Here's the Full Rundown of This Weekend's Political Nonsense

Content originally published at iBankCoin.com

Healthcare is dead, because John Mccain had some surgery. What the fuck?

Here I thought I was fixing to get some good and cheap insurance -- to finance my future ailments. WRONG. I"ll just die in the gutters, penniless, after spending all of my money on expensive treatments and surgeries.

The Australian foreign minister joined Reebok and the litany of liberals, "taken aback" by Trump"s compliment to France"s first lady. This is because liberals are genderless faggots, unable to conduct themselves as normal people within the human race.

Nigel Farage said Trump Jr. made a mistake by taking a meeting with the Russian lawyer, but quite literally "did nothing wrong."

Former Trump campaign advisor and army veteran tells media and liberals to dial it down -- someone is gonna get shot.

Lastly, CNN continues to get destroyed, one meme at a time. This one is the infield triple edition, top shelf stuff.

Lastly, in recognition of tonight"s Game of Thrones season premiere, I give you Donald Trump, the Game of Thrones edition.

Intelligence Agencies Admit 23,000 Jihadis Live In Britain; 3,000 Pose "Imminent Threat"

After failing to thwart two terror attacks that have occurred in the U.K. so far this year – both of which were carried out by suspected jihadis who were known to U.K. authorities – intelligence agencies have identified 23,000 potential jihadis living in Britain, according to a report published in the Times of London on Saturday. 

The report emerged after U.K. Prime Minster Theresa May downgraded the terror threat to “severe,” after raising it “critical” on Tuesday in the aftermath of the attacks.

Of this "pool" of potential terrorists, 3,000 are suspected of posing an “imminent threat” and are being investigated accordingly, the Times reports. Meanwhile, the other 20,000 have been involved with past investigations and have been categorized as posing a “residual risk.”

Both suspected Manchester attacker Salman Abedi and Westminster killer Khalid Masood were in a pool of “former subjects of interest” and were no longer the subject of surveillance efforts, the Times reported. Abedi, a 23-year-old whose parents immigrated to the U.K. from Libya, killed 22 kids, in addition to himself, on Monday when he detonated a bomb just as attendees of a concert by American singer Ariana Grande were rushing for the exits following her performance.

The report comes amid intensifying criticism of the intelligence agencies, who have been accused of doing an inadequate job identifying former “subjects of interest” who have returned to extremism. 

The notion that there are 23,000 potential jihadis in the U.K. is “horrifying,” said Anthony Glees, head of security and intelligence at the University of Buckingham.

“We should double the size of MI5, as we did in World War II, and expand the number of intelligence-led police by the thousands.”

Meanwhile, thousands of soldiers will remain deployed on Britain’s streets through Monday, the Times reported.

We leave it to Nigel Farage to sum up a nation"s concerns...

UK authorities have identified 23,000 potential jihadist extremists. The problem is much worse than we first thought. pic.twitter.com/Qu2Ap210kl

— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) May 26, 2017

Farage Rages "What's The UK Government Actually Gonna Do?"

Hours after the devastating terror attack in Manchester, England, and following UK PM Theresa May"s announcement of quasi-martial-law on the streets of Britain, Nigel Farage follows yesterday"s BBC anchor"s comments and asks "what is our government actually gonna do?"

"Get used to it"...

Farage reminds the world that Theresa May was British Home Secretary - in charge of "this stuff" for six years before becoming prime minister "and under her we did virtually nothing to deal with this problem... so I don"t see mass round-ups happening," citing the 500 terror suspects reportedly walking free in the UK.

Sparking painful memories of the 1930s rounding up citizens across Europe, Farage concludes "we have to stop the radicalization in our prisons and in our schools, and our immigration policy will vet absolutely everyone coming from middle-eastern and african countries."

And as the following poll from YouGov shows, up 14 percentage points on July 2010, an almost unanimous 90 percent said that they thought it was fairly or very likely.

Nigel Farage Responds to Manchester Suicide Attack: 'This is a Direct Attack on Children'

Nigel Farage was interviewed by Tucker Carlson this evening to discuss the suicide attack in Manchester that killed at least 19 and wounded dozens.

Farage told Carlson, “we have been lulled into a slight sense of complacency,” refraining, however, from jumping to conclusions as to who was responsible for the attack.

He noted that Britains shouldn"t put their guard down, post BREXIT, saying "we"ve convinced ourselves that we’re in a better place than the rest of Europe on this.”

Farage pointed out that the bombing was a "direct attack on children... marks a new low in all forms of terrorism."

Watch.

Content originally published at iBankCoin.com

"London Bridge Is Down"

Authored by Raul Ilargi Meijer via The Automatic Earth blog,

The French election, won overnight by Emmanuel Macron, put several segments of the French population opposite one another in a pretty fierce contest. And that contest will continue. Because Macron won’t be able to lift the French economy out of its doldrums any more than Le Pen could have, or than Trump can life the US, and the new president will have the honor of presiding over a further and deepening downturn. The French political dividing line was aptly described by Simon Kuper recently:

The ultra-nationalist writer Charles Maurras believed there were “two Frances”. The one he loved was the “pays réel”, the real country: a rural France of church clocks, traditions and native people fused with their ancestral soil. Maurras loathed the “pays légal”, the legal country: the secular republic, which he thought was run by functionaries conspiring for alien interests.

Maurras was born in 1868 and died in 1952. But if he returned on Sunday to witness the French presidential run-off, he would instantly recognise both candidates. He would cast Emmanuel Macron as the incarnation of the “legal France” and Marine Le Pen as embodying the “real” one.

Maurras may have been a questionable character, but that description is not half bad. Once enough people in the country understand the failure of ‘legal’ France, they will want ‘real’ France back. That will be true in countries all over Europe; to a large extent it already is. Marine Le Pen summed up the key issue really well a few days ago when she said of the country post election: “France will be led by a woman, me or Mrs. Merkel.”

There is only one reason the French people would ever tolerate Germany having an outsized influence in their politics and economics: that they feel they benefit from it financially. And yes, if you put it that way, it’s already quite something that they haven’t revolted more and earlier.

The generous unemployment benefits are undoubtedly part of that. But those can’t last. And since the Germans owe their influence in Paris to the EU, it’s obvious how the French will feel they can stop that influence. And then the EU will turn out to be not a peacemaker, but the opposite.

Still, as much as France is divided, and as serious as that division is, the country is a shining beacon of unity compared to the UK, where the dividing lines are as manifold as they are laced with toxins. The snap election PM Theresa May called, in just over a month, can do nothing to resolve any of it. That means the EU can do what they want in the Brexit negotiations. Which will therefore be an unparalleled disaster for May and the UK.

The EU can and will ‘have its way’ with the UK for one simple reason: the United Kingdom is anything but United. It makes no difference what the EU does to the UK, the British won’t blame them for it. They will blame each other instead. No matter what happens these days, the British always know in advance who’s to blame, and it’s never themselves; it’s always another group of Brits.

The Tories are deeply divided between pro- and anti-Brexit forces. Labour is divided along those same lines, and adds pro- and anti-Corbyn sentiments for good measure. Other parties don’t really matter much, but they have similar dividing lines as well.

Anti-Corbyn Labour MPs have convinced themselves they know better than pro-Corbyn party members. They’ve kept claiming for so long that Corbyn is unelectable it’s become a self-fulfilling prophecy. They’ll be lucky not to face the fate of their former brethren in François Hollande’s Parti Socialiste, who ended up with just 6% of the vote in the 1st round of the French elections.

PM Theresa May called the snap election for June 8 to hide some of the divisions behind, to make them appear less relevant, or even to profit from them and grab more power. But the very fact that Brexit was voted in, already makes the election nigh irrelevant.

Whoever wins, and it looks certain to be May herself. will open themselves to being scapegoated in a big way. Which won’t keep them from seeking victory, because the loser can expect the same fate. The trenches have been dug, and deeply. Governable? Don’t count on it. It feels more like 40 years later we’re back to Johnny Rotten ‘singing’ Anarchy in the UK.

If May threatens to leave the EU ‘cold’ and trigger a ‘Hard Brexit’, she will simultaneously trigger a whole lot more, and much wider, divisions in the country (or is that countries?!), and that’s even without mentioning an entire minefield of legal, and potentially constitutional, issues. The latter especially because Britain doesn’t have an actual -written- constitution.

For Brussels, it’s easy pickings, and pick they will. This week, they casually raised the UK’s cost of leaving the EU to €100 billion, from estimates varying from €40 billion to €60 billion before. Paddy Power and its equally powerful bookie ilk soon won’t be taking any bets below, say, €150 billion. In that regard, and many others, the EU will do to the UK what it is doing to Greece.

The only way to stand up against that is to show a common front. But there will be no such thing in the Divided Kingdom, not for a long time. Everyone has their favorite scapegoat, for some it’s Nigel Farage, for others David Cameron, George Osborne, Tony Blair, Jeremy Corbyn or Theresa May. And nobody is going to leave their blame trenches. They’re the only places they feel somewhat comfortable, less scared, in.

Theresa May, if the polls are to be believed -and given the divisions we might for once-, will have to sit down and negotiate with the multi-headed Hydra that is the EU, ‘strengthened’ by a major election victory, but she will find it the ultimate Pyrrhic victory, because Brussels will have a ball playing her divided ‘nation’.

Scotland can probably easily be seduced with the carrot of EU membership, but more importantly, Juncker and his people can cast doubt on the entire Brexit vote, and they will have many interested takers.

The Brexit negotiations will take at least 2 years. But it could be 3 or 4 years, who knows? May has no power over that durationm unless she walks. She won’t. And as things are drawn out, Juncker et al have all the time and opportunities they want to tell both May and the British public that Brussels has no intention of punishing them, but will have to do so anyway.

After all, Brexit is a threat to the entire European project, and all the leaders of the 27 remaining nations, as well as the vast majority of their domestic opposition parties, are behind that project, no questions asked. And the many thousands of people working their very well-paid jobs in Brussels and Strasbourg are not too critical either.

All in all, the British need to wake up and smell the roses as long as there are any left, and before they have been replaced with less savory odors. Or they will have to seriously wonder whether the Kingdom, united or not, can outlive the Queen, aka the London Bridge.

*  *  *

“London Bridge is Down” was recently revealed as the secret UK government code for the moment the Queen dies.

Mapping The World's Great Divides: "Chasms Are Widening Too Fast And Too Much"

Authored by Raul Ilargi Meijer via The Automatic Earth blog,

Something hit me this week. The maps which came out on Monday and detailed the outcome of the French elections, were telling a story, and a familiar one by now. A story of deep division. There are a number of such maps now depicting the Brexit vote in the UK, the US presidential elections, and its French counterpart.

In all three cases they leave me wondering something along the lines of: ‘Are you guys sure you want to remain in the same country with each other?’ Because to me that is not all that obvious, and I think it’ll get less so as time passes. For instance in the case of France, the ‘ideological’ differences between Macron and Le Pen are substantial to say the least, they’re worlds apart.

And if you’re worlds apart, why live in the same country? Here’s that French map:

As you see, the country is sharply divided between west (Macron) and east (Le Pen). So much so that you wonder what these people still have in common, other than their language. There’s no doubt it’s also a dividing line between the richer part of the country, and the poorer.

Thing is, that same dividing line is visible in a similar map of the November 8, 2016 US election results, in a slightly different way.

In the US it’s not east versus west, it’s coast versus interior (flyover land). But the difference is equally clear and sharp. In fact, probably what we’re looking at is that France has only one coastline, while the US has two, and in both countries people living close to the ocean are on average richer than those who live more inland.

And in both cases there is no doubt that wealth is a deciding factor in dividing the nations to the extent that they are. We see that in an ‘urban versus rural area’ comparison as well. Cities like New York, LA and Paris are strongholds for the incumbent and establishment, the parties that represent the rich.

There can be no doubt that we’ll see more of that going forward. It won’t be there in smaller countries, Holland for instance is not nearly large enough for such dynamics. But Italy very well might. It’s always had a strong north-south-divide, and its present crisis has undoubtedly deepened that chasm.

Looking at things that way, it’s also glaringly obvious that Macron is Obama (and is Renzi is Cameron etc.). A well-trained good looking mediagenic puppet with a gift of teleprompter gab, fabricated and cultivated by the ruling financial and industrial world to do their bidding. Macron, to me, looks the most artificial of the crop so far, the Obama, Rutte, Cameron, Renzi crop. There will be more, and they will get more artificial. Edward Bernays is just getting started.

Of course there is also a strong move away from established parties. It is more pronounced in France -where they were eradicated at least in the presidential elections- than in the US or UK, but that may be more of a superficial thing. Trump and Bernie Sanders are simply America’s version of France’s ‘ultra’ right wing Le Pen and ‘ultra’ left wing Melenchon. And Trump is running into problems with the remnants of the established parties as much as Macron will if he’s elected president.

Anglo countries seem to take longer diversifying away from tradition than others, but they too will get there. The various deteriorating economies will make sure of that.

A third map is of the UK Brexit vote. Once again, a sharp division, and once again with a ‘character’ of its own. If you ignore Scotland for a moment, what you see is blue=poor and yellow=rich. Broad strokes, I know, but I’ve been doing that with the first two maps too. There are only a few pockets of yellow=rich=remain. But yeah, fewer people live there. Same thing as in the US and France.

That the whole Brexit thing should now be negotiated by the Tories is a cynical irony the country owes to its adherence to tradition. That is how that backfires, too little flexibility. How the UK will solve its many ignored issues is anyone’s guess. Will Scotland leave the no-longer-very United Kingdom? Will voters wake up in time to not present the Tories with a free hand to make the rich-poor divide even worse?

There’s one more, and more detailed, map of France, which shows even better to what extent ‘Le Pen country’ is eerily similar to America’s flyover land. It’s almost poetic, a poem about how countries fall apart, about centers that cannot hold. It also makes me think of a locust invasion, by the way.

Every French and European body and their pet hamster is presently telling voters in France to please please not vote for Le Pen, in a move that resembles similar calls against Trump and Brexit. And who knows, it might work this time around. The anti-Le Pen frenzy is even stronger than the others, and it has Marine’s crazy father to use as a warning sign.

But as these maps show, it’s not about Le Pen, or Trump, or Nigel Farage. It’s about people being left behind in ever larger numbers, susceptible to voices other than the ones they’ve known for a long time and who never listened to them. And nothing is being done to address these people’s claims; on the contrary, things are only getting worse for them.

I saw a headline today that said ECB president Mario Draghi’s “Stimulus Could Blunt Populism as Unemployment Declines”. There’s only one possible reaction to that: what happens when he stops his stimulus?

The growing divides that all these maps bear witness to will keep growing, unless someone decides that neo-liberalism has gone too far. But the only person who could make such a decision would have to be one who neo-liberalism itself has made rich and powerful. So don’t count on that happening.

Count instead on more Trumps and Le Pens and Sanders’s. And also on more Obama’s and Macrons for the rich to deploy to protect their power and hold on to their riches. Increasingly it would seem they have to limit democracy -even further- to remain in power. So count on that happening too.

But don’t count on all these countries surviving as sovereign nations. The chasms are widening too fast and too much.

Farage Celebrates Article 50 Day: “You’ve Been Triggered”

Today we reach the point of no return, he proclaimed.

Dan Lyman | Infowars.com – March 29, 2017

Nigel Farage is enjoying a glorious day in the sun, as the British government has triggered Article 50 and officially notified the European Union that the United Kingdom has begun divorce proceedings that should be finalized within two years.

Farage posted a picture of himself on social media, smiling broadly, with a pint in one hand, and a copy of the Daily Express in the other.

“You’ve been triggered,” he wrote.

Moments later, Farage shut down a journalist attempting to rain on the parade by asking the Brexit architect if he had any support to offer for the “48% who voted to stay in, who find that today is a disappointing day.”

“Come on, keep up with the main party,” replied Farage. “It may have been 48 per cent on June 23 last year, but things have changed hugely.

“Consistent opinion polls show nearly 70% of the population want the government to get on with Brexit.”“I want us to leave with a sensible free trade deal in place – fully understanding we are their most important export market in the world, they call us ‘treasure island’ for goodness sake,” he concluded.Farage also took a moment to directly thank Breitbart and Stephen Bannon for their support through the Brexit process.

[snip]

“Good on Breitbart; good on Bannon,” he said, whilst raising his pint. “You’ve helped with this hugely.”In an interview with Sky News earlier in the day, the former UKIP leader recounted the arduous road he has traveled and the vicious ridicule he and his once-small band of anti-globalist Brexiteers have endured through the 25 year process leading up to today.

“It’s been a long journey,” he said. “The honest truth is, for the first 22 or 23 years, it was a real minority sport.”

“We were laughed at, abused, it was an ‘impossible dream,’ and hey, here we are – it’s happening.”

“At 12:30 today, we pass the point of no return,” he went on. “There will be lots of arguments about the deal, the negotiations – but the big story is that after today, we are leaving.”

Dan Lyman: Facebook | Twitter

Read more at InfoWars

 
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78 Seconds Of Farage "Red-Pilling"

Warning - feelings will get hurt as Nigel Farage exposes the "liberal left"s hijacking" of the education process...

They have "indoctrinated an entire generation that any "other" point of view is detestable and should be banned..."

Bonus Clip: Nigel Farage spoke at today"s CPAC Conference...

h/t The Burning Platform

As we noted previously...

Your Feelings Are Largely Irrelevant

Seriously, nobody who has already graduated college cares about your feelings. That means that when you complain to your boss because your co-worker mis-gendered you, he’s probably not going to bend over backwards to bandage your wounds. Given feelings are entirely subjective in nature, it’s completely unreasonable to demand everyone tip-toe around you to prevent yours from being hurt. The reality is that people will offend you and hurt your feelings, and they won’t stop to mop up your tears because they shouldn’t have to. Learning to accept criticism, alternative viewpoints, and even outright insults will make you happier in the long run than routinely playing the victim card.

You DO Have The Right To Live As You Please — But Not To Demand People Accept It

By contrast, you do have the right to live however you please, so long as it’s within the confines of the law. If you want to cross-dress, smoke marijuana, drink lots of alcohol, have lots of sex, and, yes, even go to school for gender studies, then by all means, go for it. Government should not be allowed to legislate people’s behavior as long as it doesn’t infringe upon someone else’s rights, but that doesn’t mean society isn’t allowed to have an opinion. You don’t have the right to demand people keep their opinions about your lifestyle to themselves, especially if you’re open and public about it. I have as much of a right to comment on the way you live your life as you do to actually live it. Your feelings are not a protected right, but my speech is.

The Only Safe Space Is Your Home

No matter where you go in life, someone will be there to offend you. Maybe it’s a joke you overheard on vacation, a spat at the office, or a difference of opinion with someone in line at the grocery store. Inevitably, someone will offend you and your values. If you cannot handle that without losing control of your emotions and reverting back to your “safe space” away from the harmful words of others, then you’re best to just stay put at home. Remember, though: if people in the outside world scare you, people on the internet will downright terrify you. It’s probably best to just accept these harsh realities of life and go out into the world prepared to confront them wherever they may be waiting.

Nigel Farage Drops Truth Bomb: The Younger Generation Screaming 'Fascist' Have Become the Thing They Loathe the Most

Always eloquent, Britain"s Nigel Farage offers his views on the current state of leftist delirium -- pointing out how the younger generation have been hijacked by an agenda rich education system, indoctrinating them to not only espouse a certain ideology, but to become intolerant to opposing viewpoints. By definition, they"ve become the very thing they"re working so terribly hard to defeat: god damned fascists.

A mindset of intolerance has been normalized amongst the left, promoted by the media, even accepting violence in order to "stomp out" nazis and white supremacists.

The bullshit has to end. They can"t keep getting away with it.

Content originally generated at iBankCoin.com

Only 20% Of Europeans Want Muslim Immigration To Continue, 'Massive' Poll Finds

Submitted by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com,

Nigel Farage made a brief speech in European Parliament on Monday in which he stated:  

“Chatham House, the reputable group, published a massive survey from 10 European states, and only 20% of people want immigration from Muslim countries to continue.”

Here is the Chatham House poll referenced by Farage: What Do Europeans Think About Muslim Immigration?

Chatham House Poll

In our survey, carried out before President Trump’s executive order was announced, respondents were given the following statement: ‘All further migration from mainly Muslim countries should be stopped’. They were then asked to what extent did they agree or disagree with this statement. Overall, across all 10 of the European countries an average of 55% agreed that all further migration from mainly Muslim countries should be stopped, 25% neither agreed nor disagreed and 20% disagreed.

Majorities in all but two of the ten states agreed, ranging from 71% in Poland, 65% in Austria, 53% in Germany and 51% in Italy to 47% in the United Kingdom and 41% in Spain. In no country did the percentage that disagreed surpass 32%.

To state things more precisely, 55% are against further immigration, 20% disagree, and 25% appear to have some reservations with the statement, most likely in reference to the word “all”.

Had Chatham worded the question slightly differently, it’s possible nearly all of those in the “neither” category may have agreed, and some of those in the “disagree” category may have switched.

Interestingly, Poland is most against migration. Once again, had the question been worded just a bit differently, I suspect Poland would have topped the 90% mark easily.

Socio-Demographic Difference

Degree Holders and Millennials 

Those with degrees and the millennials aged 18-29 stood apart from the rest.

Is this a case of the liberal elite plus the naive youth against everyone else? If so, isn’t that precisely what happened in Brexit?

Also take a good look France in the first chart. 61% want to stop all further immigration and only 16% disagree.

Let that sink in.

As I have stated before, mainstream media, the polls, and the liberal elite are seriously underestimating eurosceptic candidate Marine le Pen’s chances of winning the next French election.

What Theresa May Told Republicans Before Her Meeting With Trump Tomorrow

Ahead of her meeting with Trump tomorrow, British Prime Minister Theresa May joked that "opposites attract" and called on the US President to renew the "special relationship" between Britain and the United States and lead in a new, changed world. In the United States for what will be Trump"s first meeting with a foreign leader since he took office last week, May signaled a shift in foreign policy, bringing her position more in line with that of Trump.

Following a disparaging statement from the French Finance Minister earlier in the day, in which Michel Sapin said that “Madame May can go see whoever she wants. I understand she goes to see the new U.S. president given the history between the U.S. and the U.K" and added that "she is not going there to negotiate," because allegedly "neither she nor Mister Trump are in a position to negotiate", May decided to prove him wrong, and urged the US and UK and their leaders to stand united and confront new challenges, including the rise of economies in Asia that people fear could "eclipse the West," the threat of Islamic extremism and a resurgent Russia.

"So we - our two countries together - have a responsibility to lead. Because when others step up as we step back, it is bad for America, for Britain and the world," May told members of Republican Party at their retreat in a speech often punctuated by applause from an enthusiastic crowd.

"This cannot mean a return to the failed policies of the past. The days of Britain and America intervening in sovereign countries in an attempt to remake the world in our own image are over. But nor can we afford to stand idly by."

Following her speech, UKIP"s Nigel Farage tweeted that "I can hardly believe Mrs May"s words about our place in the world and with America. I"ve wanted all of these things for years"  and added that the PM said "things that I could only ever have dreamt that a British Prime Minister would say."

I can hardly believe Mrs May"s words about our place in the world and with America. I"ve wanted all of these things for years.

— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) January 26, 2017

Some of the key points touched upon by May in her speech as summarized by Axios:

• The U.S. and U.K. are at the start of crafting a great trade agreement, but that the new deal must serve both national interests. (This can"t happen until after Britain official leaves the EU.)


• U.S. and U.K. should stop intervening in other countries to try to "remake the world in our image."


• On working with Trump, she said, "Haven"t you ever noticed, sometimes opposites attract?" She added she would challenge Trump on issues like torture.


• When it comes to Putin, May"s advice was "to engage, but beware."


• She said "there is nothing inevitable about conflict between Russia and the west," and that the countries should work to make "cooperation more likely than conflict."


• She is pushing for major reform of multinational organizations to better serve the nations that formed them. She added, "The most important institution is and should always be the nationstate."


• NATO should be "as equipped to fight cyber warfare" as it is to fight conventional warfare.


• U.S. and U.K. should work together to fight the "evil ideology" of "extremist Islamism

Of note, as Reuters points out, is her break with the interventionism that launched wars in Iraq and Afghanistan underscores a change in global politics. It also fits with Trump"s move to put "America first" and scores well with voters in Britain whose feeling of being left behind by globalization helped fuel Britain"s vote to leave the EU last year that propelled May to power. Aware that Brexit will shape her legacy, May welcomed her early visit to the United States, a boost to her attempts to show that Britain can prosper outside the European Union despite criticism at home for cozying up to Trump.

On her U.S.-bound flight, May concentrated on similarities with the U.S. leader, who some reporters suggested had a style in stark contrast to her more cautious, restrained approach. "Haven"t you ever noticed ... sometimes opposites attract?" she answered with a laugh

The biggest open issue, however, is trade, and the desire of both nations to eventually sign mutually beneficial bilateral contracts.

Eager to win favor - and a trade deal - with the new U.S. president to bolster her hand in the divorce talks with the European Union, May said both countries shared many values and that, contrary to his statements that NATO was "obsolete," Trump had told her he was committed to the U.S.-led military alliance. May said she supported Trump"s "reform agenda" to make NATO and the United Nations "more relevant and purposeful than they are today," and "many of the priorities your government has laid out for America"s engagement with the world."

But there may be sticking points in Friday"s talks - May said she condemned the use of torture and would stick to UK policy, suggesting Britain may not accept intelligence that could have come from such methods that Trump could reintroduce. "We condemn torture and my view on that won"t change – whether I"m talking to you or talking to the president," she said when asked what impact it would have if Trump brought back a CIA program for holding terrorism suspects in secret prisons.

May will have navigate the middle ground carefully, wary of being criticized as too pro-Trump or alternatively as too negative toward a future trading partner.

But the take home message is that any gain for the UK and US, is a loss for Europe, which would prefer to see the UK in a position of weakness, and May knows this well. She has threatened to walk away from the EU if she fails to get a good deal, and some critics say that could give other countries, like the United States, the upper hand in any talks.

And the EU might not take kindly to any overly friendly overtures to a president some of the bloc"s main leaders have voiced concern about. Some kind of trade agreement, though, is high on her list of priorities, despite Britain and the United States being at odds over genetically modified organisms, meat production and public procurement and May unable to sign deals until after Brexit.

May says she will launch the divorce talks by the end of March by triggering Article 50 of the EU"s Lisbon Treaty, which gives up to two years to negotiate an exit deal. Only then can she agree with third countries. Both leaders should use the time to find areas where they could remove trade barriers, May said.

What tomorrow will boil down to? "We"re both very clear that we want a trade deal."

For those who missed it, May"s full Philly speech is below

May Is Just A Pawn - Trump's Real Target Is Merkel

Submitted by Saxo Bank"s Martin O"Rourke via TradingFloor.com,

• UK prime minister Theresa May flies to US for meeting with Donald Trump Friday


• May hoping she can use the talks as leverage in UK"s Brexit negotiations


• Trump likes to cut his deals on one-to-one basis making UK an ideal first meeting


• Already shown he is gunning for EU "head" Angela Merkel in incendiary interview


• Brexit-bound UK a useful tool in battle against supranational organisations like EU


• Desperate May unlikely to get a deal anywhere close to her hoped-for terms


• Trump could look to send clear message to Merkel and, down the line, China

READ MORE ON OUR PAGE DEDICATED TO THE TRUMP PRESIDENCY

It"s hard to escape the feeling that Theresa May would much rather be dealing with the likes of former secretary of state John Kerry than president Donald Trump.

Three months ago, we published a piece on TradingFloor speculating on 10 potential scenarios that could arise from a Donald Trump presidential election victory including a final point that UK prime minister Theresa May and German chancellor Angela Merkel would keep their distance if Trump emerged victorious.

The point was flippant, of course. This is, after all, the president of the US we are talking about here and May, true to form, flies into Washington for high-level talks this Friday which will no doubt solidify the "special relationship" that exists between the US and the UK.

Or not, as the case most probably will be. The UK is in a better position than many of its neighbours on the continent to come to some sort of accord with Trump given its decision to exit the European Union last June, but to extrapolate that London is in pole position for an advantageous trade deal is an enormous leap in logic.

Nature of the beast

Such a premise fundamentally misunderstands the nature of the beast May confronts on Friday.

The president has been unambiguously clear as to how he goes about business. He prefers to deal on a one-to-one basis so that he can back the other party into a corner and get exactly the type of deal he wants. As part of that process, he will drive home any advantage probably also ruthlessly exploiting the breaking news this weekend of a nuclear test that went horribly wrong for the UK last summer and unintentionally sent an unarmed Trident missile towards the US mainland.

The bully-boy tactics of the schoolyard chime precisely with his "America First" inauguration speech and Britain"s isolation from its European partners as a consequence of the June 23 decision to go-it-alone, makes it an absolutely ideal target for Trump to flex muscles in the first week of his presidency. For Trump, it will be less a case of looking for chinks in the armour and more a search for armour among the chinks given the UK"s relatively fragile guard.

Of course, the usual banalities regarding the "special relationship" and the prospects for a trade deal (a pointless soundbite that London can"t even begin to act on until the negotiations on an exit are completed by mid-2019 at the earliest) will almost certainly ensue.

Trump will probably point to his Scottish ancestry as a symbol of the bond between Washington and London (much to the chagrin of the Scottish nationalists), May will push out a message about the frank and useful discussions between the two and the illusion of a mutually beneficial meeting will be cocooned to be forever trotted out whenever required.

A Trump ancestry website will surely get the Glenfinnan Railway Viaduct on board.

The reality is likely to be something different. May will get concessions from Trump who is neither anti-trade nor even particularly anti-globalisation, but any concessions she wins will be totally in the context of Trump"s coming battle with the European Union.

Absolute solutions

A clear and consistent cornerstone of Trump"s foreign policy throughout the campaign, and it seems since his victory, is an absolute antipathy towards supranationalism. Trump believes in the nation state absolutely. Already he"s taken the US out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership potentially handing Asia to China on a plate, railed against "obsolete" Nato and, once he got it clear in his head on what the implications of Brexit actually were, became a cheerleader for the cause forming an unlikely bond with UKIP leader Nigel Farage in the process.

Trump prefers the one-on-one negotiation. He stated that absolutely in his book, The Art of the deal, and he would much prefer to see disunion in Europe so that he can take on the continent not as a single entity, but in its individual components where he can extricate the kind of deal he wants to America"s absolute advantage.

Absolute, you"ve probably guessed, is the operative word here. Normally, and this is where he is likely to prove incredibly damaging to globalisation, such a negotiation will be premised on zero-sum strategies. An "I win, you lose" strategy in effect.

In that context, Trump"s real target in Europe looks to be Angela Merkel, the German chancellor. Merkel, whether she likes to be perceived this way or not, is unambiguously the leader of the EU and that"s certainly how he sees her. In interview with The Times and Bild last week, he made his position abundantly clear.

"I"ve had great respect for her, I felt she was a great, great leader," the president said, using the past tense. He then went on to attack her by proxy slating BMW for building a plant in Mexico and then lambasting Merkel for a "catastrophic mistake" in opening Germany"s borders to 1.5 million immigrants.

Intriguingly, he has no intention as of yet of meeting Merkel before the G7 summit in May.

A wholesome, traditional view of Germany probably appeals more to Trump than the multi-cultural, modern state it has become.

The pivot to Moscow might also be seen in this context. Trump swerved questions at his January 11 press conference on Russian interference in the election process and has mooted the possibility of a trade deal with Russia on several occasions, which would fatally undermine EU sanctions on the back of the invasion of the Ukraine.

Neither May nor Merkel are fools and behind the scenes, the two will probably have put out feelers to each other on dealing with Trump. May stated this weekend she will pursue a free-trade agenda with the president and steer him away from protectionism and the longer-term threat of currency wars, hoping to exploit some of the fissures that already seem to be apparent within Trump"s team.

Where they differ and where May might seek to leverage any common ground with Trump will play out through the Brexit negotiations. But the reality is that the two European leaders will probably have more uniting than dividing them, given what Europe can expect from Trump.

Merkel will listen intently to what May has to say on her return and, despite their obvious differences, are likely to find their Trump position aligned. But, in the manner of a warm-up bout, the May/Trump summit is the appetiser for the more serious battle ahead between Merkel and Trump.

Merkel knows it, May probably knows it and Trump is already sketching it out in his mind.

Meanwhile, the confrontation with China — played out in part last week over a globalisation spat between China"s president Xi Jinping and the new secretary of trade Wilbur Ross — remains the big one. When that comes, it will be seismic.

A president with whom Angela Merkel probably felt more comfortable.

Trump To Meet With UK Prime Minister, As May Denies Her Brexit Plans Are "Muddled"

While Trump has yet engage the social network on Sunday, in his last tweet on Saturday evening, President-elect Donald Trump said he would will meet with U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May in the spring as the British leader seeks to rejuvenate ties with the US after a frosty start to their relationship and expand the UK"s relationship with the U.S. after her country withdraws from the European Union.

“I look very much forward to meeting Prime Minister Theresa May in Washington in the Spring. Britain, a longtime U.S. ally, is very special!” Trump said.

I look very much forward to meeting Prime Minister Theresa May in Washington in the Spring. Britain, a longtime U.S. ally, is very special!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 8, 2017

May, who has spoken to Trump twice by phone, is seeking to build bridges after she and her predecessor David Cameron made critical comments about him before his election. As Bloomberg notes, May sent her two most senior aides on a secret trip to the U.S. in mid-December to meet members of his team and said she wants to develop links between the two countries.

“The special relationship we have with the United States is an important relationship in terms of security and stability around the world,” May said in an interview Sunday on Sky News. “The conversations I’ve had, I think we’re going to look to build on that relationship for the benefit of both the United States and the U.K. and I think that’s something that’s optimistic and positive for the U.K. for the future.”

As Bloomberg adds, May is seeking to recover lost ground after she was outflanked by her political rival Nigel Farage, the former U.K. Independence Party leader, who met Trump within days of his victory in November. She rejected Trump’s controversial suggestion that Farage should be made U.K. ambassador in Washington. In December 2015, May, then Britain’s home secretary, criticized Trump’s proposed ban on Muslims entering the U.S. as “divisive, unhelpful and wrong.”

Fiona Hill and Nick Timothy, the premier’s joint chiefs of staff who traveled to Washington last month, also had to build bridges of their own. Before they took up posts in May’s new government in July, Timothy said on Twitter that he did not want “any ‘reaching out’ to Trump,” while Hill tweeted: “Donald Trump is a chump.”

The urgency to "build trans-Atlantic bridges" and expand trade with the US, is predicated by the UK"s somewhat tempestuous fallout with its former European partners. May stressed the importance she places on building links with the new White House as the U.K. seeks to expand trade with the U.S. after it withdraws from the European Union.

More from Bloomberg"

U.K. officials are said to be concerned by their poor links with the incoming U.S. administration as Britain develops post-Brexit plans. There are signs Trump, who has a Scottish mother, may be a willing partner. Whereas Obama said Britain would be “at the back of the queue” to secure a post-Brexit trade deal with the U.S., Trump told Farage Britain would be “at the front.”

During the Sky News interview, May was asked to comment on a recording of Trump from 2005 in which he said he likes to grab women “by the pussy.” She replied that the words used were “unacceptable,” though said that Trump has since apologized for using them.

“I think that’s unacceptable, but in fact Donald Trump himself has said that and has apologized for it,” May said in response. “But the relationship that the U.K. has with the U.S. is about something much bigger than just the relationship between the two individuals as president and prime minister. It’s a relationship where actually in the U.K. we feel we can say to the U.S. if we disagree with something that they are doing.”

Meanwhile, going back to the Sky News interview, Theresa May who has faced increasing attacks about the Brexit process, denied the government’s plan to exit the European Union is “muddled,” saying she’ll unveil details of her strategy in the coming weeks. May said no plan for Brexit was drawn up by her predecessor David Cameron and she needed to assess the situation and work out the correct way to act once Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty is invoked by the end of March, starting two years of divorce talks.

Theresa May interviewed on Jan 8

“There hadn’t been any plans made for Brexit so it was important for us to take some time to look at the issues, look at the complexity of the issues,” May said Sunday in an interview with Sky News. “Our thinking on this isn’t muddled,” she said, “I will be setting out some more details in coming weeks as we look ahead to triggering Article 50.”

May defended herself against an allegation by Ivan Rogers, Britain’s envoy to the EU who quit last week, that her government lacks an effective strategy for leaving the bloc. She said a deal will have to include control over Britain’s borders, which other EU leaders have said will be a bar for giving the U.K. access to Europe’s single market in goods and services.

"I hope you will continue to challenge ill-founded arguments and muddled thinking and that you will never be afraid to speak the truth to those in power,” Rogers wrote in a resignation note to colleagues. “The government will only achieve the best for the country if it harnesses the best experience we have.”

Asked about the tradeoff between single-market membership and free movement of people, which will be at the heart of the negotiations, May said Sunday it will be about “getting the right relationship, not about keeping bits of membership.” “We are leaving. We are coming out. We are not going to be a member of the EU any longer, so the question is what is the right relationship for the U.K. to have with the European Union when we are outside,” she said. “We will be able to have control of our borders, control of our laws, but we still want the best possible deal for U.K. companies to be able to trade in and within the EU and European companies to operate and trade in the U.K.”

Steve Baker, who leads a grouping of about 60 Euroskeptic lawmakers from May’s Conservative Party, said the premier’s comments were “great news for the U.K.”

“This is welcome clarification of a sensible position by the prime minister,” Baker said in an e-mail. “The best outcome for the U.K. is an ambitious trade deal plus control of our laws, trade policy and borders.”

Despite repeated threats the UK economy would founder following Brexit, it continues to perform admirably, the FTSE100 index keeps rising to record highs, and on Friday the Bank of England"s Andy Haldane made the stark admission that the BOE had cried wolf ahead of Brexit, leading to further loss of credibility:

As the Telegraph reported, the Bank of England has admitted its dire warnings of a downturn in the wake of the Brexit vote were a “Michael Fish” moment and said that the economics profession was now in “crisis”.

Andy Haldane, the Bank of England’s chief economist, said there was a “disconnect” between political warnings about Brexit and the “remarkably placid” state of the markets, adding that the worst predictions may turn out to be “just scare stories”.

He made the concession as new figures suggested Britain was the fastest growing of all advanced economies last year after the services sector defied gloomy forecasts to hit a 17-month high.

"The People Made Their Choice" - Theresa May Vows To Deliver "Full" EU Exit Despite Court Challenge

In the aftermath of last week"s surprising decision by a UK High Court to force a parliamentary vote on Article 50, a hard - or even soft - Brexit suddenly has been put in question, having thrown the government"s plans to launch a two-year divorce process by the end of March into disarray, and sending the Pound soaring. So in her first public statement since the vote, British Prime Minister Theresa May, writing in the Sunday Telegraph, said she is confident of overturning the ruling and vowed that she would deliver a full exit from the European Union, hitting back at critics of her Brexit strategy who have threatened to try to block the process in parliament.

In her op-ed, May signaled she would resist any attempt to force her to change her approach to leaving the EU:

"The people made their choice, and did so decisively. It is the responsibility of the government to get on with the job and to carry out their instruction in full," May wrote. She said members of parliament who regretted the referendum result "need to accept what the people decided".

May"s government, which has provided little detail about its plans for Britain"s future relationship with the EU, has said that having to set out a detailed negotiating strategy to parliament would put it at a disadvantage in the talks. "While others seek to tie our negotiating hands, the Government will get on with the job of delivering the decision of the British people," May said in a separate statement ahead of a trade visit to India on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the head of Britain"s opposition Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, said in a newspaper interview that he would try to block the commencement of divorce talks with the EU if the government does not agree to his Brexit demands.

Adding to the confusion, arch-eurosceptic and the man who led the UKIP"s successful Brexit campaign, Nigel Farage said there was a growing movement to keep Britain within the EU"s tariff-free single market - a scenario he called a "half-Brexit" that went against the referendum result.

"If the people in this country think that they"re going to be cheated, they"re going to be betrayed, then we will see political anger the likes of which none of us in our lifetimes have ever witnessed in this country," he told the BBC.  Echoing commentary from Deutsche Bank, Farage also told ITV that Theresa May should call an early general election to avoid a "betrayal" of the public over Brexit, Nigel Farage has told Good Morning Britain.

According to Reuters, parliament could in theory block Brexit because most members supported staying in the EU in June"s referendum. But many lawmakers have signalled they would be willing to reverse their position to reflect the referendum result. "I think it is highly unlikely that parliament would not, in the end, back a decision to trigger Article 50," health minister Jeremy Hunt told the BBC, referring to the EU treaty mechanism for launching divorce proceedings.

However, in welcome news for pound bulls, last week"s court ruling could allow lawmakers to temper the government"s approach, however, making a "hard Brexit" - where tight controls on immigration are prioritised over remaining in the single market - less likely.

Corbyn also told the Sunday Mirror that Labour"s "Brexit bottom line" would require guarantees for access to the single market for exporters, continued protection of workers" rights, safeguards for consumers and the environment, and pledges that Britain would make up any loss of EU capital investment. He said he would welcome an early national election if May refused to meet his demands. But the next one is not due until 2020, and the government has so far resisted pressure to dissolve parliament and seek a stronger mandate.

"I think a general election is frankly the last thing that the government wants .. It"s the last thing that the British people want," Hunt said.

A government appeal against the High Court ruling is expected to be considered by Britain"s Supreme Court early next month. May has said she still plans to invoke Article 50 by the end of March.

"We need to turn our minds to how we get the best outcome for our country," she said in the statement issued by her office. "That means sticking to our plan and timetable, getting on with the work of developing our negotiating strategy and not putting all our cards on the table – that is not in our national interest and it won’t help us get the best deal for Britain."

And as the UK political chaos has returned, adding another variable for investors to contemplate in the coming months, the next big risk event on Europe"s horizon is the December 4 Italian referendum on amending the Italian Constitution, which according to journalist Alessandra Quattrocchi, will be primarily a moment of truth for Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.

She said that the referendum would be more about revealing the level of public support for Renzi, than about the constitutional reform itself. Many people will vote “No” because “they hope to oust Renzi from our government,” she said, adding that sending a message to Renzi is “the main reason why they are against it.”

So as a major page of political uncertainty closes in the US with Tuesday"s presidential election, it is set to once again reopen in Europe.