Transnational Thursday is a thread for people to discuss international news, foreign policy or international relations history. Feel free as well to drop in with coverage of countries you’re interested in, talk about ongoing dynamics like the wars in Israel or Ukraine, or even just whatever you’re reading.
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I think he could've doubled down and reminded people why their energy bills are so high. The oil and gas sanctions on Russia have caused trillions in economic damage to Europe. German manufacturing is declining, Britain's last steel mills are closing... All this has a lot to do with energy prices. Net Zero is also to blame, which Farage has railed against.
The UK has certainly at no point in history stood against an aggressor at the expense of its own economic interests, and the UK does not hold defiant resistance against European warmongers as a central aspect of its national character. Appeasement famously is extremely popular in the UK and the proponents of appeasement are feted in the history books as wise pacifists whose counsel averted further war.
Sarcasm aside, Reform is firstly an antimigrant party, and it captures the right wing cranks just like the Greens capture the left wing cranks. The difference is that Reform can accept anti Russian elements in their ranks, while the Greens have to be in perfect lockstep with Gaza, Energy and Trans stuff. It is likely that being anti-Russia is part of the anti-EU stance, which is common to much of the Right, but that still doesn't mean being pro-Russia is a vote winning position. The only thing Farage needs to do is promise to deport all muslims, and he will probably be allowed to fly the hammer and sickle in Clapton.
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I've tried this with my parents, it doesn't work. They just think I'm making excuses for Brexit (in a well-meaning way). I think this strategy would also run the risk of activating the 'Blitz Spirit' gene. There's nothing Brits are more proud of than suffering for the sake of a good cause.
I know what you mean, there's a certain cohort that will blame everything on Brexit. Britain has all kinds of problems with planning, energy prices, immigration, taxation, bureaucracy and national strategy generally. But some people seem to think that everything was fine until populism happened in 2016 and that caused all the problems, now growing increasingly dire.
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