It's what they do best

As we know and should have known decades ago, what political parties promise before an election usually bears no resemblance to what they do afterwards. Keir Starmer's government is a reminder of this Golden Rule of Politics. 

No tax increases for working people turns out to mean tax increases for working people, as we should have expected. Stopping illegal immigration means nothing much and Net Zero means we should expect zero volts of domestic electricity from our windmills every now and then. When it isn't windy apparently.

In a world run by amoral careerists, the main purpose of political parties turns out to be division. It's the only way they can keep voters guessing. Anyway, divide and rule has been a governing technique within democracies for a long time. Here in the UK we see it in our legislature with an adversarial party façade with party colours and logos in case voters forget to take sides over trivial policy differences.

Diversity is another divide and rule technique in addition to party politics. Some time ago, the main UK political parties merged politically to confuse a divided electorate more consistently. It has been a fairly obvious consequence of more extensive and congenial global involvement among political elites and senior bureaucrats.

National political issues and national voters have been left behind because no political party leader can be nationally effective from within globally framed narratives. Not that they wish to be nationally effective, that would be distinctly démodé within their social circles. So elites continue with the adversarial party façade, party colours and logos and they carry on lying. Not that they do it well, but it's what they do best.

Sharing expertise

Prime Minister launches Global Clean Power Alliance as UK leads the global energy transition

The alliance of countries will work together and share expertise with the goal of meeting the COP28 commitments to triple renewable energy and double energy efficiency...

Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, said:

The UK is already leading the way in the clean power transition – we’ve phased out coal power, lifted the ban on onshore wind and launched GB Energy – but we will not stop there...

Energy Secretary, Ed Miliband, said:

Speeding up the global clean energy transition is in Britain’s national interest – it is the route to the jobs of the future, energy security and tackling the climate crisis...

Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, said:

The climate crisis is the greatest challenge the world faces and tackling it is essential for Britain’s national security, energy security and economic growth.

A fine idea, we'll begin by sharing the expertise of Keir Starmer, Ed Miliband and David Lammy. Other countries may object, but we should be extremely generous with their time and expertise on this one. After all, Christmas is coming.

Jaguar goes for broke

A tale of woke woe. Hard to believe Jaguar marketing bods could see this as a good idea, but interesting as another indicator that woke madness may be on the wane. 

No doubt the next insanity is being concocted in some university hothouse.

It's 'absolutely' again

Sir Keir Starmer 'absolutely' confident in chancellor after rows with farmers, pensioners, and employers

Sir Keir faced a grilling on his domestic agenda at a press conference at the G20 in Brazil on the 1,000th day of the Ukraine war.

The prime minister said his government needed to "stabilise the economy" when it came into power and has already "attracted investment that wasn't coming in" during the Tories' 14 years in Downing Street.

Technically, he was learned in the law; actually, so far as life was concerned, absolutely unconscious of that subtle chemistry of things that transcends all written law and makes for the spirit and, beyond that, the inutility of all law, as all wise judges know.

Theodore Dreiser - The Financier (1912)

Ah - so it is a class war

Labour is 'absolutely not' engaged in class war, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer insists

Sir Keir Starmer was asked by Sky News' political editor Beth Rigby if the changes to inheritance tax and putting VAT on private school fees show the new government is looking to wage a "class war" on wealthier people.

The prime minister said he is "absolutely not" taking part in such action.


The problem with being dishonest is that all interpretations remain open. Taking assertions at face value becomes naïve.

Another problem Starmer has is his dedication to process. The internally approved response to such an accusation is to deny it. 

So - tick - he emits the approved response.

Snowy

 

A fairly heavy overnight fall of snow in our bit of Derbyshire. It's a good job we have fields full of super electric solar panels to supply the grid and keep us warm in weather like this. 

We're relying on boring, old-fashioned gas central heating and wood at the moment. And a nice, thick fleece from China, where the solar panels were probably made. The wood comes from this country.

Must stop scanning headlines

Keir Starmer raises 'deterioration' of jailed pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai with Xi Jinping

Sir Keir Starmer raised the “deterioration” of jailed pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai when he met Xi Jinping.

The Prime Minister held talks with the Chinese president at the G20 summit in Brazil, where he also stressed he wants “respectful” relations between the UK and Beijing.


For a fraction of a second, as my eye caught that headline, I briefly registered it as a reference to a jailed pro-democracy activist in the UK - which of course it wasn't. 

Merely a flicker of perception as my eye scanned some headlines, but as they say, a sign of the times. Must stop scanning headlines though, most of them are clickbait.