Written By: - Date published: 10:06 am, October 23rd, 2022 - 25 comments
Russ Jones has described the five tribes of the UK Conservative Party as including One Nation Conservatives, xenophobic English nationalists, wild-eyed libertarians, scatty populist bullshitters and machine politicians.
Written By: - Date published: 8:19 am, October 21st, 2022 - 20 comments
Over in the UK Liz Truss has bowed to the inevitable and has announced her resignation as leader of the Conservative Party.
Written By: - Date published: 8:05 am, October 17th, 2022 - 23 comments
The political and economic disasters now unfolding in Britain are the responsibility of the Conservative Party from their 2016 Brexit vote through to now.
Written By: - Date published: 9:44 am, October 15th, 2022 - 19 comments
The political question is whether Kiwis currently losing money on paper can remember this: all investment involves risk and it’s entirely fair for our government to only manage so much of that risk and for the rest to fall on us the investor. Will irrational anxiety beat rational risk in our upcoming politics?
Written By: - Date published: 9:19 am, October 15th, 2022 - 20 comments
I never thought that I would write a post suggesting that Boris Johnson’s reign as UK Prime Minister was not so bad. But that is the state that we have reached as Liz Truss sacks Kwasi Kwarteng for implementing her policies. And polling suggests that if an election was held tomorrow the Tories could win as few as four seats.
Written By: - Date published: 12:00 pm, October 13th, 2022 - 37 comments
Can you be too old to represent your people? New Zealand’s oldest person to first get elected was William Cargill at 71. Australia’ s John Howard was 68 when he retired, and Robert Menzies was 72 when he retired as Prime Minister. The previous US president is now 76 and will likely run again in […]
Written By: - Date published: 9:34 am, September 30th, 2022 - 52 comments
Liz Truss has been UK Prime Minister for just over three weeks. Instead of enjoying a honeymoon in a short term she has crashed the UK economy and political support for her party and her days must be numbered.
Written By: - Date published: 11:44 am, September 29th, 2022 - 61 comments
There has been this carefully crafted illusion that conservative politicians are somehow better with the finances than progressive politicians. Recent events in the United Kingdom suggest that this illusion is terribly misplaced.
Written By: - Date published: 6:58 am, September 15th, 2022 - 52 comments
When Queen Elizabeth is buried it will be the last time we say goodbye to her. More than her.
Written By: - Date published: 8:20 am, July 8th, 2022 - 19 comments
At the very time that the United Kingdom Conservative Government is imploding National leader Chris Luxon is visiting to get new ideas on how to run a country.
Written By: - Date published: 6:03 am, July 8th, 2022 - 41 comments
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Written By: - Date published: 10:56 am, July 6th, 2022 - 41 comments
In the United Kingdom Boris Johnson’s government has been brought to its knees because of a sex scandal, surprisingly not one involving himself.
Written By: - Date published: 12:34 pm, July 4th, 2022 - 69 comments
Jacinda Ardern has just completed three overseas trips. The cumulative benefits for the country are extraordinary and I have never witnessed anything similar from another New Zealand leader. But local responses from sectors of the media have been muted. Why is this?
Written By: - Date published: 10:50 am, June 25th, 2022 - 30 comments
In the UK Rail Maritime and Transport boss Mick Lynch has caused a media sensation by strongly and clearly advocating for workers rights as the Conservative Government aims to deal with inflation by eroding further workers wages and job conditions.
Written By: - Date published: 1:45 pm, June 21st, 2022 - 31 comments
It’s pretty commonplace now to observe that Prime Minister Ardern is doing well overseas but tanking at home.
Written By: - Date published: 7:49 am, June 7th, 2022 - 17 comments
Reports from the UK suggest that Boris Johnson’s reign as Prime Minister may be over because it appears sufficient conservative MPs have a sufficient sense of morality to be outraged about Boris’s Covid lockdown busting ways.
Update: he survived but over 40% of Conservative MPs voted to remove him.
Written By: - Date published: 10:46 am, May 19th, 2022 - 13 comments
It is clear that we will continue to face these economic challenges with tools that are ill-equipped to face the problems. Only a truly international response can create an economy that delivers for all.
Written By: - Date published: 9:10 am, April 15th, 2022 - 68 comments
Over in the UK Boris Johnson has been fined for attending a party he told Parliament he did not attend and which was a gathering that did not breach Covid lockdown restrictions. Surely he should resign.
Written By: - Date published: 7:21 pm, March 25th, 2022 - 65 comments
Morning Report today interviewed ex MI6 chemical weapons false flag specialist Hamish de Bretton-Gordon saying because Russia has lost in Ukraine it will likely resort using to chemical weapons. FiveEyes hawks want NATO to intervene, so we get World War 3, Hurrah!
Written By: - Date published: 4:32 pm, March 20th, 2022 - 194 comments
New Zealand’s sanctions on Russia have not stopped the war in Ukraine. They may have made our parliamentarians feel better, and Tony Blinken was quick to congratulate us on falling into line with the US “high-impact sanctions.” The language is combative, but the evidence shows sanctions do not work. They can have significant blow-back effects, particularly if not combined with effective diplomacy.
Written By: - Date published: 8:59 am, March 15th, 2022 - 117 comments
In six months time the world could be in a very precarious position.
Written By: - Date published: 2:18 am, February 21st, 2022 - 10 comments
Boris Johnson, should not on balance still be Prime Minister and in the long term, the Conservatives risk being severely punished for not removing him. But despite everything, he remains in post and still, we cannot write him off.
Written By: - Date published: 10:00 pm, February 16th, 2022 - 4 comments
Today February 15th is the 80th anniversary of the fall of Singapore in 1942, described by many as Britain’s worst military disaster. It was a massive strategic fail, and its effect is still powerful today, most notably with Australia’s lockstep with the US. Current British strategists don’t seem to have learnt a thing.
Written By: - Date published: 4:30 pm, January 23rd, 2022 - Comments Off on Prisoners of the Narrative #1
Robert Ayson’s advocacy of a sanctions regime for New Zealand in case of a Russian invasion of Ukraine is a bad idea based on poor intelligence.The “Russian invasion” narrative was always a beat-up, and there is no support from major players in Europe for sanctions such as removal from the SWIFT payment system. Russia’s claim for border security is reasonable and essential for peace.
Written By: - Date published: 2:54 pm, January 16th, 2022 - 17 comments
Russian peacekeepers are already leaving Kazakhstan having nipped the ‘colour revolution’ in the bud. Blinken clearly didn’t have a clue when he said Russians never leave the house. Russian intelligence was superb. Now we wait for Russia’s response to US likely refusal to pull back from its borders. One thing I’d bet on – no invasion of Ukraine.
Written By: - Date published: 8:19 am, January 14th, 2022 - 20 comments
Boris Johnson’s reign as UK Prime Minister may be terminal after news of a Downing Street party held during lockdown was leaked to the press.
Written By: - Date published: 9:44 am, January 6th, 2022 - 132 comments
With over 61,000 new Covid cases reported yesterday Australia is in the midst of an infection surge that it has not seen before. What lessons can New Zealand learn from Australia’s handling of the pandemic?
Written By: - Date published: 11:30 am, January 1st, 2022 - 117 comments
A few random predictions for 2022.
Written By: - Date published: 8:36 am, December 30th, 2021 - 280 comments
But Omicron may be loose.
Written By: - Date published: 3:31 pm, December 12th, 2021 - 29 comments
I should have known not to be hopeful. British justice is an oxymoron which makes a mockery of official references to our ‘like-minded countries’ in the Five Eyes. The decision by senior judges in the UK to overturn a previous court decision not to extradite Julian Assange to the US is an example of state persecution of a person with the courage to speak out against crimes of the state.
Written By: - Date published: 9:08 am, December 10th, 2021 - 25 comments
Boris Johnson is on the ropes. Not because of the disastrous effects of Brexit which only passed because of some of the whoppers that he told, but because of a Christmas party held last year at 10 Downing Street at a time when the UK was under a strict lockdown.
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