Blog 2023 Malcolm Blair-Robinson

It is not just in Britain that an anti EU party has topped the poll. In France too, but all across the EU anti parties of right and left have gained ground. This will shake the project to its foundations and stop in its tracks any further advance towards federalism. Yet because of the unwieldy nature of the governance built up over many years, it is unlikely that real change will occur; nor can it, since a new treaty would be needed and in today’s polarized and divided Union it is unlikely that such a treaty would be unanimously ratified.

This Blog is a passionate supporter of the European idea. This has brought peace to a continent riven by war since the fall of the Roman Empire. The fact that all across Europe there is now an election to a single parliament is something which pays tribute to the sacrifice and suffering in all those wars of the past. Yet support of the idea is one thing, but support of the project is quite another. It is the project, not the idea, which is flawed.

This Blog has set out countless times how it is not possible to have a currency without a government, thus the Euro zone is in a mess. Equally it is not possible to have a parliament without a government, sharing an ambiguous authority with a Council and a Commission, both of which are beyond the comprehension of the vast majority of the population, over whom this unwieldy and ambiguous combination exercises a stealthy control of an extraordinary amount of daily life, asserting, all too often, superiority over the power of elected national governments.

What is needed in Europe is a Confederation, with free trade at its heart, with a parliament and government concerned with its working and implementation, required to gain approval from national parliaments for every single law and regulation it brings into effect. The European Union must become a Confederation of independent states bound together by free trade, pursued in the common interest. It must also invite Russia in.

The European Commission and the Council of Ministers should cease to have any authority whatever. The Commission should morph into an administrative trade based civil service and its Commissioners should be sent home, while the Council should become as any other meeting of like minded leaders; a forum, not an executive.

But to do this will require unanimous agreement among all the Member States. That will never happen. Back to square one.

www.malcolmblair-robinson.com

Were the British offered peace terms in 1941, which would have set all Western Europe free of German occupation?

Who knew about this?

What did Churchill do? 

Read my explosive novel Hitler’s First Lady to find out!

In Paperback RRP from £7.99 and in Kindle from 92p. US $ and Euro equivalents.

Amazon.uk

Amazon.com

The Judas Cross

Downfall in Downing Street

Two Spooky Mysteries (A Gift of treason and Stanislaw’s Crossing)

Using the latest technology it has been possible to re-introduce new paperback editions of my back catalogue, out of print for years but still around second hand, so now readers can acquire these titles at very reasonable prices. Two 2008 titles published first by Arima, are now combined into one omnibus volume.  It has also been possible to introduce new Kindle editions as a spin off from the paperbacks, retailing at as little as$1.50 in the US and 92p in the UK. I can give my readers the benefit of cutting out all the middle men.

Hitler’s First Lady

The high quality of the paperback with its Easy Read print and wide spine margins makes this book more expensive, but worth it for those who can afford the extra. Now, for readers who have to budget more carefully (most of us!) there is now a Standard Edition costing less, with smaller but still very readable print. I am keen for young people and students to be able to access this important historical novel, so there is also a basic Kindle edition available, retailing at US $1.50 and £0.92  UK.

The original Kindle edition of Hitler’s First Lady, which is a dedicated file with ‘clickable’ chapters, is available at $5.99 and £3.99 plus VAT.

Amazon.com and Amazon UK  book pages are in the process of being updated over the next few days.

It is as predicted by this Blog, as well as many other more distinguished economic authorities, house price inflation is now, once again, out of control. This is entirely the fault of the Government, who instituted policies which could only lead to this outcome, but it is the responsibility of the Bank of England to put a stop to it. It has the powers, it must act, and must be heard and seen to act. Talking about it on TV chat shows is not acting and whispering in dark City corridors is neither acting nor being seen to act.

Failure to do so by the Bank will let the Government think it has got away with this illusory form of economic regeneration in the hope that a feel good factor will give them victory in 2015, before the crash comes, as come it will. Issuing warnings is not action and it is not enough; the situation is now critical and it must not get beyond recall.

Oh Dear! Prince Philip has an international reputation for saying the wrong things at the wrong time, but they are usually lighthearted and with little or no diplomatic implications. But his eldest son, Prince Charles, is quite another matter; he has an authority under the Constitution as Prince of Wales, which Philip the consort lacks, and will in the foreseeable future be King. Comparing Putin to Hitler and comparing the Russian absorption of the Crimea in response to an overwhelming vote by its majority Russian inhabitants, whether recognized by the West or not, to the Nazi rampage across Europe with all its genocidal apparatus and cruelty, is utterly absurd.

Worse than that, it is insulting to ordinary Russians whose forbears spilled blood in casualties running into tens of millions defeating Nazi Germany. Indeed only ten per cent of German casualties occurred on the Western front. Ninety per cent were in the East; the Nazis were destroyed largely by the Soviet Union. So these unfortunate words betray not only confusion of thoughts, but also ignorance of facts. They make his Royal Highness look a fool, which he is not, but far too many of the people who will become his subjects think he is.

As for Clarence House refusing to comment on ‘a private conversation’; this shows a woeful disconnect from the world of today. If you are a Royal on an official engagement with the press attending, there is no such thing.

In the run up to a general election traditional wisdom says that the Opposition party needs to be well ahead in the opinion polls in order to stand a chance of winning. Labour,  in the lead for most of this Parliament, is now falling back to near level to, and in some polls behind, the Tories. This could have a bad effect on May 22 and foretell calamity for the party a year later. That is if nothing is done. What should Labour do?

Labour’s  problem is very big, yet very simple. Ed Milliband has been a surprisingly good Leader of the Opposition and Labour has been effective in challenging the government, often making the political weather to the discomfort, and sometimes the confusion, of the Coalition. The time is now arriving when it is not about opposition that voters are thinking; they are now focused on choosing a government. It is here that Labour has a big black hole.

There is no inspiring narrative, no mission, no dream, no promise, no uplifting cry to stir the heart and give hope. There are a string of issues and a lot of fussy details of how Labour would make things better by tinkering here and there without doing anything big. What Labour presents is a party which is rather good at opposition where it can shine, but which is not yet ready to provide credible and reliable government. Ed Balls as Chancellor? Ed Milliband as Prime Minister? Well er…..

Simply put the two Ed’s have work to do. First the one has to sack the other.

Hitler’s First Lady UK

Hitler’s First Lady US

Hitler’s first Lady EU

Was Rudolf Hess on board the Duke of Kent’s plane which crashed in Scotland in 1942 killing everyone on board? Was it a double who spent over 40 years in Spandau believing he was Hess?

Read my new novel to get the most plausible explanation yet offered for World War Two’s greatest enigma.

Buy Now UK

Buy now US

Buy now EU

Oh dear! This is not good. Fights between government and opposition are a required part of the Constitution, but public fights among members of the Cabinet are a no no. We have to remember that this is a coalition government, so we are told, and they may not always see eye to eye. Perhaps not, but they have to be reminded they are a government, they have agreed a plan, they have to find consensus and they have to behave.

At the heart of the matter is the foolhardy adoption of fixed term parliaments; an arrangement utterly unsuited to our vague unwritten Constitution, in which the powers of an absolute monarch are administered by a sovereign parliament, only one House of which is elected. All can now see this government has run out of steam, as we face a wasted year of election campaigning.

Before the change was made as part of the Coalition Agreement, general elections could be called by the prime minister whenever, but usually at about four years. Since 1950 only three governments have run the full five year term; 1964, 1979 and 1997. Each time the governing party was beaten. The British do not like governments to go on and on.

Hitler’s First Lady US

Hitler’s First Lady UK

It is very disappointing for the talented Molly Smitten-Downes not to make the top five as predicted by many. Her initiative, her performance, her creativity and her talent, as well as the choreography of her act, deserved a much better points total than she actually achieved. The forty points she did get were a reflection of a good deal more than her talent.

Of the twenty eight countries in the EU only five gave the UK any points at all and only three others from contesting countries outside the EU offered Molly any support. Even the loudly booed Russia did more than twice as well.

There is something for the UK to think about here. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office might consider this a good moment to review its mission statement.

Hitler’s First Lady UK

Hitler’s First Lady US

As this blog has warned time after time, rebuilding the economy on the back of a surge in house prices will be to guarantee another crash. Government ministers are rejoicing at the increasing forecasts of economic growth, putting the UK ahead of almost everyone else, while heedless of the warnings of almost every single forecaster that there is already a house price bubble which is unsustainable.

To illustrate this, a recent statistic indicated that if prices and wages had risen at the same rate as house values since Thatcher sold the first council house, an oven ready chicken would today be over £50 and the average wage would be over £80,000 per year. Put another way, before Thatcher fired up the British obsession with home ownership, people could afford decent housing. Now they cannot and the economy is weighed down by the fact that Britain is the most indebted nation in the world after America.

The Bank of England  has been given the power to intervene with measures to cool the market and avoid a re-run of previous pain. It appears to be dithering on the sidelines, with some executives issuing warnings but as yet no action. It cannot delay any longer without losing a good deal of its credibility. It is Mark Carney’s first major test and one he cannot fail.

Hitler’s First Lady UK

Hitler’s First Lady US