13 June 2021
Cornwall was closed this week.
Nothing to do with local demonstrations against the destruction wrought on local village economies by second-home owners, or even ‘entertainment industry’ owners (like ice-cream merchants) complaining about the loss of tourist income, just the G7 meeting at Carbis Bay where world leaders were supposed to meet to solve the world’s problems, with a side order of hammering the final nail into the coffin of the mythical honour of an English gentleman.
Well, I suppose the image of an Englishman’s honour (no question that Celts or women were ever involved) was self-generated anyway and the “my word is my bond” stuff only worked if the Englishman was on the blunt end of a weapon. England’s power and wealth is the result of theft – international piracy and the British Empire, which developed for purely commercial reasons at the expense of the indigenous peoples (“natives”) who worked as slaves or were massacred.
So Johnson is not the confident host he so wanted to be but is stuck in a corner, trying to avoid admitting that nobody who backed Brexit realised that the UK has a land border with the rest of the EU, that he left negotiating an agreement until the last minute and now wants something different, risking the Good Friday Agreement that’s given us all 20 years that have been a lot more peaceful than Friday nights at the Bullingdon Club (an interesting article on which can be found at https://www.oxfordstudent.com/2021/02/02/a-day-in-the-lockdown-life-of-a-bullingdon-club-member/ )
The EU’s anger is based on the demonstrable fact that, under Johnson’s leadership, the UK can no longer be trusted and even Joe Biden said, in the exquisite language of an experienced politician, that “Any steps that imperil or undermine the Good Friday agreement will not be welcomed by the US.” He went on to say that this was not a threat or ultimatum but he was “crystal clear about his rock-solid belief in the Good Friday agreement as the foundation for peaceful coexistence in Northern Ireland” and urged both sides to sort it out (the NI problem, not the mixed metaphor).
Less familiar with weasel words, Emmanuel Macron said that “nothing is negotiable” in the agreement and protocol that was voluntarily negotiated, agreed and signed by all parties.
All this in the background while G7 was trying to concentrate on things like the Covid pandemic, the distribution of vaccines, global economic recovery, the climate emergency, China, how quiet St Ives is, and the quality of the breakfast sausages.
Before the summit had even started, foreign policy experts and former British diplomats were worried that the UK was widely perceived as not trustworthy and therefore not in the same league as Biden, a big man from a big country, who all too obviously outclasses Johnson, a small man from a small country, in every respect.
A side benefit of these tensions is that, presumably because he can’t risk upsetting even more people, Johnson has agreed to delay his plan to share our medical records with the private sector via NHS Digital, something his government had been trying to sneak through the back door with an absolute minimum of publicity. Luckily some eagle-eyed cynics noticed and told everyone.
Otherwise, in no time at all, Google, Amazon, Rupert Murdoch and any half-way competent hacker will know all about our abortions, acne, acute hypochondria, heartburn, hernia, piles, STIs, verrucas, Viagra addiction etc and will be able to target ads directly at our, er, frailties.
So put pen to paper NOW and tell your GP your information must not be released.
And tomorrow it seems likely we’ll hear that we’re not being freed on 21 June and the remaining Covid restrictions will stay in place for an extra two or more weeks, depending on scientists’ judgements of the increasing likelihood of a third surge in infections as the Delta variant hurtles through the population. (What are they going to do when they reach Omega? Go on to a chronological list of Derby winners since 1950?)
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the High Court has ruled that Michael Gove broke the law when he awarded a large contract to Public First. The Cabinet Office has said this doesn’t matter, setting a worrying precedent: if Cabinet Ministers are now allowed to break the law and stay in office, we’re on a greasy slope.
Remember Jonathan Aitken? He broke the law, went to prison and was subsequently ordained as a parish priest in the Church of England. Or Jeffrey Archer? He broke the law, went to prison, and is still writing rubbish books. Why don’t they just let Gove go to prison and do whatever he’s capable of when he’s released?
But the most impressive news released this week was a brilliant wheeze that the FBI and police in Australian and Europe set up three years ago. Frustrated by their difficulties in intercepting criminal communications, they set up their own secure, specialised, end-to-end encrypted messaging app, An0m, shut down its two major competitors and recorded all traffic using An0m.
This led to the arrest of 800 suspected members of criminal gangs and the recovery of more than £100m in cash plus tonnes of drugs, cryptocurrencies, weapons and luxury cars. It also revealed that some gangs were being tipped off, which led to more arrests and “high-level corruption cases in several countries” according to an FBI agent.
Also this week, the UK’s Parole Board approved the release of Colin Pitchfork, who was jailed for life in 1988 with a minimum of 30 years when he was 28, for raping and murdering two 15-year old girls. His release remains provisional for 21 days until the Justice Secretary Robert Buckland decides whether to approve or appeal against their decision.
The Board heard evidence from Pitchfork as well as his probation officer, police and a prison service psychologist and its decision said “After considering the circumstances of his offending, the progress made while in custody and the evidence presented at the hearing, the panel was satisfied that Mr Pitchfork was suitable for release.”
Pitchfork has been in an open prison in 2018.
If he is released, he would be subject to a risk management plan that would impose strict conditions, including living at a designated address, being subject to probation supervision, wearing an electronic tag, undergoing lie detector tests, disclosing the vehicles he uses and who he speaks to, with particular limits on contact with children. He would also be subject to a curfew, have restrictions on using technology and on where he can go, and he would not be allowed into Leicestershire or to knowingly approach any of the girls’ relatives.
What would you do?
On a lighter note, a 17-year old in California saw a large mother bear with two cubs on top of a wall in their backyard. Four dogs ran out barking and the bear batted at them. Without thinking what she was doing, the teenager rushed out and pushed the bear off the wall, then picked up the smallest dog and got all of them back into the house. Great bit of film recorded by a surveillance camera … (Poor old bear, said a friend, she was only trying to protect her cubs.)
Lesser Mutterings 