If there is any defeatism here it in Freddie's article and the,so far three comments here, that agree with him.
To first congratulate Starmer for what is a deal that has saved the steel and car industries and then accuse him of short termism is beyond belief. How long do you think he ought to have waited before attempting the perfect deal?
Any deal at any time with Trump is going to be subject to his whims so should he have waited until there is a new president.
As far as I can see Starmer struck the best deal he could get. Of course it is not as good as it was before ''Liberation Day'' but it is certainly better than what we had the morning after.
I'm glad that even the NS appears to have realised that the Empire has gone and that Britain no longer rules the world. Starmer knows that and what that entails so it is no good railing against that.
I would be surprised if the EU or any other country apart from China does any better with deals with Trump. It is worth noting that the EU is trying to cut a deal and Macron too with his special plea for Cognac. Is this too short termism or is it realism?
Spot-on, Freddie! And thanks to you and the New Statesman for being the critical friends Labour desperately needs right now.
The image of Starmer hyping up the “special relationship” while Trump grins next to a chart showing the UK got rinsed? Perfectly captures the cosplay politics we’re stuck with. That is the performance of power without any of the substance. We’re not allies in arms, we’re the awkward British side character in a Marvel film, included mostly for comic relief. Starmer wasn’t negotiating; he was narrating. To an audience that (unfortunately) stopped listening months ago!!!!
I put soooooooo much faith in this party before the election, hoping for rupture, imagination, a real plan to redirect the country for the next 40 years. Instead, we got Middle Management Labour.
As I wrote recently, they act like the office guy who cancels the brainstorm because “now’s not the time for disruption.” Competent, beige, terrified of vision. They don’t lead; they do logistics. And when we need fire, they send a feedback form!!!
Labour has become the party that shows up to a crisis with a new filing system. That promises transformation but delivers a press release. They manage expectations, not outcomes. They update the slide deck while the building’s on fire.
And to be honest, they’re not evil, they’re beige. Predictable. Safe. Dead behind the eyes. And in a time that calls for radical reimagination, they just want to make things a bit more tidy.
So thank you again, keep naming it. Someone has to.
Doesn't the trade deal largely come down to mutual desperation? Labour are being panned for their handling of the economy. Finally signing the totemic trade agreement with the US that has eluded his four post-Brexit predecessors makes for a much better news cycle than firing Rachel Reeves.
The Deal-Maker-in-Chief, meanwhile, has destroyed the entire the post-Cold War global economic order and the 80 years of US grand strategy on which, and for which, it was built, with the boast that he would have world leaders rushing to the White House to sign new deals on his terms. Instead he seems to have cratered the world economy, which will, at least, presumably recover, whereas the preeminence the US enjoyed in the world for so long almost certainly never will.
So, an alignment of interests. A POTUS both desperate and anti-European enough to make a bilateral free agreement with Britain, and a PM desperate enough for an economic win of any sort to take whatever terms Donald Trump might give him.
Beware Freddie of the American dream. Many BBC correspondents have talked about the draw of the American way of life, especially for those on high salaries. This is why the BBC limit the posting to four years. Faced with the results of 14 years of Tory incompetence and sheer ineptitude what can Labour do to restore any semblance of British power. It now appears that we lack the revenue stream to meet the obligations to our population. In the meantime, Rachel Reeves is making an attempt to get the hundreds of personal pension funds to coordinate for greater safety and to invest a mere 10% of their funds in British enterprises. From the furore of the pension industry one would think she was asking them to buy Lottery tickets.
If there is any defeatism here it in Freddie's article and the,so far three comments here, that agree with him.
To first congratulate Starmer for what is a deal that has saved the steel and car industries and then accuse him of short termism is beyond belief. How long do you think he ought to have waited before attempting the perfect deal?
Any deal at any time with Trump is going to be subject to his whims so should he have waited until there is a new president.
As far as I can see Starmer struck the best deal he could get. Of course it is not as good as it was before ''Liberation Day'' but it is certainly better than what we had the morning after.
I'm glad that even the NS appears to have realised that the Empire has gone and that Britain no longer rules the world. Starmer knows that and what that entails so it is no good railing against that.
I would be surprised if the EU or any other country apart from China does any better with deals with Trump. It is worth noting that the EU is trying to cut a deal and Macron too with his special plea for Cognac. Is this too short termism or is it realism?
UK at the head of the queue that nobody else wants to join 🤔
Spot-on, Freddie! And thanks to you and the New Statesman for being the critical friends Labour desperately needs right now.
The image of Starmer hyping up the “special relationship” while Trump grins next to a chart showing the UK got rinsed? Perfectly captures the cosplay politics we’re stuck with. That is the performance of power without any of the substance. We’re not allies in arms, we’re the awkward British side character in a Marvel film, included mostly for comic relief. Starmer wasn’t negotiating; he was narrating. To an audience that (unfortunately) stopped listening months ago!!!!
I put soooooooo much faith in this party before the election, hoping for rupture, imagination, a real plan to redirect the country for the next 40 years. Instead, we got Middle Management Labour.
As I wrote recently, they act like the office guy who cancels the brainstorm because “now’s not the time for disruption.” Competent, beige, terrified of vision. They don’t lead; they do logistics. And when we need fire, they send a feedback form!!!
Labour has become the party that shows up to a crisis with a new filing system. That promises transformation but delivers a press release. They manage expectations, not outcomes. They update the slide deck while the building’s on fire.
And to be honest, they’re not evil, they’re beige. Predictable. Safe. Dead behind the eyes. And in a time that calls for radical reimagination, they just want to make things a bit more tidy.
So thank you again, keep naming it. Someone has to.
Doesn't the trade deal largely come down to mutual desperation? Labour are being panned for their handling of the economy. Finally signing the totemic trade agreement with the US that has eluded his four post-Brexit predecessors makes for a much better news cycle than firing Rachel Reeves.
The Deal-Maker-in-Chief, meanwhile, has destroyed the entire the post-Cold War global economic order and the 80 years of US grand strategy on which, and for which, it was built, with the boast that he would have world leaders rushing to the White House to sign new deals on his terms. Instead he seems to have cratered the world economy, which will, at least, presumably recover, whereas the preeminence the US enjoyed in the world for so long almost certainly never will.
So, an alignment of interests. A POTUS both desperate and anti-European enough to make a bilateral free agreement with Britain, and a PM desperate enough for an economic win of any sort to take whatever terms Donald Trump might give him.
Special indeed.
Beware Freddie of the American dream. Many BBC correspondents have talked about the draw of the American way of life, especially for those on high salaries. This is why the BBC limit the posting to four years. Faced with the results of 14 years of Tory incompetence and sheer ineptitude what can Labour do to restore any semblance of British power. It now appears that we lack the revenue stream to meet the obligations to our population. In the meantime, Rachel Reeves is making an attempt to get the hundreds of personal pension funds to coordinate for greater safety and to invest a mere 10% of their funds in British enterprises. From the furore of the pension industry one would think she was asking them to buy Lottery tickets.
Freddie, you are quite correct. Keir Starmer has been played by Donald Trump and doesn't even recognise it. When will he become politically savvy?