Monday 5 June 2017

Terror Has Many Dimensions

We all have several good reasons to fear the septic pin-pricks being inflicted upon us in the abominable current terror campaign.  This probably isn't the blog to dwell on the personal, ethical or ethnic issues, acute and shocking though they be.

We do however reckon to cover politics and economics here, and I have a particular horror in those spheres.  It is that the current string of palpable outrages provide a massive post-election distraction for Mrs May, whose full and undivided concentration will need to be upon Brexit.  If I was being cruel, I might even say she looks as though she positively prefers dealing with Home-Office-type matters.

But Brexit requires 100% attention from almost the whole of government if it is not to be a first-order economic cock-up.  I've not been sanguine about May's capabilities in this regard for many months (who has?).  For the government to be diverted by anything else would be akin to Churchill's War Cabinet becoming distracted by a nasty outbreak of measles in the summer of 1940.   That may not be the perfect analogy but you know what I mean.

ND

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

For the government to be diverted by anything else would be akin to Churchill's War Cabinet becoming distracted by a nasty outbreak of measles in the summer of 1940.

It is nearly the 1st anniversary of Farage's "independence day". The government has spent a year being distracted by internal strife and replacing itself. An outbreak of measles would have been more interesting.

CityUnslicker said...

The plans are more well advanced than many think. However, despite what the media would tell us, the other side is very ill-prepared, swinging from OUT to MAYBE to LET's DEAL on a daily basis.

My contacts in Brussels report they like very much to be seen as together, but the only line they can agree on is the £100 billion which they also know is a non-starter for actually getting a deal.

Being seen to rob the Brits at gun point will not be very popular in Southern Europe even though the French and Germans are happy to see this now.

CityUnslicker said...

Also, Brexit is important for trade and economics, but the terrorist threat (I am at work in a building that has been on the telly all weekend long...) is pretty real and does need sorting out.

barnacle bill said...

"If I was being cruel, I might even say she looks as though she positively prefers dealing with Home-Office-type matters."

We all know how competent she was at the Home Office!

I would actually accuse her of having been a "Quisling" Home Office minister. To have allowed the setting up of Sharia courts in her bailwick whilst at the Home Office smacks of treachery to moi.

Then of course there is the "Manchester Boys", perhaps a case of the hand that nurtered them being bitten.

There is "something of the Darkness", to paraphrase another criticizm of another Home Office minister, that nags at me about Saint Theresa.

E-K said...

All police need to be armed now. Perhaps a home guard of veteran police and soldiers too.

This becomes civil war when the first unguarded town is subject to a two hour marauding, replete with live stream movie.

dustybloke said...

Look forward to full Nanny Theresa over the next few months.

Buy a few second hand mobiles and sims over the next couple of days.

Anonymous said...

I've zero confidence in May delivering Brexit well these days, if she turned any more the planet would develop a slight orbital wobble. Never thought I'd utter the words, but Corbyn looks more like a leader. If you want to use "strong and stable" as a mantra, don't start looking like a cheap plastic table with one leg shorter than the others.

I started off planning to vote Tory, but not a chance now. Between May and Rudd - who makes fucking _Abbott_ look intelligent, she's that dismal - I'm debating giving Labour it's first ever vote (and, likely, last) from myself. If we're going to hell, may as well pick the route paved with good intentions, although I'll need a stiff drink or two before crossing any box.

@barnacle bill - UK law has allowed alternative routes for non-criminal law for a very long time (the Jewish use it too), so no problem with Sharia being used in a very limited role there. We've an issue with extremists, not Muslims in their entirety. Here in Manchester a hell of a lot more Muslims were helping than harming after the attack at the arena.

@EK - don't think we're that bad yet. I've had a few similar dark thoughts, which I'm keeping to myself lest any nutter comes across them and finds them useful, that I'm grateful the terrorists have yet to cotton on to.

andrew said...

Terrorism is nasty.
However more people die from car accidents in a week than have died from terrorism in the last 10 years.

That May has cut back on police and will not condemn the Saudis for funding terrorism possibly in this country will count against her

They can point fingers at facebook etc but that is clearly opportunistic c***
They can point at the bad things Corbyn did 20 years ago, but he (quite rightly) will point back at the things May is doing right now.

The strong and stable line has blown up on them already.
If only the opposition was half way competent, The appeals to national security so easily could.

And like CU says, ignoring all that is important
No - not brexit:-

What skills should we be getting the young to learn
Adult education - why stop learning at 18/21?
Productivity (good jobs)

House prices - no reason for them to be so high.

749 trade deals to renegotiate - what is the plan

Social care - why isn't this part of the NHS - can you tell the difference between social care and medical care of the old? Me neither.

barnacle bill said...

Anon @ 11:42

I am aware and respect the rights of others like those of the Jewish faith to have their own rules being followed in this country because I know they are not trying to damage/undermine the very fabric of our way of like here.

Where as those who demand Sharia courts in this country see it as the route to overthrowing the common law of this land. It is the thin end of an unacceptable wedge being driven into the soul of our society. As such Saint Theresa should have stamped it out right at the very beginning.

Demetrius said...

1940, a reason why Chamberlain went was the number of distractions he was faced with, as was Churchill. The difference lay in how he dealt with the other politicians and the generals. A key example is rationing and food supplies given that the dockers were Communist led and Stalin at that point was allied to Germany by treaty. And yes, there was a measles problem with children and others moving all over the place. I had it for a start.

Charlie said...

"What skills should we be getting the young to learn?"

The same as we should have been getting them to learn for the last thirty years - engineering of any type; mechanical, electronic, computer, chemical, civil etc. I chose my A-levels in 1996 (showing my age there) and remember even then raised eyebrows amongst teaching staff when I chose Maths/Physics/Chemistry. Conversations with friends who have teens suggest it is even worse now. I know a number of young people embarking on degrees that will be worth the square root of f*** all when the time comes to start applying for jobs.

Fast forward ten years and STEM will be one of the few games left in town if they don't want to end up in a minimum wage service role. I see nobody in government willing to discuss what we're going to do in the face of increasing automation, which will be the socio-economic challenge of the next decade or two. Given governments of both stripes' record on other Big Issues, like pensions, housing and care, I suspect I'll be waiting a long time.

Sorry, a bit OT, would be interesting to see some blog articles about what we're going to do when demand for human labour falls by 50% thanks to those bloody robots, coming over 'ere and taking our jobs.

Bill Quango MP said...

EK - home guard reservists.
If you look at the images of the french security forces on patrol you might note their carbines are about thirty years old.
The Rutger 14 carbine replaced the Mat-49 sub-machine gun in the 1970s. {That's the iconic french SMG that they use to kill the Jackal in the original film.

I don't know how French security and reserve military forces are structured. But there are definitely what can only be second line of territorial troops on their tv screens. Armed with second line weapons.

So far on UK Tv I haven't seen any second line or reserve forces out. All the military were up to date defending Westminster.
What did we do during 'the troubles' on our streets?
Were the territorials active in defence and policing? I don't recall it, but was too young to really know.

Anonymous said...

Certainly STEM degrees are important and essential for the economy. But don't underestimate the size of the creative media industry, which is a big employer and important for exports.

The two merge together in the area of software development.

And tourism is a big industry for Britain, so we need people who are good at putting on exhibitions, restoring National Trust properties, writing and designing guidebooks, etc.

What we do not need is graduates in PPE.

Don Cox

hovis said...

Terrorism is nasty more people die from car accidents.
That may be the case but it is close to Sophistry to claim that because X more people die in car accident they are a bigger problem than terrorism.

There are not external and internal interests inimical to the UK's settled traditional/desired modes of living/politics/social relations looking to promote car accident through funding the return of the spoon brakes as the preferred method for stopping cars.

The whole cutting police numbers is pretty risible as political point scoring. Would x more coppers on the beat have made a difference in any of the cases? No. The implication is more police would have stopped the attacks, but that suggests we allow arrests for "pre-crime thoughts"?? I am a big fan of innocent till proven guilty an habeaus corpus, and extending the powers of the state is a bad bad move, especially with the muppets and quislings we have in power now. I don't see either party changing course beyond soundbites whether it is idiot May, the execrable Corbyn or the scumbag Mayor of London.

If you look the attacks are all a form of bad MLM franchise - so ISIS is the Amway of the Islamist world, but rather than overpriced cleaning products the product is naff DIY murders. The problem with all MLM systems they are low level and persist even when not successful as someone always buys into the dream.

Nick Drew said...

BQ - no Territorials deployed during the troubles except the UDR (slightly different). And yes, many of the 10's of 1,000s of French troops on the streets for many months now are very 'second echelon' indeed, kids of both sexes who can hardly carry their weapons, wandering around aimlessly in big railway stations in threes and fours, wouldn't have a clue what to do.

Thud said...

Anon, with 4 small children I can't afford the luxury of voting for the commie traitors and watching it all fall apart, real lives at stake here so the con are the only game in town.

E-K said...

ND and BQ

Specifically ex military and ex police firearms holders.

The IRA had comparative restraint and even gave warnings sometimes.

Anonymous said...

anon 11.42 - as Thud says, none of us may have much confidence in TM but she's the only option. The most important thing is Brexit, nothing else comes close to it - because without Brexit our options to deal with all our other pressing problems are limited by the EU - just look at the trouble we've had deporting bad people. She may not be much of a Brexiteer, but this is where we are.

Anonymous said...

Great comment elsewhere ont' web

"To me the worst of this is not the attacks, the dead and injured. Death and injury … that’s unfortunate. But we can tolerate a lot–witness the War. Millions dead, but at the end England was still England, France still France. Even Germany, Russia and Poland were still there–if moved a bit West. Even the Jews–despite being victims of immense mass murder–still existed and in fact shortly had their own nation. People die, but life goes on.

No the worst part of this is the crying, the hugging, the flowers, the calls for “peace”, the “unity” concerts and candlelight vigils, all the girly, faggy s*** that signals that the West is now thoroughly unserious and a bunch of pussies who are going to be rolled and f*****.

Death of individuals comes to us all in turn. (My best years are well behind me.) But this is the death of nations, the death of the greatest civilization of all time.

These are depressing times."

Anonymous said...

CU,
noted your comment above re Brussels. Fingers crossed this is indeed the case.
What you suggest is totally contrary to R North's output on the preparedness of HMG.
Would comment further on HMG position?