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Corbyn v. Johnson leaders' debate is won by... Labour's Barry Gardiner?

Neil Clark
RT
Sat, 07 Dec 2019 18:10 UTC
corbyn johnson debate
© Reuters / Jeff Overs
Jeremy Corbyn, Boris Johnson and debate moderator Nick Robinson
Both Jeremy Corbyn and Boris Johnson performed satisfactorily at Friday night's UK pre-election leaders' debate, but arguably the winner of the evening was someone who didn't take part.

As leaders' debates go (and I'm not a big fan of this particular US import), it wasn't too bad. The BBC's Nick Robinson chaired it quite fairly and allowed both the Prime Minister and the Opposition leader to finish off their points. It was a far cry from the abysmal ITV 'debate' a few weeks earlier, which had one reaching for the mute button after a few minutes.

As was expected, Boris Johnson kept it simple, very simple in fact, focusing on what he (rightly) regards as Corbyn's and Labour's electoral Achilles heel: namely their support for a second EU referendum, with Remain as an option. One lost count of how many times the Prime Minister said "Get Brexit done" in the programme, or the times he said he still didn't know what Corbyn's position was. If the Tories do win the election, and they're currently very short-priced favourites to do so, then a major reason will be Labour's shift away from their 2017 "we will respect the referendum result" position to their adoption of a second referendum policy. Arguably it wouldn't be so bad if Corbyn had said his party would campaign for the Leave deal - that he said they'd get from the EU - but he didn't. You don't have to be a Tory to ask yourself: How can Labour get a better deal from the EU, if those negotiating it don't want to leave the EU in the first place?
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Newspaper

China imposes reciprocal restrictions on US diplomats, waives some tariffs on food


Strait Times
Fri, 06 Dec 2019 16:30 UTC
china us
© AFP
China's Foreign Ministry said China had notified the US embassy of the new measures on Dec 4.
China said on Friday (Dec 6) it had taken "reciprocal" measures against US diplomats in the country, who will have to notify the Foreign Ministry before meeting local officials.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chunying said China had notified the US embassy of the new measures on Wednesday (Dec 4), which she said were a "countermeasure" to Washington's decision in October to restrict Chinese diplomats.

"We once again urge the US side to correct its mistakes and revoke the relevant rules," she told reporters at a press briefing.

Comment: At the same time China is choosing to waive some trade tariffs including soybeans and sorely needed pork:
Beijing is working to exclude some soybean and pork shipments from its retaliatory tariffs on Washington, China's Finance Ministry has said, citing a decision by the tariff commission.

Chinese firms can file applications to get tariff waivers for US soybean and pork imports, the ministry said in a statement on Friday without elaborating on the quantities. It added that the companies are expected to purchase the goods on the basis of independent negotiations, import as they see fit, and bear the related profits or losses.

Some Chinese companies import a certain amount of goods from the US to cover domestic needs. China is currently facing a big shortage of pork as African swine fever wiped out a huge part of the country's pig livestock.

The simmering trade row between Washington and Beijing has already resulted in import taxes on billions of dollars' worth of goods. China hit US soybean and pork imports with 25-percent tariffs in July 2018 in response to US levies on its goods over alleged unfair trade practices by Beijing.

The two sides are currently working on a 'phase one' or interim deal to ease tensions, and lifting tariffs on each other's goods is one of the key issues at the talks.

President Donald Trump escalated trade tensions earlier this week when he said that the trade deal with China may have to wait until after next year's presidential election in the US.
See also: China stealing Middle East from under America's nose

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Bullseye

Establishment would 'never accept' Russia in NATO, but why would Russia join anyway, even if invited?


RT
Sat, 07 Dec 2019 16:15 UTC
NATO
© Reuters / Yves Herman
FILE PHOTO: Banners fly in front of NATO's Brussels headquarters
What if Russia became part of NATO upon Trump's invite? Sounds unthinkable given the Western elites' mentality, but that's how a German paper sees warming up ties with Moscow - and sends "a signal of despair," analysts told RT.

Never free of discord, relations between Moscow and the North Atlantic bloc are now at their lowest point in decades. Since the 2014 Ukrainian crisis, NATO has singled out Russia as one of its official adversaries, and not a single month passes without reports on NATO making power moves in Eastern Europe - to which Russia responds in kind.

It seems that the animosity will persist for quite a long time - despite some recent attempts by France to defuse tensions and get back on good terms with Russia again.

Comment: See also: Had Putin been Russian president in 1999, Serbia wouldn't have been bombed - President Vucic

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Bullseye

Turkey opted for Russia's S-400 as NATO allies weren't selling similar systems - FM Cavusoglu


RT
Sat, 07 Dec 2019 15:16 UTC
S-400
© Sputnik / RIA Novosti
S-400's launchers
Turkey turned to the Russian-made S-400s as it didn't succeed in getting air-defense systems from its closest NATO allies including the US, France and Italy, its foreign minister explained.

Procuring the S-400s from Moscow has been more of an urgent necessity than a political choice, Turkey's chief diplomat Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Friday at a security conference in Italy.

"Does Turkey need air defense systems?" he asked, receiving an affirmative answer from the panel meeting. "Do we have our own? No. Thank God we've been producing more than 70 percent of [what the military] needs in Turkey and we will continue to that end, but we're still not a self-sufficient country in defense industry, not yet," he continued.

Comment: See also:

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Newspaper

Oil prices struggle as Saudi Aramco plans $25.6 billion share sale in biggest ever IPO

Aya Batrawyd
AP
Sat, 07 Dec 2019 12:05 UTC
Aramco
© AP Photo/Amr Nabil, File
FILE - In this Nov. 3, 2019, file photo, a man walks past a compound for Saudi Aramco in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia's state-owned oil company Aramco on Thursday, Dec. 5, set a share price for its IPO, that puts the value of the company at $1.7 trillion, more than Apple or Microsoft.
Saudi Arabia's state-owned oil company Aramco on Thursday set a share price for its IPO — expected to be the biggest ever — that puts the value of the company at $1.7 trillion, more than Apple or Microsoft.

The company said it will sell its shares at 32 riyals ($8.53) each, putting the overall value of the stake being sold at $25.6 billion. That surpasses IPO record holder Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, the Chinese conglomerate and e-commerce company that raised about $25 billion in 2014.

Aramco, which pumps and produces Saudi Arabia's crude oil to the world, is floating a 1.5% stake in the company, or 3 billion shares. Trading is expected to happen on the Saudi Tadawul stock exchange by mid-December.

Comment: See also:

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Light Saber

China stealing Middle East from under America's nose

Darius Shahtahmasebi
RT
Fri, 06 Dec 2019 14:19 UTC
china dragon saudi
© AFP / FAYEZ NURELDINE
China, the world's second-largest economy, appears to be in the process of carving out a new Middle East plan that will over time erode and chip away at American dominance in the region.

Granted, Washington's influence in the Middle East has been steadily disappearing for some time. It became clear this was the case after the US toppled an anti-Iranian dictator, Saddam Hussein, in Iraq and replaced his government with a pro-Tehran Shia-dominated leadership. However, things really took a turn for the worse some years later in Syria, which saw Russia emerge as a major power whose physical presence could not only prevent a pending US invasion, but could potentially broker lasting peace deals.

It should be no surprise then to see China also willingly filling the void left by a slowly but surely deteriorating superpower. The Middle East Security Forum held in Beijing at the end of November brought together over 200 representatives from both the Middle East and China to discuss Beijing's "new idea" for the Middle East.

Comment: See also:

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Newspaper

Trump says he will NOT declare Mexican cartels terrorists just yet


RT
Fri, 06 Dec 2019 00:00 UTC
US federal police officer
© REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez
A federal police officer keeps watch after the U.S. Attorney General William Barr's convoy arrived at the Mexico's Attorney General Office, in Mexico City, Mexico December 5, 2019.
US President Donald Trump said he will hold off on designating Mexican drug cartels as terrorists at the request of the country's president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, adding that they will "deal decisively" with them together.

Calling Lopez Obrador, known as AMLO, "a man who I like and respect, and has worked so well with us," Trump said that he will "temporarily" hold off on the terrorist designation despite all the necessary work already being completed.

Comment: 21 killed, including police officers, near Texas - Mexico border

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Snakes in Suits

Disabled people 'don't really understand money': Tory candidate heckled after saying they should be paid less than minimum wage


RT
Sat, 07 Dec 2019 11:25 UTC
Tory disabled
© Screenshot
A Tory candidate has been filmed at a hustings event being jeered after claiming those with learning difficulties shouldn't be paid the minimum wage because "it's about the happiness to work."


Comment: One could say the same about many of today's politicians, however, instead: UK MPs award themselves above inflation pay rise - the sixth salary increase in six years.


Sally-Ann Hart, the Conservative parliamentary candidate for Hastings and Rye, was asked by an audience member to defend an article she shared on Facebook titled: 'Why people with learning disabilities should be allowed to work for less than the minimum wage.'

"They should be given the opportunity to work because it's to do with the happiness they have about working... It's about the happiness to work."

Comment: And in case in that video her statement may have been unclear, here's another:

See also:

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UFO

Boris Johnson likens leaked documents showing US in talks about NHS to 'photos of UFOs'

Rob Merrick
Independent
Fri, 06 Dec 2019 07:05 UTC
Boris Johnson

Boris Johnson
Boris Johnson has likened leaked documents showing the US and UK held talks about the NHS after Brexit to faked photos of UFOs.

For the first time, the prime minister appeared to suggest the dossier - which revealed exploratory talks about possible higher medicine prices outside the EU - may have been falsified.

When it was put to him that the dossier proved talks had taken place, he replied: "There are photographs that purport to prove that there are UFOs."

Labour's allegation that the NHS was at risk in the post-Brexit US-UK trade deal that Mr Johnson craves was a "scare story" put out at "every election", Mr Johnson insisted, on ITV's This Morning programme.

The prime minister also tried to deflect growing criticism of his past comments about Muslim women, gay men, single mothers and the working-class as old news.

The general election campaign was "not the time to talk about articles written quite a long time ago", he insisted.

Comment: Corbyn wasn't too impressed either. From RT:
In November, Corbyn produced an unredacted 451-page UK-US post-Brexit trade talks dossier which he said was evidence of not only a "plot against our NHS," but a "plot against our country." He asserted that it proved without doubt that the UK's public healthcare system is on the table in a Tory Brexit deal with President Donald Trump's United States.


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Bad Guys

Trump blasts media's penchant for anonymous tip-offs: 'Sources say' stories are all fake news


RT
Fri, 06 Dec 2019 20:58 UTC
trump oval office white house press corp
© Leah Mills/Reuters
Trump signs bills in the Oval Office, October 23, 2018
US President Donald Trump has fired off another volley of Twitter wisdom in his endless war against 'fake news,' advising people to ignore stories based on information from unnamed sources.

"Do not believe any article or story you read or see that uses 'anonymous sources' having to do with trade or any other subject," Trump tweeted on Friday. "Only accept information if it has an actual living name on it. The Fake News Media makes up many 'sources say' stories. Do not believe them!"
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