Thursday 7 December 2017

Invisibly Reassembling

Boris Johnson tells us that Islamist terrorism ought not to be considered an existential threat to Britain, the biggest shift in policy in at least 16 years. Meanwhile, however, Gavin Williamson has been torn to shreds on the law by Ken Macdonald and on security by Pauline Neville-Jones. Willamson is a barely half-educated foghorn down the pub. But he knows the truth about sexual harassment. So he is the Secretary of State for Defence. Heaven help us all.

The other of Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse's Self Righteous Brothers is John Woodcock, who wishes to extend detention without charge (not trial, but charge) beyond even the 14 day that are already seven times longer than in Donald Trump's America, and more than three times longer than in Vladimir Putin's Russia. Woodcock owes his parliamentary seat to Theresa May, whose decision to call a General Election this year delayed his deselection. But he is now merely detained without charge.

No doubt Woodcock applauds the decision to move the American Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. He probably thought that it was already there. But while a tiny handful of tiny states may follow suit, even that is unlikely. This marks the bitter end of American leadership in the world.  America is now in a position comparable to that of those who oppose the One China Policy. It also has to choose between its actual allies, however repulsive, in Turkey, Egypt and the Gulf, and Israel, which is not in point of fact an American ally at all, but whose meddling in American politics has now endangered every American citizen in the world.

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