Richard, you may find the term virtue signalling tedious but it accurately describes what passes for left wing ideology nowadays given that belief in socialism (i.e. state control of the economy) has virtually disappeared. Instead people who like to think of themselves as being  on the progressive side of the political divide proclaim their adherence to a number of ideals, among them anti-colonialism, anti-elitism,  international law and so on. There is nothing wrong with these ideals per se, but all too often the measures taken to promote them are simply token gestures whose purpose is principally to demonstrate the virtue of the people who advocate them. Keir Starmer's obsession with international law is an example. What is the point of standing aloof from Trump’s intervention in Iran? Has it alienated Trump? Definitely. Has it cut any ice with the Iranians? Definitely not, given that they attacked the British bases at Akrotiri and Diego Garcia and in any case regard the UK as in league with the devil. Is British neutrality going to help curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions? Hardly. As to the alliance with America, what is the alternative? Do you really believe that the EU is going to protect us from Russia or China? In retrospect it is probably true that Trump’s decision in 2018 to abandon Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran was a mistake. The problem is that the deal did not prevent Iran from amassing a huge number of missiles or from funding and arming terrorist groups to attack Israel. But we are where we are . The Iranians have purified 400 kilos of uranium to 60% and the IAEA has detected the presence of some of the material purified to 87%, just short of the weapons grade threshold. What do you propose should be done about this?

Entire Thread

Topic	Date Posted	Posted By
Trump has completely lost the plot…	14/04/26 10:12:00	Richard Carter
Reply	14/04/26 11:20:00	Michael Ixer
Re:Reply	14/04/26 11:28:00	Gerry Boyce
Reply	14/04/26 13:24:00	Michael Ixer
Reply	14/04/26 13:56:00	Richard Carter
Reply	14/04/26 16:16:00	Steven Rose
Reply	14/04/26 16:48:00	Michael Ixer
Re:Reply	14/04/26 16:57:00	Robert Wheeler
Reply	14/04/26 17:36:00	Michael Ixer
Re:Reply	14/04/26 18:00:00	Robert Wheeler
Reply	14/04/26 18:11:00	Michael Ixer
Re:Reply	14/04/26 18:14:00	Jonathan Callaway
Reply	14/04/26 16:56:00	Richard Carter
Re:Reply	14/04/26 18:39:00	Steven Rose
Re:Re:Reply	14/04/26 19:00:00	Jonathan Callaway
Re:Reply	14/04/26 18:20:00	Ivonne Holliday
Re:Re:Reply	14/04/26 20:27:00	Steven Rose
Re:Re:Re:Reply	14/04/26 20:52:00	Jonathan Callaway
Re:Re:Reply	14/04/26 22:44:00	Gerry Boyce
Reply	15/04/26 08:52:00	Richard Carter
Re:Reply	15/04/26 09:20:00	Steven Rose
Re:Re:Reply	15/04/26 10:02:00	Michael Brigo
Reply	15/04/26 10:36:00	Michael Ixer
Re:Reply	15/04/26 10:41:00	Jonathan Callaway
Re:Re:Re:Reply	15/04/26 11:25:00	Steven Rose
Re:Re:Re:Re:Reply	15/04/26 12:18:00	Michael Brigo
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Reply	15/04/26 13:10:00	Steven Rose
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Reply	15/04/26 14:21:00	Ivonne Holliday
Reply	15/04/26 14:46:00	Richard Carter
Re:Reply	15/04/26 15:01:00	Steven Rose
Re:Re:Reply	15/04/26 15:41:00	Ivonne Holliday
Re:Re:Re:Reply	15/04/26 15:50:00	Steven Rose
Re:Re:Re:Reply	15/04/26 15:54:00	Jonathan Callaway
Reply	15/04/26 15:53:00	Michael Ixer
Re:Reply	15/04/26 18:04:00	Steven Rose
Re:Re:Reply	15/04/26 18:29:00	Jonathan Callaway
Reply	15/04/26 19:18:00	Michael Ixer
Re:Re:Reply	16/04/26 12:57:00	John Hawkes
Reply	15/04/26 18:00:00	Ivonne Holliday
Re:Reply	16/04/26 16:34:00	Steven Rose
Re:Re:Reply	16/04/26 17:00:00	Sue Hammond
Re:Re:Reply	16/04/26 19:29:00	Ivonne Holliday
Reply	16/04/26 20:06:00	Michael Ixer
Re:Re:Re:Reply	16/04/26 20:36:00	Steven Rose
Re:Re:Re:Re:Reply	16/04/26 21:04:00	Ivonne Holliday
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Reply	16/04/26 21:53:00	Steven Rose

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