War in Ukraine

 I fear that the war in Ukraine will not be resolved quickly or satisfactorily. It is clear that Russia's invasion is illegal and breaks Geneva and UN conventions, but this cuts no ice. Both sides in the war have broken the Minsk convention, and this cuts no ice too.

Both sides are fighting themselves to a standstill, but it is highly unlikely that Ukraine can recover its lost territory by military means without the help of Nato who would need to provide direct military assistance with boots on the ground. Direct Nato intervention runs the risk of the conflict descending into  all out war between Russia and its allies and Nato, and this would be unthinkable. 

Ukraine might have to agree to a negotiated settlement which would result in them losing "sovereignty" over the the Donbas and Crimea, not that they had much control over these regions before the full war started. 

To achieve a negotiated settlement Ukraine would demand that Nato would  guarantee the "sovereignty" of the remaining regions of their country, but Russia may not agree to this.

There is considerable opposition, within the nationalist community,  to Ukraine ceding territory, and this could lead  lead to post war political instability. If Nato is seen to have deserted Ukraine then this too could lead to instability too. Nato has armed Ukraine with ultra-modern weaponry and there could be a danger that these weapons could be turned against the alliance.

All in all it is not a good prospect. It might have been better if both sides had adhered to the Minsk protocols and negotiated a settlement. But this was too much to hope for. One thing is certain, if the crisis leads to a war between Nato and  Russia then everyone will lose. Russia will have laid claim to a territory that has been destroyed and Ukraine will have lost thousands of lives to recover territory that has been wiped clean. Europe, including Russia, will see hundreds of thousands of deaths from a third world war, if not millions: and so could the US. Zelensky and Putin should watch their steps carefully. European leaders should not be banging the drum for war, they should be banging the drum  for a negotiated peace. The real politik of the situation is that Biden and Putin will decide. 

I have had a long and happy life which I don't want to end under a mushroom cloud. Do you? You are probably much younger than me, you, the European or American citizen, deserve to live out your lives in peace. 

The appeal to Biden and Putin is simply: negotiate an acceptable peace and quickly

Foreign Policy Disaster coupled with a democratic deficit

It is clear that a majority of people in Northern Ireland support the Northern Ireland Protocol which was negotiated by the British Prime Minister, who claimed the protocol to be a triumph. The Prime Minister signed the agreement and it must now be implemented in full. There should be no ifs or buts. The public of Northern Ireland voted for it and they deserve to be listened to. There is discontent within some of the Unionist community in Northern Ireland but this is no reason for the DUP to block the formation of a government for Northern Ireland unless the Northern Ireland Protocol  is abolished, as this is blackmail. It is a policy which is playing into the Irish nationalist's hands, and it is a self- defeating policy which will lead to a referendum about Irish unity. Such a referendum if based on a first past the post vote majority could lead to further division and perhaps violence. The DUP and the British government are playing with fire.

The US congress and the EU parliament have united to oppose the re-negotiation of the protocol. Britain is being isolated by its two closest friends. In a world of increasing political instability Britain needs unity rather than conflict.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/northern-ireland-protocol-biden-johnson-b2084695.html

The UK is now being excluded from the very valuable EU Horizons project which is due to invest billions in new scientific and advanced engineering projects. Britain is being excluded because of the failure to implement the Northern Ireland protocol, which is an International Treaty.  There is a possibility of a brain drain to the EU where British scientists  leave their home country for better opportunities in Europe - just like in the 1960s. Britain is going backwards.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/nov/04/eu-urged-to-finalise-uks-membership-of-80bn-research-programme

I often ask myself who are the true patriots; our country is being lead backwards, backwards to where the UK becomes the sick man of Europe again instead of being economically and socially progressive? Brexit voters may realise, too late, the errors of their desire for an inward looking state. 

Looking at Porn - not me gov

 No MP should be looking at any sort of films in Parliament, as they should be concentrating on the debate. The British public deserve better: why should they pay for their representatives to watch films in the debating chamber?

Any employee who watched a film whilst they were attending a business meeting would be sacked. As for watching pornography well this is beyond the pale. If, as alleged, the miscreant  is found by an investigation to be watching porn films in parliament, then he should be sacked on the spot and encouraged to resign his seat for a new constituency election. If the alleged miscreant was watching child porn then he should be reported to the police.

I don't believe that it is illegal to watch soft pornography in public but it is offensive especially in the workplace. An MP cannot be forced to resign over this matter. It is time for constitutional change. There should be an independent  constitutional court which has the power to remove miscreant MPs from office and force a by-election.  The court should also be able to remove from office a minister who lies to parliament or breaks the ministerial code: without this it is difficult to defend our democracy.

How to become completely crass and lose the plot.

 Recently, the British Prime Minister likened the struggle of the Ukrainian people, against the Russian invasion, to the vote of the British people to leave the EU. In his opinion both peoples were struggling for freedom. His comments were insulting to the Ukrainian people as they wish to be free to join the EU and are losing their lives to defend that freedom They were also insulting to the millions of British electors who voted to remain or abstained in the "Brexit" vote. His opinions on Brexit are crass and indicate to me that he has lost the plot in this matter. 

Brexit will not bring suffering to the British people who will survive and continue to flourish, however, Britain will become more isolated and less influential on the world stage. The nation will become inward looking and will be less vibrant. The EU did not infringe upon our liberty and democracy; it protected it. It was set up to prevent what is happening to the Ukrainian people at the moment. It was set up to prevent war in Western and Central Europe and to avert tyranny. It was set up to improve the economic prospects of millions of families, including British ones.  Divisions will weaken Britain and the EU which is exactly what the Russian government wants. We need to correct this because liberty and democracy can easily be lost in the fog of war. We need to support the Ukrainian people to get their liberty back and join the EU, if they vote for it in fair elections or in a fair referendum. Britain will be watching developments for the outside with a much reduced influence to shape European policy. Brexit was a major geopolitical and diplomatic error and Brexit voters will realise this, but too late.

War causes human beings to lose their sense of proportion, reality and reason

 War causes human beings to lose their sense of proportion, reality and reason, or perhaps I am seeing this the other way round. Human beings have lost their sense of proportion, reality and reason and this causes war. Or perhaps, more disturbingly human beings never had a sense of proportion, reality and reason.

The Ukrainian war shows us that some human beings as being unworthy of being considered as humain. There is absolutely no justification for the barbarity being shown towards the Ukrainian people. This war like all others will achieve nothing that is of any good. It will only achieve death and destruction, where are the generals and senior  politicians who are brave enough to put a stop to this tyranny? Where are the soldiers who are brave enough to refrain from breaking the Geneva convention to stop firing at civilians?

This war is showing up the worse aspects of human nature; so even in the midst of the carnage, "racism" and prejudice is showing its ugly head. It seems that some border guards and armed forces in both Ukraine and Poland are singling out black refugees for bad treatment, this should stop immediately all refugees should be treated with the same humanity

We are seeing the British government putting bureaucratic obstacles in the way of refugees from Ukraine entering the country. I never thought I would see this. It is all very pointless. All refugees from Ukraine should be let into Britain whether they have papers or not. This is what Britain did during the 1930's and 40's to help Jewish refugees. We can do it again. It is no excuse to say that the refugees are a security risk as they are mostly women and children or men over 60. The average Briton is much more at risk from Covid 19. Reason and risk assessment have gone out of the window. Let the refugees in and check them out when they arrive. All refugees deserve to be treated the same as well. There are thousands of deserving cases from Syria,  Afghanistan and Iraq. After all we did bomb them; so why should they have to risk further  depravation by making dangerous crossings of the English channel to reunite with their families. 

War causes the refugee crises so let's not start them in the first place.

Every human deserves respect, so  the tyrants should be controlled and restrained by those who have power too. Any western politician who is just being nasty should be voted out of power. You as an elector and a citizen  have the power to make changes at the ballot box, especially if you have the privilege to live in a Western liberal democracy. Use your privilege well by respecting humanity when you vote. 

Ukraine crisis and how far we have not come

 If anyone had any illusion that the world was becoming a better place then they should think again. We are faced with another unjustified war with the invasion of Ukraine, and coupled with threats to use nuclear weapons. The threat and actual use of force is nothing new in the 21st century, just as it was in the 20th century and much further back.

In recent times we have seen the invasions of Iraq, Iran, Libya, Syria, Yemen and now Ukraine; all of these wars could hardly be justified by objective truths. The justification of these wars is often based on lies. 

Western governments really cannot claim the moral high ground anymore than Russia can. The West  chose to arm Iraq against Iran. Then when this policy failed they chose to invade Iraq to depose Saddam Hussein on the basis of lies. Similarly, Russia has no cause to invade Ukraine and its justification is based on lies.

This latest war is embarking on dangerous territory, there is the veiled threat of the use of nuclear weapons. The USA, Britain and France, which are nuclear armed countries, are facing up to Russia which has a considerable nuclear arsenal. No nation can afford to let this cruel and brutal war get out of hand and escalate to nuclear confrontation.

I often ask myself what would happen if nuclear weapons become controlled by a psychopathic tyrant who would actually be prepared to use them; we are not in that position yet but it is a distinct possibility. It would have been better if nuclear weapons were not developed in the first place, but it seems that the human species cannot control itself either from making these weapons and in the final analysis using them. They have been used before, albeit against a nation that could not retaliate. The human species is a danger to itself. Let's hope that peace can be restored not just in Europe but everywhere: we need this as it appears that humans are unwilling to give up weapons of mass destruction.

Ukraine crisis and patriotism.

 The Ukraine crisis shows how important that there is unity in the Western World as our security, peace, democracy and wealth depends upon it. Since 2014 the people of Ukraine have sought the same values as the Western nations and to a certain extent they have succeeded. They knew that joining the EU would be key to meeting their objectives. The Ukrainian people were concerned about really important issues.

What were substantial numbers of British people worried about at the same time: the free movement of labour and keeping EU workers out of the country? They were also believing lies that the the EU was imposing straight bananas upon the British nation. They were also opposed to the standardisation of vacuum cleaner motors. Such is the decadence of Brexit thinking.

The decision to leave the EU was a big mistake and it has left the UK without a substantial voice to influence international events. It has also weakened our economy when it needs to be strong during the Covid 19 Pandemic and now European war.

Who are the true patriots?

May peace, democracy, wealth and security return to the people of the Ukraine.