Are they nudging us to war

Anyone who understands how societies are manipulated, nudged towards certain opinions and actions, should be concerned. Two stories in quick succession have me wondering if we’re being primed for a war with Russia.

The first, on Monday, was an Exclusive report by Deborah Haynes on Sky News, revealing “A senior US general has privately told Defence Secretary Ben Wallace the British Army is no longer regarded as a top-level fighting force”. Years of cuts have degraded our ability to defend ourselves on the world stage, specifically “the growing security threat posed by Vladimir Putin’s Russia”.

Sky News
The Guardian

Direction established, a related story today nudges us ever-so-slightly towards the idea of a war with Russia.

Dan Sabbath reports in The Guardian, the outgoing general of the British army, Sir Patrick Sanders, due to retire in July, has warned the “people of the UK are part of a “prewar generation” who must be prepared to fight a major war against Vladimir Putin’s increasingly aggressive Russia”.

I might be wrong, this could just be a strategy, a distraction, to divert attention away from our failing government, anticipating the imminent general election, but two stories in quick succession, hinting at and nudging us towards war with Russia feels, well prescient?

The Westminster Accounts

Sky News and Tortoise Media have created an extensive record of financial interests in Westminster since December 2019, when the current parliament was formed.

Sky News

Sky and Tortoise have gleefully focused on individual MPs who “accepted thousands of pounds in donations without knowing the source of the funds”.

As shocking as all that is, the thing that jumps out at me, are the amounts of money each party receives, and where those donations come from.

Since 2019 The Conservative Party have raked in a staggering £76 million in donations. More than double The Labour Party’s £32.4 million. Which is more than double the The Liberal Democrats’ £15.1 million. Think about this for a second, the Conservatives received over £24 million more than all the other opposition parties combined, combined! That’s a stark financial illustration of the fight for power in the United Kingdom. It’s like Ukraine fighting Russia without the support of the United States or Europe.

The other thing that interests me is where this money comes from. When Unite the Union donates £8.8 million to The Labour Party, they’re using the money they got from their 1.4 million members. That’s 1.4 million people given a voice by Labour. In that same period JC Bamford (JCB) gave The Conservative Party £3.3 million. That’s one person’s interests, Anthony Bamford, given a voice by the Conservatives.

Please don’t try and tell me donations don’t buy influence. Why would anyone give money if it didn’t benefit them one way or the other? I’m not talking corruption, bungs, manila envelopes under the table, although I’m certain that happens. I’m talking funding those who align with your interests. I know that’s a really obvious thing to say, but it’s never framed that way if and when it’s reported.

This same pattern plays out when you look at all party donations. Very wealth individuals donate to the Conservatives, while unions with millions of members donate to Labour.

One party represents the voice of millions, the other just a few.