Very good piece. Only this month the New Criterion editor Kimball hosted a conservative dinner in the cellars of Berry Bros for the local right: Starkey, Pryce Jones, Heffer, Shawcross, Roberts etc etc. Apparently there was a major row over Ukraine which the US delegation wish to betray and most of the Brits didn’t. Nobody writes about such networks. Why don’t progressives have similar?
Brexit was a symptom rather than a cause, but everything in UK politics reverts to that singularity. Every Trumper in this country denies our hard-won civilisation.
The problem is money. At one time most senior Conservatives were well off, some were millionaires at a time when the Beatles could buy a country house with five acres for £6000. Now the Conservatives, like Truss and Johnson, want to be rich and see it as a purpose in life. An amazing downfall of a Party that has existed for centuries. That they favour Trump and Brexit are just examples of how their politics have bent to their need for money
Exactly. Interesting that Kwarteng, Frost and Truss live in modest houses in Greenwich’s Ashburnham Triangle. Not exactly millionaires row though Sumption has a big Dutch style manor house at the top of Point Hill (plus a chateau in France).
"It is remarkable how little the betrayal on the right is discussed."
Because the British Centre-Left is too scared of right-wing newspapers, & too scared to admit it.
And the British Far-Left's foreign "policies" (Israel/Palestine excepted) are in practice the same as Trump's, & they're too dishonest & hypocritical to admit it.
So British Right-wingers continue to betray Britain by supporting Far-Right Americans who betray America, in the hope that American far-right nationalists will find them interesting enough to listen to. (Johnson's speech to rows of empty chairs at the Milwaulkee RNC suggest it's not working, surprise surprise - who'd have thought that right-wing nationalists were uninterested in foreigners?)
I never liked Thatcher, her policies or her party. But she would NEVER have behaved like this.
Mrs Thatcher was a Gladstonian Liberal- fiscally dry combined with a muscular foreign policy. Mind you, she didn’t understand the Irish question as WEG did (if only the Tories had supported him in the 1880s on Home Rule…)
very interesting about 'old' right and the press. But the expulsion of decent conservatives (David Gawke Dominic Greive Justine Greening....etc) also means that a younger generation of proper conservatives have gone....
It's the perfect example of how every action he takes is only in the service of one person: himself. As Mayor of London, editor of The Spectator, and Foreign Secretary he was all for Russians funding his party and London becoming a global centre for laundering those same oligarchs' wealth. Until, that is, it became politically expedient not to be.
In addition to being "traitors, fifth columnists, enemies of the people", a good many of them seem to be "bleeding heart liberals" calling for understanding and lenience where racist rioters and those encouraging them are concerned.
Week in week out, Murdoch allows Gerard. Akers to write a Trumpist column in The Times, and continues to fund Fox and support an anti Democratic Party- the Republicans. He also supports the right wing of the liberal party in Australia. The hard right are well connected!
The people who celebrate and make a totem of the heroism of world war two... and wish we hadn't fought it....!... make me wretch.
The ones that elevate Russia's role in victory when western victory belongs to the free nations who cared about their soldiers and peoples... and who finally found victory in 1989/90, not the genocidal grip of total war Stalin showed the people east of the Rhine from even before the war began...
Churchill decried the poppy for its appeasing effects... if it is an abhorrence for war that keeps you grounded then fair enough... but it will be used against you... an abhorrence for warlords will serve us all so much better.
Have you invented a new portmanteau word? Retch (verb: as in to dry heave) and wretch (noun: as in to feel unhappy). I hope so. It describes my feelings about them too.
"The one unqualified achievement Johnson left amid the wreckage of his career was support for a free Ukraine. "
May I add one "achievement" - although it may be qualified?
He made a commitment to reallocation of road space to Active Travel (walking and cycling) in "Gear Change" through separated cycle lanes, School Streets and "Low Traffic Neighbourhoods". He may just have been signing off what his SPAD put in front of him; very few Councils pushed ahead; and some LTNs have been withdrawn under NIMBY pressure.
And despite some positive noises from Lou Haigh (new Transport Minister) we have yet to see what Labour will actually do.
So it does need to be "qualified". And we look forward to seeing if Labour will be less responsible than Alexander de Pfeffel Boris Johnson on Active Travel...
Johnson's support for Ukraine always struck me as Churchillian cosplay for a domestic audience that does understand neighbourhood imperialistic dictators.. but I wonder if it was factored in as cynical positioning while Putin used Trump to neutralise the US.
Trump has sworn to take revenge against his political enemies and critics if reelected (domestic or foreign) Kamala Harris, if elected, will be civilized and do nothing against her critics. There we are.
Zelenskyy recently reported that he had a phone call with Trump. Apparently Trump stated that he would fully support Ukraine. I’m not sure if Zelenskyy believes him.
I couldn’t agree more @nickcohen. For the self-described free traders and Ukraine allies (Johnson and Truss) and the “influencers” (Big Society Hilton and Revolution! Brand) who support Trump, this is a business model and little more. The tribalists aren’t quite there yet but I’m preparing a sorrow-plus-anger article for the day Niall Ferguson picks a side 1. Incidentally, did you see that you had entered the French intro-left political debate this weekend after Jean Quatremer re-upped your 2018 Le Monde interview 2.
Very good piece. Only this month the New Criterion editor Kimball hosted a conservative dinner in the cellars of Berry Bros for the local right: Starkey, Pryce Jones, Heffer, Shawcross, Roberts etc etc. Apparently there was a major row over Ukraine which the US delegation wish to betray and most of the Brits didn’t. Nobody writes about such networks. Why don’t progressives have similar?
Oh, that is interesting
Fair play to the British right wingers for sticking up for supporting Ukraine.
It all comes back to Brexit
Yup.
Brexit was a symptom rather than a cause, but everything in UK politics reverts to that singularity. Every Trumper in this country denies our hard-won civilisation.
The problem is money. At one time most senior Conservatives were well off, some were millionaires at a time when the Beatles could buy a country house with five acres for £6000. Now the Conservatives, like Truss and Johnson, want to be rich and see it as a purpose in life. An amazing downfall of a Party that has existed for centuries. That they favour Trump and Brexit are just examples of how their politics have bent to their need for money
Exactly. Interesting that Kwarteng, Frost and Truss live in modest houses in Greenwich’s Ashburnham Triangle. Not exactly millionaires row though Sumption has a big Dutch style manor house at the top of Point Hill (plus a chateau in France).
That's interesting.
Joining the club is harder... desperation more craven.
"It is remarkable how little the betrayal on the right is discussed."
Because the British Centre-Left is too scared of right-wing newspapers, & too scared to admit it.
And the British Far-Left's foreign "policies" (Israel/Palestine excepted) are in practice the same as Trump's, & they're too dishonest & hypocritical to admit it.
So British Right-wingers continue to betray Britain by supporting Far-Right Americans who betray America, in the hope that American far-right nationalists will find them interesting enough to listen to. (Johnson's speech to rows of empty chairs at the Milwaulkee RNC suggest it's not working, surprise surprise - who'd have thought that right-wing nationalists were uninterested in foreigners?)
I never liked Thatcher, her policies or her party. But she would NEVER have behaved like this.
Thatcher, for all she wrought upon us, at least was honest and largely incorruptible.
Mrs Thatcher was a Gladstonian Liberal- fiscally dry combined with a muscular foreign policy. Mind you, she didn’t understand the Irish question as WEG did (if only the Tories had supported him in the 1880s on Home Rule…)
very interesting about 'old' right and the press. But the expulsion of decent conservatives (David Gawke Dominic Greive Justine Greening....etc) also means that a younger generation of proper conservatives have gone....
Yup I don't know how they come back
Johnson was an important ally of Ukraine for a while. But unsurprisingly he has proved as faithful to Ukraine as to his various wives and girlfriends.
It's the perfect example of how every action he takes is only in the service of one person: himself. As Mayor of London, editor of The Spectator, and Foreign Secretary he was all for Russians funding his party and London becoming a global centre for laundering those same oligarchs' wealth. Until, that is, it became politically expedient not to be.
I didn’t realise Russell Brand had any great significance except as a sex pest
As a symptom of a deeper social malaise, he's invaluable.
In addition to being "traitors, fifth columnists, enemies of the people", a good many of them seem to be "bleeding heart liberals" calling for understanding and lenience where racist rioters and those encouraging them are concerned.
Week in week out, Murdoch allows Gerard. Akers to write a Trumpist column in The Times, and continues to fund Fox and support an anti Democratic Party- the Republicans. He also supports the right wing of the liberal party in Australia. The hard right are well connected!
Happily they're losing right now. As his influence dwindles, Murdoch must be pickling in his own bitterness.
The people who celebrate and make a totem of the heroism of world war two... and wish we hadn't fought it....!... make me wretch.
The ones that elevate Russia's role in victory when western victory belongs to the free nations who cared about their soldiers and peoples... and who finally found victory in 1989/90, not the genocidal grip of total war Stalin showed the people east of the Rhine from even before the war began...
Churchill decried the poppy for its appeasing effects... if it is an abhorrence for war that keeps you grounded then fair enough... but it will be used against you... an abhorrence for warlords will serve us all so much better.
Sorry to be petty but East of the Rhine would be Cologne amongst others, guess you meant Elbe / Oder
Have you invented a new portmanteau word? Retch (verb: as in to dry heave) and wretch (noun: as in to feel unhappy). I hope so. It describes my feelings about them too.
It’s immensely delusional of them, my god bojo has written enough books about Churchill, he should know his history
I suspect he only understands history through the prism of his own desire
"The one unqualified achievement Johnson left amid the wreckage of his career was support for a free Ukraine. "
May I add one "achievement" - although it may be qualified?
He made a commitment to reallocation of road space to Active Travel (walking and cycling) in "Gear Change" through separated cycle lanes, School Streets and "Low Traffic Neighbourhoods". He may just have been signing off what his SPAD put in front of him; very few Councils pushed ahead; and some LTNs have been withdrawn under NIMBY pressure.
And despite some positive noises from Lou Haigh (new Transport Minister) we have yet to see what Labour will actually do.
So it does need to be "qualified". And we look forward to seeing if Labour will be less responsible than Alexander de Pfeffel Boris Johnson on Active Travel...
That is a very fair point Robert
Johnson's support for Ukraine always struck me as Churchillian cosplay for a domestic audience that does understand neighbourhood imperialistic dictators.. but I wonder if it was factored in as cynical positioning while Putin used Trump to neutralise the US.
And Trump would.. neutralise the US.
Thus making it moot.
Trump has sworn to take revenge against his political enemies and critics if reelected (domestic or foreign) Kamala Harris, if elected, will be civilized and do nothing against her critics. There we are.
Zelenskyy recently reported that he had a phone call with Trump. Apparently Trump stated that he would fully support Ukraine. I’m not sure if Zelenskyy believes him.
I couldn’t agree more @nickcohen. For the self-described free traders and Ukraine allies (Johnson and Truss) and the “influencers” (Big Society Hilton and Revolution! Brand) who support Trump, this is a business model and little more. The tribalists aren’t quite there yet but I’m preparing a sorrow-plus-anger article for the day Niall Ferguson picks a side 1. Incidentally, did you see that you had entered the French intro-left political debate this weekend after Jean Quatremer re-upped your 2018 Le Monde interview 2.
1. https://www.thefp.com/p/niall-ferguson-barbenheimer-election
2. https://x.com/quatremer/status/1827706791398150199?s=61&t=gAu9dgKAjvuqqCJU320ZRA)
Another nasty Thatcher legasy