In a recent article for the Telegraph, economist Steve Davies makes a fascinating prediction: over the next decade, re-joining the EU will become a right-wing or even far-right cause, while maintaining close links with the US will become a left-wing cause.
What on earth? We all know that people on the right much more likely to vote Leave in the EU referendum, while their counterparts on the left were much more likely to vote Remain. In fact, 94% of the MPs who backed Leave were from the Tories or the DUP, while 61% of those who backed Remain were from Labour, the SNP or other left-liberal parties.
Hear the man out! Davies’ argument is quite interesting. He notes that “across Europe, the trend is towards nationalist populism and ever harsher policies on immigration”. Meanwhile, the British right is increasingly defined by “opposition to a kind of cultural politics that originates in the US”, by which he means wokeness.
So as Europe becomes associated with immigration restrictionism, and the US becomes associated with things like Black Lives Matter and drag queen story hour, the British right will gradually shift their allegiance from the latter to the former.
As Davies points out, this wouldn’t be the first time there has been a switch of this kind. Back in 1983, it was Margaret Thatcher and the Conservatives who championed European integration, while Labour campaigned on leaving the European Economic Community (as it was then known). “Anti-EEC Conservatives were a small and scattered remnant,” writes Davies, “rather like today’s Lexiteers.”
Will he be proven right? As with any political forecast, it depends on many things, like who wins the next US election. But I think there’s a decent chance he will.
It’s widely agreed that the Government has made a hash of Brexit, failing to deliver on most of the potential upsides. This is particular true when it comes to immigration. Of course, reducing immigration wasn’t the only reason people voted Leave, but it was an important reason. And yet since the referendum, net migration to the UK has more than doubled! It’s hardly surprising, then, that a solid majority now says Britain was “wrong” to leave the EU.
If thanks to shoddy implementation and obscuration by the civil service, Brexit fails to live up to expectations – as seems likely – future conservative politicians may not want to be associated with it. And there could be an opening for a national populist pushing a “Britain as part of European civilisation” message.
One might object that Eurocrats – the senior politicians and bureaucrats who wield power in Brussels – would never let their beloved project get hijacked by a basket of deplorable national populists.
Yet Davies has an answer to this. He argues that if the EU wants to survive, it will have to create a real demos, “and the easiest way to do that is to emphasise a common European identity that is Christian (not Muslim or Jewish), ‘white’ (not African or Middle Eastern) and not American or Russian”. I’m not saying this is definitely going to happen, but I wouldn’t rule it out.
The main flaw in Davies’ prediction is probably the timescale. He talks about a shift happening “over the next decade” – which sounds a bit too soon to me. But it’s possible that in fifteen or twenty years, the right-wing of British politics will favour European integration.
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Runaway calf???
is that like an uncontrolled bunny?
believe me, the calf would have been worried and easily controlled by someone with animal experience. Likely the police officers thought beef came from Tesco or MacDonalds.
“Police were ‘probably right’ to ram a runaway calf with their 4×4, a farmer and union chief has claimed “
“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”― George Orwell, 1984
Exactly.
And the so-called farmer who agreed with the police. Fiction farmer.
I work with farmers, escorting the calf to safety would be routine for them. Hell, even a couple of us wallers could’ve managed this.
Monday morning Reading Rd & Toutley Rd Winnersh, Wokingham
They’ll never ever stop going after Tommy Robinson will they? Another court case and possible jail time. The ”Communist hate group” he’s referring to here are ‘Hope Not Hate’, who were predictably smug when breaking this news on Twitter yesterday;
”I’m amazed that I get to hear about this first from a far left Antifa linked Communist hate group run by a man who you would never employ as a baby sitter.
What does that tell you?
He and his team of communist wankers have petitioned the CONservative attorney general to prosecute me for a documentary I made years ago for people in America.
I told the judge the footage was in the hands of people in the USA BEFORE he slapped an injunction on me, to SILENCE me.
The documentary was eventually published by people in the USA, and now, I’m facing two years in Isolation in the prison system for something I didn’t publish.”
Original post by Nick Knowles. I hope Tommy gets even more patriots and supporters attending his next freedom rally in London next month now.
”BREAKING NEWS! Tommy Robinson has been charged with contempt of court after he is alleged to have broken a court order preventing him from reporting lies relating to the Jamal Hajazi case. Attorney General took on the case after @hopenothate
compiled a dossier of evidence.”
https://x.com/lowles_nick/status/1802639733849194696
Nick “Mr TV DIY” Knowles
For the U.S. to target Putin’s nuclear defences is reckless beyond belief
What is really going on?
Another poor quality article regarding Ukraine on TCW. A great pity the editors aren’t more discriminating….all a bit of a nutty crank show.
A sputnik video showing nothing and some references to an little known and dotty U.S. academic previously featured on Russia Today.
There are various errors of fact, never a good sign:
Ukraine can only use U.S. long range guided munitions to hit Russian forces in the process of attacking or preparing to attack Ukraine from the Belgorod and Kursk Oblasts.
The Voronezh radar station is a long range radar station, not a Russian nuclear early warning station.
The radar sites at Orsk and Armavir were taken out on the 26th of May 2024 by Ukrainian drones.
The plain fact is that Moscow currently occupies less territory now (16%) than in June 2022 (24%) so the U.S./Chinese strategy of weakening Russia at minimal cost (in fact at a profit in China due to much lower Russian energy costs now) is proceeding well.
I just read the article too, and what a load of ignorant fiction and shoddy Russian talking-points it was. But the key thing is that those nuclear early-warning systems are also used for long-range air defence… so very legitimate targets.
Quite so…..one of many such legitimate targets which are taking quite a hammering. Dozens of launchers, more than 15 radar stations, and more than 10 control points have been destroyed in Crimea.
Interesting that so few have woken up to what is really going on here…..part of the reason for my clearly quite annoying regular posts on here.
A comprehensively overmatched adversary is holding, regularly strategically interdicting, the world’s second most significant land power.
This, potentially, has major implications regarding European peace and stability for future generations. If today’s generation can get this right, it may, at least in some measure, compensate for the disgracefully shabby and incompetent economic and ecological legacy that same generation appears to be handing on to the next.
‘A major fire is burning at an oil depot in the southern Russian city of Azov after what the regional governor called an attack by drones overnight on June 17-18.’
Oops!
There is no comparison between the tactical radars allegedly destroyed in Crimea and the Voronezh system.
And your barrel scraping comments are an amusement, not an annoyance. In my case they simply prompt me to find out what the truth is, to separate it from the Western propaganda that you fall for all the time.
P.S. Over the horizon radar is an antique but cheap technology useful when (as in the case of Russia) airborne warning and control systems are, for one reason or another, unavailable. They can be very useful in tracking ships, low-flying aircraft, and cruise missiles far below the radar horizon and so represent a valid target for Ukraine drone strikes, against which, due to their poor resolution, they are extremely vulnerable.
See my reply to IR. Voroezh is state of the art radar technology. There is a chain of these around Russia. They are clearly pointing in strategically chosen directions to give full coverage of the sky around the country. They have extremely high resolution due to the large array antenna backed by considerable computing power to give fast interpretation of any signal.
They are useless as tactical battlefield radars since they lack a variable direction capability and operate from (very) static locations.
The only bit you got right is their vulnerability to drone strikes, but then these are a minor irritant since the array (the bit that even a blind UAV operator could see) is modular and the entire complex is designed to function even whilst array components are being replaced.
Voronezh M is a long-range stationary over-the-horizon radar. It is designed to detect space and aerodynamic targets, including ballistic and cruise missiles.
Just the sort of thing to use tactically on the battlefield.
If there is to be a War bigger than the one already in progress ,the blame is with USA/ NATO & all their hangers on !
Clearly the OTH radar was not the key target.
Ukrainian drones damaged the Voronezh-DM in the Krasnodar Krai late May 23 evening, and then early morning May 24, ATACMS hit the satellite communication node near Alushta.
Previously, satellite images that have been made publicly available confirm that a Ukrainian drone also hit russian over-the-horizon 29B6 Container radar. This attack became public knowledge on April 17, 2024.
Unluckily, it took almost 15 years from the beginning of the development and production of this radar, including the period of long-term “experimental combat duty” until its final commissioning. Russia had only one 29B6 Container radar. Commissioning of the second radar of this type is at least four years behind schedule.
I suspect that the reason that they have not installed more Konteyner radar systems since 2019 is that the Voronez modular system has superseded it for the reason that it only takes a year to build one and that it can operate, presumably at lower resolution, during the construction process.
Clearly OTH radar was the target in both cases.
None of this invalidates the claim made in this article. They are very definitely not tactical radars and also very clearly failed to spot the attacking vehicles.
The 77YA6DM Voronezh-DM BMEW radar in question is located at the Armavir Radar Station in southwest Russia. Unlike the 77YA6M this particular radar has a range of 5,399nm (10,000km) and transmits Ultra High Frequency (UHF: 300MHz to three gigahertz) signals.
Voronezh radars are positioned to cover the northern, western and southern approaches to Russia. Although primarily designed to detect and track incoming ballistic missiles, they may detect conventional air threats. The comparatively low frequencies used by these radars help detect and track aircraft with low Radar Cross Sections (RCSs).
The Voronezh series probably does not provide the sharp accuracy surface-to-air missiles need to successfully intercept an air target. Nonetheless, they are well capable of providing information on the location of incoming aircraft and of tracking these targets, sharing this data with air defence C2 systems.
That is why the Armavir Radar station was put out of action 23 May in preparing the ground for the ATACMS strike early AM 24 May on the communication centre of the Russian FSB near the village of Semidvorye, Alushta.
Also destroyed on 24 May three Russian launchers, 5P85SM2-01 TELs, S-400 air defence system & 96L6 radar by ATACMS strike Mospyne, Donetsk region.
On 27th May, a Nebo-M, the first example which only entered Russian service in 2017, a multi-purpose long-range radar system, and KU-RLK command vehicle were destroyed close to the nearby aircraft repair plant and former Luhansk Higher Military Aviation School, quite possibly by ATACMS.
So it is an early warning not anti-missile system. Well spotted.
But what has any of this to do with targeting early warning sytems, which you have now admitted are not anti-missile systems? They are therefore only of defensive use for warning of ballistic missile attack from extreme distances; as you say 10k km. As I am sure you realise anti-ballistic missiles are fired much closer to the target as they have a much smaller range, once the EW system has determined where they are headed.
Not sure anyone is still looking at this thread but as an alternative here is the Katie Hopkins take on Ukraine;
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/6DZGEe_DVik
Did you actually listen to this before posting the link?
Ms Hopkins:
‘And finally we have Putin saying he is very happy to have a peace deal to stop the war if Europe could just stop being arseholes….’
I don’t know Ms Hopkins. She is perfectly entitled to ask people to take down the Ukraine flags from their personal profiles (whatever those might be). But she might be more successful, like, I may say, others on this site, in convincing others if she presented at least some credible evidence.
Mr Putin has said many strange things but he has not, as far as I am aware, ever suggested in public that the entirety of Europe, which includes Russia, was a bunch of arseholes.
That was, in fact, Mr Medvedev, in reference to the French:
‘“We never liked the French. Kind of froggy, fought with us. And generally, fa**ots. And [now I’m] convinced of it. I wrote the French Foreign Ministry. They called the strike on Belgorod with cluster munition a ‘right to self-defense.’ Scum. Sons of a whore. Assholes.” 03 Jan 2024
https://t.me/medvedev_telegram/429
Ms Hopkins and Mr Medvedev should get together. It sounds as though they have a lot in common.
In common with my French neighbour too (see reply to Steve Devon).
Some of us pop back to see if Munro is still declining to address his comments to me but uses poor old muddled Ian Rons as a proxy.
Thanks for the light relief. I have not seen much of the lovely Katie lately. Se looks just like my French neighbour (who hates France).
Voronezh OTH is a multi purpose system.
The Voronezh radar is crucial to Russia’s missile early-warning system. It is not designed to detect ICBM launches (for which Russia has other systems, including satellites), but to track hostile incoming missiles (and aircraft).
Voronezh radars feed the targeting information to the air defence missiles. Without these radars, strategic threats to Russia are considerably increased — Russia is ‘blinded’,
The Voronezh-M radar has a processing capacity of 100 billion operations/second, and the Rezonans computing system consists of a series of single-board quad-core seventh generation computers and uses artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the cognitive function of the radar for tracking targets.
Voronezh radars can simultaneously interface with command posts and automated control systems (ACS) of air-defence systems, in particular with the Polyana-D4M1 complex; VIP-117M3; Akatsiya; CP-1; Galaktika ATC integrated control system; HLCP-2; and the S-350, S-300, S-300V, and S-400 ground-based air-defence systems.
Why hit Voronezh?
To demonstrate Ukraine can rock Russia’s world even without Western weapons.
To blind Russia’s ability to monitor missiles in flight towards its territory, key to any overwhelming response to Russian first use of CBRN.
Voronezh stations don’t offer a complete view but cover specific sectors. Air defence sectors facing China are still protected but with this strike, and a similar one in Krasnodar Krai, Russia’s long-range missile detection capabilities, integral to their nuclear defence strategy, facing Europe, is degraded.
Politically, perceived red lines and the fear of nuclear escalation, are demonstrated not to be a constraint.
The Voronezh-M radar at Aramir in Krasnodar coverage included Crimea and Kherson at its northern edge, so its incapacitation is a precursor to the delivery to Ukraine of F-16s this summer, preparing deep airspace through interdiction prior to establishing air superiority (F-16s) over tactical lines.
The strike opens further undefended corridors for ATACMS strikes.
Talking to yourself now.
The battle of Orgreave, 40th Anniversary: https://www.gbnews.com/news/south-yorkshire-miners-battle-orgreave-anniversary-never-forget Some might remember how it was reported by the old BBC One channel then in 1984.
The Boris story in DT May be true at headline level but the thought that the PM who failed to complete Brexit, brought in millions of immigrants and blew the budget, could possibly help Sunak is for the birds.
Boris has lost his shine.
He won’t turn things around!!
Johnson is guilty of crimes against humanity. End of.
Indeed – apart from all his other faults, he was PM during “covid” and somehow switched from “herd immunity” to “lockdowns”, knowing full well (as his subsequent actions confirm) that this was not the right thing to do.
While he was probably conned into it by various suspects, he reportedly had a day or two in hospital, allegedly with C-19. At the time, one of the workers at that place (probably incorrectly) mentioned his weight etc. If you did the sums, you could observe that he was a wee bit overweight, thus likely vulnerable to poor health on account of that.
I guess we may never know. Whatever, he is either a liar or exceptionally stupid and incompetent. I know where my money is going, but either way he’s not fit for public office and cannot be taken seriously in any political or leadership capacity.
Yes, it’s bizarre that he ever made it to be a PM, especially having been on display as Mayor of London. I can still remember the old footage of him being stuck on a zip wire across the Thames in his old role.
It’s bizarre that Starmer will be PM, bizarre that Sunak made it to PM – though Johnson is more obviously a chancer probably, but more “likeable” too.
Memories are short. Many seem to have forgotten just how toxic Johnson had become. Funny we never hear about Carrie any more.
Not to be contrarian, but it’s thanks to “big tech” that we now have access to non-curated news and opinion.
That may of course come to an end, but to be clear, that isn’t because tech companies want censorship. It’s because governments and bureaucracies all over the world are trying to pass new censorship laws and have also done illegal things behind the scenes to pressure tech companies into censorship.
You could accuse many tech companies of not pushing back or giving in to easily perhaps. But what alternative information we get, it’s thanks to them.
I agree and you make a good point, however I also think it’s true that some of the tech companies seem to be run by pretty woke left wing people, and they push those agendas – this goes well beyond censoring things. You only need to look at the recent stuff about the AI images, and what certain Google searches return.
Yet another healthy 20 something dead of non suspicious circumstances
2 (known) in a week!
https://www.breakingnews.ie/world/rose-of-tralee-contestant-found-dead-in-new-zealand-1638881.html
and another
https://www.news24.com/sport/rugby/new-zealand-super-rugby-player-25-dies-after-medical-event-20240618
“Reform candidate who urged people to vote BNP in 2010 quits” – Reform’s candidate running in Kemi Badenoch’s seat has resigned after historic comments emerged in which he urged people to vote for the BNP.
“Asked whether he had chosen to resign, he said the party had forced him to.
‘To be honest, I wouldn’t have stepped down. I would have let the people decide’, he said.”
I hope the good people of North West Essex will still vote for St.Clair-Armstrong anyway, as his name is still on the ballot. It is outrageous that people can be hounded out of their jobs or careers or electoral candidacy for things they said years ago. Freedom of Speech is the very basis of western civilisation.