Hang out more flags....
Yesterday a report by the Defence Select Committee pointed out what we all know; the Royal Navy has nowhere near enough ships and pathetic fantasies about “leaning” towards the Pacific are making things worse.
On top of that the Army can’t put an armoured division in the field and won’t be able to for years, in part because it has old and useless equipment.
The health, social care and child protection sectors are creaking.
The meaningless expression “Global Britain” is no more than a slogan, especially when the Foreign Office is cutting 20% of its overseas posts. Stupid doesn’t come close on this one.
The UK has cut foreign aid, not only cruel but extremely damaging to the UK’s power and influence.
Austerity was just great for Great Britain, wasn’t it?
Now we have a government that can’t pass essential legislation to safeguard its citizens because of the idealogical, petty minded obsessions of a huge swathe of its back benchers.
Then we have one the world’s the shining lights of democracy introducing voter restrictions for purely party political reasons, banning protest, stripping citizens of their passports, attacking the rule of law and the judiciary, undermining human rights and breaking international law.
But don’t worry, they wrap themselves in the flag, so the government must be patriotic, mustn’t it?
This could be a rich seam for Labour, which is why Keir Starmer calling his party the patriotic one is well worth trying. It won’t be anything like enough in its own but it is a good angle of attack.
Economics, trade and Brexit, not necessarily in that order but the dog always comes first.