Vlad the Lad Round I

Crimes – could this be Vlad’s Last Stand?  Or how the mighty fall

We in the West know full well what the mighty Russian Bear is capable of, with their Black Jack Nuclear fleet. So if Vlad the Lad’s posturing over the Crimean Peninsular is not to demonstrate his chutzpah, what is it about?

If Russian speaking Ukrainians don’t like the politics there, Vlad could offer them sanctuary in Russia, he’s certainly not short of space. I’ve no idea how Russia came to have bases on the Crimean Peninsular but quite probably it happened in cold War Soviet times, for the Soviets ruled almost as long as the Tories have ruled the UK.

We all know how Vlad likes to come-on with the macho image, as shown by his bareback riding antics and besides this; he’s not without opponents inside his own domain. We know this because of recent moves to try silencing them, by denying contact channels to the outside world via the internet.

So could it be the opportunity to adopt scare-mongering tactics with the West diverts attention from his domestic squabbles, and is what attracts him to this situation. Opting to psyche out the world’s press corps with his infamous deadpan technique is one way to avoid the obvious, I guess.

Maybe a few lessons from Roger Lloyd Pack who played ‘Trig’ the acknowledged master of deadpan, before he passed away, a coupe of years back, would have prepared him better for this role. Somewhat more so than he seems able to muster, in appearances on RT these days.

So there you have it, for he must know deep down that he’ll get no kudos from trying to hold people who depend on Russia for energy, to ransom. In the end it will get him nowhere, particularly the way the oil price is sagging of late, in addition to which, he’s not going to be there forever.

More than likely I’d say, his posturing is for domestic consumption. Russia is a vast country with diverse interests, and you cannot change hearts and minds so easily. You might change a few hearts and maybe a few minds, but never the twain shall meet. You can’t legislate against attitudes of mind, even if you back it up with Gulags.

In some ways Vlad the Lad is harking back to Soviet days, something he well understands from his time with the KGB. Though when it comes to diplomacy, it looks like he’s not taken too many lessons onboard, and there’s still some way to go.

So if he wants to go up against Uncle Sam, that’s just what the Yanks have lacked, since the fall of Communism - a Bogeyman. Iran and Iraq were never in the same league as the Soviets. Though whether Vlad the Lad fits the bill on this one, I guess we’ll have to wait and see. In the end however, as always - it’s the economics wot does for ‘em and with the price of all bombing of late, who knows what comes next.

Look out for Vlad the Lad Round II anytime soon

Welcome to the fight. This time I know our side will win

They grab Ugarte and she walks in – One in One out

With apologies to Richard Blane and Viktor Laszlo

So there you have it, as a key advisor of Tony Blair, Sir David Manning claimed leaving the EU would condemn Britain to irrelevance on the world stage.

  Sir David Geoffrey Manning, GCMG CVO (born 5th December 1949) is a former British diplomat, who was the British Ambassador to the United States from 2003 to 2007. He authored the so-called ‘Manning Memo’ summarising the details of a January 2003 meeting between American president George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair during the run-up to the invasion of Iraq. He has since been appointed to the Household of TRH The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry of Wales.

If that’s the best reason all these so called Men of Straw can come up with to keep the entire population of the UK in bondage to the dreaded EU Commission, there’s not much hope for us anyway. Possibly people like Sir David are alarmed by the prospect that when they choose to open their mouth, on this mythical World Stage no one will be listening.

But what they choose to avoid mentioning is the one incontrovertible fact above all else, that the EU cannot work without becoming a Federal Superstate with policy, treasury and political matters dictated by a European Parliament.

This would make what Sir David now relies on for his bread and butter an ‘irrelevance’.  For what point would there be in Queen and Country and three male heirs? If we were subsumed into a United States of Europe, as a satellite state ruled by an EU president and a political system that cannot even get its accounts approved in 14yrs.

With the advent of a referendum and the approval of Brexit it is surely now a matter of course that we will soon be able to breathe freely without the intervention of unelected commissars plaguing our everyday lives But they have to be watched every step of the way. However  with Germany anxious to qualify the terms of any on-going relationship with the EU. Maybe the wheels will turn more swiftly as we embrace the whole wide world with special relationships that have endured the test of time.

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UK/China Relations

 Over the Centuries

Relations with Great Britain have been subject to great confusion and misunderstanding 

as all aspects of previous are laid bare in wikipedia - 

But regrettably: people with vested interest are attempting to muddy the waters for Therese our new PM in reviewing the Hinkley Point decision.  This is disingenuous to the extent that any incoming PM with reservations should be able to express concerns and review decisions to which they may have taken exception when agreements were originally signed-off.

However enshrined in the English Parliamentary system is the understanding that any new government is not bound by decisions of a previous incumbent and in that spirit it may be that certain aspects of a controversial deal should be re-examined in the light of this principal. How far this concept goes as regards a general rule of thumb may be open to consideration, but it should be inviolable amongst the rights of any new PM without let or hindrance.

Admittedly Opium Wars were a feature of centuries past and the world has moved-on, though whether this moving-on is completely agreed by all as Edward 1st's Maxim 'That which concerns all should be agreed by all'  applies specifically in this case is an open question. But one cannot disagree with this concept if parliamentary approval has been given.

However as the political world veers towards government by referendum, the idea that the end result should await a General Election transfer of power would in a way be self-defeating and so long as the majority voting system 51%/49% prevails that should be sufficient after due consideration.    

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