So it’s official, Starmer has dropped his £28billion green investment pledge—his biggest U-turn yet. Is there anything he can be trusted on? He caves in at every opportunity to Tory attacks, rather than rigorously defending his policies, such as they are. So it’s a Tory gain, and if they garner a few more U-turns they may well reduce their losses at the general election, although they still seem on course for defeat. The biggest loser of course is our bid to tackle climate change, once again demoted in the face of political expediency. This is the narrative that long predated the ULEZ affair, another case where Labour failed to defend its policy. What I wonder will Labour’s manifesto be called? ‘Crumbs Off The Table?’ Nobody now seems keen on identifying themselves with the case for sufficiently tackling the climate crisis—a reluctance it seems which is now enveloping the EU, as it faces a rightwing insurgence. The loudmouths in our midst will happily sink the ship, so long as they can monopolise the lifeboats, should there be any.
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+The definition of popcorn, “maize of a variety with hard kernels that swell up and burst open when heated” seems kind of apposite for the new variety of Tories gathering around Liz Truss under the name ‘PopCon.’ This group, which includes haughty nutter Jacob Rees Mogg and naughty nutter Lee Anderson in its starry line-up wants the UK to be dragged back to a state of true Conservatism, which I can only imagine harks back to Victorian times, since it can’t possibly reference the Conservatism that embraced Gaitskellism, or a wartime period when Attlee served as Churchill’s deputy, or indeed Ted Heath’s pro-Europeanism, or even for that matter Cameron’s ‘hug a hoodie’ lark. So what is the true Conservatism that the PopCorns want? We know the answer of course: it’s the very unBritish concept of Trumpism, which widely defines freedom but narrowly delivers it into the hands of its privileged promoters. From what I see of this new ‘movement’ which may superficially appeal to the ranks of the ageing Tory Party is a libertarian shift which if fully revealed would probably alienate many in the Tory gerontocracy. Yes, they may have a distaste for ‘wokery’ and political correctness as we used to call it, but are they ready for the economic shock treatment the Trussites wish to inflict on Olde England? I doubt it.
+According to the Politics Home website, 54 Tory MPs have said they're standing down at the next election. Best to jump before you’re pushed, eh? Saves the indignity of a Portillo moment. Also, 18 Labour MPs have announced their pending retirement (including two currently suspended, more may be added to that category). Labour MPs thinking of retirement should however hold off from prematurely announcing their intentions. The leadership would like nothing more than a handful of very late announcements which would allow them to bypass local members and parachute in one of their own—I well remember in Hull West Stuart Randall resigning at the very last minute, allowing Alan Johnson in. Randall’s reward was a seat in the Lords, although he had to relinquish any hopes of becoming PM (a role which the Hull Daily Mail thought he was ‘tipped’ for—absolute hyperbolic bollocks of course—but what are local papers for?). 'A chip off the old block' could take on a new dimension, thanks to that visionary chap Elon Musk and his company Neurolink which has just implanted an interactive chip in somebody’s brain. This—of course—has only been done to pave the way for all sorts of restorative treatments for people with neurological problems. Nothing but good will come from it, just like atoms for peace. And one day we’ll all have an IQ of 200 as we’re all fitted with artificial intelligence. Naturally, I predicted this over 20 years ago, when I gave a talk to the Morley Labour Lunch Club. I suggested that the miniaturisation of electronic technology would allow the equivalent of a mobile phone to be inserted and connected to the brain. We’d become telepathic overnight. I suspect that this eventuality may still be 25 to 50 years off, but the current research will pick up pace, not least in China where mind control must be a gleaming prospect for a society where technology is already heavily used for social control. It could allow for the (unavoidable) receipt of the Great Leader’s thoughts, whoever he or she may be at that time. And any negative thoughts you may have will be monitored 24/7. I don’t read fiction these days, but I bet there’s a slew of science fiction novels on this very subject, each one with its own dystopia. But right now the technology is only being developed for the benefit of humanity. Right?
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