Absolutely Not The Daily Troll-o-Graph

Ukraine's valiant resistance has provoked a moral scramble to be seen and counted in the melee Source - Daily Telegraph - 27/02/22 Link On the third attempt, the West is at last grasping the nettle in Ukraine. This weekend's draconian measures come too late to deter Vladimir Putin, but not too late to inflict real pain and perhaps to set in motion the destruction of his regime. The market verdict on earlier, minimalist, lowest-denominator, attempts to sanction Russia was almost embarrassing. Moscow's MOEX equity index rocketed 20pc on Friday, with relief rallies for Russian bonds and the rouble. Oil prices settled down.   It was a collective judgment by hard-nosed traders that the West was not willing to go beyond symbolic gestures, and that business would carry on as usual even if a sovereign democratic Ukraine were wiped off the map.  Saturday evening was the moment that the Western democracies took a deep breath and began to use their crushing economic and financial po...

Former US president predicted a 'major war in Europe' before teasing another White House run at a speech in Florida Source  - Daily Telegraph - 27/02/22  Donald Trump condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine and predicted a "major war in Europe" but partially blamed Joe Biden and "delinquent" Nato leaders for the crisis. Addressing an adoring crowd in Orlando, Florida, the former US president attacked Mr Biden as "weak and incompetent" and said: "Putin is playing Biden like a drum". "This horrific disaster would never have happened if our election was not rigged and if I was the president," he said, referencing his baseless claims he was the true winner of the 2020 election. Mr Trump once again teased the prospect of another run for the White House, saying of the November 2024 election: "We did it twice, and we'll do it again. We're going to be doing it again, a third time". The thousands who had gathered at ...

Sanctions are just the start of what it will take if we and our allies are to win the long-term contest Source - Daily Telegraph - 25/02/22 Link  It's surely only a matter of time before the disaster unfolds. The fall of Kyiv, which was almost unthinkable a month ago, looks a near certainty. The democratic world is reaping its reward from years of neglect and complacency. The call has gone up for sanctions on Russia and, despite some distasteful exceptions, the West is implementing what it can. Russia’s banks have been shut out of the global financial system by US and British measures. A move to kick them off Swift, the financial messaging system, is being held up by German worries over Russian retaliation. Overcoming Berlin’s objections would be an important sign of unity and purpose, but the truth is that most of the damage to Russia’s banks has already been done. It is impossible for them to trade normally. If the West and its allies are to win the contest with Russia, however, ...

 The Kremlin’s aggression has given Nato a new lease of life, and forced Germany and others to change tack Source - Daily Telegraph - 24/02/22 Link Michael Fallon Is Vladimir Putin really winning? He’s invaded another country again. He has Europe’s gas bills in his hands. Former US president Donald Trump thinks he’s a genius. A serious British commentator describes the Kremlin’s strategy as “brilliantly disguised”. But it’s a little too easy to conclude that the allies have been outplayed. Of course, Putin will have enjoyed the political tourism to Moscow; yes, there’s been some naivety, though it’s surely always better to try to prevent war. But now there are no more illusions to shatter. Once again Putin has broken his word, broken Russia’s own treaty commitments, and broken international law. So look more closely at the West’s response. Across Europe there have been a series of impressive further commitments to the Nato alliance and, in particular, to the defence of the Baltic s...

The Project Fear predictions could not have been more wrong. Source - Spiked 21/02/22 Link We were told that Brexit would cause an economic apocalypse – that it would lead to a financial meltdown, a deep recession, a collapse in exports, higher unemployment and inflation, lower wages and a long-term fall in living standards. Others suggested it would lead to food and medicine shortages, famines, riots and even military coups. Britain risked becoming a dystopian failed state and an international pariah, cut off from the civilised world. Needless to say, none of these predictions has come true – as myself and others anticipated. Not only has post-Brexit Britain not been an economic disaster, it has also been, in many respects, an economic success. Let’s start with the most obvious parameter – GDP growth. For 2021 as a whole, UK GDP growth was 7.5 per cent. This is the strongest pace of growth since the Second World War and the highest in the G7 – compared to a GDP growth in both the euro...

 As Russia invades Ukraine and challenges Nato, we are reminded why Corbyn's worldview is so dangerous Source - Daily Telegraph - Link TOM HARRIS 22 February 2022 •  There’s an interesting pattern of dialogue that is provoked on Twitter whenever the subject of the 2019 general election is raised.  Those of us who switched from Labour to the Conservatives in order to prevent the election of a Jeremy Corbyn-led government are frequently challenged, post-Partygate, to renounce our sins, invited to concede that a government led by the veteran Left-winger, however disastrous, would still have been preferable to the current one led by Boris Johnson. I beg to differ. As if the politics gods are always on the lookout for a way to remind us of our past decisions, we now have the Ukrainian crisis and an opportunity to consider, once again, the political instincts and loyalties of the man elected twice as leader of the Labour Party. It might be appropriate to remind ourselves that,...

Source - Spiked 21/02/22 The Covid public-health emergency has been over for a very long time now. The emergence first of safe and effective vaccines, and then of a less harmful and more transmissible variant, really ought to have been the end of the matter. And yet, Boris Johnson’s eminently sensible plan, announced today, to drop mandatory isolation and to scale back mass testing, has drawn the lockdown fanatics out of the woodwork once again. It is dangerous, reckless, irresponsible, the usual experts screech. Of course, had we heeded their advice in the recent past, we would never have opened up last summer and would have been slammed back into lockdown this Christmas. We might have even followed a Zero Covid policy, which only authoritarian China is still trying to keep up. Ending all the legal Covid restrictions is an important first step to restoring the correct relationship between expert advice and democratic politics. Experts should be on tap, but never on top.

 The Tories should more aggressively point out the growing flaws in the SNP’s arguments Source - Daily Telegraph - 20/02/22 Link The fantasies on which the idea of Scottish independence is based were highlighted last week when David Lockwood, chief executive of the engineering firm Babcock, suggested his company would move its fabrication yard facilities from Rosyth to England if made to feel unwelcome in an independent Scotland. His observation brought obloquy from Nationalists. They argued that a Scottish government would never make Babcock unwelcome; and that because of the money it makes in Scotland, it would disoblige its shareholders by leaving. Yet Babcock, which bought Rosyth from the Ministry of Defence in 1996, has said that its single biggest customer is the UK Government. Its main Scottish business consists of building five Type 31 frigates for the Royal Navy, which Mr Lockwood said could be moved to England within three years, and decommissioning the Dounreay nuclear p...

 Like in the 1930s, faith in our values is being chipped away by activists and politicians Source - Daily Telegraph - 19/02/22 Link Over the last ten years or so, fundamental assumptions that sustained an optimistic vision of the international order have been collapsing. The assumption that globalisation was the key to future harmony and prosperity. The belief that the EU, having adopted a single currency, was on the way to increased integration, economic success, and international influence. The hope that Russia would move towards greater liberalisation, or at least become a less potent nuisance. The expectation that China, the cornerstone of globalisation, would become an increasingly friendly participant in the World Trade Organisation and the “rules-based order”. The confidence that the election of Barack Obama in 2008 signalled a United States that was gradually surmounting its racial tensions. Every aspect of this optimism has failed. The Covid epidemic and now Russia’s blata...

 Fears disruption brought by record-breaking storm may continue, with high winds set to hamper recovery efforts Source - Daily Telegraph 18/02/22 Link More than a million homes were left without power after Storm Eunice brought chaos to roads and rail and damaged homes and landmarks across Britain. One of three towers at the Grain Power Station near Rochester, Kent, fell during the stormy weather On Friday night, there were fears that the disruption brought by the record-breaking storm could last into next week, with high winds set to hamper recovery efforts. The first fatalities were emerging, with three motorists reported to have died. Hundreds of thousands of homes were without power and, while more than 700,000 have been reconnected, 435,000 remained in the dark as night fell. Some outages could last 48 hours and potentially longer in rural areas, the Government was told. On Friday night, Kwasi Kwarteng, the Business Secretary, warned that "there will be more disruption to com...

The question is whether the Fed pursues seven rate rises this year or pulls back to navigate a soft landing Source - Daily Telegraph - 18/02/22 Link Warnings of an economic recession in the US are growing louder. Liquidity is drying up and the cost of borrowing has suddenly broken its moorings. “The Federal Reserve is tightening into a cyclical slowdown and the risks are rising,” said Lakshman Achuthan, head of the Economic Cycle Research Institute (ECRI) in New York. “Either the Fed will blink and give up on rate hikes or it will forge ahead until something breaks, meaning a stock market crash, or a recession, or both,” he said. ECRI relies on early warning signals that catch turning points long before they are evident to laymen. As they say in ice-hockey, you skate to where the puck is going, not where it is. Monetarists are edging towards the same conclusion by a different route. For the last two years they have been the scourge of the New Keynesian establishment and the major centr...

Brussels purports to be a global power, but recent events have shown that it’s a broken empire devoid of morality Source - Daily Telegraph - 15/02/22 Link Crisis doesn’t shape character; it reveals it. And so it has been with the European Union and its handling of events in Ukraine. Vladimir Putin’s motivations may remain unclear, but regardless of whether the ongoing military escalations on the Ukrainian border are the preamble to a full-scale invasion, or merely some stress test of Western resolve, there is no doubt that the EU’s reaction has been found wanting. The bloc emerges as fractured; unable to agree on military support or economic sanctions, divided between bilateral and multilateral modes of engagement. While Poland and the Baltic states offer Ukraine military equipment and France makes its own overtures to Vladimir Putin, Germany’s response has been a mixture of vacillation – in its “strategic ambiguity” on sanctions and the future of Nord Stream 2 – and outright conciliat...

 Duke of York reaches deal in sex abuse case but makes no apology to accuser Virginia Giuffre Source - Daily Telegraph - 15/02/22 Link The Duke of York will pay his accuser more than £12million using money from the Queen, The Telegraph can disclose. It was announced on Tuesday that Prince Andrew, 61, had reached an out-of-court settlement with Virginia Roberts Giuffre, meaning he will no longer face a jury trial on claims that he sexually abused and raped her on three separate occasions when she was 17. The terms of the deal prevent either side from discussing the case or the settlement itself in public. However, The Telegraph understands the total amount that will go to Ms Giuffre and her charity exceeds £12 million. The Queen has already privately funded the Duke's legal fight to the tune of millions of pounds and will now partly fund the settlement in order to allow her son – and the entire Royal family – to draw a line under the case that had threatened to overshadow her Platin...

European leaders impressed with Westminster’s handling of Ukraine crisis set to propose leadership of new body and put tensions behind them Source - Daily Telegraph - 13/02/22 Link European leaders are planning to ask Britain to head up a new security organisation to counter future geopolitical challenges, in a move to put post-Brexit tensions behind them. Proposals for a “European Security Council” are being drawn up by Germany, the Netherlands and Poland in order to bring “Britain back into the fold” of major foreign policy discussions outside the confines of the European Union. The influential EU capitals believe it is now time to end years of bitterness after Brexit and forge new ties based on security and global co-operation, all to ensure Europe is better positioned to tackle world crises, in areas such as the Ukraine crisis and future pandemics. A group of countries are already urging Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, to personally reach out to Boris Johnson to “bring Britain ...

Leading party officials believed to have held talks on how best to remove former party leader from his Islington North seat Source - Daily Telegraph - 13/02/21 Link Jeremy Corbyn is on the brink of being deselected by Labour as MP for Islington North as it prepares to replace him with a new candidate. Top party officials have held discussions on how best to remove the former Labour leader from the seat. The Telegraph understands that Mr Corbyn wants the Labour whip restored and to continue as the MP for the seat. He has been an independent MP since Oct 2020 after he said that the scale of complaints of anti-Semitism during his time as leader were “dramatically overstated”. Mr Corbyn has been the constituency’s MP since 1983, and has seen much of the Constituency Labour Party (CLP) remain on the Left of the party since his election as leader over six years ago. Alison McGarry, the chairman of the Islington North CLP, is a member of the Momentum group as well as trade unionist with Unite...

Facing protests and falling popularity, they are proof that it is wrong to prize empathy in political leaders above everything else  Source - Daily Telegraph - 11/02/22 Link Who knew that empathy wasn’t enough? Two leaders who got to their positions by showing how much they can emote, how much they can feel, how much they care, now appear to be in the worst positions of almost any head of government in the democratic world. Take Jacinda Ardern, prime minister of New Zealand. Ardern has always achieved a degree of international fame far beyond that enjoyed by most leaders of her small nation because she is a woman and she appears to really mind. In fact caring is Ardern’s shtick. She is especially good at apologising for things she hasn’t done. Her face crumples, her voice breaks, and the world’s news organisations shout in chorus: “Here is what we need in a leader.”  Sadly for the people of New Zealand, that isn’t quite true. Most of the world is emerging from the corona era. ...