Iron Fist, Velvet Glove, Big Money

 

Jane remarked tonight that Rishi Sunak's guarded approach to the EU negotiations over Northern Ireland was both intelligent and, from the standpoint of most of us in the real world, potentially dangerous. Already, the EU has flagged that they are happier to deal with the current PM than any of his immediate predecessors; which, although damning with faint praise, would tend to indicate that some sort of deal is in the offing. If he pulls this thing off to the satisfaction of all interested parties, his political standing would potentially go up by a number of notches, and possibly haul his party back from the electoral abyss they currently face in the eyes of the electorate.

Two things. One, in doing any deal over NI/EU customs issues, whilst potentially giving him political kudos, would in reality simply be [and only partially] righting the wrongs that his own party of government, under previous leaderships, had effected. Secondly, UK society, the country and its economy will still be in shreds, whatever the outcome of these talks. The danger, as Jane framed it, is that he and the media will spin this into an improvement in poll standings, and eat back some of the advantage that the opposition has gained over the last year or so. The outcome of a Tory resurgence and re-election would be economic and social disaster for the UK: a government without real policies and not good for much else than headline-grabbing promises, which they actually don't follow through on in real terms anyway; led by a wealthy financier whose fantasy world of big money is totally divorced from the realities of normal life and lives, will not - cannot - make things better.

To quote from Noam Chomsky's "The Precipice", '...capital from financial institutions that financed business investments during the post-war growth period now [as Financial Times editor Rana Foroohar asserted] "...stays largely inside the financial system, enriching financiers, corporate titans, and the wealthiest fractions of the population, which hold the vast majority of financial assets."' If Sunak pulls a rabbit of this particular bag, it won't make him a political God: his ilk is the problem, not the solution...