00:00:00
all right Alexander let's talk about the
00:00:02
uh state of the UK
00:00:05
economy as uh as stammer is uh is
00:00:09
playing makeb believe Churchill in h
00:00:11
Paris talking about how the UK is going
00:00:14
to defeat Russia and how the UK military
00:00:16
is going to enter Ukraine we have a
00:00:20
terrible situation that is happening in
00:00:22
uh in the UK with regards to the economy
00:00:27
stommer doesn't seem to be paying much
00:00:29
attention to what is happening in the
00:00:30
economy but things are getting uh very
00:00:33
bad what is uh the situation in the UK I
00:00:37
I have never known um a prime minister
00:00:40
who has spent so little time on domestic
00:00:44
and economic questions as K starma does
00:00:48
um before the um last couple of weeks
00:00:53
before the you know the diplomacy over
00:00:56
Ukraine started to crank up and before
00:00:59
star set up his Coalition of the willing
00:01:02
and all of that even then apparently he
00:01:05
was devoting around half his time to
00:01:08
foreign policy now I suspect foreign
00:01:11
policy is about the only thing he
00:01:13
devotes his time to and I think the
00:01:16
reason he's doing that is because he
00:01:18
cannot face what look like increasingly
00:01:21
insurmountable problems close home
00:01:25
closer to home now um last
00:01:28
year basically the British economy
00:01:31
flatlined in January it contracted which
00:01:35
came as a shock to many people that was
00:01:37
expectations that the economy would grow
00:01:40
last year last in the Autumn if you
00:01:43
remember the government presented its
00:01:46
budget it increased spending
00:01:50
considerably uh mostly by through it
00:01:53
paying uh public sector
00:01:56
workers um it increased
00:01:58
taxes uh and at the same time it has
00:02:03
committed itself to borrowing more the
00:02:05
government then gave various figures
00:02:08
saying that in a couple of years time
00:02:10
everything would balance out and we'd be
00:02:13
on a sustainable
00:02:16
trajectory well that didn't last very
00:02:19
long because over the last couple of
00:02:22
months the economy has contracted as I
00:02:25
said government receipts have been lower
00:02:28
than expected
00:02:31
and the result has been that the fiscal
00:02:35
Headroom as it's called the the the
00:02:38
available money that the government was
00:02:41
Raising has turned out to be less than
00:02:43
they expected so yesterday they had well
00:02:47
they've just had to go back to go back
00:02:50
to Parliament announce further Cuts
00:02:53
couple of days ago they announced Cuts
00:02:55
of5 billion to on spending for disable
00:03:00
people now they've announced a further
00:03:03
three billion pound cuts on spending for
00:03:07
people and we're getting uh indications
00:03:11
that they're going to increase taxes in
00:03:14
the Autumn now the reason this is
00:03:17
happening is because the economy as I
00:03:20
said isn't growing it's if
00:03:22
anything um
00:03:24
Contracting the government is deeply in
00:03:28
debt it's one 100% debt to GDP ration
00:03:33
the UK is now around 100% of
00:03:37
GDP Britain runs a permanent deficit on
00:03:42
its current account so it it's having to
00:03:47
import capital from abroad foreign
00:03:52
investors worry
00:03:54
that Britain's public finances might
00:03:58
become unsustainable
00:04:01
so whenever it looks as if the
00:04:03
government might be about to run out of
00:04:05
money it has to either cut spending or
00:04:08
increase taxes that causes the economy
00:04:12
to grow even more slowly and then that
00:04:16
forces the government a couple of months
00:04:18
later when it becomes clear that the um
00:04:24
money that it's raising is not going to
00:04:26
be enough to to go over the same process
00:04:29
again cut spending increase taxes we are
00:04:33
in Britain in a doom Loop that is what
00:04:36
the economy about the situation in the
00:04:39
economy currently looks do the people
00:04:42
know this do the citizens of of Britain
00:04:45
understand this does does
00:04:47
stammer understand this because you know
00:04:49
you said he's he's uh he's he's
00:04:52
interested in foreign policy not not so
00:04:54
much interested in what's happening in
00:04:56
in the domestic affairs of the UK I
00:04:59
would even say that it's not even
00:05:00
foreign policy he's he's just concerned
00:05:02
with Ukraine that's it yes that's the
00:05:04
only thing he's concerned about is
00:05:06
Ukraine nothing else uh do the people
00:05:09
understand I mean are they seeing this
00:05:12
do they see him go to Paris every couple
00:05:14
of weeks we having these Summits in
00:05:16
London about Ukraine and are the people
00:05:18
saying what is what is this guy talking
00:05:20
about with Ukraine all the time what is
00:05:22
he talking about a UK military in
00:05:25
Ukraine that they don't have uh to to go
00:05:28
to Ukraine to do what why he talking
00:05:30
about money he's he's still talking
00:05:32
about money to zalinski money that they
00:05:35
don't have I mean what's what's what's
00:05:37
the general Vibe what's the sentiment in
00:05:39
in the UK about all this well one of the
00:05:42
major problems before I get to starm I I
00:05:45
I think it's important to point this out
00:05:47
what I mean there are lots of underlying
00:05:50
problems in the British economy which
00:05:52
have been building up over a very very
00:05:54
long time and governments have been
00:05:57
repeatedly making them worse the
00:06:00
decisions governments have been making
00:06:02
stretching all the way back arguably to
00:06:04
Blair's time have ultimately undermined
00:06:07
the foundations of the British economy
00:06:09
more and more some would say going back
00:06:11
even further to that time and even
00:06:13
beyond that but anyway let's not focus
00:06:16
on the history but these underlying
00:06:19
problems have been made much worse over
00:06:22
the
00:06:23
last two three years because of British
00:06:27
government policy with specifically on
00:06:31
the issue of Ukraine Britain gives
00:06:35
Ukraine direct grants they're running at
00:06:38
about3 billion pounds a year sometimes
00:06:41
there' been more than that the British
00:06:44
government has been sending weapons to
00:06:47
Ukraine on a huge scale that has left
00:06:50
the British armed forces in a very very
00:06:53
poor condition one of the reasons
00:06:56
they're having to spend more on defense
00:06:58
is precisely because they need to requip
00:07:01
the Army because the Army is so short of
00:07:03
weapons now um they have created a
00:07:06
create a state of interational
00:07:09
tensions uh they've contributed very
00:07:12
much to creating iset State tensions in
00:07:15
you know um International tensions this
00:07:18
fear of war with Russia they're talking
00:07:21
about having to increase defense
00:07:23
spending to to address that they never
00:07:27
explain
00:07:29
their own role in creating this crisis
00:07:33
in international relations and of course
00:07:37
the
00:07:38
sanctions which they
00:07:40
so urgently so
00:07:43
insistently advocated on Russia having a
00:07:49
massive you know effect on the British
00:07:52
economy itself they've resulted in very
00:07:56
very much higher energy costs prices for
00:07:59
energy in Britain are amongst the
00:08:01
highest in the world and that's also had
00:08:05
a cumulatively bad effect on the British
00:08:08
economy moreover there's strong reasons
00:08:11
to think that energy prices are going to
00:08:13
Surge again in the Autumn I will we've
00:08:16
been discussing various pro programs how
00:08:20
um problems of
00:08:23
gas uh supply the amount of gas in the
00:08:26
very in the European Reserves is now at
00:08:30
critically low levels nobody is talking
00:08:33
about this but there is a real
00:08:36
possibility that come the autum um there
00:08:38
will be shortages of gas gas will have
00:08:42
to be bought at premium prices liquefied
00:08:45
natural gas that's quite likely to be
00:08:48
passed on in higher prices to UK
00:08:51
consumers um which will depress the
00:08:53
standard of living even further so
00:08:57
nobody wants to talk about this but
00:08:59
Ukraine is now a major reason why the
00:09:03
government from one budget to another
00:09:07
finds itself shorter and shorter of
00:09:11
money and while it's having to cut
00:09:14
spending and or increases taxes in order
00:09:18
to to balance it balance things out so
00:09:22
that foreign investors and foreign bond
00:09:24
holders will continue to put money into
00:09:27
Britain now coming back to what people
00:09:31
think I think
00:09:33
starma
00:09:34
probably deep down has some
00:09:38
understanding of this but he doesn't
00:09:40
want to face it I think he is not
00:09:43
prepared to change the policy on Ukraine
00:09:47
um as has been discussed many times now
00:09:50
he's basically a cutout the political
00:09:54
class the people who run it starma for
00:09:57
them Ukraine
00:10:00
defeating Russia getting Europe back
00:10:03
into the EU all of these things are far
00:10:05
more important than what happens to the
00:10:07
British econom getting the UK back into
00:10:09
the EU back into the EU sorry uh all of
00:10:12
this is far more important for them than
00:10:15
what happens in the short or medium or
00:10:17
even long term to the British economy so
00:10:20
he will just continue doing what he
00:10:23
wants to do and at a psychological level
00:10:27
I think he finds it easier much easier
00:10:29
to hold Summit meetings with macron to
00:10:32
talk about uh Putin and what a bad man
00:10:36
he is uh um do those kind of things then
00:10:39
to confront the major increasing
00:10:43
underlying problems of the British
00:10:46
economy um as for the British people
00:10:50
they do understand this the mood in the
00:10:53
UK is very bad people are very
00:10:56
demoralized um I've been saying this now
00:10:59
for
00:11:00
months um you see this in the polling
00:11:03
figures where none of the political
00:11:05
parties conservatives Labor uh are are
00:11:09
doing particularly well so there is a
00:11:12
widespread feeling that things in
00:11:14
Britain are very bad and there's no
00:11:17
clear Way Forward but there is still no
00:11:21
real coming together of people no real
00:11:25
decision about what alternatives we
00:11:27
should follow um
00:11:30
and that also is contributing to the
00:11:34
deepening Mala there is a sense
00:11:38
instead that whatever we do whatever we
00:11:44
try matters are simply going to get the
00:11:47
situation is simply going to get worse
00:11:49
and that is very de demoralizing and
00:11:52
it's causing people to hunker down to
00:11:55
try to get through day by day hoping
00:11:58
that some Miracle will turn up in a
00:12:01
year's time or five years time or
00:12:03
whenever and then things will come back
00:12:05
to normal that's I think a summary of
00:12:09
the mood here in the UK at the
00:12:11
moment a final question on farage yeah
00:12:15
it seems like farage
00:12:16
is is
00:12:19
um sometimes it seems like he's going
00:12:22
against the establishment other times it
00:12:24
seems that he's folding into the
00:12:26
establishment yes um complimenting
00:12:29
uh The Establishment the government
00:12:31
stommer other times it looks like he's
00:12:33
ready to lead reform to a victory then
00:12:36
he says something which which makes many
00:12:38
people believe that perhaps he's he's
00:12:40
leading reform to uh or he's working
00:12:43
against reform I mean I I don't know I
00:12:46
farage seems like um like he's a bit uh
00:12:50
lost at least to me as to what his his
00:12:54
position is on on all of this is he
00:12:56
establishment is he anti-establishment
00:12:57
uh is is he there to help reform is he
00:13:00
there to dismantle reform I haven't been
00:13:05
quite able to to put my finger on on
00:13:07
what farage is looking to do what are
00:13:09
your thoughts he remains by far the most
00:13:14
interesting politician in the UK at the
00:13:16
moment I mean he the politician who
00:13:19
brought about brexit who changed
00:13:22
politics in
00:13:23
Britain the great problem with farage is
00:13:26
that he's always been strong in
00:13:28
strongest in in opposition and he's
00:13:30
never until now really imagined himself
00:13:34
prime minister and worked out a program
00:13:38
for government that he would take to the
00:13:40
British people he's now closer to
00:13:43
achieving that goal than he has ever
00:13:45
been but um he risks and you can see
00:13:51
this the pressures are on him falling
00:13:53
into the Trap that all insurrectionary
00:13:55
leaders of political movements uh fall
00:13:58
into many of them do which is that The
00:14:01
Closer he comes to power the more he
00:14:04
feels the inclination to compromise with
00:14:08
the political class because he thinks
00:14:10
that if he does that uh that's going to
00:14:13
win over more Centrist more moderate uh
00:14:17
uh voters who will then come to him and
00:14:20
will give him the chance to lead and he
00:14:24
also thinks that if
00:14:26
he does that it will somehow make him
00:14:30
more
00:14:30
respectable and will make it easier if
00:14:34
when he does form a government it'll
00:14:36
make it easier for him to uh move
00:14:40
forward and to establish a government
00:14:43
that will be acceptable to the political
00:14:45
class you see this time and again you
00:14:47
see this with Maloney for example in
00:14:49
Italy that was exactly the Trap
00:14:52
ultimately the chief fell into so I
00:14:55
think that is the danger with farage
00:14:57
remember as I said this is not some
00:15:00
one who two or three years ago ever
00:15:03
envisioned himself as prime minister so
00:15:07
this is why I think he's not catching
00:15:10
fire because even though reform is by
00:15:14
some calculations not all but by some
00:15:17
calculations the most popular party in
00:15:20
Britain today um others by the way put
00:15:23
him ahead of the conservatives was still
00:15:24
behind labor um he's still only polling
00:15:28
around what between 20 25% which is huge
00:15:32
for an insurrectionary party in or would
00:15:36
have been huge for an insurrectionary
00:15:39
party in a previous period in British
00:15:42
modern British history but given the
00:15:44
situation that we have today it could
00:15:46
arguably be said to be
00:15:49
disappointing um this is I think the
00:15:51
reason that he's flatlining because he's
00:15:54
not putting forward a convincing
00:15:57
program tell people look this is all
00:16:00
going terribly wrong we've got to carry
00:16:03
out much more radical changes to the way
00:16:07
that Britain is being is run because we
00:16:10
are in this Doom Loop situation so we
00:16:12
have to change and adjust our foreign
00:16:15
policy we have to look at our the way we
00:16:18
run our domestic policy we have to do
00:16:20
all of these various things and put them
00:16:22
all together and then we can finally
00:16:25
break out of this I think people would
00:16:27
be ready to listen listen to that and I
00:16:30
think if you put together a convincing
00:16:32
program for reform as he says then
00:16:36
change might happen but he hasn't done
00:16:38
that up to now now a couple of days ago
00:16:43
he did have a meeting with Dominic
00:16:45
Cummings who was um Boris
00:16:49
Johnson's Chief advisor until of course
00:16:53
Boris Johnson basically got rid of him
00:16:56
now Cummings is someone with lots of
00:16:58
plans I mean you he's got all kinds of
00:17:00
ideas for change mostly it must be said
00:17:04
more about governance and about how to
00:17:07
change the structures in the center um
00:17:11
not all of which I agree with by the way
00:17:13
but anyway I mean he's a man full of
00:17:16
ideas um maybe if it is indeed the case
00:17:21
that Cummings and joh and and farage
00:17:24
will come together that we'll start to
00:17:27
see something a little bit more coherent
00:17:29
coming from um reform and from faraj
00:17:33
himself and that that will eventually
00:17:35
start to work its way through and starts
00:17:38
to be um appreciated by more people than
00:17:44
Britain but that's still something we
00:17:47
have to see and it's important to say
00:17:50
that farage and cummings have a long
00:17:53
history of very very bad relations with
00:17:56
each other they're not friends
00:17:59
all right we will end the video there
00:18:01
the durant. locals.com we are on Rumble
00:18:03
Odyssey bitu Telegram rockfin and X go
00:18:05
to the Durant shop pick up some merch
00:18:06
like what we are wearing in this video
00:18:08
update there is a 15% special as well on
00:18:11
the Duran shop use the code spring 15
00:18:15
the link is in description box down
00:18:16
below take care
