Politicians are amazing people. They are born with an innate ability to lay the blame for their failures on others. It’s never them, it’s the unions, or the workers, or the ‘other political party’, or possibly ‘Mrs Jones down at number 37’.
Health minister Jeremy Hunt tops them all. His attacks on the junior doctors of the UK’s National Health Service are vitriolic, simply because they refuse to comply with an unfair contract he’s trying to force upon them.[1]
That old standby, “Patients will suffer”, is trotted out on every occasion, as though the doctors have suddenly turned into cold-blooded, unfeeling, automatons overnight.
It’s time Jeremy Hunt realised the blame for the state of the NHS lies at his door. He’s an out and out failure. He couldn’t even sell marmalade to the Japanese[2]. It’s time he resigned, and was replaced by someone who actually has a knowledge of how a national health service should be properly run. Jeremy Hunt knows less about hospital management than a cashier at Argos.
It’s time the staff made a real stand against Hunt’s demolition of the NHS and joined doctors in an all-out walk-out. It’s about the only way to persuade David Cameron to get rid of this pretentious idiot once and for all.
There’s only one person to blame for the present state of the NHS and the buck stops at Jeremy Hunt.
This week saw US President Barack Obama in the UK supporting the official British government view that that nation should vote to remain within the European Union. Readers of Sparrow Chat will be aware that the writer also supports that view, though perhaps for somewhat differing reasons from either the UK government, or Barack Obama.
President Obama has been one of the most glib and polished presidents of recent years. His popularity, particularly among young people, verges on legend. But a way with words, an ability to charm, does not necessarily prove the worth of the person behind the speeches and smiles.
In many ways Barack Obama oozes a similar charm to the once British Prime Minister, Tony Blair. Blair was able to woo the British electorate sufficient to retain power for ten years, yet has become living proof of the corrupting effect such elevated status can bestow.
In a carefully worded speech to the British people, President Obama lithely spelled out the virtues of remaining ‘European’, while adding just a soupçon of warning. A ‘No’ vote could mean repercussions drastically affecting the “special relationship” between the two nations.
It was all said with a smile and much intermittent hand-shaking between the president and the UK Prime Minister, but the threat was sufficient for the BBC to carry this main headline on its website for two days:
“UK-US trade deal could take years – Obama
The UK could take up to 10 years to negotiate trade deals with the US if it leaves the EU, Barack Obama has said.
In a BBC interview, the US president said: “It could be five years from now, 10 years from now before we were able to actually get something done.”
Britain would also have less influence globally if it left, he added.[1]
Just what are the trade deals to which he refers, and how will they effect the UK and Europe?
Yesterday, Saturday April 23rd, in excess of 30,000 people marched through the streets of Hannover in Germany, to protest over the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). President Obama arrives in Germany today. He is to hold talks with Germany’s Chancellor, Angela Merkel, in an attempt to move forward discussions on that very Trade Agreement.
It’s the second part of Obama’s crusade to create a World View trade agreement between the US and the rest of the planet that will have serious repercussions for us all if it succeeds.
The first segment, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), has already been provisionally signed by twelve nations, including Australia and New Zealand, Canada, and of course, the United States, despite huge protests by the citizenry of these nations.
The TPP is being backed by Big Business, which stands to benefit enormously from the treaty. In a totally undemocratic and underhand manner, allowing no consultation with democratic watchdogs (or even the US Congress), the TTP is going ahead. It has Barack Obama’s full backing. On October 5th 2015, then Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, stated he expected:
…signatures on the finalized text and deal early in the new year, and ratification over the next two years.”
It seems that, at least for those nations on the Pacific rim, democracy is taking a back seat to corporate power. If European leaders are persuaded to act similarly, against the wishes of their citizens, a similar fate will await Europe.
The demise of democracy in America is plain (for all those who take note of such things) to see. Corporate power is king, and the US Congress bows the knee to its reign. US politicians are like a football team, long time holders of the title, but now relegated to the lower divisions.
Today we are seeing the first corporate to make a bid for the US Presidency. Donald Trump may cut a comic figure to many, he may well never make the final cut, but it can only be a matter of time before the Office of President of the United States is held by a Trump, or a Zukerberg[2], or a Koch.
One can only hope we Europeans are not sold off in a similar manner to the highest corporate bidder.
On his visit to the UK, US President Obama has stated his opinion that Britain is stronger within the EU than outside it.
Opponents of EU membership, notably Boris Johnson and Iain Duncan Smith, call him a hypocrite:
… Vote Leave’s Boris Johnson said President Obama’s view was “a breathtaking example of the principle do-as-I-say-but-not-as-I-do”…[and] described Mr Obama’s argument as “inconsistent” and “downright hypocritical”.
“The Americans would never contemplate anything like the EU for themselves or for their neighbours in their own hemisphere. Why should they think it right for us?”…
Tory MP Iain Duncan Smith, who is also part of the Vote Leave campaign, also accused Mr Obama of double standards.
“I can imagine no circumstances under which he would lobby for the US Supreme Court to be bound by the judgements of a foreign court,” he said.
“Nor can I imagine any circumstances in which he would accept that laws should be made for- or taxes imposed on – the people of the United States without the approval of Congress.”[1]
These people will say anything – and twist any situation – for their own gains. They totally ignore the fact that the United States has its own version of the EU. It’s called the UNITED States – a central (federal) government overseeing separate state governments under a single Constitution.
That is exactly how Europe should be run.
It’s time Britain, and the British, realised they are no longer a nation with an empire. It’s time they stopped regarding themselves as better than the Germans and French because they beat the former, and liberated the latter, in WW2 (with a little help from the Americans!). If the French can forgive the Nazi atrocities imposed on their countrymen eighty years ago and work together with the Germans to build a better and more united Europe, then it’s time the British gave up their arrogant swagger towards Europe and adopted a more cooperative attitude.
UK politicians talk blithely about Britain’s strength, and how it should be in the forefront (read: leading) Europe, but conveniently forget that both the French(5th) and German(4th) economies are ranked above Britain’s(6th).
One has only to note the supercilious smugness towards their hosts of many Brits living in France, to wonder how the French put up with it. They do because, in general, they’re more tolerant, more accepting, and frankly better mannered than the British.
Boris Johnson and Iain Duncan Smith have their own political agendas and would, no doubt, benefit in the short term from a UK exit from the EU. Johnson is favourite to become prime minister and leader of the Tory party should David Cameron be forced to resign after a UK pullout.
It’s easy to feel ashamed of one’s fellow countrymen.
