The wild west

In both the UK and US, the two Governments are doing their best to ignore or even flout the rule of law.

In the US, Trump is trying to overturn a democratic election result, alleging fraud though votes on the same ballot handed the GOP the House and Senate. So, if the Presidential vote is rigged so mut votes for the House and Senate?

Logic killing Trump there, but he will not stop, nor allow a peaceful tansistion, and neither will the GOP, refusing to even mention Biden by name.

Meanwhile in the UK Johnson is planning on passing a law that gives it inpunity to ride roughshod over previous domestic and international legislation.

The House of Lords inflicted the largest ever Governmental defeat on this last night and struck out the offending clauses. The Government has said it will put them back in. The IMB will make a trade deal, or any kind of deal with the EU impossible, and President-elect Biden's team said it is a red line for them too.

Expecting our Governments to obey the rule of law is not something we have ever given much thought to, as it is something that has happened automatically over the years and decades. But now, that is changing, western democracies willing to overturn conventions and break laws to drive through illiberal policies.

The GOP has been doing this for 30 year or more, in one form or another, and now after all the gerrymandering and voter supression, they still lost, so have to lie and cheat. And in 5 years here in the UK, being a member of the EU has gone from a central Government policy and manifesto commitment to being an extreme fringe idea in the Conservative and Union Party.

It is some kind of sick joke to see people like Darren Grimes who lied, cheated and broke the law as part of Vote Leave in pushing the UK to leave the EU SM and CU, destroying Margaret Thatcher's greatest legacy, have a picture of her in his office.

Yesterday, the law stopping free movement of people was passed in the UK, formalising the removal of the right to live, work, study and retire in 27 other countries. That the loss of freedom goes both ways has yet to sink in. Many gammons says they can easily get visas if they want to travel, which is true. Most are retired. But for people like me, who in the past decade or so I have worked in: France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Sweden, Norway and Denmark. I might need visas for all those countries now. Other people work in more, travelling, working, attending meetings.

And on today's Express front page, championing in the Chancellor's claim that post-Brexit can lead the world in financial services, when it loses the right to do that in 27 countries on six week's time, as even if a trade deal is agreed it ignores services. Over the past four years, many financial institions and banks have relocated to France and Holland, even those that haven't have left just their senior management here, whilst the worker bees and/or their tasks have moved across the Channel.

Never let reality get in the way of a good, or bad, Brexit fantasy.