European History Repeating Itself, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson assures EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen that the EU could get Covid vaccines from UK factories, yet again in Europe's darkest hour, the people of the United Kingdom rally round to help European citizens, the UK is a world leader, a Global leader who will rise post Brexit to become a economic and financial powerhouse, good governance is our business

Dear All

There are people in this country who think still, that it was wrong to leave the EU, nearly 5 years on from the historic vote in 2016. They have failed to learn the lessons of history from that defeat, and they failed to learn the background of the cause they so passionately rally too. The EU is an organisation which is anti worker, and anti country. The people who run it, plan over time to merge all 27 members into a superstate where all power will reside in the EU under a German/ Franco control. Ever closer union they say will bring benefits, that's a lie, southern EU countries suffer because they cannot compete with the manufacturing power base of the North. The Euro currency has caused tremendous damage because it limits competition and choice. The EU is a failed project run by failed politicians who themselves failed to improve their own country. As the UK left the EU, they laughed at us, thretened us, mocked us, belittled us, because the reality we were a cash cow to rebuild Europe when our own country was being run down, and our own people  starved of help.

In what must be seen as irony, the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, declared that, as a result, 'England has collapsed politically, monetarily, constitutionally and economically'. The Dutch have a habit of delivering plain speaking and a brutal truth, but Rutte's truth is, the UK is four countries, all united by history and by common purpose, all boned by adversity. Politically, monetarily, economically and constitutionally, the UK is strong. It was that strength which defeated Nazis Europe, we gave Europe back to the people after the second world war. We extended friendship, we gave aid, we gave moral and leadership support, and for what? To be treated badly and spat in the face, arrogance not based on intellect but rather than controlling the levers of power.  

After shouting off his mouth at the UK and its people, time it seems has been a great leveller,  Rutte has had to resigned as Prime Minister, after a child welfare fraud scandal. Business which we said to going to abandon the UK to setup in Europe as part of a mass exodus of business never happened. Why didn't business flee as the EU and remainers predicted? They recognised that the UK isn't just a financial powerhouse, it is also an intellectual powerhouse of good governance. Yes, we do have our quota of 'duff' leaders from Councils to Westminster, but we offset this will overwhelming excellence of government and how matters are brought to the table. Unilever, the Anglo-Dutch business giant, abandoned its plan to move its HQ from the UK to the Netherlands, the best laid plans of ex PM Rutte who tried to engineer that idea by promising to scrap a dividend tax flee apart. 

If you look beyond Covid death rates, and see the European scene, you can see riots across Dutch cities. Sustained riots, not just a once in a blue moon pissed of mob burning a few cars and looting a few shops. Dutch mobs have been burning cars and shops, in the worst unrest for half a century. Why are they angry, this is a protest against another round of state-mandated social distancing/ lockdown. Lockdown, there was once a time, we could all move freely and enjoy ourselves, now the State in some cases is heavy handed. On RT, the Russian channel, I found a clip of people being targeted with water cannon, aimed at the woman's head and done so the force of the blast would violently make her hit a concrete wall. This act was criminal, but it wasn't done by the 'mob' but by the very people entrusted to ensure public safety.

In the fight against Covid, the EU has shown just how inept its leadership actually is. So, its every apt to put in a clip of the great Andrew Neil who does a forensic piece on Ursula von der Leyen. Please watch the whole clip because it is a real classic piece of interviewing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hid7KlYyc1c

Let me ask, if you recognise that putting a drunk driver behind a wheel is a very bad idea, why would you not be able to recognise that putting a bad and failed politician into a leadership position would somehow have a different outcome and a good idea. Prior to getting her EU job, Ursula von der Leyen was a failed German Defence Minister. Failed to lead, failed to change and failed to learn from previous mistakes. In some ways, the path of von der Leyen mirrors the path of SNP Leader Nicola Sturgeon, shit at everything! One thing which von der Leyen did well at was to marry well  and fire out seven weans. Check out her wiki page, stays on a family with horses no less, and comes from political family dynasty. Instead of having a slick operation on Covid vaccine roll out, the EU has been a disaster, In the Netherlands, fewer than 350,000 of its people have had an anti-Covid jab, compared with almost nine million Britons here. Why are we ahead of the curve by so much, because not only can the UK plan, we also have the indepth knowledge of government and ability to work with business to get the job done. Rather thn sit on its rear end, the UK's decision last July not to take part in the EU's programme but to go solo shows our good judgement, which was condemned and mocked at the time by the bitter remainers. Liberal Democrats' leader, Ed Davey called the decision 'a silly Brexit game', but he is remarkably silent now.

Meanwhile in France, the anti UK President Emmanuel Macron has been lashing out at the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine, describing it as 'unproven and possibly dangerous for the elderly and saying it is completely ineffective. Compare his anti Uk rhetoric with the failure of France's pharmaceutical flagship, Sanofi, to develop a successful vaccine. Even in Brexit talks, President Emmanuel Macron showed himself to be no friend nor ally of Britain. His latest attempt to slur, is just a dangerous slur, it's in keeping with mentally, and rather bizarre. As Macron denounces our vaccine, this is this very vaccine which the European Commission feels it has been deprived of its rightful amount. It took the huff and threatened to block shipments of the Pfizer vaccine going to the UK and just take our products.

The main domestic political dynamic challenge for Macron and Rutte is all about placing themselves in the slipstream to control 'Eurosceptic' right and neutralise them so they can remain in power. Macron's most dangerous rival for the Presidency is the nationalist Marine Le Pen. As Le Pen edges closer in public stand, Macron, who is no friend of the French people continues to lose ground. Macron and Rutte see a successful Brexit, therefore, as a mortal threat to their own authority, the more the UK pulls forward, the more power their domestic opponents accrued. France has been a failed State with weak leadership for many years, so Macron has to divert attention away from his record. Blame the other guy for all of your life's woes is a common tactic in politics.

Finally, to show the Europeans that Britain is a country of integrity, Boris Johnson is said to have assured von der Leyen that the EU could get vaccines from UK factories. I suppose the next question you would have is, if the positions were reserved, would Europe have come to our aid so soon? Or would they have continued to demonstrate the same ill-conceived attitude they were keen to show against the UK? The UK has been a 'lender of last resort' for people of Europe when there has been troubles, whether it be war, famine or disease. We are helping people in 27 EU countries and in doing so, saving lives that people like Ursula von der Leyen left in the lurch. We are doing her job for her, just as we need a better political class in Scotland to do the job of governance that Nicola Sturgeon couldn't do, Sturgeon which mirrors the EU elite, woefully incompetent.

Yours sincerely

George Laird                                                                                                                        The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University