Crawling to the Americans

We shouldn’t be surprised at the Government’s renewed call for more sanctions against Russia. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt claims that “President Putin has made the world a more dangerous place” and says: “The United Kingdom asks its allies to go further by calling on the European Union to ensure its sanctions against Russia are comprehensive, and that we truly stand shoulder to shoulder with the US. That means calling out and responding to transgressions with one voice whenever and wherever they occur, from the streets of Salisbury to the fate of Crimea.”

Licking the boots of Uncle Sam has been the policy of the British ruling class since the Second World War in the belief that this would help ensure continued American protection of their global interests in the post-colonial world. To a certain degree it did but only when it serves the over-arching interests of American imperialism.

During his presidential campaign Donald Trump claimed he was in favour of a rapprochement with the Russians. In the White House however, Trump is a prisoner of the most aggressive circles within the American ruling class – the ‘deep state’ that cuts across the American political divide to control Congress and the police and legal bureaucracy of the USA. They want a trade war with Russia and China. But whether they’ll give the British government a loyalty bonus remains to be seen.

The Government needs to turn to the Russian market if it seriously wants to restore the manufacturing and general export sector in the post-Brexit era. It can expect no favours from the Russians if Hunt carries on like this.