Governments are being dominated by Right-wing leaders, with the USA influencing the global shift in power, writes Davey Heller.
BRITAIN NOW HAS the most far-Right Government in its history with the ascension of Boris Johnson to Prime Minister. Johnson is the epitome of a Monty Python, upper-class twit but with more than a touch of thuggish bully. The UK press has given Johnson the moniker “BoJo” which is frighteningly similar to the moniker given to our very own far-Right ScoMo.
However, the similarities between Morrison and Johnson’s rise to the top go a lot further — both are part of a drive to install far-Right governments to advance the interests of U.S. imperialism. In both cases, the Murdoch press played a significant role in destabilising their predecessors.
Just prior to the parliamentary coup against Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull, former top Trump aide, Breitbart editor and key far-Right figure Stephen Bannon stated in reference to China:
“I think Turnbull has been way too much of an appeaser and I think that’s not going to turn out well.”
Johnson represents only the corrupt, right wing, tax avoiding, parasites who exploit the rest of us for their own gain. He is everything that is wrong with Britain made flesh.
— Patrick Harvey (@Patrick61716828) August 6, 2019
Boris Johnson is the last person young Britons would vote for | Lara Spirit https://t.co/nkhTH5hSrI
It didn’t turn out well for Turnbull. In contrast to the frosty treatment given to him, including the verbal bollocking he received in his first phone call with Trump over accepting refugees from Nauru and Manus, ScoMo has been given the red carpet treatment, attending a dinner with Trump at the G20 followed by an invite to Washington for a State dinner.
As for Murdoch, Turnbull blamed “outside forces in the media” for destabilising his leadership in his farewell speech in a clear reference to Murdoch’s Newscorp. Murdoch’s promotion of the far Right arises from a convergence of his worldview and his business interests. Murdoch shares the desire of most billionaires to be free of pesky regulations restricting him from investing in whatever he wants and the requirement to pay tax — an agenda that matches the far Right's free market extremism.
Whilst the U.S. administration supported the elevation of Morrison to ensure Australia remains in lockstep with the drive against China, it supported Brexit to divide and weaken the EU. Plans to develop a standing EU army dominated by Germany threaten U.S. hegemony and hence the designated status of their European allies as U.S. junior partners. Trump also hopes that a post-EU Britain will open its economy up to U.S. corporations. During his recent visit to the UK, Trump controversially admitted that everything including the NHS was “on the table” in future negotiations.
The support of the fascist section of the U.S. ruling class for Brexit is long-standing. Steve Bannon has secretly advised Boris Johnson since 2017 and his links with Nigel Farage and the UK far Right go back to 2012. In 2013, Bannon and his financial backer, U.S. hedge fund billionaire Robert Mercer, partnered with a UK defense contractor Strategic Communication Laboratories (SCL). Mercer invested $15 million to form the new company Cambridge Analytica.
Cambridge Analytica and another Mercer associated company, Aggregate IQ, used their scientific skills to send millions of targeted ads on Facebook to help Farrage’s UKIP Party and Leave.EU win the Brexit referendum and in the process re-energise UK far-Right and fascist politics.
Cambridge Analytica controversially resurfaced when it harvested information from 80 million Facebook accounts to again send targeted ads to those identified as most likely to vote for Trump in the 2016 election.
The history of the obscure defence contractor SCL, the parent company of Cambridge Analytica, is instructive. Since 1990, it claims it has been hired to intervene in elections in the developing world. However, through Cambridge Analytica and with the funding of Mercer, these “skills” were now being put to use at home in the UK and U.S.
Murdoch also has long supported Brexit. His flagship tabloid The Sun bellowed ‘Independence Day — Britain's resurgence’ on the day of the Brexit referendum. His papers turned on Theresa May as she struggled to negotiate the UK’s exit strategy. Murdoch is close to Farage, hiring him to appear on his U.S. Fox News.
Journalist Anthony Hilton claims Murdoch explained he was so opposed to the EU because:
“When I go into Downing Street they do what I say; when I go to Brussels they take no notice.”
The ascension of the far-Right ScoMo and BoJo is presented as arising from an organic “populist” Right-wing movement. However, this hides the network of far-Right billionaires and state-connected political operatives co-ordinating globally to advance fascist and far-Right governments and their agenda. Brexit in 2015, Trump in 2016, Morrison in 2018 and now Johnson in 2019 are the fruition of long-standing plans.
"Is Boris Johnson's Cabinet the Most Anti-Climate Action Ever?
— S Smith #StopEcocide #NHSLove 💙 #JC4PM2019 (@Justice30) July 31, 2019
...UK now finds itself governed by a collection of some of the UK’s most right-wing politicians, some of which have promoted climate science denial..."
🆘️ #ClimateEmergency 🆘️https://t.co/odjJ9r6x8O
Each one of these developments is connected and mutually reinforcing. Brexit lay the groundwork for Trump. Trump was retweeting “Britain First” Islamophobic tweets during his campaign. Farage was the first “foreign leader” to greet him at Trump Towers after his election. In the background are the likes of Mercer, Bannon and Murdoch using their money and networks to advance the project or “The Movement” as Bannon has coined the global drive to install far-Right governments. Money flows from U.S. foundations like the Mercer-funded Gatestone Institute or the Middle East Forum (MEF) to support the brownshirts in the UK “Free Tommy Robinson” campaign.
Even under Obama, the far Right was supported in Eastern Europe to hem in Russia (Ukraine) and in Asia to hem in China (India). Trump himself was promoted as part of this drive, but his Government is now accelerating the process. The same strategy is now being used by the U.S. in Brazil and Venezuela. The process is part of preparations for the return of “great power conflict”, the ruling class’s euphemism for a planned WW3. British Imperialism’s 19th-century machinations were known as the “Great Game” and one can again sense chess pieces being put into place.
Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky predicted in 1928 that:
‘In the period of crisis the hegemony of the United States will operate more completely, more openly, and more ruthlessly than in the period of boom.’
This is what we are witnessing in Trump’s threats to unleash nuclear “fire and fury” and the sparking of a trade war. A faction of the U.S. ruling class has decided the answer to the connected crisis of a struggling economy and rising social inequality domestically and declining power abroad is fascism. They are now attempting to reorganise the world to achieve this goal.
“Do or Die”: Boris Johnson kicks off reign with pledge to murder British economy — The new British Prime Minister, aka Britain’s Trump, is charging toward a no-deal Brexit that would send shock waves through the global economy.https://t.co/KERdw64nok
— Alfons López Tena #FBPE (@alfonslopeztena) July 27, 2019
Davey Heller is a writer and campaigner. You can follow him on @socialist_davey.
#Trump of #UK?
— Press TV (@PressTV) July 29, 2019
People Put @realDonaldTrump And #BorisJohnson Side By Side, And The Resemblance Is Uncanny!#BorisJohnsonPM #DonaldTrump
Image credit: BenSteill, sdobmoriel, JohnRug81 pic.twitter.com/fVRBtYXJne
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