World Cup Disappointment for England
Oh dear. After all that effort. And with a very slick team at the last push, combining Leadership, Royalty and Celebrity. The trouble is that the deal does not work like that. We may not know how the deal does work exactly, neither may we like what we know. Accusing those with the votes of being corrupt in the run up to the voting is maybe not clever. It may be in the public interest, so we can feel good about our self righteousness, but if we do not approve of the system, perhaps we should not go in for the competition.
Taking the wider view, in the context of sharing out these great sporting spectaculars, as we already had the Olympics in the bag, maybe we never had a chance anyway. More importantly this is a very good decision for the wider world. Russia, since the fall of communism, has been treated too much as an outsider. Efforts, in which the U.K. is fully participating, to bring Russia in from the cold are now underway.
This is a tremendous opportunity to engage with a country with whom we share many common interests and who, as I have said so many times, is a critical part of Europe’s strategic future. It also presents us with vast business opportunities to help them build the infrastructure and facilities needed. So we need to pick ourselves up from our disappointment, avoid sulking, and set off for Moscow. Right now. We must be the first in line.
As to why President Putin did not go to Zurich. He knew he did not need to. You can, if it makes you feel good, accuse the Russians of being all manner of things, but you cannot accuse them of not being savvy. That cap fits our rather big head better.