Mr Brightside: They Care Only About Themselves 

 
“All over people changin’ their votes
Along with their overcoats
If Adolf Hitler flew in today
They’d send a limousine anyway” 
 

I really, really didn’t want to write about the grooming gangs scandal, but it just doesn’t go away. My issue isn’t with the subject, it’s a disgrace and perpetrators deserve all they get, it’s with cheap sensationalists (they discredit the term “politician”) who care nothing for the victims but are just using them for their own self-interest! 

 
This whole shitshow was started by some too rich weirdo from the US who, not content with causing trouble there, is carousing round the globe trying the same. 

There is a simple truth; The core allegation of a cover-up is false.  

PM Starmer did not cover up abuses, totally the opposite. He brought the first case against an Asian grooming gang and drafted new guidelines for how the Crown Prosecution Service should deal with cases of sexual exploitation of children, including the mandatory reporting of child sex offenses. 

Under Starmer’s leadership as director of public prosecutions, a landmark prosecution in Rochdale paved the way for grooming trials around the country, and he introduced reforms making it easier to bring complex sex offence cases. 
 

‘This whole shitshow was started by some too rich weirdo from the US’

 
There was an inquiry with a report published in 2022. Labour’s choice not to hold another inquiry when recommendations of the first one are still being implemented is the same decision the Tories made when they were in government. 

Only that doesn’t make headlines. It’s much easier to stoke discontent, and give the bigots in the Tory media something to sensationalise.  

The generation of capable Tories that populism disenfranchised, such as the former Tory attorney general Dominic Grieve get it. He posted on “X”: “Baseless innuendo does not contribute to serious debate.” 

There is nothing new in the hard-right using this scandal to create trouble, the BNP tried this some 15-yrs ago, reportedly distributing leaflets reading “Our Children Are Not Halal Meat”.  

Today, we have talentless Tories and the vacuum that is Reform chanting the same bilge. They should have learnt from the summers riots; violent rhetoric has violent consequences 
 

‘we have talentless Tories and the vacuum that is Reform chanting the same bilge’

 
Farage has become adept at dancing round the outside of controversy, For example, whist he wouldn’t personally call Jess Phillips “a rape-genocide apologist” he was happy for Musk to do so.  

Farage wasn’t so energised when a civil trial concluded that his friend Donald Trump had sexually abused the writer E Jean Carroll, or when Trump proposed Matt Gaetz – who was facing allegations (which he denied) of sex with a minor – for attorney general.  

Then there is Farage’s deputy, Richard Tice who tweeted that grooming gangs were a “horrific stain” on the establishment. Sammy Woodhouse, a victim of the Rotherham  abuse, claimed that she’d offered six months previously to work with him on highlighting sexual exploitation and “you didn’t give a shit”. 

Farage, as he continually displays, is an opportunist. The idea of a national inquiry didn’t come from his party, it came from Oldham’s then Labour-led council, who wanted another inquiry to restore public confidence amid a series of online conspiracy theories about a supposed cover-up of grooming gangs. When the Home Office minister Jess Phillips turned them down, as her Tory predecessor had before her, Reform saw an opportunity. 

However, the winner in the opportunist stakes is Robert Jenrick, a rabble-rouser of no fixed abode. He has osmosed from David Cameron wannabe who was a soft-hearted liberal in favour of remaining in the EU, to the minister who was happy to expedite a planning permission for a pornographer and Tory donor, to todays hard-right headline grabber wanting to deport every immigrant in sight. 
 

‘the winner in the opportunist stakes is Robert Jenrick, a rabble-rouser of no fixed abode’

 
He almost puts Saul’s conversion on the road to Damascus in the shade! 

This is a man who was part of the Tory government who chose not to any of the Jay Enquiries recommendations. 

This is little more than immigrant bashing. Jenrick sees that as the real problem; multiculturalism, men of Pakistani origin “importing … people from alien cultures”. It’s just him paving the way for another leadership bid. 

In conclusion, neither Farage, Musk, Jenrick, or Tommy Robinson give a flying whatsit about women’s issues. They made a speech or put forward a policy dedicated to advancing them. 

Robinson came close to collapsing a grooming trial, which would have forced the victims to relive their terror as they would have been required to.  
 

‘Given that our sensational protagonists have no real interest in women’s issues, I suspect they will soon see another opportunity and move on’

 
Threats of rape and killing women are constantly posed on “X”, and nothing gets done about it. Musk would be better served getting his own house in order first. For more on this see an article from November 2024, “Agent Orange”. 

The Tories righteous indignation is naked self-interest; Boris Johnson, still a hero to many of those calling for a new national inquiry, described holding national inquiries into child sexual abuse as money “spaffed up the wall”. 

Moving on, there is an old saying; “todays news is tomorrow chip wrapper”. Given that our sensational protagonists have no real interest in women’s issues, I suspect they will soon see another opportunity and move on. 

That opportunity is likely to be the economy, with sterling (“GBP”) falling against the dollar (“USD”), and gilts selling off, that yields are increasing. N.B., Rising yields make it more expensive for the government to finance its debts. 

Let’s deal with GBP first which is currently C. 1.23 against USD. As a benchmark, GBP ended 2016 (the year of the Brexit referendum) around 1.22-1.23. Another example would be September 2022, when the Truss mini-budget saw GBP trade between 1.07 – 1.13. Move on, nothing new here! 

Turning to Gilts, the following graph makes interesting reading:  
 

 
 

Central governments slashed interest rates post the GFC, and only started to increase them post-Covid as inflation took hold, due to supply chain issues exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Therefore, the headline “Gilt yields soar to pre-2008 levels is fundamentally misleading. Yes, they are maybe 50bps too high, but all we are seeing is a return to the normal. 

Bond investors expect a “real return” on their investment, meaning that the yield should be in excess of inflation, which is proving to be more persistent than previously thought, therefore interest rates are not coming down as quickly as people hoped. 
 

‘the headline “Gilt yields soar to pre-2008 levels” is fundamentally misleading’

 
Inflation is a global issue, borrowing costs have also been going up in the US, Japan, Germany and France. 

Added to more persistent inflation are concerns is Trump’s pledge to bring in tariffs on goods entering the US and to cut taxes, which could further fuel inflation. 

Domestically, investors will also be concerned about the economy underperforming. Inflation is at its highest for eight months – hitting 2.6% in November – above the Bank of England’s 2% target – while the economy has shrunk for two months in a row. These concerns are adding to pressure on GBP, that is driving down the pound, which typically rises when borrowing costs increase. 

So, what could chancellor Reeves do? 

The first two options are out of the Tory playbook; cut spending and taxes. Spending cuts will be gleefully jumped on by the Tories and their fawning media, with hospital waiting lists and freezing grannies to the fore. 
 

‘gleefully jumped on by the Tories and their fawning media, with hospital waiting lists and freezing grannies to the fore’

 
Another option, would be too increase tax revenues; cue “tax and spend” headlines. 

Or, she could raise the level of her own fiscal ceiling allowing us fund higher borrowing costs; queue “the country is going bust” headlines. 

In short, it’s Catch-22, she’s fucked whatever she does. 

Ed Davey, the LibDem leader, is often the unsung voice of reason, he suggested:  

“Instead of jetting off to China, the chancellor should urgently come before the House of Commons to cancel her counterproductive jobs tax and set out a real plan for growth. 

“The country is paying an ever-higher price for the total mess the Conservative Party made of our economy, and the chancellor needs to realise that she’ll never dig us out of this hole without a far more ambitious plan to grow our economy, including rebuilding trade with Europe. 
 

‘In short, it’s Catch-22, she’s fucked whatever she does’

 
The government’s misguided jobs tax is hurting businesses and hitting investment badly, meaning it will hold back growth while failing to raise the funding the chancellor claims for the NHS. 

The chancellor should look instead at our plans to raise revenue without hitting jobs and growth, by raising taxes on the profits of the big banks, social media giants and online gambling firms – all of which are making eye-watering profits while ordinary families struggle.” 
 
Let’s examine his points: 
 

• “Counterproductive jobs tax” refers to the hike in employers NIC. This certainly has a disproportionate impact on smaller businesses and aids those playing in the gig economy. 

• “The country is paying an ever-higher price for the total mess the Conservative Party made of our economy”. Correct. 

• “More ambitious plan to grow our economy, including rebuilding trade with Europe”. Europe is indisputability our largest trading partner therefore we need to really ourselves with them. And, stop being so pessimistic. 

• “Raising taxes on the profits of the big banks, social media giants and online gambling firms”. I would add oil companies to the list! 

 
Clearly, this would lead to accusations that we are turning into communists, but hey, so what. Better than turning into fascists. Certainly no worse 

There is a final point to be made; bond markets expect to see competent government and politics. What we are currently seeing in many countries is a series of populist politicians and opportunists sandbagging incumbent governments for their own ends. The noise they are creating destabilises the government and politics of a country, thus reducing investor confidence. 
 

‘If you see a populist near you telling you they will solve all your problems, they are lying. How do I know? Their lips moved!’ 

 
The naked self-interest that sparked headlines about grooming gangs, fuelled by misinformation and mischief making, detracts from the main debate on the economy and growth. 

As an observer, the far-right, within which I include the Tories, fascinate me. They wrap themselves in the flag to show their love of country, but then so did Oswald Mosley’s Blackshirts, and the Nazi’s loved a flag too. This attachment to the flag is supposed to highlight their love of country, but has this patriotism turned into nationalism? 

In his 1945 essay “Notes on Nationalism”, George Orwell wrote: “Patriotism is of its nature defensive…. Nationalism, on the other hand, is inseparable from the desire for power.” 

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notes_on_Nationalism 

This sentence neatly encapsulates the Tory party, whose lust for power overrides everything. It’s that smug assumption that they know best, that they are better. Older working-class people vote Tory because it was bred into that their “betters” know best. This might also explain why the majority are monarchists.  

“The upper class know best” is based on an assumption that people from the highest social class have superior knowledge, judgment, and understanding of society. They are the “elite”, their perspective is the most valid and should be prioritized over others, regardless of the situation or issue at hand. 

Yes, this sounds Victorian and Edwardian but that is where the hard-right want to transport us back to. Part of those eras was wealth and income inequality. 

If you see a populist near you telling you they will solve all your problems, they are lying. How do I know? Their lips moved! 
 

“The bully boys are coming 

There isn’t long to go” 

 

‘This is perhaps one of more harder hitting pieces, which, perhaps, makes it somewhat more personal.

It is starting to feel like there is an orchestrated campaign to destabilise the country, both politically and economically. The latter will feature more in the next article.

Suffice to say, that the pound has been at these levels, and lower before. Both times the Tories were in government.

Gilt rates, to anyone older, are not high, in fact they look more like “normal”. The issue is that from 2008-2021 we had yields that were at historic lows. The problem is that anyone under 35 is panicking as they have only ever worked through artificially low rates.  

As to the political arena, it’s amusing to see Farage, so long the Tories puppet master, dancing to the tune of Elon, “the ketamine kid”.

As for the Tories, they are just a rabble, no longer able to pass themselves off as the “respectable” party. Since Johnson purged people such as Dominic Grieve and David Gauke they have plumbed the depths.

Today, the ketamine kid is endorsed by a Tory leader who has now accused the PM of refusing another inquiry into sexual abuse gangs because he “doesn’t want questions asked of Labour politicians who may be complicit”. This is the same Kemi Badenoch who, last year, called herself a “huge fan” of Musk, and who is now dancing to the same tune as Farage, as the far-right parties compete to reach the bottom quickest. Aided and abetted by the Daily Mail, Telegraph and GB News.

This is the Conservative party who for 15-yrs inflicted austerity on our children.

 

These are the facts:

·       Benefit cuts left 30% of children poor

·       A third living in often squalid private rentals

·       700,000 children in England in schools that need rebuilding

·       Infant mortality increased by 8%

It’s the old saying; “people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones”!

Lyrically, we start with the wonderful anti-fascist song “White Man in the Hammersmith Palais”, and continue that theme with the lesser known Poison Girls and “Bully Boys”.

Enjoy!

Philip.’

 
@coldwarsteve
 

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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