Blog 2023 Malcolm Blair-Robinson

Dr. Rachael Benedict is an American historian and a best-selling author. Through the death of her estranged father she sets out to expose secrets from the Nazi era, which are so sensitive they have been subject to an extensive cover-up lasting seventy years.  This provokes a killing spree as parts of the security services of both Britain and the United States become engaged in the drama, with one side determined to get the secrets out and the other determined to keep them hidden.
Rachael battles forward to unearth the truth from intrigues of the past, but also within her own family, surviving three attempts on her life, before finally achieving her goal. Not only does she expose the truth from history and from her own roots, she has to delve deep into her own emotions to find the truth about herself.

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It is clear that a kind of war has broken out between President Trump and the various US intelligence agencies, of which there are quite a few. He rails into them on twitter and they, according to reports, withhold information from him. This is leading to an aura of turmoil surrounding the White House which provides exotic story lines for the media, who are also on Trump’s blacklist. This results in the media relying on leaks and whistle blowers courting the media. That in turn leads to news dominated by sensation, when in fact much more interesting things are happening. Here are some worth knowing about.

On defence: The new Secretary for Defense. ex-General Mattis has told North Korea that if it gets it into its head to launch nuclear armed missiles either upon the US or its allies in the region, it will wipe North Korea from the map within hours. Clinton said something similar and had little trouble. Obama held back and had nothing but problems.

On NATO: Gen Mattis said that the days when Europe went on a jolly while the US taxpayer picked up the tab for its defence were over. If it wished to enjoy America’s full backing it would have to pay its fair share, i.e. at least 2% of GDP per member state. Failure would cause the US commitment to be reduced. This is very good news. I have always thought the reliance on America ridiculous and damaging to a proper strategic analysis of where Europe’s interests lie and who Europe’s enemies actually are. Europe should pay 70% of the cost of NATO and its military and the US 30%. At present it is the reverse.

On Israel: Trump’s abandonment of the two state peace plan is not as complete as reported. He said that he would accept either one or two states, whichever the parties agreed on. That is quite different when you think about it. The idea of a wider peace settlement involving a clutch of Arab countries looks promising. His public request to Netanyahu to hold back on new settlements was telling. Trump wants a deal but he will demand more of Israel than Israel had expected, while pledging his support as he does so.

On Trade: The talks with Canada appeared to go well when the Canadian PM came to Washington. The nuance here was that deals need to be between countries, not blocks. Expect more of this.

Something must be done about what is now widely called the turmoil at the White House. Cabinet posts have to be filled with credible candidates and staff have to work as talented individuals in one team, not opposing factions, scoring off each other. Statements made to the media in official briefings cannot be repeated the next day with a different meaning. As for the intelligence and law enforcement agencies; either peace must be made or else they should be turned upside down, inside out and reconstituted in a different form. They are not a state within a state and must understand that in a democracy government agencies must dance to the tune of whatever government the people choose to elect.

Rudolf Hess, Hitler’s deputy and right hand man, flew to Scotland on a mysterious peace mission in 1941, which has never been convincingly explained, to meet unidentified politicians who wanted to end the war.  Who was plotting against Churchill? What were the peace terms on offer? What happened to Hess? Was he killed in the War? Was the prisoner in Spandau a double? A real time thriller with flashback chapters which gradually unfold the hidden secrets, this tense drama will draw you into a compelling read.

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Nobody around the world at large has ever heard of General Flynn. Nor do they really understand what the National Security Adviser is. So the fact that this man has resigned from that post will not shake the planet. Obviously it has shaken the White House. The issue is, does the White House go on shaking?

First of all we are in for a slice of the boring who knew what when. Flynn accepts he told porkies, but now the bloodhounds want to know who knew he was telling porkies and whether he was instructed to tell them. This blog does not wish to go down that fetid path and will instead stay in the clear open air. What is important is that this unusual and energetic presidency does not get bogged down in sillies, when there is much that it must do to deliver upon the expectations of its supporters and  to unite a country which, polls suggest, is beginning to swing slowly behind  a new adventure in democratic government.

This is about an agenda set by people, not by politicians. It is about jobs and security. In that context whether Michael Flynn did or did not talk to the Russian Ambassador about ending some very stupid sanctions is neither here nor there. It would be quite normal in any other democracy with an incoming government, not one of which is known to have an eighteenth century law prohibits such conversations. There are moments when America exasperates. It needs to reflect upon the efficacy of some of its processes. They appear not to serve it well.

Liz Truss, the Justice Secretary, has not addressed the problem of overcrowded prisons. She has addressed the theory of overcrowded prisons with a wordy speech, typical of the modern political class of careerist climbers. There is no quick fix she says. Well there has to be because the prisons are in crisis and action is needed now, at least to ease the pressure on inadequate accommodation, too few staff and too many prisoners. This is because of a deliberate policy of longer sentences, dysfunctional rehabilitation programmes and cuts both in staff and the volume of places. We send more people to jail than any other country in Europe with less success at stopping re-offending. The prisons are now run not by the authorities but by drug cartels. None of this is by misfortune. It is the direct consequence of bad decisions by successive governments, mostly Tory.

Prison is for offenders who are a danger to the public. While in there it must be a requirement to rehabilitate and retrain offenders to return to society reformed and straight. There will be a hard-core who are beyond redemption and some who can never be set free, but these are a minority. Non dangerous first offenders should go to a different kind of institution with a better form of punishment combined with restitution for those damaged by their acts.

There have to be enough prison places to meet demand, enough trained staff to run them and enough security not just to keep people in, but to keep drugs out. None of this, absolutely none of it, should be outsourced to private contractors. If ever there was no place for shareholder profit, it is in this critical public service. What we want from Liz Truss is an action plan to put our broken prison estate back together. Her speech did not deliver one.

There are signs that wiser counsels are prevailing in the Trump White House, leading to musings on Air force One that a new initiative is to be launched next week to restore credibility to the President’s immigration policy. Nothing the United States has done in the last half century has attracted so much opposition and outrage all across the world, as the travel ban now embroiled in the legal system.

This is not because anyone questions the right of the US President to take steps to protect the integrity of his country from terrorists or its citizens from attack, but because the measures introduced were arbitrary and unfair in structure and potentially dangerous in effect. Above all the implementation was utterly shambolic, doubly so for the omnipotent United States of America, leaving many of Trump’s supporters alarmed. His detractors were gleeful that they had early proof that the new President was a fruitcake. Just as they had warned.

There is no doubt that the American heartlands are nervous about their security and opinion polls confirm this with a majority supporting Trump’s hard line. So all he has to do is to offer up a new Executive Order which is up to the job the American people want him to do. The first debacle can readily be put down to inexperience all round. There cannot be a second.

Rudolf Hess, Hitler’s deputy and right hand man, flew to Scotland on a mysterious peace mission in 1941, which has never been convincingly explained, to meet unidentified politicians who wanted to end the war.  Who was plotting against Churchill? What were the peace terms on offer? What happened to Hess? Was he killed in the War? Was the prisoner in Spandau a double? A real time thriller with flashback chapters which gradually unfold the hidden secrets, this tense drama will draw you into a compelling read.

AMAZON.UK       AMAZON.COM

Corbyn has written to his rebels and told them this time they escape punishment, but they must be good in future. Given that Brexit transcends party lines in England, this apparently limp response is probably the wisest course.

I have remarked before that Corbyn’s Labour party is surprisingly successful in the House of Commons when judged on its ability to change the direction of government policy and influence the political flow of events. There is now a suspicion that a ragged opposition is more effective in parliament than one drummed neatly into line. This could well be the case, as more members feel emboldened to express an opinion, increasing the depth and variety of debate. On the other hand there is evidence that voters take the opposite view. For its disunity Labour may be  about to pay a shattering electoral price. The leadership is campaigning for all its worth, but nevertheless awaits the outcome of the two approaching by-elections in its heartlands with anxiety. Apparently both have been Labour seats since 1935.

However, although the Tories look the more united behind the vicarage style verities which pour from their leader’s lips, there are many big potholes in their road to final Brexit, some so deep as to have the potential to cause the wheels to fly off the Tory government altogether. In particular the fact that the hard Brexit model chosen by May (there is no such thing as Clean Brexit) is anathema to the many, many, Remain Tories, not just in parliament, but across their voting strongholds in the South East. Conversely Labour supporters for Brexit and those for Remain can more easily unite behind the soft Brexit model for which Labour will campaign.

So watch carefully and take nothing for granted. Even if Labour gets a drubbing on February 23rd.

Compared to the ongoing diaspora of vast multitudes heading out of the Middle East and North Africa, the British Scheme to welcome up to 3000 unaccompanied children into the UK was a welcome, if tiny, contribution to the disastrous outcome of a string a failed foreign intervention initiatives by the West, in which Britain played a leading part. To announce today that the scheme would be halted at 350 arrivals has shocked parliament and the country.

No explanation is sufficient. The one given by the Home Secretary that French officials complained to her that giving these children sanctuary and a fresh start in a promising new life ‘encouraged people traffickers’ is patently absurd. Let us hope she will stop and think again. If not we must hope the Courts will order her to do so. Apparently legal proceedings begin tomorrow.

Set in the mid nineteen nineties, this fast moving thriller lifts the curtain on sex, sleaze and corruption in high places as the long reign of the government totters to an end, following the ousting of the iconic Margaret Thatcher. The novel catches the mood of those times with a host of fictional characters who engage in political intrigue, sex, money laundering and murder, pursued by an Irish investigative journalist and his girlfriend, the daughter of a cabinet minister found dead in a hotel room after bondage sex.

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