Britain is weaker than it has been for decades, and the world knows it. Rivals are circling, hungry to take advantage. Since winning the 2024 general election, Labour has done everything it can to project weakness to the world, and the world has taken note.
Keir Starmer began the process with his surrender of the Chagos Islands, handing sovereignty to Mauritius while agreeing to pay billions to lease bases back. Starmer prioritised international law over the interests of the country he was supposed to be leading. Appointing Lord Hermer as attorney general was insane, according to critics. This is a man who pursued "a witch hunt" against British veterans, and reportedly didn't care whether his clients were "a member of al-Qaeda" or not.
Burnham's international struggles
Starmer has mercifully gone, but new PM Andy Burnham looks even weaker on the international stage. He looked like a bag of nerves sitting next to US president Donald Trump in New York, while Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband resembled a startled rabbit. Even Starmer did a better job of withstanding the US president.
Trump humiliated Burnham by damning Chagos as "terrible" and "ridiculous", and Burnham meekly agreed to review it. Rightly so. It is rubbish. But did Burnham really need Trump to point it out?
Burnham's fatal political flaw is clear. He wants to be liked. And he is likeable. He's also a reflection of what this country has become. Modest, mediocre and in total denial about the extent of our national decline and the threats we face from people who wish us no good. A pushover, in other words.
Rivals sensing weakness
It's not a coincidence that Argentinian president Javier Milei is banging on about the Falkland Islands again. He senses weakness too. Hard not to, Britain struggled to muster a lone destroyer to protect our military bases in Cyprus from Iranian-made drones in March. France, Greece, Spain had to chip in.
The French must be laughing at us, taking more than £1billion of British taxpayers' money to stop migrant crossings, while small boats continue to depart French shores. The Greeks are making noises about the Elgin Marbles again. Burnham ducked this fight, saying it's a matter for the British Museum. But you can hardly blame Greece for trying its luck now.
Now the whole nonsense about slavery reparations has sprung up again, with Jamaica demanding legal consideration of compensation for events that happened more than 200 years ago. The government has said it won't pay up. But again, they sense weakness.
There's a famous 1898 cartoon showing imperialist Britain, France, Germany and Russia greedily carving up China like a pie. Today, Britain is the country being carved up. When Vladimir Putin realises how weak we are behind the posturing, we're really in trouble.
Devolution and the EU
Burnham's big plan is devolution. Spread more power to the regions. He insists this will create growth, when in practice it's bound to cost us a fortune. Devolution has been an "expensive disaster" in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland which all remain poorer than England despite getting more public spending per head.
That hasn't stopped nationalists pressing for more. For the first time, nationalist parties lead all three devolved governments. Sensing their moment, they're joining forces. Earlier this month, the leaders of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, together with Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald, met in Cardiff and declared that "Westminster's time is coming to an end". They want constitutional change and independence referendums.
Nationalists gleefully celebrated Burnham's blunder in suggesting a Scottish referendum could be held if there was sufficient popular support. Burnham did a reverse ferret, but the damage was done. Burnham, like Starmer before him, is also kow-towing to the EU, allowing negotiators to run rings around us again while Brussels chips away at Brexit freedoms. Not that we had the nous to take advantage of them.
The left still idolises the EU, even as the far right tightens its grip across Europe. Basically, the British left is ashamed of their own country, and will take any opportunity to run Britain down. It's been that way for decades. Even George Orwell derided it.
Now they've got what they wanted. Britain is weaker than ever, and everybody is coming for us now. They wouldn't have tried under Margaret Thatcher. Under Burnham, it risks turning into a free-for-all.
