Stephen Greenfield #FBPE retweetet
Stephen Greenfield #FBPE
5K posts

Stephen Greenfield #FBPE
@greesa2
Former Head of Trading Standards. EU and Spurs fan and prog rock fanatic. Despise Brexit and Tory Govt that did it. Mastodon @[email protected]
England, United Kingdom Beigetreten Nisan 2009
2K Folgt1.5K Follower
Stephen Greenfield #FBPE retweetet
Stephen Greenfield #FBPE retweetet
Stephen Greenfield #FBPE retweetet
Stephen Greenfield #FBPE retweetet
Stephen Greenfield #FBPE retweetet
Stephen Greenfield #FBPE retweetet
Stephen Greenfield #FBPE retweetet

The events this week confirm for me the opinion I expressed in my last post.
Pleased as I am that our PMs visit to Washington seemed to be reasonably successful, it is hard not to see the entire week as a performative pantomime orchestrated by Trump. He placated France and the U.K., whilst preparing for a deliberate and choreographed attack on President Zelensky, a visiting head of state, that guaranteed the failure of his visit. The behaviour of Trump and vice President Vance was outrageous-as a piece of theatre it was straight from the playbook of Hitler's summons of President Hacha of Czechoslovakia to Berlin in 1939 to sign away its independence. Zelensky was entitled to say what he did. There was nothing remotely disrespectful about it. He stood up to the crude bullying that now seems the hallmark of the Trump administration.
Even more chilling is the sense that we are seeing much more clearly Trump's motives. It is not about "peace" but doing a deal with Putin's Russia-Ukrainian land and people to be traded for the benefit of Russian raw materials. Just like the Hitler-Stalin Pact and we know how that ended.
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Stephen Greenfield #FBPE retweetet

I note that Robert Jenrick is expanding his attack on the Attorney General Richard Hermer alleging he has acted on matters on which he has a conflict of interest.
There is, as matters stand, not a shred of evidence that this has happened.
As a barrister Hermer was under a duty to accept instructions in any matter within his competence. The fact that he may have acted in matters on which Jenrick or anyone,disapproves of the outcome is irrelevant. Jenrick, as a lawyer, ought to know that the rule of law depends on lawyers taking on cases, even for clients who may be unpopular or reviled.
Jenrick then seeks to link Hermer's work to advice he might have given the Government since becoming Attorney General on matters that might be related to the individuals he represented before he became AG. But I know from my time as Attorney General that there are robust systems in place to ensure this does not happen. If there is a potential conflict of interest, the matter can and will be transferred to another law officer and external advice can also be obtained if required.
Jenrick then demands to know if this has happened. In doing this he knows very well as a lawyer and past minister that the Attorney General would be in breach of his professional duty if he identified matters on which he or his office has advised. But that does not stop Jenrick from then alleging that the truth is being wrongly concealed and should be revealed, a position he never adopted when he was a minister.
It would be sensible for the Attorney General's office to explain the systems in place without compromising any individual advice that may have been given.
But what I find much more troubling about all this is what it tells us about Jenrick. As a Conservative I would expect him to be respectful of the role of the Law Officers in ensuring the Government gets professional and impartial legal advice. But he is quite happy to trash the system when he thinks it might score a cheap hit.
It is also linked to a narrative that the law and legal obligations on government should be ignored when inconvenient, an idea that would have appeared outrageous to previous generations in Conservatives such as Margaret Thatcher.
Jenrick is certainly making his mark in his promotion of a dystopian future for the Conservative Party.
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Stephen Greenfield #FBPE retweetet

Trump's lies about Russia's invasion of Ukraine and about the government of President Zelensky become more astonishing by the day. Even more astonishing is to listen to them being repeated by Vice President JD Vance and Defence Secretary Hegseth. All this before we listen to the rants of Elon Musk.
Thus the leadership of the USA is being turned into the court of the emperor Nero, with a narcissistic ruler surrounded by sycophants-a disaster for the people of the United States and of all the free world. Yet the implications for the security of the U.K. are still being tiptoed around. We are facing our biggest crisis since 1939 and our self inflicted damage from Brexit is going to make it harder for us to rise to the challenge.
It would be a miracle if the Prime Minister's trip to the USA brings a change of direction there. We are going to need to co- operate closely with our European partners in matters of defence and defence procurement if we are to get through this and stop Putin's aggression.
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Stephen Greenfield #FBPE retweetet
Stephen Greenfield #FBPE retweetet
Stephen Greenfield #FBPE retweetet
Stephen Greenfield #FBPE retweetet
Jeff Bezos has forced The Washington Post - the newspaper he owns - to not endorse in a presidential race for the first time 36 years because he’s worried Donald Trump will take away his government contracts.
RETWEET if you think @JeffBezos is a disgrace to democracy!

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Stephen Greenfield #FBPE retweetet

I know people are leaving Twitter, but the algorithms also seem to be mysteriously (or not so mysteriously) working against some of us. I know that some followers of mine have somehow automatically unfollowed me (without them doing that), and that my posts are hidden or buried. I like sharing science, archaeology and a bit of humanism here. I still enjoy the conversation. So if you can help me find my old followers again by RTing, I will follow you back.
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