I’m So Bored With the USA: Everyday People 

 

 

“There is a blue one who
Can’t accept the green one
For living with a fat one trying
To be a skinny one “ 

 

Last week the incredibly underwhelming Mel Stride said: “The fact is for a large swathe of the population our economy simply has not been working for them for some considerable time. Incomes have stagnated. Many feel that the system only works for the benefit of others, for large corporations, or people from other countries, but not for them and their families.” 

For Mel, that was a good start, there was a sense that he might actually understand. Sadly, he doesn’t. He wants restrictions to public spending, particularly on social security, and supply-side changes to boost productivity. 

Just great, more supply-side changes to boost productivity; the same trick we have tried since 1980 that has boosted only the upward momentum of wealth. 

Last week the increasingly deranged and irrelevant Liz Truss addressed the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Budapest. It was the usual rubbish; British institutions have been captured by a leftist doctrine and that they “hate western civilisation”. And, as PM, she found herself powerless to deal with this threat the real power was wielded by a well-financed “globalist network”, operating through such engines of anti-democratic subterfuge as the International Monetary Fund and the World Health Organization. 

Liz and the current Tory leader, Kemi Badenoch, believe that gradual reform is impossible, and a “Trump-style revolution” is needed. Badenoch has spoken enthusiastically about Elon Musk’s DoGE, but feels that their methods are not “radical enough” for the bloated British state. 

Despite DOGE’s failure to produce the advertised cost savings hasn’t deterred imitators, with Farage has announcing the creation of a mercenary Doge “unit” to hunt down waste in the councils won by Reform. 

Farage sees this as double-win; he will scapegoat any local officials whose duties can be branded under diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI),and then overstate the expense of such schemes, generating improbable nationwide savings to justify his outlandish tax cuts. 

Farage is a very much a man with a policy for all seasons, although I will admit to being taken aback when he called for the two-child cap to be abolished. Was this a new cuddly Uncle Nigel? No, he still the same sly old manipulator, his reasoning was based on the great displacement theory loved by hard-right activists the world over. The theory is that Muslims have more children and they will eventually out-breed us. This was covered in more detail in “Doing it for England” in May 2023. 

Farage at present seems to have something for everyone. He was a fan of Truss’s economic policy, praising her budget as “the best Conservative budget since 1986”, the supposed halcyon days of Thatcherism. Today, he is targeting voters in Labour’s former heartlands and appears to have become a convert to industrial nationalisation.  

Another politician who appears to be having an identity crisis is Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary. In 2014 he was a paid-up member of Cameron’s cuddly Tories, saying, “You win elections at the centre.” 

He opposed Brexit, signing a letter that declared that leaving the EU would “lead us into dystopia”. Even as recently as 2022, when demagogic then home secretary Suella Braverman declared that southern England faced an “invasion” of illegal migrants, Jenrick rebuked his own boss. “It’s not a phrase that I’ve used,” which he followed-up with; “I think in this job you do have to use your language carefully.” 

Today, everything has changed; he would welcome Farage into Tory ranks. He has gone from “remain” to calling for us to leave the European court of human rights. And when Britain was in the grip of racist, Islamophobic riots, Jenrick called for anyone shouting “Allahu Akbar” to be arrested, criminalising the most common phrase used by observant Muslims. 

Jenricks political journey is very similar to Hungary’s Viktor Orbán; both lawyers and moderate. That moderate Tory faction is largely gone, and the prevailing Conservative wisdom is that only by lurching rightwards can the Farage threat be dispelled. 

 

‘prevailing Conservative wisdom is that only by lurching rightwards can the Farage threat be dispelled’

 

Whether it’s “if” or “when” Jerick becomes Tory leader it presents a problem for the political discourse in the UK. Starmer clearly feels the only way to combat Farage is by raiding Reform’s policies and rhetoric, rather than offering an alternative to a broken economic model that is the key driver of disillusionment. With Jenrick as Tory leader, Britain will have two high-profile right-wing agitators spraying political discourse with incendiary rhetoric, with Labour responding by echoing their bile, legitimising the hard-right rather than seeing it off.  

The electorate are clearly fed-up with Labour, their current polling is the worst for any government since 1983. We now appear to be no longer a two-party state; the LibDems, Reform UK, the Greens and nationalist parties in Scotland and Wales all looking to gains. 

Margaret Thatcher thought Labour would never die, because trade unions wouldn’t let it. Today, that support is both weaker and being reshaped. White-collar trade unions – composed of teachers, academics, doctors – appear culturally middle class but are economically working class: facing insecure contracts and less workplace power. They are joined by a precariat of renters and gig workers, as well as groups, such as disabled people, who struggle to get by. 

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation points to a critical electoral group: the economically insecure, especially those aged 35 to 59, who are homeowners, professionals and vote irregularly. They are more likely to switch parties and to resent a politics that ignores their daily stress. Labour risks misreading them. 

Labour’s constant mantra is being constrained by restrictive fiscal rules, cuts to welfare and promises of £100bn in capital investment, suggest only pain today. There is no alternative vision, only a slightly improved version of the status quo. The post-1980s consensus of home ownership, pensions, higher education, labour markets is no longer delivering. Home ownership has stalled, with rising numbers of older renters. Regions with the most graduate growth have seen the steepest falls in graduate-level work. “Flexibility” often means vulnerability. 

 

‘With Jenrick as Tory leader, Britain will have two high-profile right-wing agitators spraying political discourse with incendiary rhetoric’

 

The 1980s was how the Tories cultivated a self-employed voters, including small-business owners and tradespeople, who resented both redistribution and regulation. What unites them isn’t their incomes, their politics are based on national sovereignty, community betrayal and individual success; tailormade for Reform.  

Labour needs to stop being so timid, bond markets fear government disorder, far more than fiscal deficits. Is ever there was one policy that highlighted Starmer’s  indifference to the daily pressures voters face is his refusal to scrap the two-child benefit cap 

On holiday, last week, I found myself thinking that both Jeremy Coryn and Bernie Saunders are the very leaders the UK and US overlooked. 

Saunders nailed it when he said; “I think what Trumpism is about, is an understanding that the system in America is not working for working-class people. But what I have been aware of, and I’ve talked about it for years, is that in America, the very richest people are doing phenomenally well, while 60% of our people live paycheck to paycheck. “There is a class war going on. The people on top are waging that war.” 

Referencing the Democrats, he said: “What the Democrats have to absolutely make clear is this: we’re going to take on the billionaire class. They’re going to start paying their fair share of taxes. We’re going to have healthcare for all people as a human right. We’re going to have a strong childcare system that every American can afford. We’re going to make public colleges and universities tuition-free. We’re going to create millions of jobs transforming our energy system away from fossil fuel. We’re going to build housing – boy, housing is like it is here, just a huge crisis. We’re going to build millions of units of low-income and affordable housing. Do Democrats say that? No.”  

However, he specifically criticised  some aspect of the Trump regime: “We don’t usually have presidents suing the media, threatening the media if they write bad stories about them. We don’t usually have presidents threatening to impeach judges. We don’t have presidents suing law firms. You add all that together, it is a movement for authoritarianism.” 

He briefly mentioned Trumps proposed tax cuts, saying;  ‘Do you really think it’s a good idea to cut Medicaid and give tax breaks to billionaires? Do you really think that climate change is a hoax?” 

 

‘Do you really think it’s a good idea to cut Medicaid and give tax breaks to billionaires? Do you really think that climate change is a hoax?” 

 

There are two-points that I will expand on; authoritarianism, and giving tax breaks to billionaires. 

In the last 48-hours the media has been reporting Trump’s reaction to the round-up of supposed illegal immigrants in LA. 

The initial forays by federal agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the FBI, and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) were somewhat heavy handed, and met with protests. 

Trump’s reaction was to order at least 2,000 national guard troops to be deployed in LA county to help quell the protests. He said that any demonstration that got in the way of immigration officials would be considered a “form of rebellion.” Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, called the protests an “insurrection”.  

Gavin Newsom, the California state governor is no suing the Trump administration for ‘illegal’ federalization of national guard. 

Aside from LA, there have been raids in San Diego, Martha’s Vineyard and in the Berkshires  

 

‘Elon Musk opposes the proposal, denouncing the US president’s tax and spending bill as a “disgusting abomination”’

 

 

Trump is also targeting federal courthouses. Ice officers are mobilizing outside courtrooms across the US and immediately arresting people, including migrants whose cases have been dismissed by judges. 

This could see the US descend into a police state. Dictators typically declare a state of emergency, claiming  “rebellion”, “insurrection”, or “invasion”. Once they have emergency powers the formation of a police state becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. 

Turning to tax breaks for billionaires I was interested to read that even Elon Musk opposes the proposal, denouncing the US president’s tax and spending bill as a “disgusting abomination”. 

Musk’s online outburst could embolden fiscally conservative Republican senators – some of whom have already spoken out – to defy Trump as they continue crucial negotiations on Capitol Hill over the so-called “one big, beautiful bill”. 

Writing on X, Musk said: “I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore. This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it. 

“It will massively increase the already gigantic budget deficit to $2.5 trillion (!!!) and burden America citizens with crushingly unsustainable debt.” 

Having narrowly passed the House, the bill is now under consideration in the Senate, which is aiming to pass a revised version by 4 July. Some Republican fiscal conservatives, such as senators Ron Johnson and Rand Paul, share Musk’s concerns about the need for significant spending cuts. 

Johnson told CNN: “We have enough [holdouts] to stop the process until the president gets serious about spending reduction and reducing the deficit.” 

Projections from the Congressional Budget Office and independent analysts indicate that the bill would add between $2.3tn and $5tn to the deficit over the next 10 years. White House officials contend that the economic growth generated by tax cuts will offset the increased spending. 

The last word on this goes to Bernie: “Musk is right: this bill IS a ‘disgusting abomination’. We shouldn’t give $664 billion in tax breaks to the 1%. We shouldn’t throw 13.7 million people off of Medicaid. We shouldn’t cut $290 billion from programs to feed the hungry.” 

One of the many wonders that make-up Trump is total lack of concern for anything that doesn’t meet his requirements. While he is exempt from conflict of interest laws that ban federal employees from profiting off their positions, every US president since the 1970s had voluntarily abided by these rules, either selling their financial holdings or set them aside in blind trusts. 

But not Donald, days before his inauguration, Trump’s family business launched a meme coin, called $Trump, a type of digital currency often connected to an online joke or mascot. Whilst it has no inherent value beyond speculation, the coin quickly soared in value up to $75 per token, before crashing. Irrespective, Trump and Trump-affiliated businesses received $312m from crypto sales and $43m in other fees, according to Washington Post analysis. 

 

‘In total, the Trump family’s wealth increased by nearly $3bn in the last six months’

 

 

In total, the Trump family’s wealth increased by nearly $3bn in the last six months. 

Prior to this, Trump had dismissed cryptocurrencies as “a scam” which have values that are “based on thin air”. 

Aside from corrupting the US presidency and using it for personal profit, his crypto ventures are among the most dangerous because they potentially allow him and his family to collect hundreds of millions of dollars from foreign investors and governments that would normally have a harder time funnelling money to a US politician.  

We end with missed opportunities; on holiday I read a book about the demise of RBS. I really was a total horror show. Completely incompetent management, more bad assets than you could ever imagine, topped off with the acquisition of the basket case ABN AMRO as the GFC was starting. 

Apparently, the burnt through all £45bn of the governments bail-out money in 3-year. 

This should have been the reset moment, the demise of free-market supply-side economics. Instead, it was turbo-charged!   

 

“Running away to get away
Ha-ha, ha-ha
You’re wearing out your shoes” 

 

‘The UK seems stuck in samo, samo mode.

Farage promises everything to everyone, the Tories don’t appear to be bothering, and Labour just blunders on.

I was going to write about Zia Yusuf, the Muslim chairperson of Reform quitting, before he changed his mind! I had assumed that the penny had dropped that he was surrounded by a bunch of racists, but maybe he likes the challenge.

Party leader, Farage said on Saturday: “When Zia says anything you cannot believe the absolute tirade of personal racist abuse that he gets … I just think he snapped.” The Reform leader told Times Radio the abuse came “from the very hard extreme right” and blamed “Indian bots”.

The very hard extreme right? Does he mean more extreme than his mob?

As one bromance I rekindled another crashed and burned totally. The relationship between Trump and Musk now seems broken beyond repair. Trump is pushing away Musk’s attempts at a reconciliation, and it will be interesting to see if Trump does a Putin and seizes his assets in some way.

Irrespective of that the US seems to be starting its final descent into totalitarianism with the opening shots being fired in LA. The screenshot below is from a very powerful video on Instagram:

There is clear intent behind Trump’s actions, he needs success to feed to his MAGA faithful. Tariffs, his “big, beautiful bill”, his attempts at foreign policy have all resulted in failure, so it’s back to immigrant bashing.

Musically we celebrate the life of the great Sly Stone, the man who mixed psychedelia with fund and soul. As the saying goes, no Sly Stone no Prince.   

The opening lyric is from the classic “Everyday People”. We close with “Running Away” from the aptly named album “There’s a Riot Goin‘ On”, and because I’m feeling self-indulgent let’s add “Dance to the Music”, too.

 

 

“Sing, get on up and dance to the music

Get on up and dance to the music”

Enjoy! Philip.’

 

@coldwarsteve

 

 

 

 

Philip Gilbert is a city-based corporate financier, and former investment banker.

Philip is a great believer in meritocracy, and in the belief that if you want something enough you can make it happen. These beliefs were formed in his formative years, of the late 1970s and 80s

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