by Jonathan Todd
The temperature is rising. On our thermometers and in our politics. We face a summer of terrible dilemmas.
Should the Democrats seek to impeach Trump?
“If we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the President clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state,” the Mueller report says. “Based on the facts and the applicable legal standards, we are unable to reach that judgment.”
Mueller does not exonerate Trump. Mueller also recognises the Justice Department guidelines debarring prosecution of a sitting president. Mueller has taken matters as far as he feels he could.
It is for Congress to take them further. To not do so would set a dangerous precedent, while to do so would go against political realism.
In the absence of Republican support, an attempt to impeach Trump would not succeed. It would energise Trump’s loyal supporters. It would detract from focus on issues – such as healthcare – that are more likely to help Democrats in next year’s presidential election.
Who should pro-Europeans vote for in the European election?
Pro-Europeans have had few better friends in recent years than Andrew Adonis and Seb Dance. They intend to seek election as Labour MEPs.
The Labour leadership has been less solid. Barely exerting itself in the 2016 referendum. Slow to interrogate that vote’s dark money. Quick to push the “jobs first Brexit” oxymoron.
Theresa May, pace the ERG, has not defeated Brexit. Nor has parliament. Brexit – its contradictions and conceits – is defeating Brexit.
A different Labour leadership would say so. Nearly three years of attempting to implement Brexit have shown why EU membership was thought foundational to our national interest for nearly half a century.
Now – as Change UK, the Liberal Democrats, the Greens, and the SNP, unlike the Labour leadership, have said – is not the time to rip up that foundation but to retain and build upon it.
Brexit leaves room for little else in British politics. Nothing else in the European elections. The first European elections to be about Europe. With the pro-European vote more splintered than ever. As the Brexit message is newly projected in neon by Nigel Farage.
Remain is at 58% in a poll on voting intension in an EU referendum – its largest lead in three years.
Means must be found for this sentiment to be clearly expressed in the European election. Our party system, as well as the voting system for this election, inhibits this.
Farage understands that this election will be interpreted – in our media and the corridors of Brussels – as an expression of British opinion on the EU. He has shown political innovation and agility to maximise his chances. It is time that pro-Europeans did too.
If pro-European leaders do not, pro-European voters will be left with agonising and complicated choices.
Should Jeremy Corbyn be prime minister?
When Corbyn might have been explaining why Brexit is a dead end (that 58% has been achieved with scant acknowledgment of this among our leaders) and organising to send a resounding Remain message in the European election, he was tweeting supportively of the middleman between Russia and Trump. He would have better off leaving Julian Assange to the courts and rule of law.
But Corbyn’s anti-Americanism is as vehement as he pro-Europeanism is absent, and these foreign policy dispositions would define any Corbyn premiership. If our national crisis tips into a general election, many will want to avoid a Tory administration, while searching their souls as to whether such a man should be prime minister.
Should you fly on your holidays?
While, given my family and work lives, it would be hard for me – like Emma Thompson – to not fly, I am sufficiently concerned with my carbon footprint to have not eaten meat in two years.
We all ought to weigh heavily our environmental impacts, but only collective steps will bring about the scale of change required. From cycle-friendly cities to rewilding our countryside, we need to accelerate our response.
Brexit crowds out such debate but is not irrelevant, as the UK will respond more effectively by acting with EU partners. Ideally, we would devise a political process that leads to the conclusion that the best deal we will ever get from the EU is the one we already have, allowing us to get on with tackling shared challenges with renewed vigour.
With better leadership, this outcome would be achievable. We are more likely, though, to be left fretting about our flights. Both their carbon and what Brexit might mean for them.
Should Macron give the UK more time?
With the UK’s lamentable leadership, there is a significant chance that our Brexit limbo will be unresolved at the end of October. Then the EU, President Macron in particular, will need to again decide whether to kick the Brexit can down the road or force the UK off the cliff.
There are arguments in either direction, but the only player with a heads-I-win, tails-you-lose position is Uncut’s politician of the year, Vladimir Putin. The puppet master behind the forces that have Americans debating impeachment and Brits contemplating how to get out of our Brexit hole.
Macron sees the reform that he is seeking to bring to France and the EU as a rebuttal to Putin’s division and illiberalism. Either the UK quickly proves we can be useful to these agendas or we should brace ourselves for Macron cutting us adrift.
Jonathan Todd is Deputy Editor of Uncut
Tags: Brexit, Donald Trump, Emmanuel Macron, EU, European elections, Jeremy Corbyn, Jonathan Todd, Leave, Remain
Although the phrase jobs first brexit is tacky , there’s no reason why it wouldn’t work if we train up more Plumbers electricians and builders it’s just a assumption EU migrants are blue collar skilled self employed workers
I can handle the first mistake of saying that Adonis is a rare Pro Europe MEP, as you’ve mistook the word Europe for EU
But to then say Corbyn is anti EuRope when you clearly mean EU, is a disgrace the labour Brexiters I know love busting and indulging in European culture, we just don’t want to be part of the EU
“We haven’t fought for the EU for half a century “ they Labour was against the EEC and labour was mixed to the EU formation 26 years ago
Conceits aren’t defeating brexit, the establishment trying
to overrule democracy is the closest you’re getting to stopping brexit
Half the greens and some Plaid Cymru are against the EU membership
Who is this better leadership you’re talking of, if the 17% of the brexit party supper went back to the Tories they’d be well ahead in the oils no matter who was labour leader( Kate hoey excluded)
If you believe the 58% public want remain, opinion poll, more fool you
This article is as embarrassing as Chuk parties launch
Pro-Europeans have had few better friends in recent years than Andrew Adonis and Seb Dance. They intend to seek election as Labour MEPs.
Would this be the same Adonis that is now preaching Labur’s soft Brexit ?
Scottish voting intentions for the European elections (comparison to 2014)
SNP 40 (+11)
LAB 14 (-12)
BXP 13 (new) (2014 UKIP 10)
CON 10 (-7)
Rest 23 (Green, SSP, Lib Dem, CHUK, UKIP, DK/WNV etc)
They go on to show that in terms of seats this means:
SNP 3-4 (2)
LAB 1 (2)
BXP 1 (UKIP 1)
CON 0-1 (1)
(The final seat being a between CON and SNP and to close to call))
This is fairly consistant across mainland GB in that the three national avowedly Remain/second vote parties – Lib Dems, CHUK and Green, are struggling in all the regions)
Remain is at 58% in a poll on voting intension in an EU referendum
Would this be the ComRes poll largely trashed by experts over methodology and which ComRes itself later admitted was rogue and flawed?
And you just accepted it without checking didn’t you.
A YouGov poll, commissioned by the anti-extremism campaign group Hope Not Hate ( a Labour stooge organisation) shows the Tories have slumped to just 13 per cent in polling for the European elections next month and are on course to lose more than half their 19 MEPs, while the Brexit party is on 28 per cent and on course to win 28.
Bitain Elects European voting intentions. Chgs. w/ 12 Apr
BREX: 28% (+16)
LAB: 28% (-1)
CON: 14% (-3)
LDEM: 7% (-3)
CHUK: 7% (+3)
GRN: 6% (-)
UKIP: 3% (-10)
OPINIUM – European Parliament Voting Intention (changes vs EP election ’14) from 1,999 interviewed adults aged 18+, April 17th-25th.
BXP 27% (new),
LAB 27% (+2)
CON 16% (-7
LD 8% (+1)
UKIP 7% (-20),
GRN 4% (-4),
CHUK/TIG 4% (new),
OTH 4% (-4).
SNP 3% (+1),
More – Westminster voting intention:
LAB: 33% (-3)
CON: 26% (-3)
BREX: 17% (+17)
LDEM: 6% (-2)
CHUK: 4% (+4)
GRN: 4% (-)
UKIP: 4% (-7)
Impeachment would take too long. The Democrats should focus on the next Presidential elections – I don’t believe Joe Biden is the answer and there now appears to be so many candidates in the frame – better to narrow down the list in order to select a candidate and then work to promote this person. Many believe Trump will get a second term – so this will be an uphill struggle.
Both Mrs May and Mr Corbyn appear to be out of their depth – both are showing signs of stress.
We certainly have the worst Government in office in living memory. Most of the Cabinet, at best, are second rate politicians. Karen Bradley is certainly out of her depth – look what is happening in Northern Ireland under her watch.
Probably, the only politician coming out of this Brexit mess with any credibility is Kier Starmer.
The new Change Party are short on policies with Heidi Allan lacking gravitas while the Brexit Party is a one horse party with Ann Widdecombe a total embarrassment.
“The Labour leadership…Barely exerting itself in the 2016 referendum.”
Please stop pushing this lie.
I had to give up reading this when I got to the “Remain is at 58%”. I guess we will see over the coming weeks and months what the electorate thinks of the new Brexit Party and the EU.
What we have witnessed over the past 3 years is lies on top of more lies and most of these have come from the remain camp.
If only the scare mongering from 2016 had not been so catastrophic in its forecast and Corbyn actually declared his anti EU stance we would have had a 60/40 majority at the very least. For Leave.
No one believes the mainstream media anymore and some experts face a long road back to credibility. Most working class folk don’t believe Trump is as bad as he is being portrayed in this country. To us, it feels like there is an agenda to discredit the good work he has been doing. The hypocrisy on QT where our politicians who work in an elitist, anti-semitic, racist, misogynistic, thieving and lying house accused him of bigotry, misogyny and racism was shameful. More shameful was the fact that they appear to have completely overlooked their own behavioural deficiencies.
We don’t believe in Russian bots and we are not swayed by adverts on busses or social media. We vote for what we think will be right for us.
Hopefully both main parties will get a battering in the locals and if we are still in the EU by the time of those elections I hope that Farage and other National parties remind the EU of a countries desire to govern itself.
Well said Vern.
I live in North Yorkshire now and The Brexit Party is storming it round here – especially in places like Yvette Cooper’s seat (67% Leave) and Mary Creagh’s (66% Leave) where their core Labour voters voted Leave overwhelmingly and are deserting by the legion to Farage.
Labour is just as toxic as Tory in Yorkshire and the Humber region.
Anne, for once i agree that both May and Corbyn are out of ther depths. But both the Government and opposition are equally inadequate. Starmer just looks good against a tsunami of hopelessness. In truth he is really quite shit and doesn’t understand the electorate. The next Campbell.
Tafia,
1 well done calling out hops not hate they’re nearly as bad as the rape cover up SWO also calked UAF SUTR they want to shut free speech by calling anyone who disagrees a fascist without the irony if realising that is fascism
They may have found out about national action but 2 wrongs don’t make a righ
Also if the Indonesian poll is right
Labour 29%
Brex 21%
Ukip(2.5%)
Tory 11%
Libdem 11#
Green 11
Chuck 10
That’s 2 MEPs lab and Brex
1MEP others
Which is a poor show for labour to only get 2 MEPs in London
It could also show nationally
25 bx
17labour
12 tory
4lib
4 green
1 DUP
1 SinnFein
3 snp
1 Plaid
2Chuk
0 ukip(ho ho)
That’s 75% vote for parties who accept leave