Resisting US pressure for NZ to sacrifice itself to defend US hegemony against China
Don Brash is now publicly standing together with Helen Clark to protest against the subservience of recent New Zealand governments to America’s anti-China policy.
International
Biden goes, Kamala Harris for US president
“My intention is to earn and win this nomination’
Will he stay or will he go
I can’t remember American politics ever being this weird. Donald Trump is riding a wave of support and risks being returned to the White House as President. And Joe Biden is considering his options.
Trump shot
In breaking news Donald trump has been shot in a Pensylvania. Film suggests that he is fine although suffered a wound to his […]
Quality of candidates – start with “are they human?”
With all of the issues about Green party MPs, who have been having issues recently, I was intrigued to run across the article in the Guardian “Reform UK under pressure to prove all its candidates were real people” after the recent election in the UK.
The implications of UK Labour’s success for NZ Labour
What should New Zealand Labour learn from UK Labour’s success in the recent election?
United Kingdom election watch
A generic post to cover the United Kingdom election results as they come in. UPDATED
The political centre has moved, someone should tell the strategists.
30 years ago, we had Dot Matrix printers, Windows 95 and brick cell phones. Today we live in a world of AI, Tik Tok and 5G. While technology changes have been embraced, including in political campaigns, strategies and methods to connect with voters seem stuck in the MS-DOSS era.
Should Joe Biden do an Andrew Little?
Jo Biden’s recent debate with Donald Trump did not go well.
Assange back in Australia
About time. Not that I have that I really have that much sympathy with Julian Assange. Always seemed like a bit of a narcissistic dickhead to me. But I get really pissed off with the level of US over-reach with their laws. Seems to me that this is a good time to rework our extradition treaties with them.
Do the EU elections matter in Britain?
Last weekend the EU elections saw a significant increase in support for the populist/alt-right in European elections.
I deliberately avoid using the term far-right. It would be too simplistic and inaccurate to paint a picture of Europe re-living the 1930s and entering fascism. It is not.
UK General Election – the mood on the doorstep
The UK still has the First Past the Post Electoral system. Something New Zealand should have absolutely no nostalgia for. This means that, while the campaign is UK-wide, a lot of campaign activity is directed into constituencies that are deemed marginal. In marginal constituencies, a General Election brings a conveyor belt of the good and the great supporting their prospective parliamentary candidate. In “safe seats” voters get much less attention.
NATO escalation danger
The destruction on 23 May of a key part of Russia’s nuclear defence means the Doomsday clock is ticking closer to midnight. A Ukrainian/NATO drone attack on the Armavir radar station north of Georgia attcked a Voronezh-DM radar which is designed to detect incoming intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Anti-Muslim, anti-black, pro-Zionist: UK Labour goes for purge
I attended Faiza Shaheen’s impressive candidate launch in Chingford four years ago. She aimed to take on IDS and she dented his majority. Reselected two years ago by the local Labour Party, four days ago she was deselected by a 3-person kangaroo court from the party’s National Executive Committee.
Update: Faiza Shaheen to stand as an independent in Chingford.
Is our investment in defence value for money?
Defence cost us more than $6.7 billion in 2023/24. Why does our small, remote country have such a costly defence force? Is it fit for purpose – and in 2024, what is that purpose?
“It’s the end of the Tories…”
“and they know it”
British politics – hurry up and wait for a general election
While I do not pick elections, I think it is safe to make this point. If Rishi Sunak and the Conservative Party are holding on for a dramatic change in polling numbers, they are unlikely to see this happen. On current polling, even a 7% swing in their favour would not be enough to stop them from losing the election. Labour should not be complacent, but it is increasingly obvious that the voter coalition that helped the Conservatives win in 2019 has collapsed.
AUKUS. We “share values” with people committing genocide??
Western leaders like to talk about values, shared values, common values. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) says the US and Israel have a partnership based on shared values. I believe them.
Bonnie Jenkins: US ignores China proposal for no-first-use of nukes
Questioned by Senator Van Hollen re US response to China’s February 2024 offer of no-first-use, Assistant Secretary Bonnie Jenkins told the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee they would have to think about it, but at this point had no intention of changing to a no-first use policy.
Underrepresented London
According to Zoopla, the average monthly rent in London as of April 2024 is £2,121. Council tax, internet, water and energy bills are usually on top of this and have increased significantly in the last two years. The average monthly income after tax is £2,902.50. This means most renters spend well over 2/3 of their income on rent and utility bills, with other costs like train fares and groceries many are left with very little disposable income each month.
NZ White Rural Rage
What is really going on in the minds of
New Zealand Needs a Security Alliance Fast
Who will defend us when the military chaos now expanding in the world finally hits hard in our region, because that is what is really happening.
Joining US military alliance not in our national interest
Former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark – the safest pair of hands this country has had in living memory – gave a masterclass on the importance of maintaining an independent foreign policy when she spoke at an AUKUS symposium held in Parliament’s old Legislative Chambers on April 18.
The Liz Truss of the South Seas
Liz Truss’s short reign as UK Prime Minister foundered after her budget requiring borrowing to fund tax cuts was released. The budget tanked the UK economy and caused Truss’s resignation. This week amongst announcements of massive cuts it has emerged that the Government is also planning borrowing for tax cuts.
Iran launches missiles at Israel in retaliation for consulate strike in Damascus
Israel should not have bombed the Iranian consulate buildings in Damascus. Iran should not have fired 300 missiles at Israel in response. Neither of these actions should have happened, but they now have. The world now watches to see if there is further retaliation and escalation of violence, or if calmer and wiser heads prevail.
A sustainable environment should be a human right
James Shaw’s attempt to create a right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment is expected to be voted down soon by Parliament. But the New Zealand Supreme Court as well as the European Court of Human Rights have shown a willingness to recognise a right to a sustainable environment that some politicians refuse to.
Israel’s latest atrocities
In the past week it has been disclosed that Israel’s Artificial Intelligence driven security system was responsible for the killing of seven international aid workers. And there are reports that Israel directed a missile attack on the Iraqi embassy in Syria.
The future of UK Labour and what it means for Aotearoa
It appears almost inevitable that Keir Starmer will be the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. But his taking the party to the right and an active drive to rid the party of left wingers raises the spectre that his Goverment would be a pale immitation of its predecessors.
The GCSB revelations
RNZ has reported that a foreign agency collected signals intelligence out of the GCSB for years without ministers knowing. And the collection only stopped after the equipment broke down.
“Deliberate nuclear use
in a war over Taiwan” is the title of an Atlantic Council paper produced last September. They mean nuclear weapons. These are serious people; Undersecretary Bonnie Jenkins addressed them last year about AUKUS.
USUKAs
US Undersecretary of State Bonnie Jenkins is in Wellington this week with a hard sell for us on AUKUS Pillar 2 wunderwaffen maybes. We should say tai hoa.
Dune 2 and Gaza
What if life followed fiction and Gaza was explained by Dune 2? Sigh. It isn’t.
Where Oz goes, we go? To war with China?
Testifying to the Defence Select Committee last week, Air Marshal Short said Australia was “reshaping” its Defence Force for “a singular threat from a singular direction.” This was described as being an obvious reference to China.
Get ready for your water to be privatised
The National Government’s repeal of the Three Waters Legislation and its pursuit of “new forms of infrastructure funding and financing” suggests that privatisation of water is on the drawing board.
A sad lament from the serial left
Attacking leftists attempts to expose the Atlas Network of right-wing think tanks, Chris Trotter offers this gem “Morally speaking, is taking money from oil companies really all that distinguishable from giving money to oil companies every time we fill up our petrol tank?”
A Trump-led Withdrawal from NATO
Just as he did in 2017, Trump is clear in 2023 that the United States should withdraw from NATO.