Blog 2023 Malcolm Blair-Robinson

Home Again

We do not yet know who will win the world cup, but we do know for sure England have not just been defeated in this tournament; they have been beaten.

There is something not quite right with English football. Too much money, too much celebrity, too much rope, but not enough character and not enough skill. Lack of skill masked by flair.

No doubt the tabloids will tell us to be proud of our team. We should ignore such misplaced goodwill. The fans across the country and in South Africa have been both loyal and heroic in their support. They have been let down by a bunch self centred second raters.

Moving to Work

I see nothing wrong in moving towards regional employment opportunities. People have been doing this since the dawn of the industrial revolution. Before that they moved to more fertile land. It is right to make it possible to vacate council accommodation and benefits in one location, to a similar situation, but with a job fixed, in another.

It is also right to stress the importance of doing everything possible to encourage small neighbourhood industries to set up to provide local employment, economic regeneration and family cohesion. Ed Balls is right to point this out, yet it was under Labour that so much regeneration was retail based selling foreign goods.

Special Relationship

Having spent years cringing at the unlikely coziness between Bush and Blair which produced one of the most toxic political partnerships of modern times and having consistently advocated a more independent view of British interests informing our foreign policy, I am very comfortable with the Cameron/Obama chemistry.

I think Obama understands our need to reduce borrowing. America’s overseas debt total is just over 90% of GDP, approximately the world average. Britain’s is 450% of GDP and the second highest in the world after the U.S.. Both men are very nervous that Afghanistan is not working out as the military and diplomats said it would and when the political patience snaps, they are likely to be at one. Both men share a dislike of Israel’s attitude to realistic terms of a Palestinian settlement. Both recognise the rise of China India and Brazil as economic powers and the need to move relations with Russia on to a more productive path.

Unfortunately they share a view of Iran which is misplaced and which continues to strengthen the hands of the hawks in that country. They probably see eye to eye on the oil spill, but domestic politics require the President to voice anger against the hapless BP and for Cameron to appeal for caution in attacking this seriously compromised corporation, whose survival is now in doubt.

However, taken in the round, the prospects for transatlantic relations look promising for all of us. This is the best team-up for some decades.