As societies grow bigger, power tends to become more concentrated. The influence of so-called elites grows. They find more innovative ways of siphoning money away from the state and they become more and more corrupt, as do the politicians. Starved of support, institutions wither and support mechanisms crumble. When inequality takes hold, it grows exponentially as do the number of so-called elites who find more innovative ways of extracting value and increasing their wealth.

The immiseration of the general populace grows exponentially too, but it’s understandably slow to mobilise. Anxiety, a feeling of helplessness and the need to concentrate on survival, blunts opposition.

Meanwhile, as wealthy elites morph into oligarchs, they begin to compete for status, new conquests and new means of extraction, but they soon discover that the sources of extraction diminish over time. With the well drying up, and as factions and frictions multiply, the seeds of their destruction appear; they’re there to see right now if we care to look. And so begins a spiral into chaos, a state which in the past they have engineered and profited by, but the concluding chaos, a chaos driven by excessive greed and corruption, will eventually destroy them.

And where’s the revolution I hear you ask? The knight in shining armour who rides to the rescue of the immiserated, down-trodden majority seldom appears, and corrupt, cowardly politicians never get the comeuppance they deserve, but a general collapse in everything does produce an opportunity for change - after a period of considerable pain.

I’m sorry to tell you that we’re in the middle of a collapse now. It may not feel like it, but it will soon enough. Coming down the road is a financial collapse the likes of which we’ve never experienced. It’s primed by inequality but will be caused by an AI bubble, ludicrously overvalued stock markets in need of a correction, a US debt north of $40 trillion, unsustainable wars, a feral Israel, corrupt, cowardly politicians, and money in politics.

What we must aim for after the collapse is what Richard Murphy calls ‘a courageous state’. Courageous people who are prepared to think out of the box, to turn their backs on what’s gone before and lead the country in a new direction; new big ideas, an FDR ‘new deal’, if you like. The future can be bright.

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Let’s take the Treasury. It’s neoliberal to its core, it understands nothing else. Burnham said he wants to end neoliberalism. He’s right to want to see the back of something that’s delivered endless inequality and permanent austerity, but then we learn that he’s decided to stick with made up neoliberal fiscal rules. This indicates that he’s either been got at already or his understanding of neoliberalism is wanting. HE NEEDS HELP! I’d suggest Prof Richard Murphy, Marainna Mazzucato and Danny Blanchflower. He needs to give them a call.

Then there’s water privatisation. He’s backtracking already, which is a sure sign he’s met the wall of ‘can’t do’ from the Environment Agency. The privatisation of water companies can be achieved without a drain on the finances or by burdening the tax payer - he needs to talk to Richard Murphy and others.

And then there’s Europe. Labour has made a total mess of its relationship with Europe and Brexit. Starmer’s red lines are ludicrous. Disappointingly, Burnham has announced that he’s decided to stick to them, which considering the harm Brexit is doing to the economy, the fact that it’s immiserating the British people, and diminishing our standing in the world, is unfathomable. But then you have to consider the ‘it’s too difficult brigade’, the ‘perhaps the time’s not right’ naysayers he’s now surrounded by. He has to cut himself free from these people and smell the coffee. It’s an economic imperative that we rejoin the EU. It’s a strategic necessity that we strengthen Europe with our presence and unite with our European friends against the many threats we face. And what he really needs to understand is that the country is almost totally against his current position on Europe and Brexit. He needs to wake up pretty quickly because the result of the next general election could depend on him getting his position on Europe right. And now there’s something new to consider, the Carney factor. His declaration that Canada is going to realign its trading alliances in the light of the failure of US / Canada trade talks should make him sit up. Carney wants to reduce Canada’s trading links with the US and forge a new deeper relationship with the EU. That relationship HAS TO INCLUDE the UK as a part of Europe. There will be no benefit to us as a pathetic, irrelevant little country obstinately isolated from Europe. Carney’s move should jolt Burnham out of his Brexit stupor and send him beetling off to Brussels to get us back in the SM & CU. Let’s see if he reacts.

And then there’s Israel and Palestine. The British ‘establishment’, although for many years mildly anti semitic, is now embarrassingly over enthusiastically pro Israel. For years it shut its eyes to Israel’s many brazen illegal acts and its countless misdemeanours. It failed to call out the Gaza blockade and has been in full knowledge of Israel’s atrocities and its treatment of the Palestinians. It also understood full well that Israel has never had any intention of being any part of a two state solution, but it went along with the con. So, we have an inbuild support of Israel coupled with a Labour Party that has been bought by Israel and the Israel lobby which is faced with the British public who, almost to a man, is anti Israel and pro Palestine. For the establishment and the Labour Party to be at odds with the country in such a major way spells big trouble for Burnham. He has to make a choice. It would be the ultimate folly if his future, and the future of his party, were to hinge on whether he valued support for a country guilty of a most heinous genocide over the opinions and best interests of the British people. He has a choice to make. He’s still complicit in genocide for continuing to support Israel with arms and intelligence and he’s still arresting people for demonstrating against genocide and for Palestine. This is nonsense. He needs to change of tack. He needs to be sanctioning Israel not supporting it, and he and his party need to stop taking Israel’s shekels.

We will get a true measure of the man in the coming months. Is he up to the job? We’ll soon see. Good leaders are only as good as the people who support them. He needs to seek out and surround himself with the very best and ditch his inexperienced, second rate party hacks - or perish.

Our interests, the best interests of the country don’t get a look in. Nothing changes, things just get progressively worse. New faces appear and hope raises its head, only to fall back in despair as they reveal that they’re no different to their predecessors.

Deceit and lies carefully spun to disguise their worthlessness spew from the mouths of our so-called leaders. They’re not troubled by conscience. Money has seen to that. In fact, the longer they’ve been in the game the more brazen they become.

We have a system that was designed by the players for their benefit - certainly not ours. Even the economic system which is used in western economies was nurtured and designed over many decades by the wealthy elites to deliver them ever- increasing wealth at the expense of the majority. Neoliberalism, eagerly embraced by a pliant and paid-for political class, has extracted value from practically everything and vacuumed it into the bank vaults of the few. Inequality has soared, poverty levels have reached new heights, and nothing changes. Unless money is taken out of politics, nothing will ever change.

The state capture of America by Israel, with the help of its traitorous diaspora mafia, could only have been achieved by having a political system that was open to bribery, corruption and intimidation. There is hardly a congressman or senator who is not bought and paid for by Israel. What Israel wants, Israel gets. It gets $18 billion a year for nothing in return. It gets all the arms and ammunition it wants to conduct perpetual war and to commit one of the worst genocides in history. America has been a facilitator of that genocide - and all because of money in politics.

Unable to achieve state capture in Britain, Israel, again through a traitorous diaspora mafia, has gone for the capture of the country’s two main political parties, which it funds.  It gets its hands dirty too having orchestrated and funded a purge of the pro Palestinian left wing of the Labour Party. it also funded and promoted a right wing Zionist who became prime minister. It also delivers large donations to both parties and buys the support and silence of MPs by filling their pockets with shekels.

Money buys anything in politics. From light touch regulation to legislation that supports and benefits individuals and corporations and maintains their advantage. It ensures that the best interests of the majority take second place or are ignored completely. This leads to a feeling of helplessness in the general population and the growth of right wing parties who feed on people’s helplessness and discontent. What follows is a political paralysis, an inability of the existing order to make the necessary changes to ‘save the day’, to take money out of politics and start afresh.

Throughout the centuries, the catalyst for regime change has nearly always happened when inequality levels become intolerable. In almost all cases change has come at a heavy cost and the outcome is never ideal. Will it be different this time? It could be if we had a leader prepared to take money out of politics. It’s really not difficult to do. What stands in the way is lack of courage, lack of imagination and self-interest.

EUROPE. Rumours abound that you’re sticking to Starmer’s manifesto on Brexit, but that “you may consider putting in something about exploring the possibility of rejoining the EU in your manifesto”. Thanks a bunch, but that won’t cut it. And Starmer’s manifesto? Nobody read it, nobody cared a toss about it. Labour’s ‘victory’ (a mere 34.7% of the vote) was not an endorsement of Labour’s manifesto, and you know it. The country wanted rid of the Tories, Labour was the beneficiary. The country ended up being the victim of Starmer’s manifesto, particularly when it came to Europe. But let’s not dwell on the Starmer catastrophe. We’re more interested in what you’re going to do about Brexit.

An overwhelming majority want         Brexit undone. They want an end to Brexit, it’s pointless. They want to see the back of its endless embuggerances and to be part of Europe again. Brexit has made everyone poorer - by a not insignificant amount - and it’s costing £100 billion a year, and all for nothing. Any politician worth his salt wouldn’t live with this. What are you going to do, Mr Burnham?

You need to make a positive move to convince the majority that you’re not going down the same path as Starmer. No more dribbling on about ‘closer ties with Europe’, people want more than that. As a minimum you need to rejoin the Single Market and the Customs Union, which would include the return of free movement - which would be hugely popular - and start the process of preparing a roadmap to rejoin the European Union. It’s really a no brainer, and it would be a clear indication that you want a clean break from the past, from the disaster of Starmerism.  It would also be another nail in ‘Mr Brexit’ Farage’s coffin. Fail to do this, fail to listen to the people and do what’s in their best interests and your credibility will take a serious knock.

ISRAEL AND PALESTINE

You’ve yet to nail your colours to the mast when it comes to Israel and Palestine. Feelings are running high on this issue as you’ve no doubt noticed. Starmer, a ‘Zionist without qualification’, led a government that was enthusiastically pro Israel and ambivalent about Palestine while the country was - and still is - very anti Israel and very pro Palestine. Where do you stand? This another issue where the government is at odds with the majority, which is really stupid, isn’t it? But are we going to see any change?

40% of your Cabinet are members of Labour Friends of Israel, as are you. Some of your cabinet members are still taking significant donations from Zionist supporters of Israel. Sitting at your Cabinet table is Yevette Cooper, who, as Home Secretary, was instrumental in proscribing Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation - at the behest of the Israel lobby - she has accepted nearly a quarter of a million from pro Israel sources. How can we expect reasoned and fair decisions about one of the most important issues of our time from a Cabinet corrupted by pro Israel money? It’s a very good example of why we need to take money out of politics, an issue you should consider championing.

Like your predecessor, you seem reluctant to criticise Israel and you refuse to call what Israel has done in Gaza, genocide. This puts you at odds with practically every expert on the subject, and indicates that you, like Starmer, are under the influence of the Israel lobby. They stuff your pockets with shekels, you do their bidding. This really isn’t acceptable. Neither is it acceptable that Israel has ANY influence in our politics.

I wonder if you really understand the strength of feeling on this issue? If you get this one wrong, you and your government will haemorrhage support, cheaper bus fares and reforming the care system just won’t hack it.

And then there’s the issue of Starmer’s authoritarian anti protest laws and the tweaking of existing laws using secondary legislation to snuff out freedom of expression and peaceful protest. All born of the fact that Starmer refused to countenance any expression of criticism of Israel or the Gaza genocide or any support for the Palestinian cause. Nearly three thousand peaceful protesters have been arrested. So, what are you going to do? Are you going to repeal those laws or turn the other cheek and do nothing? Well, Mr Burnham this is an issue you’re going to be judged on. You would be well advised to think long and hard about this one. Is Starmer’s ‘Orwellian Labour’ still alive and well?

You and your party need to sort out your priorities. Do Israel’s interests have supremacy over ours? Under Starmer they did. Under Burnham? We’re waiting with eager anticipation!

NEOLIBERALISM

Neoliberalism is the curse of our time. It has immiserated Britain and been the driving force behind the intolerable level of inequality we now suffer. Unfortunately, neoliberalism is Treasury orthodoxy. If, as you say, you want to ditch neoliberalism, this is a major hurdle you’ll have to overcome, and I suggest you arm yourself with some outstanding progressive economists. Prof Richard Murphy, Mariana Mazzucato and Danny Blanchflower come to mind.

Although I appreciate that it’s early days, some of your messages have been a little confusing. Healey says he’s going to maintain existing fiscal rules. These ‘rules’ were made up by Rachel Reeves.  Be aware that neoliberism advocates ‘rules’ for one purpose only and that’s to limit government action. Austerity, which has plagued us for two decades, is a product of totally unnecessary rules, but they achieve one of the main aims of neoliberalism, and that’s to limit democratic freedom to solve problems. When a Chancellor bleats that he’s going to maintain fiscal rules, he’s sending a signal to the financial sector that neoliberalism is going to continue and he’s not going to derail their gravy train. Maybe you’re just wanting to buy time. We’ll soon see, won’t we?

The intentions you’ve expressed pleasingly go against neoliberalism’s central beliefs, bringing utilities back into public ownership, an end to small government and the devolution of power to the regions, an end to weak regulation and a return to the caring state. But if you want to make real and lasting change and really kick neoliberalism into touch, you have to address the fundamentals - and this is why you need ‘professional’ help.

Neoliberalism always equates government to a household. Thatcher bleated this adinfinitum and it’s misleading nonsense. A household can’t create money, a government can. Spending depends on tax and borrowing, it doesn’t. Governments need to spend then tax, not tax then spend. Growth comes from government spending. Putting money in people’s pockets drives a vibrant economy and funds a fairer, more equal society. Does Healey understand this?

Neoliberalism has suffocated government spending on practically everything and allowed a frenzy of value extraction which has left the country a withered, empty husk.

A sign that you are serious about ditching neoliberalism will be when you decide to tax the undertaxed wealthy properly. Prof Richard Murphy In his ‘Taxing Wealth Report’ (taxingwealth.uk) estimates that there’s an annual revenue of £90 billion to be had - and that’s without making the pips squeak.

And if you want to know what replaces neoliberalism, it’s MMT, Modern Monetary Theory. This the roadmap you need if you want create a caring, vibrant, progressive state. As I suggested earlier, you need to get sound professional help, if you want to succeed.

FOOTNOTE…

“Until money is taken out of politics, and corporate power is addressed, politics is a waste of time”. Think about it. Do something about it.

(Read the Kelly report on political party funding. Act on it)

When you add the fact that our major institutions have not had any meaningful reform since the end of the war, and that there are no effective ways of devolving power from the centre, you have a perfect recipe for incompetent and ineffective government - which is what we have.

The solution is very straightforward. Britain, and especially England, needs to be regionalised.

Each region needs to have a Regional Assembly, which would allow power to be devolved from the centre. This would not only create more effective and efficient local and central government, it would open up the possibility for more inclusive government; it would allow regions to grow and develop, have more control over their destiny and foster greater participation in the democratic process. Participation in the democratic process is what makes a true democracy. It’s what our so-called democracy badly needs to make it a true democracy, regionalisation is a way of delivering it.

The House of Lords

Every government for the last four decades has promised Lords reform. Apart from a few minor tweaks, it hasn’t happened. Calls for the House of Lords to be abolished can still be heard, but have been drowned out by a deafening indifference or kicked into the long grass. Funk has played its part too.

By regionalising Britain there is a huge opportunity to inject some real life into our so-called democracy. How? By abolishing the House of Lords and replacing it with a House of Representatives. Representatives would come from the Regional Assemblies. They wouldn’t be independent representatives, but be instructed Regional Assembly members. Each Regional Assembly would instruct a set number of representatives based on the size of the population in the region. A system of ‘degressive proportionality’ would be used so that no one region would dominate. This system is been successfully used in the Bundesrat in Germany, a system Britain helped to establish after WW2; such a pity we failed to adopt the system ourselves - but it’s never too late!

A House of Representatives informed by Regional Assemblies that use ‘people’s assemblies’ to guide their decision making could add a very important dimension to the way we are governed and herald a new era of inclusive politics. Instead of our involvement being 10 seconds every five years, we could be active participants in the political process. Let’s stop the prevarication and get on with it.

A footnote

Parliamentary democracy was set up in the 17th century when roads were terrible and communications were virtually non-existent. It worked while both of these conditions persisted. Neither of these conditions exist today. People have access to information as never before, and they have the ability to make their voices heard. They can form opinions based on a multitude of sources. However, our institutions of state, which were created in the past, with the technology of the past, to solve the problems of the past, according to the values of the past, no longer function as fast or as efficiently as people expect them to, nor do they meet the demands of the modern state. In an age of accelerating change, the speed of response of our institutions and government itself, is at best, glacial. This is one of the main reasons why there has been a huge loss of confidence in our institutions, in politicians and in government.

A complete restructuring of the way we govern ourselves, as I have suggested here, is needed - urgently. I would also be failing in my duty if I didn’t also add that the true democracy we all long for will never happen until money is taken out of politics.

We might be victims of the side effects of the so-called ‘information age’, but we, ‘the people’, don’t look upon the news coming out of Gaza as a Netflix movie, we actually loathe and abhor Israel and everything it has done in Gaza, in the West Bank, and in Lebanon. Our stomachs are turned by the treatment meted out to the ten thousand Palestinian hostages Israel holds. The fact that the Palestinian people are treated by Israelis as ‘Untermenschen’ is despicable. The problem we have is that we are politically impotent. We have no voice. When we try to use it our governments shut us down. There is a reason.

In Britain, Europe and in America, politics and politicians have been bought by Israel. The power of money has allowed the Israel lobby to wield such enormous power, a power built up deliberately over seven decades, that it’s able to intimidate, threaten and ruin anyone who has the audacity to call out Israel in any way.

No wonder hardly a word is uttered in condemnation of Israel’s atrocity in Gaza and that our governments arrest us for daring to speak out against Israel.

Most people in the West live under the misapprehension that they live in a democracy. They don’t. They live with the trappings of democracy in a political construct designed by those with money and influence to work in their best interests. Presidents, prime ministers and journeymen politicians are all puppets of the wealthy.

We rather pathetically trudge off to the polling booth thinking that our vote matters. It should do, but it doesn’t. It might alter a political complexion a little, but not much else. Political parties, with only a few notable exceptions, all burdened with truckloads of incomprehensible baggage, share the same skin.

In Britain we’re about to get another new prime minister. He may well be an improvement on his predecessor, but the bar is low. Some things will change, maybe for the better, but the fundamentals will remain the same. The system will see that he does as he’s told.

If we want to change and to be a true democracy - and that democracy has to have a participatory element as well as a representative one - we have to take money out of politics. How do we do this?

There are very few options. We can, as Andrew Feinstein has suggested, ‘face the buggers down’. That would only work if the country could be united under one banner, a ‘union of voters’, to face down the whole political establishment and force change. It’s a possibility, one that’s well worth exploring.

The other option is a coordinated uprising. This is fraught with danger and may not end well.

In episode ten of the Netflix movie, will it end well, will we flourish in a true democracy or in a catastrophe with the wealthy driving us towards extinction? That’s really up to us, isn’t it?

Their attack on Iran has been a catastrophe. They now face a stark reality, escalate or admit defeat. Escalation would tip the world into a deep depression and lead to another genocide. Even Trump realises this is not an option. Defeat? No matter how it is dressed up, and that’s what the negotiations are all about, it will be a humiliating defeat for America. But economic realities mean that Trump needs a deal. Having been suckered into an unwinable war by Netanyahu, he really doesn’t care how it affects Israel, his priorities lie elsewhere.

This is not only a reality check for Israel, it’s a game changer.

Will the price for dragging America into an unwinable war with Iran, and being the author of its humiliation, mean that Israel may have to face the prospect of not being able to count on America facilitating its wars? Without America’s support, there will be no Greater Israel from the Nile to the Euphrates. That dream is already fading. And to cap it all, the horror of the Gaza genocide is hitting home in America. It’s rapidly falling out of love with Israel.

Despite the fact that the Israel lobby ‘owns’ Congress, there are signs that the American people are becoming less tolerant of the behaviour of the Israel lobby, and well they might. There is every likelihood that there will be a growing reluctance to facilitate Israel’s wars and be the guardian of its impunity. Israel is acutely aware of this. It’s reaction? To do everything it can to scupper the peace negotiations. In the mood America is in, this could backfire badly.

Israel on its own without American support, even with reduced support, will find it hard to survive. Israel cornered is a very dangerous beast. Faced with an uncertain future, it may decide to use what it calls its ‘Samson Option’ - “if we can’t get our way we’ll pull the temple down”.  Israel may decide to nuke Iran. The consequences for the world, for the future of mankind, would be horrendous.

What can be done? Somehow Israel’s nuclear capability needs to be neutralised. It’s in the world’s interests that it is - and soon.

The voters of Makerfield have given Labour a second chance. It’s Labour’s last chance.

Burnham’s emphatic victory in Makerfield says many things. Yes, it’s a vote of confidence in Burnham who deservedly reaps a reward for delivering for working people when he was mayor of  Manchester, but it’s also an endorsement of Burnham’s intention to become leader of the Labour Party. It’s not only an indication of the support that he might command, but a damning indictment on Starmerism, a total rejection the man and his policies.

Labour voters feel they’ve been betrayed by Starmer, and they have. Betrayal begets retribution. They delivered that retribution in Makerfield. Had Burnham’s intention not been to challenge Starmer for the leadership, the result might have been very different.

The collapse of the Reform vote shows just how fragile it is and just how many people, in sheer desperation, have been driven into the arms of Reform by Starmer.

Starmer has shown nothing but contempt for the electorate who have grown thoroughly sick of his condescending, meaningless monotones. They’ve been made poorer by his refusal to get Brexit undone; by his refusal to reduce the tax burden on the less well off while failing to tax the wealthy; by doing practically nothing to reduce the cost of living. They hate his authoritarianism and are utterly disgusted by his support for Israel and by his draconian anti protest laws. Appalled that he has made Britain complicit in genocide, angry at his treatment of pro Palestine peaceful protesters.

Makerfield marks the end of Starmer’s reign of error.

Labour’s future, the country’s future, is going to be down to Burnham - assuming his leadership challenge is successful. He He has two important things to do at the outset. The first and most important thing he has to do is to take the country with him. He can do this by making clear what he intends to do and then translating his intentions into action - without delay. His intentions need to resonate with people and be seen as a clean break from the Starmer catastrophe.

Rejoining the Single Market and the Customs Union and preparing a roadmap to rejoining the EU; repealing Starmer’s anti protest laws; ending the freeze on tax thresholds; taxing wealth fairly and properly; renationalising water; committing to reduce inequality and perpetual austerity by ditching neoliberal economics, and reform energy pricing. All these would grab people’s attention and get their support. Showmanship has an important part to play when the electorate are so disenchanted with politics and politicians. Let’s hope he understands this.

And then there’s the task of reinventing the Labour Party. He should be utterly ruthless. This is Labour’s last chance. If he gets it wrong, Labour is toast. Putting people before party is his best chance of success.

Today there is a sniff of hope in the air.

I look forward to the Filton Four appealing their sentences to the Court of Appeal. They can apply 28 days after sentencing.

They need to focus on whether the terrorism aspects of the sentencing were legally justified. I think most of the legal profession thinks Judge Johnson was pushing his luck by saying the crimes committed crossed the threshold of being classed as terrorism. (The controversy arises because the judge found a terrorist connection at sentencing, even though the prosecution did not secure terrorism convictions from the jury.)

Because Judge Johnson decided to find a terrorism connection at sentencing, it means that he was able to impose more severe sentences than would ordinarily be imposed for these crimes. Why would he do that? Was he ‘influenced’ in any way? The implications of the four being sentenced as terrorists means they will have to spend longer in jail before they are considered for parole. On release will have their lives severely restricted by a harsh reporting regime, which will last for 15 years. Sentenced as terrorists, their time in prison will be harsh.

Let’s hope the Court of Appeal makes some balanced observations and uses the opportunity to take Judge Johnson down a peg or two.

Let’s not forget the restrictions Johnson imposed at trial:

• The jury were not told that Johnson ruled that he considered there was a terrorist connection, which was only revealed at sentencing.

• The defence was forbidden from using ‘lawful excuse’ i.e. the defendants were trying to prevent ‘greater crimes in Gaza’

• Any reference to Elbit Systems involvement in the Gaza genocide was forbidden.

• He severely limited any reference to the motivations of the defendants. The jury heard little or nothing about why the defendants believed their actions were justified.

• There is a principle that a jury can acquit according to conscience even where the facts of the offence are proved. Johnson refused to allow this. A dispute followed which led to contempt proceedings being initiated against defence barrister Rajiv Menon KC, which were later overturned by the Court of Appeal.

On top of all this, Johnson imposed reporting restrictions that meant that all his controversial rulings were never allowed to be reported. They were only lifted after convictions had been obtained.

This is a sorry chapter in British legal history. Let’s hope that it won’t be long before the role of government in this affair is exposed and Judge Johnson is put out to grass.

Imagine a world where people didn’t have to endure the challenges and privations of inequality. Imagine a world where the anxiety and stress of trying to make ends meet, was removed. Imagine a world free of grinding poverty and deprivation. Consider the positive effect this would have on people’s mental and physical health and their well-being. Think about the opportunities for social change and for creating a society which promotes harmony and cohesion instead of division, and works for the benefit of everyone.

The massive amounts of money freed up by limiting how wealthy people could be, would be transformative. If we then cast off fifty years of neoliberalism, which is the root cause of the rampant inequality we suffer now, and taxed wealth fairly and properly, society would be transformed. Isn’t this what we should be demanding?

What’s standing in the way? Political will. But there’s a problem with political will. Political will in most Western ‘democracies’ is the will of the wealthy because politics has been corrupted by money. Bought politicians have become puppets of the wealthy. They do their bidding by maintaining ‘light touch’ regulation and by passing favourable legislation. As a consequence

the advantages of the wealthy are maintained, if not strengthened, and the best interests of the people, sidelined.

Neoliberal economics, which has dominated most Western economies for the past fifty years is a construct of the wealthy elites. Initially delivered by economists who they had carefully nurtured and funded over many years, it has not only enabled the concentration of vast wealth in the hands of a few, it has turbocharged inequality, created division and left a trail of immiseration In its wake.

Under neoliberalism, the gap between rich and poor has become vast and it’s growing bigger every year, as a result, the world is wildly out of balance. Politicians, instead of working to solve the problem, have become the problem. Their conniving and bowing to the will of the wealthy elites has rendered politics irrelevant and meaningless. And democracy? It died a long time ago. All we are left with are a few tattered trappings.

It’s the power of wealth that’s shaping the future of the world, not politics, we have little or no say anymore. In the general scheme of things as far as the wealthy are concerned, we are irrelevant.

Such is the power that the wealthy wield, even the approach to climate change is in their control, and consequently the future of the planet. What is being decided is not in our name or in our best interests. Our future, our quality of life, is being decided by the wealthy and ultra wealthy oligarchs. It’s a state of affairs can’t be allowed to continue.

Restoring balance by controlling the level of wealth and restoring representative and participatory democracy has to be the way forward. The alternative is endless misery and strife, and possibly the end of civilisation.

Just consider the level of existing wealth held by ‘the few’, it’s staggering. In America, the top 1% have a 35% share of total wealth. The top 10% have 70%. 50% of Americans only have 2%.

A recent global inequality report found that the top 10% own about three-quarters of all wealth in the world, while the poorest half of humanity own only around 2%. The top 1% own 40%.

But what about wealth itself, over 60% of wealth is inherited. A staggering $84 trillion will be transferred to the next generation by 2045. The compound effect, or snowball effect, as it’s sometimes called, of this wealth will make these arguably undeserving people even wealthier. The consequence will be a dramatic increase in wealth inequality. If this is allowed to happen it will be catastrophic. Something has to be done about it sooner rather than later.

So, if the world is to be transformed by limiting the wealth an individual might have*, the problem that will need to be faced, and it will be a considerable one, is how to deal with existing excessive wealth. Somehow it has to be ‘repatriated’ so that can be used for the benefit of everyone. It will be a complicated and controversial task, but it’s a problem that has to be addressed. The furore, the push back it will cause will be huge and it will be extremely difficult to find a politician to  support what they would undoubtedly class as an attack will on their benefactors. But if we are to survive and prosper, there is no alternative.

Rising inequality is already causing unrest. The growth of extreme right wing parties is the first indication that all is not well, a sign of deep unhappiness and dissatisfaction. It’s also wise to remember that for over a thousand years, ‘Goliaths, dynasties, empires have crumbled when levels of inequality become intolerable.

The antennae off wealthy, and the super rich are twitching. They are very much aware that increased political instability, which we are already seeing, could be the precursor of serious social unrest. A popular uprising is not beyond the realms of possibility, a possibility that could result in a great number of wealthy people losing everything.

American multimillionaire, Nick Hanauer published an article recently titled “The Pitchforks are Coming for us Plutocrats”. He went on to say:

“If we don’t do something to fix the inequities in this economy, the pitchforks are going to come for us”.

There is a clearly an awareness of the threat by some, but as most live in a world detached from reality, cocooned in a mindset of invulnerability, the likelihood of anything meaningful change happening voluntarily, is infinitesimally small. The wealthy will cling on to what they have with limpet-like tenacity and will fiercely resist any change.

But we are fast approaching a tipping point.

Patience is running out. Governments have seriously misjudged the depth of feeling in the general population. Strong emotions are stirring, principal among them is betrayal, an emotion that all to often demands retribution. There’s a feeling of helplessness and frustration born of enduring decades of neoliberal austerity and ever growing inequality.

What is certain is that current political parties are not going to deliver the change people want. There will be no transformation, the wealthy will go unchallenged, nothing is going to change. There will be no change until governments understand how fragile their grip on power really is, and that will only happen when people realise the power they have, and use it. Nick Hanauer is right, the pitchforks are coming. What’s the alternative?

The stark conclusion is that there isn’t one. When politics fails the people, the people have no alternative other than to take the streets. Governments can be brought down, change can happen, a better, more equitable world is possible. We can’t go on living the way we are. We’ve had our fill of politics being done to us.  Enough is most definitely enough. The world can be transformed. It must be transformed.

PITCHFORKS!

Britain is the victim of decades of bad politics. Over eighty years of the Tory / Labour duopoly and what have we got to show for it? A deeply divided country, rampant inequality, poverty and deprivation at record levels, a decades old housing crisis, a health service on its knees, a shrivelled industrial base, non existent social mobility, no growth, no inward investment, a crumbling infrastructure, a shattered relationship with Europe and a country diminished in the of eyes of the world. We are a country that offers neoliberal austerity instead of opportunity, a country which carelessly squanders its talent and suffocates opportunity.

Our dysfunctional political system, designed and managed by its participants to serve their best interests, does the bidding of wealthy donors and corporations. Politicians are now their puppets. They no longer function as our representatives. Money has polluted politics to such an extent that it has little relevance to the British people.

Labour, Liberals, Conservatives, Reform, and even the Greens offer no fundamental change from what we have now. A feeling of resignation, of hopelessness has enveloped the country.

WE CAN’T GO ON LIKE THIS!

What Britain needs is to clear out the stables, to get rid of all the parties that have served us so badly, to reform our political system so that it works in the interests of the majority, and to take money out of politics. We could have a true democracy not just the trappings of one. We could give people hope, we could transform people’s lives and give the country hope. And the question you are now asking is…how?

BY UNITING PEOPLE OF ALL POLITICAL PERSUASIONS TO UNITE UNDER ONE BANNER.

We have failed to realise the power we have. If we unite as one, we can remove governments, we can achieve the impossible - and the time has arrived when we HAVE TO!

We need a union of voters, for everybody to have the opportunity to unite under one banner and make change happen…

THE VOTER’S UNION

Let’s have your comments.

We are on the brink of a catastrophe so huge that it may prove to be irreparable. Normal life may cease to exist in just a matter of weeks and may never return.

The crisis in the Middle East caused by the illegal and unprovoked US/Israel attack on Iran is at the centre of the problem the world now faces.

Led by the nose by Israel into a war that cannot be won, having totally underestimated Iran’s strength and resources, the United States, with many of its Middle East bases obliterated, has been forced to face the limits of its military power. It now faces three options. Disguise it’s humiliation with some farcical claim of victory and withdraw, continue with the seemingly unsolvable impasse over the Straits of Hormuz which is choking off 30% of the world’s oil supplies or escalate the conflict and risk a world conflagration.

The United States is in an impossible position, which has not gone unnoticed by Putin. With a close relationship with the Iran regime, he’s been gifted a degree of leverage he could only have dreamed about. He’s now playing his trump card.

News is breaking that, through diplomatic back channels, Putin has issued an ultimatum to Trump. Withdraw your support for Israel and end the conflict or the entire infrastructure, the desalination plants, the power infrastructure and the oil facilities of the UAE and the other Gulf states will be taken out. This would not only make them uninhabitable with all that implies, but it would take out 30% of the world’s oil supplies and would literally dislocate the global economy in a matter of hours. And this at a time when a massive financial crash is about to happen.

This is a master stroke from Putin. Iran, has the capability to do this particularly when bolstered with assistance from Russia.

At a stroke this could end Israel’s Greater Israel ambitions, shrink America’s hegemony and reconfigure politics in the Middle East.

Even before the financial crash which is coming down the tracks, if Iran/Russia’s threat is carried out it would see a market collapse of cataclysmic proportions and the collapse of the current world order.

The United States really only has one option and that is to withdraw. How it dresses that up is irrelevant. And then what? America’s support for Israel’s perpetual wars will be brought into question as will its relationship with Israel.

We are living in dangerous times. The world needs a reset. This might be a catalyst - or a catastrophe.

The warning signs were always there. As leader of the opposition, not once did he criticise Brexit, the greatest act of self-harm in our history. He went on to vote for Boris Johnson’s ludicrous hard Brexit deal. He could have abstained, the Bill would still have passed. Had he abstained, he would have been able to take Johnson and Brexit apart piece by piece, but he didn’t. Our suspicions should have been alerted.

Remember Covid? Who could forget, but who could forget Starmer’s commitment to ‘support the government in any way he could’, which he did by maintaining almost total silence as Johnson’s hapless government bounced from one crisis, one cock-up to another, and thousands died.

Starmer was a total failure as leader of the opposition, so why did we think he’d be a successful prime minister? The reality is that we didn’t give it much thought. We’d been so consumed by Brexit, so battered by Covid, so enraged by fourteen years of Tory misrule, so determined to deliver a killer blow to the Tories, we didn’t pay much attention to Starmer.

On July 8th 2024 the killer blow had been delivered to the Tories and Starmer was gifted an election victory with a  majority of 174, and an opportunity most incoming prime ministers could only dream about.

But it didn’t start well. An expectant electorate, eager and willing to give its support to Starmer and his new government, hopeful this was the new beginning it had been praying for, were rewarded from the very get go with the chilling announcement that ‘things were going to get worse before they got better’. This was followed by an announcement that the two child benefit cap would remain, the winter fuel allowance to pensioners would be cut back and benefits for the disabled would be reduced. Strict self-imposed fiscal rules were then announced signalling that neoliberal economics, which had delivered perpetual austerity and ever growing inequality for the last four decades, was to be the cornerstone of Labour economic policy. And then there was Brexit. Red lines were drawn. Starmer’s Labour wasn’t going to rejoin anything.

What followed in the coming months was a catalogue of bad judgements from Starmer. The cringingly awful, and ultimately unsuccessful, kowtowing to the moron Trump; a failure to reset a relationship with the EU and a collapse in growth and investment; unquestioning support for Israel, which was to make us complicit in genocide; draconian anti protest laws which saw the arrest of thousands of peaceful protestors; and the appointment of Mandelson as ambassador to the US when Starmer was fully aware that his relationship  paedophile Geoffrey Epstein had continued for many years after his conviction.

The scale of Starmer’s failure is truly mindboggling, and that it was achieved in just 22 short months is astounding. Starmer’s position is untenable, but the problem now is to find a new leader who will transform Labour, restore its core values and win back public confidence. If it doesn’t, the party will be annihilated in 2029 - but herein lies the problem, Labour is devoid of talent - but it’s much more than that.

The problem with Labour, is Labour. Labour has been at war with itself forever.

It’s full of factions and frictions, it’s a bear pit of internecine squabbles and endless committees; from the ruling NEC and its committees, to the PLP, the ALC, the LCF and the CLP. Labour has always been more involved, more concerned with itself than it has for the electorate, party before people is the way it’s always been and the way it looks as if it will always be - unless there is someone, some group with the courage and determination to bring about change.

So back to today. The only way Labour is going to survive is for it to reinvent itself. That will only happen if it elects a leader with the strength of character to bring that about. It may take years, years Labour doesn’t have, but if it can win over public support quickly it might just be possible to survive the election in 2029 - and in truth we need it to survive. Is it possible? Well…

If it rejoined the Single Market and Customs Union it would release some of the pressure on the cost of living, open the doors to inward investment and greater growth, restore lost revenues and ditch a massive bundle of Brexit embuggerances, which would be very popular.

If it  then went on to produce a roadmap to rejoining the EU, it would win back a huge number of voters lost to the Greens and others, and allow it to take aim at Reform’s Achilles heel, Brexit.

If it disavowed Zionism, sent its fellow travellers packing, and repealed Starmer’s draconian anti-protest laws it would transform people’s view of Labour.

If it ditched neoliberal economics and taxed wealth properly, the majority would believe Labour really was on their side.

The truth is that the country needs all this to happen if it’s to fend off Farage. It will require a seismic change for Labour. Is it capable of making that change? Right now it doesn’t look like it, it’s a huge ask, but maybe, just maybe the prospect of annihilation might bring the party to its senses.

L

Starmer’s premiership has been a disaster for Labour and a catastrophe for the country. Our next prime minister has to be very ‘special’ indeed if the country’s spiral of decline is to be stopped and Labour’s annihilation in 2029 avoided.

Andy Burnham is apparently already plotting his return to Westminster. He sees himself as Starmer’s successor - all dependent on him winning a seat of course, which may be more difficult than he imagines. Trying to do so outside of his Manchester fiefdom would be unwise.

But what of Andy Burnham, is he that ‘special’? His stint as Health Secretary wasn’t particularly memorable, but he’s been a popular and successful mayor of Manchester. His successes include reforming public transport, tackling homelessness, obtaining furlough funding during Covid - he was called ‘King of the North’ for his efforts - and his support for the aging population. He’s been re-elected three times so he must be doing something right. He appears to be a man of action, which is what we need, but we don’t know what he’d do if he became prime minister. Here’s what he needs to do - as a minimum…

• The very first thing he needs to do, and Starmer failed to do, is to listen to the people, and win them over.

• The next thing he needs to do is to clean out Downing Street and surround himself with experts, people who know their subject and can give him the right advice. Specifically he needs to…

• Rejoin the Single Market and the Customs Union and prepare a roadmap for rejoining the EU.

Rejoining the SM & CU would have a positive and much needed effect on the cost of living, boost investment and growth and restore lost revenues. With America an unreliable ally, he must put his full focus on Europe. This is what people want, he needs to recognise that fact.

• He needs to tax wealth properly. There’s nearly £90 billion a year in revenue available. He should read Prof Richard Murphy’s ‘Taxing Wealth’ report.

• As a matter of priority, he needs to bin neoliberalism which has delivered perpetual austerity and ever growing inequality. Neoliberalism is Treasury orthodoxy so he needs the very best economic advisors to combat the Treasury mandarins and produce a new economic model for Britain.

Governments generate growth by spending. Tax and spend doesn’t create growth, spend and tax does.

• He needs to tackle the housing crisis. He should end right to buy and have a social housing building programme of at least 300k new homes a year. He needs to introduce rent controls and continue his help for the homeless, which he started in Manchester.

• He needs BIG IDEAS and he needs to deliver them. Massive new infrastructure plans, and an imaginative industrial policy that delivers jobs and restores social mobility.

• He needs to tackle climate change with new ideas and produce a plan and incentives to reduce our use of fossil fuels. Net zero has ludicrous costs and needs reviewed.

• Britain’s energy prices are the highest in Europe. This is a combination of how we cost energy and taxation. This needs addressed urgently.

• He should impose a windfall tax on oil companies and tackle profiteering.

• He should break new ground and restore true democracy in Britain by taking money out of politics. (Read the Kelly report)

• He should introduce PR. It’s what people want.

• Poverty and destitution are at unacceptable levels. This is due to neoliberal economic policies, which need binned - as mentioned earlier - but the problem is so severe that he needs to introduce special measures to alleviate suffering until the a new economic policy can be introduced.

• Student fees are an abomination and need removed. The cost can be met by taxing tech companies and the likes of Amazon properly.

These are just a few of the things Burnham would need to do, there are many more. If he allows himself to be thwarted, and if there is delay, he will fail.

In November 2011 the Committee for Standards in Public Life, led by Sir Christopher Kelly, produced a report on political party funding. It recommended that ‘the only way to take big money out of politics’ was to limit all donations to £10,000 per year.

He acknowledged the effect it would have on parties and that they would have to cut spending, but made the very important point that it would force political parties to engage with the electorate in order to increase their income from membership fees.

He estimated that the increase in public funding of political parties would be approximately £23 million - or roughly the cost of a first class stamp per elector per year. The level of state funding would depend on the number of members the party had recruited.

Connecting the level of state support to the number of members a party recruited was an inspired idea. At a stroke it would force MPs to pay more attention to the needs, interests and opinions of their constituents as opposed to party interests and the interests of large individual and corporate donors.

The report was rejected by Nick Clegg, then Deputy Prime Minister in February 2012, because in his opinion, at ‘a time of austerity’, it was not appropriate to ask the electorate to cough up the cost of a first class stamp to clean up politics. The Kelly report was kicked into the long grass where it has remained.

Kelly’s reaction was to criticise political parties for their ‘entrenched self-interest positions’ which would prevent much needed reform and went on to say that unless donations were capped and ‘big money’ restricted “a scandal was inevitable”. How right he was.

And the consequences of failing to adopt Kelly’s recommendations? Our democracy has withered and died. We are left with the trappings of democracy and corrupt, dysfunctional politics.

It’s time to revisit Kelly.

You could write Starmer’s achievements on the back of a postage stamp - all except one. It’s all down to him that Reform is ahead in the polls and is now the biggest threat to what is left of our disintegrating democracy.

To get a measure of the level of Starmer’s incompetence and stupidity - and his lack of political nous, you have to go back to the first six months of his premiership. Armed with a large majority he had one of the biggest political opportunities ever. He could have won over the people, got rid of Brexit, transformed Britain, restored hope, attacked inequality and turned a new chapter. What did he do? He raised a finger to the electorate, refused to undo the two child benefit cap, reduced benefits for the disabled, drew Brexit red lines and turned his back on Europe, introduced draconian anti protest laws, and supported Israel’s genocide.

STARMER BETRAYED BRITAIN.

Real politics is not about facts, it’s about emotion. Betrayal is such a STRONG emotion. It smoulders and builds and is almost impossible to eradicate. It engenders hate, and yes, Starmer IS hated. But what is unique about betrayal is that it demands retribution. This has been manifested in the huge growth in support for Reform. People are so angry they want to hurt Labour, even if they have to suffer, even if they understand that Farage is a shyster.

And Farage? He’s done precisely nothing. There’s hardly a policy you could identify, he’s not inspired people or promised the earth, he’s just sat back and let Starmer do the work for him. I’m sure he can hardly believe his luck. Not in his wildest dreams could he have ever imagined being gifted Keir Starmer.

THE RISE OF REFORM IS ALL DOWN TO STARMER.

It’s not as if Labour is not aware of the situation, but a weird sort of paralysis seems to have overcome the party. It should have kicked Starmer out a long time ago. The reality is that the British Labour Party has run its course. It’s tired, rudderless and devoid of talent. Britain needs Reform like a hole in the head, but it doesn’t need Labour either.

WHEN GOVERNMENTS DELIVER CONSCIOUS CRUELTY, SOMETHING IS WRONG.

A new report by Oxford university says that:

“British children have been scarred by poverty for at least half their childhood, a direct legacy of the welfare benefit cuts first imposed by the Conservatives and not reversed by Labour.

Austerity policies, which drastically shrank annual welfare spending by tens of billions a year and took thousands of pounds a year out of low-income family budgets, effectively pitched hundreds of thousands more children into sustained poverty.”

THIS IS A POLITICAL CHOICE!

Why do we tolerate this? The Tory/Labour duopoly has been a disaster for Britain. Successive chancellors from the awful Osborne to the hapless Reeves have embraced neoliberal economics which has delivered perpetual austerity and ever growing inequality. Neoliberal economics is now Treasury orthodoxy. No chancellor has had the wit, the desire, the imagination or the courage to ditch it and to come up with something that works for the people rather than against them.

WE CAN’T GO ON LIKE THIS!

Britain needs a NEW POLITICS, NEW PEOPLE, NEW PARTIES, NEW IDEAS!

We need MONEY OUT OF POLITICS and a PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY where politics works for the benefit of the people and not political parties and politicians.

WE CAN MAKE IT HAPPEN IF WE WANT IT TO HAPPEN!

“If you don’t do politics, politics will do you”

No more spectating, standing on the sidelines. We have the power, the clout to make change happen.

Let’s do it!

Are you aware that life expectancy in Britain is falling dramatically? For the first time since records began, it’s gone into reverse. Today, you could expect to live into your eighties, but a child born today can only expect to enjoy a healthy life until the age of 60, thereafter its life is very likely to be blighted by ill health. Falling life expectancy is a classic sign of a society in decline. Yes, Britain is sick. It’s people are sick. Our society is sick, and the country is very definitely in a state of decline.

So, what’s the cause? Britain is a country that’s been badly governed for a long, long time. The Conservative / Labour duopoly, which has dominated British politics for the last eighty years, has ill-served the nation. Now the consequences of all those years of careless neglect, of deliberate neglect, are surfacing. The root cause of the problems we now face can be traced back to the 1980s when Margaret Thatcher embraced neoliberalism, an economic doctrine promoted at the time by the economist Milton Friedman.

Neoliberalism, is a doctrine which believes that greed and selfishness are good because they encourage wealth generation. The contention being that the benefits will ‘trickle down’ to the rest of us. (They didn’t, and they don’t). That our interests are not best served by big government or political choice, but by small government and economic choice and that ‘the market’ is the final arbiter of - well, practically everything. Social outcomes shouldn’t be determined by public spending, and the redistribution of wealth distorts the ‘natural order’. Regulations must be trashed, public services privatised, protest curtailed, and collective bargaining eradicated. This is what Thatcher set out to do, and we are living with the consequences.

By the time Tony Blair came to power in 1997, neoliberal economics was Treasury orthodoxy. He accepted the economic status quo and changed nothing, even although the negative effects of all that Thatcher put in place were becoming increasingly obvious. But he was changing Labour. Blair described it as ‘capturing the middle ground’. Labour effectively turned its back on its working class roots and embarked on a path of putting the interests of the wealthy, vested interests and corporates ahead of those it purported to represent. It did nothing to curtail, or even tax fairly and properly, those who had become extremely wealthy as a result of neoliberal policies - nor did it address the rapid rise in inequality. But it wasn’t until after the economic crash of 2008 and the advent of Cameron and Osbourne did we see the harsher elements of neoliberalism put into practice.

They went straight to the neoliberal playbook and introduced swingeing austerity, which they falsely sold as a necessary measure after the 2008 crash. It was totally the wrong medicine at the wrong time, but it enabled them to continue Thatcher’s neoliberal crusade. They cut NHS funding, cut spending, cut benefits, cut services and froze welfare. The effects were devastating, and they remain devastating because nothing has changed.

Today, we live with perpetual austerity and ever increasing inequality. 14 million people are in work poverty and have great difficulty in making ends meet. 6 million are in deep poverty and live their lives in survival mode. Poverty and destitution stalk millions of British people.

As a result of neoliberal economic policies, inequality has mushroomed, the wealth gap has widened; living standards have deteriorated - manifested by the housing crisis which has gone unaddressed for three decades; social mobility hardly exists, support services are under funded and in a state of collapse; welfare has been slashed. And to add salt to the wound, Brexit cost everybody £3,000 and significantly increased the cost of living.

To adopt the creed of neoliberal economics and inflict its devastating harms on the British people was a political choice. Not to get rid this evil doctrine is a political choice too. The deep anxiety and stress which millions suffer, the daily battle to survive they have to endure, and the ill health that follows because of successive governments’ failure to ditch neoliberal economics, is the reason we are seeing a dramatic drop in life expectancy.

Recent modelling revealed that up to the beginning of Covid, 345,000 people had died as a result of the devastating harms caused by neoliberal economic policies. That number is now many times greater. By any measure this is SOCIAL MURDER. Britain is a crime scene.

We live in a world where conspiracy theories are turning out to be true.

Who would have thought that a small Middle Eastern country of 10 million people could capture a country of 340 million people, which also happens to be the most powerful country in the world? It’s happened. Israel has captured the United States of America.

Many will balk at the suggestion that there’s been state capture, that it’s only the visibility of Israel’s influence that’s changed, or that people have at last woken up to the extent of the power and influence Israel has. Yes, there’s been ‘an awakening’, but it’s much more than that.

State capture began with Congress. The Zionist /Israel lobby, lead by AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) one of many pro Israel lobbying groups, set out capture Congress, and it succeeded. It did so by using threat, money, and intimidation. The capture has been so complete that Congress does the lobby’s bidding. What more proof is needed when Congress gives Benjamin Netanyahu a standing ovation when he’s in the middle of conducting one of the most heinous genocides in history? What more proof is needed when Congress refuses to stop sending Israel the arms and munitions it needs to carry out its genocide? And every year Congress votes to send Israel $4 billion for no apparent reason, it gets absolutely nothing in return. And now, in order to help fund its wars, Congress has voted to increase the money it sends to Israel to $18 billion.

Today, it’s difficult to find a member of Congress who has not received funds from the Israel lobby despite the fact it exacts a heavy price for its ‘generosity’. Deviate from the lobby’s wishes, say anything against Israel or show any support for Palestine or the Palestinians and face retribution and vilification, personal ruin and a well funded opponent to challenge you at the next election. Do what the lobby commands and endless treats, trips and fat campaign contributions follow.

A crucial element in Isreal’s state capture of America has been to capture American media, which it’s done with the help of its Zionist billionaire friends and fellow travellers. It’s been able to do this with the help of Zionist supporting billionaires like Larry Ellison, known for his contributions to the Israel Defence Force. He controls US TikTok, CBS News, MTV, Nickelodeon and Paramount. When he took over TikTok recently, Netanyahu said it was a “significant victory for Israeli influence”.

CBS News recently appointed Bari Weiss, a vocal pro-Israel advocate as editor-in-chief. CNN now requires all its Gaza coverage to be reviewed by its Jerusalem bureau. The New York Times won’t use the term ‘genocide’ or ‘occupied territory’. Meta have been accused of suppressing anything pro-Palestinian. Even Murdoch’s Fox News pumps out pro Israel propaganda. The consequence of this media capture is that Israel receives constant unquestioning support. The American people are starved of the truth and fed carefully crafted disinformation designed to be supportive of Israel and critical of its detractors.

The reach of ‘the lobby’ is long and it is ruthless. Any criticism of Israel immediately attracts the accusation of ‘anti semitism’. Until recently this has been a career ending accusation. Their attack dogs roam seeking out any opposition to Israel and silencing it with threats and intimidation. Three presidents of major Ivy League universities have been forced out in the last two years because of pressure from Zionist supporting ‘donors’ who objected to a perceived lack of action against pro Palestinian campus demonstrations, which they regarded as antisemitic. Criticism of Israel or of its Gaza genocide or support for Palestine won’t be tolerated. Little wonder the fear of the lobby runs deep in American society, and for good reason.

The power and influence of the Israel lobby is not new, it’s has been building and growing for decades. Back in 2010, Tony Judt, the eminent Jewish British historian said in his book ‘Ill Fares the Land’, that such is the success of the Israel lobby that it’s convinced America that to be anti Israel is to be anti American.

For such a tiny number of people - there are approximately 7 million Jewish Americans, of which only 38% class themselves as ‘Zionist’ - that’s less that 1% of the population of America - to be able to wield such power is extraordinary, but it’s reality. This puts the power of ‘the lobby’ into perspective. It’s a very alarming one.

With America in its pocket, Israel has been able to act with impunity, attracting little or no criticism for what it does, from ignoring UN resolutions, expanding the illegal settlements in the Occupied Territories, to its blockade of Gaza before the genocide, to its treatment of the Palestinians, it can do no wrong.

Back in 2001, Benjamin Netanyahu boasted “I know what America is. America is a thing you can move very easily, move it in the right direction. They won’t get in the way.” They didn’t and they haven’t, such is the power of the Israel lobby.

Israel’s influence over America started decades before Netanyahu appeared on the scene. There has always been a very strong link between the CIA and Israel’s intelligence agency, Mossad, which goes back a long way.

Three examples where there has been possible collusion between the two agencies. One, over the acquisition of highly enriched uranium from a facility in Pennsylvania in 1968 which enabled Israel to build a nuclear weapon. Another, the assassination of Kennedy. He was strongly opposed to Israel acquiring nuclear weapons, and then the events surrounding 9/11, which as Netanyahu said “was good for Isreal”. All three are now being considered to be areas where there could have been ‘involvement’, if not cooperation, between the two agencies.

When the American people eventually become aware of the collusion and the evil that has been going on - and it is evil - under the radar, how they have been deceived and duped over many decades, their retribution is likely to be merciless. The measures that those involved are prepared to go to ensure nothing ever surfaces and that the capture remains intact are elaborate, and highly sophisticated. Enter Geoffrey Epstein.

Geoffrey Epstein was a construct, an Israeli intelligence asset. He wasn’t a billionaire of his own making. His assets came from many sources including sympathetic American Zionist supporting billionaires - and blackmail. His task was to obtain ‘kompromat’ on senior politicians, ‘people of influence’ and to gag those who were perceived to be a threat to Israel,  and to protect Israel’s state capture of America. There appears to have been no limit to lengths he was prepared to go - or was allowed to go - from paedophilia, to murder and even cannibalism.

What Epstein files have revealed so far, and there is so much more to come, is the length Israel has been prepared to go in order to maintain its ‘state capture’ of America and the depth of the depravity it has been prepared to use. The scale of its evil is truly shocking. And what’s it all been for? The expansion of Israel’s hegemony in the Middle East in partnership with America and the establishment of the state of Greater Israel. A hegemon from the Nile to the Euphrates. It’s a madness conceived in the minds of evil men.

Now a weak dysfunctional president is being manipulated by Zionist zealots and supporters of Israel’s ambitions from within the White House. The state capture of America by Israel has achieved a level of success it could never have imagined.

America’s attack on Iran is the latest manifestation of its success, but it could have dire consequences for all of us.