The Times They Are A-Changin’: Banana Republic 

 

 

“Heroes going cheap these days
Price; a bullet in the head”  

 

Adding to my enjoyment of breakfast this week, was Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader, attempting to justify the cost of the pension triple- lock. 

 

The question arose as she was explaining how the Tories would use benefit cuts to increase defence spending to 3% of GDP by 2030. 

Kemi denied that their plans to cut £4bn from housing benefits would make people homeless, but suggested some would have to “move somewhere cheaper“. 

The interviewer raised the point made by the party’s Shadow Foreign Secretary, Tom Tugendhat, who said  the pension triple lock is “simply not sustainable over the next 20-30 years“, and that the entire economy is “geared towards pensioners“, which is driving young voters away from the party. 

The IFS calculates that the triple lock adds an extra £16 billion p.a. to government spending compared to what would the cost of isolation the link to inflation. 

Of course, we mustn’t forget that the majority of pensioners vote Tory, whereas those on housing benefit almost certainly don’t. 

Whilst this appears to be a very expensive electoral “gift”, it pales in comparison to that offered by Trump this week. 

 

the pension triple lock is “simply not sustainable over the next 20-30 years“

 

Speaking at the party’s first-ever convention in the middle of a US presidential term, he proposed offering every adult American a $5,000 if Republicans win both chambers of Congress in November’s midterm elections. 

The audience loved it and Trump relished the moment. 

What isn’t known is who pays. There are C.270m American adults, meaning a $5,000 payout would cost the US government C.$1.3trn. 

Given the mess Trump has got himself into with inflation and unnecessary wars he needs all the help he can get. 

One of the oft cited issues is the expenditure of US military resources as they continue their futile attempts to bomb Iran into submission. 

Estimates, from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, found that the stock of Patriot interceptors fell from C.2,330 in February to 759 by July, and THAAD interceptors from 452 to C.234.  

As a result, planned strikes have had to be cancelled. 

 

‘Given the mess Trump has got himself into with inflation and unnecessary wars he needs all the help he can get’

 

These munitions are so technologically advanced that they cannot be mass produced. Rebuilding the arsenal is slated to take until he end of the decade. 

Back home, the ever needy Liz Truss continues trying to be relevant. 

Last year, Truss launched her podcast on YouTube, declaring it would bring a “counter-revolution” to take on the “deep state”, which, she said, “tried to destroy” her. 

Fortunately, no such revolution was forthcoming, and her rantings have gone largely unnoticed. 

Undeterred, Truss is trying again, joining the former TalkTV host Mike Graham’s YouTube channel, UKLive, which is marketed as being “the home of common sense”. 

This strapline might need investigating as Graham, after he interviewed the eco-activist and carpenter Cameron Ford, who was asked whether timber was a sustainable building material. Cameron said timber was “regenerative”, adding: “You can grow trees. You can’t grow concrete.” Graham replied: “Yeah, you can.” 

 

“You can grow trees. You can’t grow concrete.” Graham replied: “Yeah, you can.” 

 

Graham was dismissed from Rupert Murdoch’s digital channel after failing to cooperate with an investigation into a racist post that appeared on his Facebook account. The post inquired: “Why are we surrounded by non-white people?” Graham claimed he did not post it and that he was hacked. 

Turning to more sensible matters, this week saw the foreign secretary, Ed Milliband, announce sanctions on trade with Israeli settlements in the West Bank, with the government taking the position that Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territory was unlawful. 

The measures were coordinated with France, Canada and nine other countries that also introduced sanctions on Israel over the increasing expansion of settlements, which the UK government says is threatening the future of a Palestinian state. 

In a joint statement, leaders including Andy Burnham, Emmanuel Macron and Mark Carney said: “The time has come to take further action to uphold our commitment to protect the two-state solution, our interests and to stand up for our values, before it is too late.” 

Responding to the sanctions, the chief rabbi, Sir Ephraim Mirvis, called the UK sanctions a “dark day for British Jews” and said they could embolden people who “use hatred as a weapon against Jews”. 

 

“I want Jews, I want people of all faiths and none to feel safe in our country.”

 

Milliband, who describes himself as a “proud British Jew”, said he did not agree with Mirvis, in an interview on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.  He added: “Antisemitism is a scourge and an evil … I want Jews, I want people of all faiths and none to feel safe in our country.” 

Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar responded, accusing Milliband of spreading an “outrageous lie” and announced counter-measures including shutting the UK’s consulate in East Jerusalem. 

In addition, Israel has banned 11 UK MPs, including Jeremy Corbyn, Diane Abbott and all five sitting Green Party MPs, from entering Israel, accusing them of “antisemitic and anti-Israel activity“. 

In the US, the initial reaction was equally hysterical, with their ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, threatening retaliatory action over trade, but the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said the US would “obviously” not follow the UK government’s actions but did not want to see the West Bank destabilised. 

Other Jewish people seem considerably more enlightened as to the actions of Netanyahu’s regime. 

Jonathan Wittenberg, a senior rabbi of Masorti Judaism, said: “What is taking place today in the West Bank is a Chillul HaShem, a violation of God’s name of the worst order. We cannot stay silent. This is terrible for Palestinian people who want to get on with their lives in peace. It is terrible for Israel.” 

 

‘This is terrible for Palestinian people who want to get on with their lives in peace. It is terrible for Israel’

 

Jeremy Gordon, the rabbi of New London Synagogue, who came out in favour of Miliband’s sanctions, said: “It is wrong to argue for silence, inaction or ‘the use of carrots’ – appeasement – before the settler movement and those who support it. The playbook of these settlers is predicated on the notion that they will be appeased or ignored, and that well-meaning Jews the world over overlook their illegal and criminal actions.” 

At long last, there are signs of a UK government taking the right moral path. 

The Axis of Evil needs to be countered, the actions of the UK, France, Canada et al are a good start. 

 

“You could stand me up at the gates of Hell
But I won’t back down”  

 

One final piece this week as I couldn’t resist commenting on Trump’s $5k electoral “encouragement”.

He really is the gift that keeps on giving.

I am sure this will be gussied-up so it isn’t actually a bribe, only one in drag!

His reaction to 9/11 was both hilarious and deeply insulting. At one point, I thought he had saved NYC on his own!

I was pleased to see the government finally taking action against Israel. This has nothing to do with antisemitism and everything to do with combatting an evil regime.

The reaction from the US was telling: silence. It would appear they too, have woken up to the situation. Or, perhaps Trump has been played by Netanyahu once too often.

Domestically, this morning’s news that the UK economy grew by 0.4% last month took everyone by surprise.

I am starting to wonder if Burnham might be a “lucky” PM. Right time, right place!

Lyrically, we celebrate electoral bribes with “Banana Republic” by The Boomtown Rats“, and salute the actions of Ed Milliband with “I Won’t Back Down” by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

A good w/e to all.

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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