Distracted and looking the other way: 30 days to the next crisis

TruePublica Editor: While the pandemic swirls throughout society and wreaks havoc to public health and then the economy, the general public are largely unaware that Tuesday, June 30th is one of the most important days in the history of Great Britain.

As if the pandemic is not enough cover for this huge event, the remaining column inches are dedicated to Britain’s government being immersed in scandals of corruption and malfeasance. Johnson has Dominic Cummings, the Russia Report, Leave EU and Brexit. Dominic Raab in the Foreign Office now has the Dunn family bringing a private criminal prosecution, accusing him of breaking the law over Sacoolas. The investigation which ‘cleared’ Priti Patel of bullying has been universally condemned as secretive and biased. And don’t forget Patel was kicked out of government because of ‘transparency’ issues over her very dubious dealings with Israeli politicians. Then we have Gavin Williamson – the first politician in Britain (and a defence secretary) to be sacked by a sitting Prime Minister for leaking vital information from within a top-level National Security Council meeting. In any other era, Williamson would have been branded treasonous. He even has a CBE, kept it and is back in the cabinet. Matt Hancock bursts out laughing on live TV as he’s accused of mishandling Covid-19 just as he rushes out the ‘test and trace’ launch – a system that has failed on day one. More widely, valuable and highly sensitive contracts have been dished out without public scrutiny, without adhering to correct procedure while others were gifted to organisations such as SERCO and G4S who between them have a rap sheet similar to that of the banks. We’ve all forgotten that little more than six months ago Liz Truss (now trade secretary) was fighting off claims she had, against court rulings, signed off illegal weapons sales to foreign states. Truss was also heavily criticised for not standing up for the judiciary against press attacks (like the Daily Mail’s ‘Enemies of the People’ article) while serving as justice secretary in 2016 or her failures that led to her being mocked nationally in her role leading the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. The list goes on.

These are the people who are supposedly running Britain at a time when the country needs not just leadership, but great leadership, both of which are absent without trace.

The pandemic is one issue. It will lead to an economic crisis in three to six months time. Brexit also needs very careful consideration. After the pandemic, do we not look at Brexit again and decide what we really want from it because the world has changed? What about a green new deal to kick-start the economy and get the newly unemployed retrained at back at work? Geopolitical alliances have changed, trillions in investment strategies have changed, ideologies are changing right now.

But danger lurks just in front of us as these diversions distract us.

On Tuesday 30th June a crucial deadline passes. On July 1st, a hard-Brexit becomes a new reality. The corporate coup d’etat is almost complete.

When Britain left the European Union in January, both sides agreed to a standstill transition until December 31st in which to agree on a new relationship to replace five decades of close ties. Normally, a trade deal with the EU takes five to seven years. The fastest they’ve ever done one is four years – but this deal, our deal, has to be done in 11 months. Without agreeing for an extension by June 30th, we then cannot agree to delay by law. The last three months and the next three months will be focused on the pandemic and so to say there are 11 months of negotiations is utter nonsense.

Many British businesses tackling the fallout of not just a nationwide lockdown but a global one are now even more fearful of new trade barriers, calling on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to ask for more time. He can request an extra year or two to negotiate a deal, but this must be agreed by mid-night June 30th — and he continues to insist he will not take the option. In fact, he’s even entrenched this position.

One man and his acolytes are now about to do something the British public are against – push through a hard Brexit from within a global pandemic.

30 days and the world changes for Britain yet again. The currency will fall again, companies will have increased threats – much of the inward investment will come from scavengers like vulture funds, hedge funds and traders looking to profit from the carnage.

30 days and we have turned our backs on the European Union, flipped over and offered ourselves up to Trump’s America.

30 days and our rights as a sovereign nation are determined by American corporations, tech giants and their billionaires.

30 days and what remains of our belief in the institutions that uphold civil society such as our judicial system, our democracy, our right to free speech and human rights will, in the darkness, will be signed away slowly but as assured as night turns into day.

In six months time, Britain will be forced onto World Trade Organisation rules. Our companies will be fighting for survival on several fronts and without a Brexit extension, more will flounder or suffer. More people will lose jobs, homes and all the misery that brings.

An extension is crucial – but Johnson is keen for his big payday from the land of his birth. It’s in sight and he knows it’s really only 30 days away.

 

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