYTIMES article about Biden’s son was banned across facebook and other social media websites, but You can say anything bad you like about Trump without any fact-checking.

    If Biden gets in our world, as we know it, will perish in a most painful way. Should Trump win, there is just a chance that he can get control of the NWO cabal that is out to take us back to the dark ages.

    1. Lynn Atkinson
      October 28, 2020

      Trump also represented everything decent about the U.K. he is half British, never forget.

  24. William Long
    October 27, 2020

    It would seem from what you say that our present Government will be very comfortable with a Biden victory, despite its leader’s friendship with Mr Trump. I think we would benefit far more from a second term for the latter.

    1. Lynn Atkinson
      October 27, 2020

      We need a government which would be very comfortable with a Trump victory.

      1. Fred H
        October 28, 2020

        We need a government which would be very comfortable with what they told the electorate they would do!

  25. Norman
    October 27, 2020

    ‘Wise not to comment’ – in your position, how true, Sir John!
    But I’m sure you’re aware that if the ‘Dems’ win (Biden/Kamala Harris), this already wobbly world will jolt sharply on its political axis, to the extent that you can forget Brexit. The unborn (ironically, especially the black unborn) will be even less safe: as will Jews and Christians worldwide (i.e. back to the norm for the latter, though they are as secure as ever). Teheran (among notable others) will rejoice, and the whole globalist programme will be accelerated. As for the state of Israel, the ‘Anti’, albeit subtly, will be ‘upped’.
    This is not a clash of personalities, but rather the Old World Order versus the New. And don’t the erstwhile powers that be know it!

    1. Mike Wilson
      October 27, 2020

      I keep hearing these expressions but don’t know what is meant by them. Could you define ‘Old World Order’ and ‘New World Order’ and explain why the ‘New’ wants to take us back to the Dark Ages?

  26. fedupsoutherner
    October 27, 2020

    Its Trump for me everytime. He’s for industry, America, less war mongering, wants to protect their borders and respects the fact that the UK wants to be a sovereign nation. Good luck Trump.

    1. Lifelogic
      October 27, 2020

      Indeed and he is almost among alone (among politicians) in being right on cheap reliable energy and the climate alarmism exaggerations!

      1. fedupsoutherner
        October 27, 2020

        L/L Yes, I forgot that very important point.

      2. Barbara
        October 27, 2020

        Indeed

  27. James Bertram
    October 27, 2020

    The future of the UK is dependent on this result.
    Johnson is delaying decisions until this result is known.
    If Trump wins they will implement The Great Barrington Declaration, and the rest of the West will soon follow – this CV19 panic will be over. If Biden wins then you will get continuing Lockdown, The Great Reset and the Green New Deal.
    If Trump wins, we will leave the EU (and hopefully rescind the WA/PD) fairly shortly. We will be offered a decent trade deal fairly quickly. If Biden wins we will get BRINO, and be ‘back of the queue’ for a US trade deal.
    If Trump wins, there will be pressure on us to not adopt 5G, and not to let our infrastructure (defence, power, water, telecommunications, transport etcetera) fall into the hands of China. Not so with Biden.
    Johnson is a ‘globalist’, and he and his Remainer cabinet are hoping for a Biden win.
    It has never been more important for the independence and economic success of this country (and in my opinion, for the free world) that, this time, the Republicans win.
    And maybe 5 years ago I use to think that I was from the left! With the way our country has been turned into a dystopian police state this year, and with no kickback from our politicians or media, I’m even beginning to have understanding for the American view of ‘the right to bear arms’.

    1. Martin in Cardiff
      October 27, 2020

      For those seduced by the herd immunity fallacy, consider this.

      https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-54696873

      And remember that – if you are lucky – you get old.

      1. miami.mode
        October 27, 2020

        ……if you are lucky – you get old………unless the views of your mate Andy prevail.

      2. ukretired123
        October 27, 2020

        Yes we oldies are lucky – that’s why in many parts of the world they are respected – tell Andy your twin.

      3. Barbara
        October 27, 2020

        Martin knows more than Professor Sunetra Gupta of Oxford.

        All hail Martin

      4. David L
        October 27, 2020

        That article over-simplifies the issue and thus comes to the wrong conclusion if checked against the immunologists who don’t follow the official line.(I’m no scientist or medic, but very worried by the conduct of our leaders and their advisers) Science should be about debate, but dissent is ignored by our government and press, hence many people are in a constant state of worry. Please Martin, don’t believe everything you read on the BBC. Be questioning, ask for for evidence from the wider medical and science communities.

      5. James Bertram
        October 27, 2020

        Well, nothing to do with my post above, Martin.
        Of course, when I read your name, Imperial College and the BBC together, I smell a rat.

        The article you reference was just dramatised ignorant BBC rubbish:
        Here is an authorative comment under the article:
        ‘If you clear virus then as with most infections, specific antibodies will naturally decline. You will however have sequestered ‘memory’ B cells (the ones that go on to produce antibodies when reactivated by a second exposure) & T cells where the cells themselves fight the virus: the basis of vaccination. Bottom line: Don’t panic! John (Emeritus Professor of Immunology, University of Birmingham)’

        This might help you understand better:
        http://everything.explained.today/Immunological_memory/

        Dr. Mike Yeadon yet again sums up the BBC immunity fear porn succinctly:
        ‘Incorrect. They’ve not studied immunity but instead the decay curve of circulating antibodies.
        It’s normal for antibodies to fall if the agent disappears. Not a good marker of immunity at all’

        If the article was true we would have seen hundreds of thousands of reinfections by now. Too, if true, why do you think a vaccine will produce a better long-lasting immune response?

        1. Caterpillar
          October 27, 2020

          +1,

          James Bertram,

          You are correct. I do find it concerning how the results were reported, and how some, though very clearly not all, experts took a particular narrative. The results seem to be, immune system works as expected, antibody studies probably under estimate number infected (hence infection fatality ratio lower, and more people with memory B and T cells).

          The exit route should be GBD (actually put in the resource and don’t succumb to the disgusting fatalism of the advisers), constant behaviour patterns and a micro/event focus on R.

      6. Lynn Atkinson
        October 27, 2020

        Ah – the BBC … that rings a bell.

      7. Anonymous
        October 29, 2020

        Martin and his propaganda links lol
        BBC are now laughing stock of world, the new Pravda

    2. Andy
      October 27, 2020

      You have already left the EU. Don’t you remember that Farage had a poorly attended party in Parliament Square – to celebrate the introduction of what he called the second worst deal in history – and Mark Francois failed to ring Big Ben.

      The withdrawal agreement is also a legally binding international treaty. And the Democrats have told you if you break it there is no US trade deal. And, in the US, Congress has to vote to approve trade deals. And the Democrats are all but certain to retain the House. So even if Trump wins you ain’t getting a trade deal if you rip up the WA.

      1. Mike Wilson
        October 27, 2020

        We don’t have a trade deal with the USA now. I don’t care if we never get one. Carry on as we are.

      2. James Bertram
        October 27, 2020

        Andy, the fact that you, The EU, and the US Democrats all want us to sign the WA just confirms my view that undoubtedly the best thing for an independent UK is to rip it up and walk away. Thank you.

        1. James Bertram
          October 27, 2020

          Not ‘sign’ – already foolishly done. ‘Complete’ is a better word.

      3. steve
        October 27, 2020

        Andy

        “So even if Trump wins you ain’t getting a trade deal if you rip up the WA.”

        You assume we want one.

    3. Lynn Atkinson
      October 27, 2020

      +1. Literally 1 man stands against the destruction of the western world – literally Hercules.

    4. Everhopeful
      October 27, 2020

      +1

    5. Christine
      October 27, 2020

      + 1

    6. Sharon
      October 27, 2020

      +1

    7. Barbara
      October 27, 2020

      + another 1

    8. Original Chris
      October 27, 2020

      Good post, JB.

      I believe that President Trump will win with a landslide, despite the voter fraud. The massive crowds at Trump rallies, the electric atmosphere of excitement and goodwill at these rallies, the “lines” for days before the ralliers, the huge boat parades each weekend, the billboards up, even in Hollywood, individuals landboarding down the street bearing Trump banners, the multimillion followers online of the patriot intelligence insider thought to be linked to P Trump, and so on….The evidence is right there before our own eyes.

      Who would pay attention to polls which predicted Clinton had a 90% chance of winning in 2016? There is a wonderful compilation of the media and celebrity hype about how candidate Trump would never win in 2016, enough to absolutely convince the naysayer that the MSM had an agenda, dictated by their handlers. See youtube for “People Who Laughed at TRUMP and said he would never be President – Funny Compilation”.

      1. James Bertram
        October 27, 2020

        I very much hope you are right, Chris.
        Fingers crossed.

      2. Lynn Atkinson
        October 27, 2020

        +1 I think he will win California!

      3. rose
        October 27, 2020

        Didn’t you love Jews for Trump cruising through Manhattan? And Filipinos for Trump in Beverly Hills?

    9. na
      October 27, 2020

      I’m even beginning to have understanding for the American view of ‘the right to bear arms’.


      In reality, all terrorism is done by State actors.
      The people will never rise up violently anymore.

      1. James Bertram
        October 28, 2020

        There may be trouble ahead with the Ulster Loyalists? (Handing over NI to the EU through WA/PD agreement; mass-unemployment from Covid-recession)

        1. Lynn Atkinson
          October 28, 2020

          There may be trouble ahead with the British Loyalists!

    10. rose
      October 28, 2020

      A lot of left wing people on Spiked seem to agree with you about Trump, James Bertram.

  28. Polly
    October 27, 2020
  29. a-tracy
    October 27, 2020

    The American race is just unedifying to watch. People say they don’t want politicians to obfuscate or not answer a question straight, but people can’t handle straight-talking from the hip, what they actually think, either.

    The media is to blame for a lot the silliness i.e. a fuss over the fly landing on someone’s head! The media told everyone Trump said to ingest bleach he never did and they cut his actual sentence off in half. I cannot stand this type of reporting. We hear so much about personalities in the media I don’t even know what the policies for the next four years are.

    One more thing Pelosi and Biden have both warned the UK. They say they support Ireland over the UK – when the UK has given Ireland although independent a total Common travel area withing the UK with free movement, free trade within Ireland, Irish people can vote in UK elections and claim all the benefits. Anyone that wants to attack my Country are a threat.

    The news anchors jumping on any perceived gaffe or conflict. Politicians manage this – by being incredibly utterly boring!

    You can’t pick who wins and loses a debate it is far more nuanced than that, people aren’t stupid either they can see when a biased moderator isn’t being fair and even handed. They remember being back in school and getting overlooked for the class favourite.

  30. glen cullen
    October 27, 2020

    When this country elected Boris we thought we were getting a Trump but we ended up with a Biden

    1. Martin in Cardiff
      October 27, 2020

      You minority can speak for yourselves.

      “We” my foot.

      1. Roy Grainger
        October 27, 2020

        So what did you think you were getting when you voted for him Martin ?

      2. ukretired123
        October 27, 2020

        On dear Martin in Confusion is upset again! Touchy as usual sadly.
        I agree with Glenn Cullen esp as he doesn’t hide his name…â˜ș

    2. Everhopeful
      October 27, 2020

      +1

    3. Barbara
      October 27, 2020

      Yup

    4. Original Chris
      October 27, 2020

      …we hoped, would be more accurate, gc.

    5. Fred H
      October 28, 2020

      When this country elected Boris we thought we were getting a Trump card but we ended up with a losing hand.

  31. formula57
    October 27, 2020

    I expect Trump to lose – and then declare himself a candidate for the 2024 election. (Remember where you heard this first!)

    1. Everhopeful
      October 27, 2020

      Oh dear!
      I thought Steve Bannon said that?

      1. formula57
        October 27, 2020

        You may be right: I do not notice Bannon.

        1. Everhopeful
          October 27, 2020

          Ah..maybe you and he are of like mind then?
          😎

  32. American mom
    October 27, 2020

    I disagree about Biden being for lives. How many people are dying due to lockdowns. Funny how nobody dips tracking and talking about those numbers daily. Record number of suicides of teens in Wisconsin ! Young people that could survive covid.

    1. Everhopeful
      October 27, 2020

      It is how the left ( who want to destroy the economy ) have hooked the gullible liberal “right” into this over-reaction to COVID.
      The left says that lives should come before the economy and that anyone who puts the economy first is basically a murderer.
      But we know what would happen if Marxism were established. Much death!

  33. George Brooks.
    October 27, 2020

    We, the general public, do not get a balanced view of the two US candidates as the media on both sides of the Atlantic hate Trump. To a lesser extent we have a similar problem here, insomuch, anything the government does however sensible or obvious is either criticised by the media or if reported will only get a very minor mention.

    Both the Labour party here and the Democrats in the US reckon that the only way out of this pandemic is to lock everybody up, bring the economy to a standstill and the virus will go away. Well, we tried that in the first half of the year and here we are now with spikes of infection popping up all across the North and to a lesser extent the Midlands and parts of London. Added to all this we have the ”climate change brigade” wanting to switch off fossil fuels over night with nothing in place for the future.

    Where have all the realists gone? Of course we need to improve the climate but be honest about what is needed and yet to be invented before trashing the economy and returning the world to the 18th century. Stop pandering for votes and establish realistic time scales for all this change.

    In the middle of all this we have the media standing on the side lines fanning the flames and achieving very little in the long term.

  34. a bad dream
    October 27, 2020

    After seeing footage of the police violence on Saturday towards lockdown protestors – the sight of these masked, uniformed thugs piling in and bashing civilians’ skulls is terrifying and something out of a dystopian novel

    Who is giving the police the order to bash lockdown protesters on their heads presumably for health and safety?

    1. Everhopeful
      October 27, 2020

      Are our police politically motivated?
      I always thought that the Home Sec was in charge of the police?
      Didn’t you?

      1. Barbara
        October 27, 2020

        Yes

      2. Original Chris
        October 27, 2020

        Our own MPs voted 333 to 1 to permit the police to use “reasonable force” to ensure people self isolated. Reasonable force equals very considerable force. You have them to blame, Everhopeful. The MPs have gone along with this, all except one Tory MP, Sir Charles Walker.

        1. Anonymous
          October 28, 2020

          Our own MPs voted 333 to 1

          ….
          How is this possible?
          By this time it was clear to all it was a pre planned hoax, did they know that or are they all thick?

    2. rose
      October 27, 2020

      Mr Khan?

  35. harvey
    October 27, 2020

    You start off by saying that you do not endorse one side over the other then you launch into a diatribe so that anyone knowing your form from before can see straight through.

    So why not give it a rest- anything we say here matters little now and anyhow it’s too late in the day to make a difference- In another week or so we’ll have a better idea and so will the EU and Boris- so sit back and enjoy

    1. Martin in Cardiff
      October 27, 2020

      Quite.

      1. Lynn Atkinson
        October 27, 2020

        Hankey Martin? Or a bucket? 😂😂

    2. Patrick
      October 27, 2020

      All the polls are showing Biden ahead.. more young people have been out early than before and voted by postal vote so it’s different from last time. I don’t think Trump can win especially if Texas goes for Biden

      1. rose
        October 27, 2020

        Hasn’t Biden lost Texas by saying he’ll phase out oil and stop fracking and gas?

      2. Fred H
        October 28, 2020

        the polls said Trump would lose last time.

  36. Original Chris
    October 27, 2020

    You make a false distinction when you claim that P Trump is for livelihoods and Biden is for lives. This represents a very grave misrepresentation of P Trump and I would ask that you withdraw it.
    P Trump is for BOTH livelihoods and lives and no individual has done more to enable the swift development and procurement of cures and vaccines and equipment, including ventilators, in order to save lives than P Trump.

    After he had been given the successful Regeneron treatment, he went on air to advise people that he was working for swift emergency authorisation of the medication that he had, as he wanted all the people in America to benefit from what he had. He is turning big pharma on its head, and over the next few years expect to see new cures for serious diseases from big pharma which was previously apparently focused on making money from treating conditions, rather than working on cures (which by their nature would stop the huge need for drugs to treat the conditions, and thereby the revenue coming in).

    1. Martin in Cardiff
      October 27, 2020

      John could equally have claimed to have been “impartial”, by ignoring policy and focusing only on character, all in the name of concern for the moral stature of the US as a nation.

      I wonder why he didn’t?

  37. Andy
    October 27, 2020

    Off topic.

    Imagine one of the world’s greatest sportsmen. A sportsman who has been at the top of his profession for more than a decade. A sportsman who breaks records week after week. A sportsman who is a global icon, a fashion icon, a moral icon and a great humanitarian. Imagine also that such a sportsman was British.

    It would seem impossible to me that such a person would not have a knighthood. But Lewis Hamilton does not have one. And I wonder why. If he was a posh white boy from Eton he would have been knighted years ago. But he isn’t so he has been ignored.

    I look at the list of MPs with knighthoods. Including my local MP who is particularly useless. Few have achieved anything of note beyond blind loyalty to their party. Most would not be widely recognised beyond Westminster. So why does the honours system reward them and not the person who is, arguably, our country’s greatest ever sportsman?

    1. ukretired123
      October 27, 2020

      Andy rest assured that Lewis Hamilton will get one but these honours sometimes “puts the mockers” on things before he has achieved his keep on-going milestones. I am sure it is not on his list of priorities but his historic legacy.
      As usual you are tyre-kicker boring…..Yawn. Just your 1st few sentences always tells me the angst coming up. Take the advice given last week and seek help, seriously.

    2. No Longer Anonymous
      October 27, 2020

      Plenty of leading white people didn’t get them either.

    3. Richard1
      October 27, 2020

      His job is to drive fossil fuel powered cars as fast as possible round and round a race track. I am surprised that someone with an hysterical view of global warming thinks that’s something to be applauded. I believe he is also a tax exile – which I assume likely disqualifies him from an honour. (Though it shouldn’t – he’s doing us a favour by pointing out how much better it would be to have a competitive tax system).

      We see the sort of lies and smears which fuel identity politics on the left.

      1. Lynn Atkinson
        October 27, 2020

        +1 and of course he is paid! Honours should be for unpaid work and gallantry.

    4. Original Richard
      October 27, 2020

      I don’t think any honour should be given to Britons who live abroad in order to evade UK taxes.

    5. Cheshire Girl
      October 27, 2020

      A moral icon, and ‘great humanitarian’! All I have noticed about Lewis Hamilton, is that he is a very rich man, who chooses to live in Monaco, and is very fond of calling people who don’t always agree with him, racists.

      And as for Knighthoods. They should be as rare as hens teeth, and only given to people who have worked for the good of society, and not just for personal enrichment.

    6. beresford
      October 27, 2020

      The honours system is about the ruling elite giving awards to each other to show what important people they are. A few celebs and sportsmen are also given awards to provide legitimacy to the process. The trophies Hamilton has won are a far more worthy indication of his achievement.

    7. Mike Wilson
      October 27, 2020

      The whole ‘honours’ system is utter bolleaux. For service to theatre. For service to music. For service to fashion. What about service to software development? Service to running a corner shop? Service to painting white lines on the road? Service to mending cars?

  38. Peter Parsons
    October 27, 2020

    One way to judge Trump is on his record. What did he promise last time round and what has he actually delivered on those promises?

    Trump promised to increase US economic growth to 6% per year, later reducing that promise to 4%. Up to the end of 2019, US economic growth averaged 2.5% per year, completely in line with the historical average. At no point in those 3 years did US economic growth reach 4%.

    Trump promised to eliminate the US national debt over 8 years. Up to the end of 2019, the national debt under Trump increased, both in dollar terms and as a share of US GDP.

    Trump promised an average of 2.5 million new jobs per year. In Trump’s first 3 years, 6.3 million new jobs (2.1 million per year) were created in the USA. In Obama’s second term, the comparable figure was 7 million.

    In Trump’s first 3 years, wage growth in the USA simply continued on the same path it had been on before his election.

    Trump promised tax cuts to help ordinary working Americans, yet the richest 1% of Americans benefited the most (20% of the total tax savings), with the richest 20% getting almost 2/3rds of the tax savings. In contrast, the poorest 20% benefitted by just 1.3%.

    Lots of promises made, none delivered.

    Furthermore, he USA, with less than 5% of the world’s population, has around 20% of the world’s Covid deaths according to the WHO. Hardly a ringing endorsement of how the virus has been handled in the richest country in the world.

    1. Original Richard
      October 27, 2020

      “Furthermore, he USA, with less than 5% of the world’s population, has around 20% of the world’s Covid deaths according to the WHO. Hardly a ringing endorsement of how the virus has been handled in the richest country in the world.”

      It is because the USA is the richest country in the world that they have such a large percentage of Covid-19 deaths :

      1) The USA is testing far more people for Covid-19 than poorer countries who cannot afford the tests and where people die untested/unrecorded for Covid-19.

      2) Because the USA is a rich country many people live longer and with health issues that would have caused their earlier death in poorer countries. Remember the average age of death from Covid-19 is 82.

      1. hefner
        October 28, 2020

        According to wikipedia ‘List of Countries by Life Expectancy’, the USA get the 38th position in the table with an average of 78.9 years (women 81.4, men 76.3). For comparison, the UK’s (in 29th position) figures are 81.2, 83 and 79.5, and Japan’s (2nd position) 84.5, 87.5 and 81.1.

        And if the USA has the highest GDP, its GDP per capita (purchasing power parity) is 7th according to the IMF, 8th (World Bank), 13th (CIA World Factbook).

        1. Peter Parsons
          October 28, 2020

          Indeed. Compare the USA’s death rate (675 deaths per million) with other rich countries like Japan (13 deaths per million), Norway (51 deaths per million), Qatar (the richest country “per head” in the world – 50 deaths per million), Singapore (5 deaths per million), New Zealand (5 deaths per million), Germany (120 deaths per million).

          REPLY And with Belgium, Peru, Italy, Spain all higher than USA with lock downs

          1. Peter Parsons
            October 28, 2020

            Reply to reply

            1, Italy, currently at 620 deaths per million, is not higher than the USA.

            2, The comment was simply about competence of management in rich countries, not how that management was done. Your comment about lockdowns is irrelevant.

          2. hefner
            October 28, 2020

            Reply to reply: Which simply shows that this might be more complex a problem than to be handled by your ‘pedagocrassy’.

        2. Edward2
          October 28, 2020

          Shhhh….Sweden

      2. Fred H
        October 28, 2020

        2) the richer people who can afford medical insurance cover, which is mostly first class.

      3. Lynn Atkinson
        October 28, 2020

        The USA and the U.K. suffer disproportionately from obesity, so that is a disadvantage re CV19. Taking that into account, they are doing well.

  39. Christine
    October 27, 2020

    If only all our elected politicians had fought together to get the UK an exit from the EU four years ago we might now have a trade deal with the USA. Instead, many have fought to undermine the voters’ wishes. Trump may come across sometimes as childish and arrogant but it is clear he loves the USA and the UK. Biden on the other hand will side with the EU to cause as much damage as he can to our country. I hope all you Remainers’ out there realise the damage you have done to our country in trying to thwart the democratically made decision to leave the EU. You should hang your heads in shame.

    I do not know what the presidential result will be but my worry is that voter fraud will be rife and will swing the result Biden’s way. As in this country, they also have a skewed media that covers up and manipulates the truth.

    1. Mike Wilson
      October 27, 2020

      If only all our elected politicians had fought together to get the UK an exit from the EU four years ago we might now have a trade deal with the USA

      Why the obsession with a trade deal with the USA? Who needs one?

      1. Lynn Atkinson
        October 27, 2020

        Why the obsession with an EU trade deal, who needs one?

  40. Everhopeful
    October 27, 2020

    People are incredible.
    Talented and skilful beyond imagination.
    Watch them on YouTube.They can make or mend just about anything.
    Yet rather than allow all this wonder to flourish and blossom, our politicians choose to screw up every single thing on the planet!

    1. ukretired123
      October 27, 2020

      +1

    2. Mark B
      October 27, 2020

      +1

      TBF it is not just them. They have an army of Civil Serpents to help.

  41. John Hatfield
    October 27, 2020

    God help the world if Biden is elected.

  42. Grant
    October 27, 2020

    Barnier has you all weighed up- he will string Frost and Boris along until the decision of the US election becomes clear and then the axe will fall- and all for insulting his intelligence and wasting so much time over thd past four years. Then with a no deal from America worth talking about except for rubber chickens and a minimalist one from the EU it will be over to Liz Truss to pull a few rabbits to save Tory/ ERG face so to speak- and here I am just sitting I can predict all of this.

    1. Mike Wilson
      October 27, 2020

      Who cares about a trade deal with the USA? Why do you attach so much importance to it? They are are second biggest export market and we don’t have a deal at the moment.

    2. glen cullen
      October 27, 2020

      The EU don’t have to do anything – we’ll cave in at the last minute

      There is absolutely no way we’re leaving the EU without a deal….and you can take that to the bank

    3. Lynn Atkinson
      October 27, 2020

      I have copied your ‘prediction’ and we can test it against reality shortly. Then you can apologise.

  43. Everhopeful
    October 27, 2020

    All respect and encouragement to Steve Baker MP!

    1. Anonymous
      October 27, 2020

      All respect and encouragement to Steve Baker MP!


      Is that the Steve Baker who did an impressive speech on March 22nd about creating a dystopian society only to ruin it and prostrate himself by saying at the end “but I know it is the right thing to do”?

      Things like that will NEVER be forgotten.

      1. James Bertram
        October 27, 2020

        +1

      2. Everhopeful
        October 27, 2020

        From “The Independent”.

        “A senior Conservative is urging fellow MPs to join a new campaign against the “irreparable damage” from Covid-19 restrictions – demanding a return to “life as normal” for most people.

        The open challenge, mounted by ex-minister Steve Baker, underlines the growing Tory backlash against the measures – even as they are likely to be tightened further as infections soar”

        At this precise moment in time that’s good enough for me! Clutching at straws maybe…but….Well ..it’s about time a Tory actually backlashed a bit!

      3. Lynn Atkinson
        October 27, 2020

        +1

  44. Jerome
    October 27, 2020

    You must be nuts if you want four more years of this clown.. if I had a vote it would be for honesty and decency.. yes the restoration of a semblance of decency to US and World politic’s the opposite to fake news and blatent lies that only Biden can bring.. so remembr whp said ‘build the wall’ and mexicans are rapists etc etc.. Yuk’s! You want four more years of that? Nuts!

    1. No Longer Anonymous
      October 27, 2020

      You’re missing the point.

      Both candidates are dire.

      This is because Reaganist/Thatcherist politics was effectively banned. Called ‘extremist’ when it was nothing of the sort.

      The people have despaired, revolted and opted for properly extreme politics and this will get worse.

      1. Fred H
        October 28, 2020

        yes both candidates in USA are dire. Reminds me of our possible upcoming GE.

    2. DOM
      October 27, 2020

      It’s blatant not ‘blatent’ and Biden is an existential threat leading a party that’s now become a vehicle for race hate, bigotry and organised social dislocation.

      Biden’s party will deliberately stoke violence and cause harm if it reflects badly on Trump. They are without question a party that is so far removed from the party led by JFK etal

      Biden will drag the US into abyss in the way the UK PM is exposing our nation to a vile form of identity politics and minority rights pandering to protect himself and his slimy party from accusations of allformsofphobia

      It’s pathetic pandering to the loudest, noisiest social injustice pressure groups led by the xtreme left and Marxist Labour

      1. Iago
        October 27, 2020

        +1, Dom

      2. hefner
        October 27, 2020

        DOM, How ridiculous can you be!
        I lived in the US mid-West for two years (mid-84 to mid-86) with Ronald Reagan as PotUS. I returned in the same area on holidays for three weeks in summer 2019 visiting old friends.

        The huge difference between RR and DJT, I was told, is that the present PotUS appears unable to think about problems and try to find a solution to them without having to ‘reduce his opponents to smithereens’. If some situations look extreme in today’s USA, it is because of the handling of politics by DJT, all problems have to be a ‘fight to death’ for DJT. If he had acted like previous Republican presidents he would have had a healthy chance to keep a Republican majority in the House of Representatives in 2018. Representatives being more linked to conurbations than Senators, DJT had already two years ago turned a large fraction of urban people against him.

        To think that the USA is full of Marxists is to have no or a very limited knowledge of America. Biden might be a risk because of his advanced age (for a politician) not because of his political outlook, which is not even social-democrat by European standards.

        1. Fred H
          October 28, 2020

          4 years older than Trump – who survived Covid!

        2. Lynn Atkinson
          October 28, 2020

          By whom ‘were you told…’ ? If they were your friends, obviously not Republicans

          1. hefner
            October 28, 2020

            Good Americans who had been very happy with PotUS Reagan in the ‘80s having benefitted from tax cuts in those days.
            Last year they were rather disappointed as the tax cuts announced during DJT’s 2016 campaign translated only to a few tens or hundred $ less on their tax bills.
            Anyway the main thing was that they were much more worried by the climate created by ‘the winner takes all’ policies that DJT had been pursuing, and could not understand how DJT had reacted around the Charlottesville events two years before.

            In the ‘80s people voted Republicans or Conservatives, but neighbours of different sensibilities were still talking to each other. From what I heard from some of those friends this year (thanks to Teams, Zoom) right now with Covid and the ongoing electoral campaign people do not even say hello to each other from their respective driveways, and a lot of them are talking about the fears generated by these weapons-carrying people appearing several times a week on the TV news.

            But you appear to be a person hardly able to understand this kind of things.

          2. hefner
            October 28, 2020

            Not Conservatives … Democrats

    3. Lynn Atkinson
      October 27, 2020

      Yes – it was Obama who started building the wall. Didn’t you know that?
      Black voters have swung to Trump by 11%, young blacks by 19%! Democrats have demanded black votes and given them poverty and misery in return. If the battle is for power, then voters are beginning to understand democracy, when the North of England votes Conservative or ‘anti-Labour’ and black America votes Trump or ‘anti-Democrat’ they wield REAL POWER!
      Unless the electorate use their power they will never bring the political class to heel.
      Seems like things they are achanging, and not in the way the globalists planned.

      1. hefner
        October 28, 2020

        The barriers between the USA and Mexico were started in 1908 by the USA, other bits in 1918 by Mexico. These were extended in the 1920s to 1940s. PotUS George HW Bush pushed for another 14 miles wall cerca Tijuana in the ‘90s … but as our in-house specialist tells us ‘it was Obama who started building the wall. Didn’t you know that?’

        Gnarf, gnarf, gnarf, I’m going to p.. myself with laughter.

        1. Lynn Atkinson
          October 28, 2020

          HOME
          POLITICS
          POLITICS NEWS
          APRIL 6, 2019 4:36PM ET
          Trump Takes Credit for Obama’s Border Wall
          It’s a classic Trumpian move: claim credit for something that was actually President Obama’s doing

          Here is the ‘complaint’ by the Democrats! Actually the Mexican US border arrangements were a ‘fence’. Obama started building the ‘wall’.

          Sitting in a puddle Hefner? I expect that’s pretty standard for you.

        2. Edward2
          October 28, 2020

          You are only talking about border lines.
          Wall and customs borders were developed much later.
          Greatly increased by Obama who sent back loads of illegal immigrants.

          But no one must traduce the image of the saintly Obama.

          1. hefner
            October 29, 2020

            ‘Border lines’? In our 1985 holidays we were in South California and went from San Diego to Yuma to Organ Pipe Cactus National Park (AZ) following the border within a few tens of miles. A number of times we were near the border, and it was much more than a ‘border line’.

            But nobody must question the images than others have in their heads, mustn’t it.

            Obama sent back loads of illegal immigrants, indeed, but this did not prevent DJT from putting immigration near the centre of his 2016 campaign as if nothing had ever been done about the South border problem.

            As for Lynn’s comment about fence vs wall: already in the 80s, the fences looked pretty impressive to me. But it is true that DJT talking about a wall was a good electoral pledge. Along the 1954 miles long border, 654 miles of barrier already existed at the end of 2016.

            DJT promised to erect at least 500 more miles of wall. 133 miles of the existing barrier have been replaced since Jan’17 and roughly 200 miles of new barrier had been erected as of summer 2020. At least 300 more miles to do before next week. The contractors will be busy.

  45. Roy Grainger
    October 27, 2020

    I will be interested to hear your views on Trump’s foreign policies. The way he has de-escalated the North Korean threat and started to broker peace agreements in the Middle East look like major achievements to me. No new wars started either, unlike some of his predecessors.

    1. Lynn Atkinson
      October 27, 2020

      +1 unprecedented achievement, he is a deal maker, the only one!

    2. rose
      October 27, 2020

      And the Iranian terror was decapitated without starting a war.

      The Germans have been made to stump up for NATO.

      Trump is on good terms with many of the leaders outside Europe who matter.

    3. hefner
      October 29, 2020

      Read John Bolton’s ‘The room where it happened’ and see for yourself what a seasoned policy adviser (who had worked for Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, George Bush and DJT) thinks about the present PotUS’s foreign policy. It is likely to be more relevant than Sir John’s musings.

      1. Edward2
        October 29, 2020

        The man who was sacked by President Trump.
        Bitter?

        1. hefner
          November 1, 2020

          Funny you say that, as even Fox News accepted that Bolton had tended his resignation letter on a Tuesday evening and Trump’s Twitter post saying that he had sacked Bolton came about twelve hours later on Wednesday morning. But who am I to try to prevent you from believing in ‘fairy tales’.
          BTW have you read the book?

  46. Anonymous
    October 27, 2020

    Democrats follow orders of CFR, Trump does not, hence no wars.

    1. Lynn Atkinson
      October 27, 2020

      +1 – better than no wars, peace!

  47. Lester Cynic Beedell
    October 27, 2020

    Tut tut another post has vanished without trace!
    What terrible thing did I write?

  48. Harmon
    October 27, 2020

    When I look at America I see sixty per cent of people never held a passport they never travelled anywhere outside of their own country they do not read anything worthwhile and so have no other way of seeing things. Then on the other hand if sixty per cent are creationists- they believe the world was created four thousand years ago because the bible says? So under the circumstances I am not at all surprised they can believe in any old garbage and fake news coming from one Donald Trump. Looking from the outside we Westereners know most of the garbage coming from him is nonsense but we have got used to it over the years and so dismiss it- it passes over our heads- but that is not the same for the rednecks who soak it all up and so if anyone thinks we have something to gain by putting our store in this degenerate well? am sorry it would bé a big mistake

    1. rose
      October 28, 2020

      “When I look at America I see sixty per cent of people never held a passport they never travelled anywhere outside of their own country ”

      People have been saying this in a superior way for a lifetime. But it is only the equivalent of our not going outside Europe which was normal for most people until the millennials went further afield in their long haul flights.

  49. rose
    October 27, 2020

    A big difference between their election and ours is that one of the candidates is able to campaign hard on the side of “God, guns, ‘n’ oil.”

    1. Fred H
      October 28, 2020

      and walls and Chinese dirty tricks.

  50. turboterrier
    October 27, 2020

    I think that a lot of people would in their droves sign up for a politician and his party who wants to make Britain great again , who will throw out all this green crap and generate real jobs supported by cheap reliable energy available 24/7, to reduce the billions being wasted on all these “makes the politicians fill good” projects when in reality we are throwing money at meals for children, can we dare to ask what their parents are doing.? This country as it is ihas got itself on the slippery slope to total disaster. Where is the leader who will command the total respect and trust of the country with the ability to say “dont look now but follow me”The current crop of Westminster inmates leave a hell of a lot to be desired.

    The main central offices of the main political parties do three fifths of nothing in improving the quality of our politician and eventually our leader.

    1. Lynn Atkinson
      October 28, 2020

      Too bloody true, that is where our energy and resources needs to be directed.

  51. Lindsay McDougall
    October 27, 2020

    Forgive me looking at this choice from a UK point of view, not an American one. Trump is favourably disposed towards this country and will side with in any dispute with the EU.

    Biden is an Irish American who can be guaranteed to attempt to meddle in the affairs of Northern Ireland, to our detriment. He places relations with the EU above relations with this country. On the campaign trail he has denounced Trump’s friendly relations with any number of ‘thugs and dictators’ and has said that he (Biden) will stand up to them. I feel a few wars involving American ground troops coming on – no doubt accompanied by an invitation to the UK to join in.

    If the choice is between an appalling man and a man with appalling policies, give me the appalling man any day of the week.

  52. M Brandreth- Jones
    October 27, 2020

    Do you think these figureheads really have clout or are they too puppets of the underlying mob?

    1. Lynn Atkinson
      October 28, 2020

      One is a figurehead. The other has no underlying mob as we know from the wails of the disenfranchised potential underlying mob.

  53. beresford
    October 27, 2020

    The inevitable mass drowning in the Channel has now occurred and the same nonsense is being spouted by commentators who are not prepared to grasp the nettle. It is said that ‘agreement with the French’ is required, but the French don’t want these people and have no incentive to agree to their return. We must destroy the ‘evil smugglers’, but of course the migrants know they are committing an illegal act and are not innocent victims. The ‘safe passage to Britain to apply for asylum’ is proposed, but we know that once on our territory the outcome of the asylum claim is almost irrelevant as we can’t deport them. So the alternatives are Open Borders until conditions here have deteriorated to the point where nobody WANTS to come (and the British people have vanished into the history books in the process) or a robust Australian approach of zero tolerance of illegal immigration which makes it not worth trying.

    1. rose
      October 28, 2020

      Isn’t it terrible that this even needs saying?

    2. Iain Moore
      October 28, 2020

      I see the BBC and charities are shamelessly exploiting the drownings as a means to get out of country asylum claims, which will be the same as open borders to anybody. With UN classing 60 million people as refugees, an 200 million people as migrants, we would be very quickly overwhelmed. As the consequences of out of country asylum claims are pretty obvious they must want us to be overwhelmed, and all part of their desire to destroy us as a country.

  54. Fred H
    October 28, 2020

    what about the running mates?
    After four years at Howard, Kamala Harris went on to earn her law degree at the University of California, Hastings, and began her career in the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office. She became the district attorney – the top prosecutor – for San Francisco in 2003, before being elected the first woman and the first black person to serve as California’s attorney general, the top lawyer and law enforcement official in America’s most populous state.
    In her nearly two terms in office as attorney general, Ms Harris gained a reputation as one of the Democratic party’s rising stars, using this momentum to propel her election as California’s junior US senator in 2017.
    Alameda County deputy district attorney Kamala Harris at the Alameda County Superior Court in Oakland, California on 28 March 1997.
    Since her election to the US Senate, the former prosecutor gained favour among progressives for her acerbic questioning of then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and Attorney General William Barr in key Senate hearings.
    When she launched her candidacy for president to a crowd of more than 20,000 in Oakland, California, at the beginning of last year, her 2020 bid was met with initial enthusiasm. But the senator failed to articulate a clear rationale for her campaign, and gave muddled answers to questions in key policy areas like healthcare.
    She was also unable to capitalise on the clear high point of her candidacy: debate performances that showed off her prosecutorial skills, often placing Mr Biden in the line of attack.
    A California Democrat with a law enforcement resume, Ms Harris tried to walk the fine line between the progressive and moderate wings of her party, but ended up appealing to neither, ending her candidacy in December before the first Democratic contest in Iowa in early 2020.

  55. Sylvia Priest
    October 30, 2020

    Revealing Joe Biden’s deep ties to the radical ‘Great Reset’ movement and its globalist leaders – Are Boris and Biden on the same path?

    On November 3, Joe Biden could be elected the next president of the United States, but most Americans still do not know the truth about Biden’s radical ideology.Despite having sold himself as a “moderate” Democrat for decades, Biden has consistently shown that his views on globalism and America’s place in the world are far from mainstream.This argument is best proven by examining Biden’s close ties to the World Economic Forum, which is now pushing for a remarkably troubling “Great Reset” of capitalism, and the many statements Biden has made over the past several years echoing Great Reset ideology.

    The Great Reset movement has been widely adopted by numerous world leaders, including the head of the United Nations, Prince Charles, the International Monetary Fund, international trade unions and CEOs of major corporations.

    Using the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change as the justifications for a fundamental transformation of the world’s economy, the Great Reset movement aims to destroy modern capitalism and replace it with a system that embraces numerous left-wing social programs, such as basic income systems and the Green New Deal, as well as force all corporations around the world to adopt leftist social justice causes.

    In an article published on the World Economic Forum’s website, WEF founder and Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab — who is spearheading much of the Great Reset movement globally — wrote “the world must act jointly and swiftly to revamp all aspects of our societies and economies, from education to social contracts and working conditions.””Every country, from the United States to China, must participate, and every industry, from oil and gas to tech, must be transformed,” Schwab also wrote. “In short, we need a ‘Great Reset’ of capitalism.”

    Schwab and other supporters of the Great Reset blame many of the world’s problems on the perceived failure of the existing “social contract” and what they call “shareholder capitalism” — the current economic system in much of the Western world.Under “shareholder capitalism,” individuals can buy shares of companies, which are then expected to produce goods and services they can sell to customers for a profit.   
    .Additionally, just like the World Economic Forum and supporters of the Great Reset, Biden has said government should use the coronavirus pandemic as a justification to “rewrite the social contract” of the United States.Biden’s “Build Back Better” plans also come straight out of the Great Reset movement’s playbook. For many years, supporters of the Great Reset at the World Economic Forum and elsewhere have talked about “building back better” by dramatically expanding the power of government, pursuing costly “green” infrastructure plans and substantially increasing the authority of international institutions.
    Biden’s proposals would do just that, and the “Build Back Better” name is just too similar to what others affiliated with the Great Reset movement and/or the World Economic Forum have said to be a mere coincidence.Boris is using the same slogan… is he also using the British People to implement the above?  

  56. Sylvia Priest
    October 30, 2020

    We must all hope that President Trump is re-elected.

  57. Sylvia Priest
    October 30, 2020

    Revealing Joe Biden’s deep ties to the radical ‘Great Reset’ movement and its globalist leaders – Are Boris and Biden on the same path?

     Biden has consistently shown that his views on globalism and America’s place in the world are far from mainstream.This argument is best proven by examining Biden’s close ties to the World Economic Forum, which is now pushing for a remarkably troubling “Great Reset” of capitalism, and the many statements Biden has made over the past several years echoing Great Reset ideology.

    The Great Reset movement has been widely adopted by numerous world leaders, including the head of the United Nations, P****e Ch***s, the International Monetary Fund, international trade unions and CEOs of major corporations.

    Using the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change as the justifications for a fundamental transformation of the world’s economy, the Great Reset movement aims to destroy modern capitalism and replace it with a system that embraces numerous left-wing social programs, such as basic income systems and the Green New Deal, as well as force all corporations around the world to adopt leftist social justice causes.

    In an article published on the World Economic Forum’s website, WEF founder and Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab — who is spearheading much of the Great Reset movement globally — wrote “the world must act jointly and swiftly to revamp all aspects of our societies and economies, from education to social contracts and working conditions.””Every country, from the United States to China, must participate, and every industry, from oil and gas to tech, must be transformed,” Schwab also wrote. “In short, we need a ‘Great Reset’ of capitalism.”

    Schwab and other supporters of the Great Reset blame many of the world’s problems on the perceived failure of the existing “social contract” and what they call “shareholder capitalism” — the current economic system in much of the Western world.Under “shareholder capitalism,” individuals can buy shares of companies, which are then expected to produce goods and services they can sell to customers for a profit.   
    .Additionally, just like the World Economic Forum and supporters of the Great Reset, Biden has said government should use the coronavirus pandemic as a justification to “rewrite the social contract” of the United States.Biden’s “Build Back Better” plans also come straight out of the Great Reset movement’s playbook. For many years, supporters of the Great Reset at the World Economic Forum and elsewhere have talked about “building back better” by dramatically expanding the power of government, pursuing costly “green” infrastructure plans and substantially increasing the authority of international institutions.
    Biden’s proposals would do just that, and the “Build Back Better” name is just too similar to what others affiliated with the Great Reset movement and/or the World Economic Forum have said to be a mere coincidence.Boris is using the same slogan… is he also using the British People to implement the above?  

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