Funding the Future

Are Putin and Trump really friends?

There are precedents for dictators making friendships of convenience until they decide to fall out, when the human cost of that happening is horrendous. Is that possible in the case of Putin and Trump?

Where are the presidents?

Trump is staging a coup in the USA and the last four living presidents are doing nothing to save the country they served. Why is that? When will they act to save their country?

Can US media survive being gagged by Trump?

Trump’s turning on the mainstream media in the US. Much of it is to be banned from the White House. How can US democracy survive this attack, and those that are bound to follow? 

Has Starmer lost the plot on defence?

It takes some political incompetence to announce a defence spending plan that reduces our security, undermines our soft power, does not deliver for the UK economy, and puts the cost on the wrong people, but Starmer’s managed it. 

Are the Tories lost in space?

The Tories were once the party of reliable, uncontentious and boring middle England. Now Kemi Badenoch claims they are the saviours of a form of Western civilisation that is a figment of her imagination. What hope have they in that unaccustomed role?

20% are fascist, but 80% aren’t

The far right have doubled their support in Germany. But, they’re no more popular than the left, and 80% did not vote for fascists. What are the lessons to learn, especially in the UK?

Words matter

Unless politicians mean what they say we get a world where nothing can be relied on and chaos rules. Trump’s disdain for the truth is profoundly harmful in that case.

Our rules of thumb are broken

Trump is trying to break government, the USA, world peace and much more. We could despair, or we could, as happened in WW2, plan for a better future. I suggest this is the time to plan.

How to pay for defence

If we need to pay more for defence the last people who should pay for it are those most dependent on the state. It’s the richest who should be covering the cost.

King Donald needs to learn from history

Donald Trump has declared himself King in the USA. He should take a lesson from history. King Canute of England, Denmark and Norway knew there were limitations on regal power. Trump does not. That’s why he’s bound to fail.