Reflection Of The Moon
Welcome focus on mental health
Theresa May has used New Year media appearances to focus on mental Health and her new vision of the ‘shared society’ She also faced questions on Brexit in her interview on Sky News with Sophy Ridge. I welcome the focus on mental health which is overdue and a credit to a range of campaigners including Lib Dem MP Norman Lamb and Spectator’s Isabel Hardman who has written a powerful piece about her own experiences. Time will tell what is delivered but the focus is welcome.
Less welcome is the waffle around her ‘shared society’ vision which appears to be making the case for Government intervention without currently anything concrete in terms of policy. May has an authoritarian record at the Home Office and this is a hint she wants domestic policy to proceed in the same way. I will be opposed to any such approach which sounds very much like the Ghost of Ed Miliband, someone whom we thought we had rejected in May 2015.
As for Brexit May hints that free movement is more important than the single market, but, probably because the cabinet are not agreed, she refuses to confirm it in as many words. I believes there is nothing to fear from a short term WTO option and the best deal will be negotiated from that state, rather than from the inside, if it is the case that Britain is willing to leave membership of the Single Market. At some point a decision will need to be made and if May is still serious about invoking article 50 by the end of March, she does not have long.
Corbyn’s path to total irrelevance continues
Whatever criticisms of the Theresa May there are, one group who are not benefiting are the Labour Party. Today we have seen two doses of Jeremy Corbyn, in the first he calls for a maximum wage even one of his former economic advisers have called ‘idiotic.’ He also defied his own team who had been spinning he was to take a tougher line on immigration in failing to do so to the bewilderment of many of his closest allies. He then made a speech on Brexit earlier in which he gave no clue as to his policy on that, but said he would spend EU contribution on the NHS, as he falsely claimed the Leave campaign they had promised. The irony is what they actually said was Britain would have those choices, Corbyn s now offering that and has delivered the pledge on the bus Boris Johnson and Michael Gove traveled around in by giving Brits the chance to accept or reject that at the ballot box. It will likely be overwhelmingly rejected, although this particular policy will be low on the lists of reasons why. Corbyn has not been in the news much as of late, today’s shambolic showing tells us all why.
Hollywood v Trump – only one winner
All reports say there was a downer on the Golden Globes, namely Donald Trump’s win. Somehow, somewhere groups created due to a talent for acting on TV has become a club for left-wing views and has become one of the ultimate symbols of the ‘Liberal Elite.’ Meryl Streep was the face of it this year and Trump responded on Twitter calling her ‘over rated’ As an actress she is not of course but that does not matter. If you want to present yourself as fighting the ‘Liberal Elite’ attacking an actress who used her platform to pontificate is about as symbolic as you can get. His voters will love it and spats like it will increase his chances of re-election in 2020. There is only one winner, and it will not be Meryl Streep and her friends in Hollywood.
KevFax Sport 