Donald Trump is a divisive figure. But with his careless, callous and disgraceful remarks about the service given by British and other allies in Afghanistan, he has succeeded in uniting nations – if only against him. “A little off the front line” was the smear against Nato troops that he tossed into a television interview. Rather than concede that, after 9/11, many non-Americans made the ultimate sacrifice or suffered life-changing injuries when Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty was triggered – for the first and only time in the organisation’s 76-year history – by the United States. So, far from never helping the US, as the commander-in-chief alleged, when it was needed in the global “war on terror”, the West, through Nato, stood united with America. When the then President George W Bush asked allies for support, it was freely given. It was also entirely within well-established international rules of law and backed by a United Nations resolution.
Not the time to undermine the PM
Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, promises, in his request for permission to stand in a by-election to return to Westminster, “to support the work of the government, it”. But his very presence in the House of Commons would be a distraction for the prime minister. Sir Keir Starmer has scored successes on the international stage in recent days. He pushed Elon Musk to disable his pornographic AI. He stood firm against Donald Trump on Greenland, and demanded an apology for the US president’s slur on allied forces in Afghanistan.
There is still work to do to fix the NHS
As the 14th round of industrial action by doctors in their current pay dispute draws to a close, just in time for a Christmas truce, a version of the famous words of John Lennon comes to mind: “Another strike over, and what have you done?” For the health secretary, Wes Streeting, it’s an awkward question. He can certainly point to more funding for the NHS, which is something tangible that the voters who elected them to “fix the NHS” will benefit from. He has overseen a reduction in waiting lists, although some say the achievement has been exaggerated. Also, the figure of 5 million extra appointments across the NHS has not been seriously challenged. Yet the strikes drag on, and sap confidence in the NHS and in Labour’s capacity to reform it. Polling suggests that public satisfaction has not yet started to improve appreciably, but the state of the NHS has sharply declined in the list of their greatest concerns – reflecting some faith that Mr Streeting will indeed fix what he’s called a “broken” NHS. Thus far, the winter “flu Nami” hasn’t pushed the NHS into collapse, and neither has the latest strike by the resident, formerly junior, doctors. That, though, may be more a matter of luck and the ability of NHS trusts to manage their workloads ever more efficiently.
Trump threats continue to Canada, Mexico
President Trump levelled new tariff threats at Canada and Mexico, part of a recent blitz aimed at allies that rivals his bluster from early in his second term. Trump threatened to hit Canada aircraft imports with a 50% tariff and said the US would also decertify all new jets from the likes of Bombardier (BDRBF), claiming Canada has used certification hurdles to effectively ban the sale of US Gulfstream jets. Meanwhile, Mexico is facing the potential of levies after Trump promised to impose new tariffs on countries providing oil to Cuba. Trump’s latest tariff salvo at a US ally came days after he threatened to impose 100% tariffs on Canada over that nation’s trade deal with China. Canada has negotiated a deal to lower tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, in return for lower import taxes on Canadian farm products.
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