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We Don’t Need This Fascist Groove Thing, 23^rd July 2020: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Cornwall

‘When the men on the chessboard get up and tell you where to go

And you’ve just had some kind of mushroom, and your mind is moving low..’

In case any readers are wondering why there has an increased focus on the US in recent weeks, this column feels it is duty to report what is happening on the ‘mother ship’ now that we are the 51^st/53^rd state.

The ‘mother ship’ isn’t doing so well with over 3.8m confirmed coronavirus cases, and over 140,000 deaths from the virus. However, an Axios-Ipsos polling published on Tuesday reports that people that 31% are sceptical about the accuracy of publicly reported numbers for Covid-19 deaths

At least Trump appears to have finally woken up to the problem admitting during this week’s press conference that the pandemic is likely to ‘get worse before it gets better’. Adding that the pandemic will ‘probably, unfortunately, get worse before it gets better. Something I don’t like saying about things, but that’s the way it is.’

‘the pandemic will ‘probably, unfortunately, get worse before it gets better’

He also repeatedly used the racist term ‘China virus’.

This was a Johnson style U-turn after his claims last month the virus is ‘fading away’ and ‘dying out’. And having once dismissed its remnants as ‘embers’, he now conceded that it is raging in states led by Republican governors. ‘We have embers and fires and we have big fires and unfortunately now, Florida is a little tough or in a big tough position,’ he said. ‘You have a great governor there, great governor in Texas.’

He is now wearing and supporting the use of masks, however this belated appeal was best summed up by Heather McGhee, the co-chair of the civil rights group Color of Change, who told the MSNBC network: ‘This is three months too late and 30 or 40,000 lives lost too late.’

Biden, who we hope is the mother ships next president, reiterated his criticism of Trump’s response to the pandemic. ‘His own staff admits that Donald Trump fails the most important test of being the American president: the duty to care – for you, for all of us,’ the former vice-president said in New Castle, Delaware. ‘He has quit on you and he has quit on this country.

There is already much talks of a second wave, but, to my mind, this will be more like a prolonged episode of the first wave which seems to have been allowed to fester, or, as William Hanage, a professor of epidemiology at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health said; ‘I feel like it’s March all over again,’. ‘There is no way in which a large number of cases of disease, and indeed a large number of deaths, are going to be avoided.’

For a sane person it is almost impossible to argue with his prognosis, supported by data such as:

New cases nationally are up 50% over the last two weeks
The daily death toll is up 42% over the same period
Cases are on the rise in 40 out of 50 states
Last week America recorded more than 75,000 new cases daily – five times the rate of all Europe

However, whilst Trump has finally acknowledged the true extent of the pandemic, the blame game goes on, in addition to China, there is Dr Anthony Fauci, the country’s foremost expert on infectious diseases whose refusal to lie to the public has enraged Trump.

So much so, that the White House has published an op-ed signed by one of the president’s top aides titled ‘Anthony Fauci has been wrong about everything I have interacted with him on’ and by releasing a file of opposition research to the Washington Post.

Without doubt their most startingly blame came when Trump claimed the number of cases was a function of unusually robust testing, though experts said that positivity rates of 20% in multiple states suggested that the United States is testing too little – and that in any case closing one’s eyes to the problem by testing less would not make it go away. ‘We’ve done 45 million tests,’ Trump said this week, padding the figure only slightly. ‘If we did half that number, you’d have half the cases, probably around that number. If we did another half of that, you’d have half the numbers. Everyone would be saying we’re doing well on cases.’

Donald, if you only recorded half the deaths, you would be doing even better!

‘Donald, if you only recorded half the deaths, you would be doing even better!’

And back in the 51^st/53^rd state, Johnson has a new slogan to support the governments scheme to entice people back into cafes and restaurants, beneath the banner ‘Eat Out to Help Out’. Added to this he is strongly suggesting there will be a return to ‘virtual normality’ by November, ‘hopefully in time for Christmas’. They said it would ‘All be over by Christmas’ in 1914! It wasn’t.

If we are to experience a second wave of Covid-19, along with a hard-Brexit, this can only exacerbate the gathering avalanche of numbers that point to a possible economic disaster:

April saw national output drop by 20.4%,
Economists were reported to be anticipating growth of 5.5% in May the actual figure turned out to be an anaemic 1.8%.
According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, another big coronavirus outbreak in the UK could result in an unemployment rate of 15%.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that 650,000 people have lost their jobs since lockdown began, and vacancies are at their lowest level since records began two decades ago.
Up to 3m UK jobs are now reckoned to be at risk from companies’ unsustainable debts.

And, in response to calls for the government to consider a programme of bailouts, Rishi Sunak, whose furlough scheme is set to close in October, has so far said no.

I, and likely most others, can understand the Chancellors caution, It’s still very early in the crisis, so it’s impossible to tell how big the final bill will be. However, a figure more than £300bn for this financial year (April 2020 has been suggested by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), which monitors government spending ⁽¹⁾.

This, however, needs to be put into context; furlough itself costs £14bn a month (£168bn p.a.), compared to the C.£500bn to bail-out the banks in 2008, or a replacement for Trident which is reputed to be over £200bn ⁽²⁾.

‘the hardest hit will be those least able to look after themselves and will then be pushed onto benefits’

Given that the current ‘Trident’ has never been used, do we need a replacement? Wouldn’t we do better to protect jobs? Given that the hardest hit will be those least able to look after themselves and will then be pushed onto benefits, either way we pay.

Perhaps another example of where money might have been better used is the £705m that is about to be spent on a ‘Brexit border’ centred on a vast lorry park in Ashford, Kent, where hauliers will play out the futile stupidity of our exit from the EU on an hourly basis.

Or we could look to Cornwall where the councils chief executive, Kate Kennally, is calling on Johnson to fulfil his promise that Cornwall wouldn’t be negatively impacted by Brexit, and has renewed its call for the government to provide £700m in funding to fill the gap left by EU funding post-Brexit.

Cornwall was granted ‘Objective One’ status by the EU in 1999, meaning it was eligible for funding as one of the poorest regions in Europe. £700m is to cover the loss the region will suffer over the next ten years due to the impact of leaving the European Union.

For the record Cornwall has already received £350m between 2000 and 2006, and an additional £415m from 2007 to 2013. This enabled the funding of projects such as the ‘Eden Project’, a tourist destination which boosted the economy by £1.7bn, according to Cornwall Live. It also covered the cost of a new airport terminal and other facilities, a local university, superfast broadband and a business start-up fund, among other things.

At this point you may begin to wonder why 56.5% of Cornish voters backed ‘Leave’ in the 2016 referendum? Mercifully Google came to my aid and I found this rather patronising quote from a resident in Cornwall who shall remain nameless…

‘To keep it brief; there is far more worth fighting for in life than money. Funnily enough almost all of my well educated colleagues, friends and family all voted Brexit and still to this day believe we made the right decision. Like many down here, I didn’t believe all the tripe on the TV of either side anyway (like the media would have you believe). I was fully aware of the all the funding we received from the EU. I was even involved myself in a couple of significant infrastructure projects in the area over the last few years funded by the EU. But like I say dear boy, there is far more to life and standing up for the ‘right thing’ than money.’

In which case this is my response: ‘dear boy: you can stick your £700m where the sun doesn’t shine’!

‘You’ve made your bed, you better lie in it

You choose your leaders and place your trust

As their lies wash you down and their promises rust..’

Few things have highlighted this governments devious and dangerous ways more than this week report on Russian activity in the UK, one that was ‘hushed up’ before the election.

As expected, the report highlighted the fact that the City appears to be acting as a laundromat for Russian money, Russian interference in Scottish independence referendum, and the 2016 Brexit referendum. Much to my amusement one Russian is reported to have donated £160,000 to the party and got to play tennis with Boris. A word to the wise, don’t trust his line calls!

‘the City appears to be acting as a laundromat for Russian money’

What I find most sinister is Johnson’s treatment of Julian Lewis, who scuppered No 10’s plans when he was elected chairman of parliament’s intelligence and security committee (ISC).

As chair he then agreed to publish the previously blocked report. As a result of this decision Johnson effectively threw the veteran MP out of the parliamentary party by taking away the ‘party whip’.

Johnson’s need for revenge on Lewis may not have finished, there was an exchange in the Commons when Peter Bone for the Conservatives and Kevin Brennan for Labour asked Jacob Rees-Mogg to promise the government would not use its majority to remove Lewis from the committee. Rees-Mogg dodged their questions.

Concerns about his expulsion have been raised with members of the Tory backbench 1922 committee of MPs, and relayed to the chief whip, Mark Spencer, by the committee’s chairman, Graham Brady, with many urging Spencer to reconsider. ‘Reducing the majority is hardly a genius move, but this will backfire in the long run,’ said one concerned Tory.

‘I think there is a legitimate reason for being very concerned about what they’re doing’

Dominic Grieve, the former ISC chairman who was also removed from the parliamentary party over his Brexit views, said that Lewis’s treatment risked being part of a wider pattern of behaviour from No 10. ‘I think that you can see it as sinister, because the only rational explanation may be that the government wishes to politicise every aspect of government activity and parliamentary activity and party politicise it, that nothing else is tolerable and that they wish to exert constant and continuous control over a range of activities, which should be carried out by independent players,’ he said.

‘And if they’re doing that to this parliamentary committee, what will they choose to try and do it to next? I think there is a legitimate reason for being very concerned about what they’re doing, even though this seems to me to be the theatre of the absurd.’

‘To Russia I flew but there and then

I suddenly knew you’d care again…’

This is the behaviour of a dictator seeking to overcome the reality that the party gave him power and can take it away, not unlike Trump’s Republicans, filling positions of power with politicians too venal and frightened to challenge the boss.

One of Johnson’s few attributes is that he understands power, as a result any Conservative MPs who injure his bottomless vanity will not just lose the chance of a job in his cabinet or a retirement home in the House of Lords, he will attempt to destroy them. This is the behaviour of a small man, one who lacks genuine self-confidence.

‘the behaviour of a small man, one who lacks genuine self-confidence’

Another adviser facing the chop could be Johnson’s chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, who has openly distanced himself from Johnson’s plea for the nation to return to work, asserting he could see ‘absolutely no reason’ for it.

In Johnson we have a pale imitation of Putin or Trump, an insecure narcissist who turns on you if you don’t feed his ego. As critics have said, ‘he’s an abject, hectoring, incompetent show-off,’ ‘If you don’t love him or can’t fake a love for him, he will go for you.’

‘Well, you’re where you should be all the time

And when you’re not, you’re with some underworld spy

Or the wife of a close friend..’

Johnson’s press conferences contain less substance than ever, often it’s just repetition of Cummings’ slogans, in comparison there are the concise messages delivered by of his chancellor, Rishi Sunak, who sounds more like a leader with each appearance.

If ever proof was needed of his shallow stupidity and need to play the clown it came during last week’s PM questions, when Keir Starmer asked him if he had a message for the bereaved families of coronavirus victims.

Now, you would expect expressions of sympathy, reassurance, however hollow they might be, instead Johnson replied, ‘the leader of the opposition needed to decide which brief he was going to take, because at the moment he’s got more briefs than Calvin Klein!’

Puerile, stupid, insulting, are only some of the adjectives that spring to mind, what is clear is that he isn’t, and never will be, a leader of anything more than the Bullingdon Club.

‘Johnson is in thrall to a voracious mother ship that is waiting to asset strip the country’

Many commentators are calling for a compromise trade agreement with the EU, the reality is that Johnson is in thrall to a voracious mother ship that is waiting to asset strip the country. Within this asset stripping on of the biggest concerns is the Trump administration desire for any free trade to benefit America’s big healthcare companies.

The basis of our healthcare system is patient care, not the profits of private companies. That is why, when the government put the final version of its trade bill forward on Monday which provides the foundation of the UK’s post-Brexit trade deals, Labour argued that it should add a clause (Clause 17) stating explicitly that the NHS would be exempt from the provisions of any future trade agreements.

The government’s response, which was supported by every one of its backbenchers, was to insist repeatedly and forcefully that the NHS was ‘not for sale’, and any suggestion otherwise was just a scare story.

‘there is no safety net protecting the NHS’

If that’s true, why not accept new clause 17 and put it into law? The Tories replied that they didn’t need to, because the NHS is not for sale; having a law that states we’re not allowed to sell it might suggest that there was a chance we ever might!

Therefore, there is no safety net protecting the NHS and nothing to stop this, or a future Tory government, from allowing those protections to be undermined in a trade deal.

Worse still is the governments rejection of another proposed amendment, new clause 4, which would have prevented trade deals from being signed unless they were approved by parliament. Instead the government can agree whatever it wishes with Trump in secret then lay it before parliament, after which the agreement will officially become law 21 days later without any vote or substantive debate by MPs.At least Judas got 30 pieces of silver.

‘I wouldn’t even trust you

I’ve not that much to give

We’re dealing in the limits,

And we don’t know who with..’

Notes:

OK lyric spotters, some very Big Picture stuff from Philip; whilst some of Trump and Johnson’s shenanigans could possibly have been dismissed as the pair of them just being a bit rubbish, this is all starting to feel a lot more scary – particularly if you factor in the rising antagonism with China and the Russian Bear sticking its snout into UK life seemingly with impunity.

As the numbers continue to mushroom, it is difficult not to be astonished by the omnishambles that is Trump’s handling of Covid; but Boris has been giving him a run for his money – just how many ‘additional deaths’ are they responsible for? Strange how they’ve each fallen out with those attempting to deliver ‘the science’ – only a vaccine in double quick time may prevent a very bad situation turning into a disaster.

Whilst Boris is encouraging us to head out for some tax-payer subsidised nosebag, and reassuring us that it’ll pretty much be over by Christmas, Mr Sunak is left looking at the smoking embers of a trashed economy; but as Philip points out, £300bn is a chunk of change, but it’s only an HS2 and a Trident replacement – simples.

It’s impossible too to ignore the fact that the deadline for a Brexit deal is crashing towards us, with little cause for optimism; who would have counselled on the benefits of negotiating trade deals when your economy is shredded and there are travel restrictions in place. Ugly, and Boris’ behaviour appears very far from admirable and statesmanlike.

Bounteous gifts from Philip this week with fully forty, count them, forty points on offer; potentially some very big prizes to be had – electronic entries only, with masks required at all times.

First and some ‘stoned hippies’ straight out of left field; five points a piece for Jefferson Airplane and ‘White Rabbit’; then this week’s ‘gimmie’ just one each for the Jam and ‘Going Underground’.

Next, ‘a voice as smooth as velvet from an often-overlooked crooner’ and a film connection? Given the context, it had to be Matt Monro (5pts) and ‘From Russia With Love’; then, and here’ the clue – ‘it has never been disclosed who their subject matter was’ – Carly Simon (5pts) and ‘You’re So Vain’ (5pts). Lose one if you pronounce ‘apricot’ correctly.

Lastly, we’re back to an old fave – ‘the second coming of Manchester’s finest, time to dance’ – fair enough New Order (3pts) and ‘Regret’ (5pts). A good week’s sport, but those clouds are looking ominous – enjoy, while you can!

Philip Gilbert is a city-based corporate financier, and former investment banker.

Philip is a great believer in meritocracy, and in the belief that if you want something enough you can make it happen. These beliefs were formed in his formative years, of the late 1970s and 80s

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HP Source: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Cornwall