Donald Trump's British Charm Offensive reveal a Brexit threat to the NHS?
Before landing on these isles, the esteemed US President decided to do some Twitter diplomacy which impressed everyone and annoyed nobody at all:
1) He described Sadiq Khan, London's Muslim mayor, as "very dumb" and a "stone-cold loser".
2) Called Meghan Markle (the Duchess of Sussex who was formally the chic from suits) as "nasty."
3) Showed impeccable political neutrality by saying that Nigel Farage should take-over Britain's Brexit negotiations.
4) Showed even more impeccable political neutrality by endorsing Boris Johnson's current bid to lead the Conservative Party and become the next UK Prime Minister.
There is one thing that is good about Donald Trump though and that is his brazenness reveals things that other terrible people would rather keep quiet. There is no doubt about his character or his agenda. He picked a fight with two prominent people of colour, one of them a woman. He's supported the most erratic and populist contender to be the leader of the Conservative Party and told us that another right-wing populist should take over the Brexit negotiations. Farage taking over the Brexit negotiations would almost certainly lead to a no-deal Brexit but perhaps that is what he wants anyway. This also does relate to another big issue:
The Brexit-right have been talking up trade-deals with America as a replacement for our relationship with the EU. Let's get past the fact that given the huge distance America is away from our shores, that there is no way that the EU will cease to be our biggest trading partner even after a hard Brexit. One of the things Trump shares with the Brexit-right is their crap knowledge of geography.
By trade deals, here we mean opening the UK health and education systems to predatory foreign privatisations. Tariffs between Britain and America are also low to non-existent so any 'trade deal' will involve TTIP style sell-offs and de-regulation. This is ironic, given that Brexit was originally sold as something which would provide more money to the National Health Service, it could involve it being sold off to American firms. This is something Farage would personally be in favour of, given his own right-wing libertarian politics. In addition, Boris Johnson refused to rule-out the NHS being part of an Anglo-American trade deal.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/video/2014/nov/12/what-nigel-farage-really-thinks-ukip-video
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99UL-NqNH8I]
1) He described Sadiq Khan, London's Muslim mayor, as "very dumb" and a "stone-cold loser".
2) Called Meghan Markle (the Duchess of Sussex who was formally the chic from suits) as "nasty."
3) Showed impeccable political neutrality by saying that Nigel Farage should take-over Britain's Brexit negotiations.
4) Showed even more impeccable political neutrality by endorsing Boris Johnson's current bid to lead the Conservative Party and become the next UK Prime Minister.
There is one thing that is good about Donald Trump though and that is his brazenness reveals things that other terrible people would rather keep quiet. There is no doubt about his character or his agenda. He picked a fight with two prominent people of colour, one of them a woman. He's supported the most erratic and populist contender to be the leader of the Conservative Party and told us that another right-wing populist should take over the Brexit negotiations. Farage taking over the Brexit negotiations would almost certainly lead to a no-deal Brexit but perhaps that is what he wants anyway. This also does relate to another big issue:
The Brexit-right have been talking up trade-deals with America as a replacement for our relationship with the EU. Let's get past the fact that given the huge distance America is away from our shores, that there is no way that the EU will cease to be our biggest trading partner even after a hard Brexit. One of the things Trump shares with the Brexit-right is their crap knowledge of geography.
By trade deals, here we mean opening the UK health and education systems to predatory foreign privatisations. Tariffs between Britain and America are also low to non-existent so any 'trade deal' will involve TTIP style sell-offs and de-regulation. This is ironic, given that Brexit was originally sold as something which would provide more money to the National Health Service, it could involve it being sold off to American firms. This is something Farage would personally be in favour of, given his own right-wing libertarian politics. In addition, Boris Johnson refused to rule-out the NHS being part of an Anglo-American trade deal.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/video/2014/nov/12/what-nigel-farage-really-thinks-ukip-video
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99UL-NqNH8I]
41-45, M
