The ‘Andrew’ affair rumbles on in the media after the extraordinary event of the last few days but now a more sober analysis is awaiting the nation. It is becoming painfully clear that the examination of Andrew’s affairs may take weeks or even months, not least because some records will have to be requested from the FBI in America and they are having enough troubles of their own. Even after evidence has been collected, there is still the difficult decision for the Crown Prosecution Service whether this will stand up in a court case which itself may be months away. I would not be surprised if despite the one email that indicates that Andrew shared information with Epstein whether this meets the bar for ‘Misconduct in Public Office’. The one development overnight is that the Government has let it be known that as soon as the police have done their work that they are considering legislation to remove Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor from his position as ninth in succession to the throne. Such a move would meet with a lot of public support with a recent opinion poll indicating that some 80% of the public would agree to such a move – of course, it is highly symbolic rather than practical but expresses the feelings of outrage in the population as a whole. On the subject of investigations taking a long time, it is now evident that the FBI are sitting on a mountain of evidence and it will require a gargantuan amount of effort to sift through it all. Recent investigations and the release of documents from the Jeffrey Epstein files have confirmed that the convicted sex offender utilised a widespread, discreet, and often hidden, network of recording devices to monitor his properties, with evidence suggesting he recorded himself with victims. Analysis by Channel 4 News has identified emails within the latest Epstein files that suggest that the mountain of information released by the US Department of Justice could amount to just a fraction of the total – potentially just 2% of the information that the FBI retrieved from Epstein’s homes. We have multiple examples of hard drives and computers stuffed full of images as it appeared that Epstein secretly recorded many of the perpetrators of the sex crimes, no doubt as an instrument of blackmail and, perversely, often included himself in such footage. Of course, all Epstein would have to do is to let it be known to the rich and powerful to whom he provided under-age girls for sex that he had records of their encounters and the mere threat of exposure might be sufficient for many to cough up millions of dollars in Epstein’s direction. Only after the Congressional elections will there be the political will to devote the massive amount of resources needed to sift and evaluate all of this evidence and, at some point, even after a change in government even the Democrats may say that ‘enough is enough’ several years down the line. Meanwhile, Donald Trump has reacted with fury to the fact that the Supreme Court voted 6:3 that his tariffs were unconstitutional and is fulminating to the effect that he is going to find other ways of imposing a 15% tariff on almost everybody. Also, the question arises as to how the American consumers who have had to pay higher prices since the imposition of tariffs can be compensated (and the answer, knowing the Trump regime, is that they will not be) As a diversionary tactic, Trump is threatening military action against the Iranians but the UK government is so far resisting the call to assist the US military in their efforts although I would not be surprising if refuelling facilities were not offered to the Americans.
Yesterday morning was somewhat out of the ordinary as well. The last time I was in the Methodist Centre, I noticed amongst the various leaflets on display one headed ‘Bereaved’ and inviting people along to a meeting on the first and the third Saturday of each month. So I decided to give this a go imagining that might be half a dozen attendees but instead found myself in a large group of about sixty people (nearly all elderly female) An illustrated talk was to be given by a local historian on the subject of ‘Plague, Pestilence and Pox’ and evidently this is why the audience was so large. When I first arrived, I chatted with someone I knew who used to attend my local church but who helps out with dispensing tea and coffee one day a week in the Methodist Centre. So, this talk took the best part of an hour and I new realise is one of a series of events that are organised on alternate Saturday mornings, The next one in a fortnight’s time is just labelled ‘DVD’ so this could be anything really. When I got home, I reheated something prepared a week or so ago and popped into the freezer and then settled down to watch the England vs. Ireland 6 Nations rugby match. I thought that the outcome of this match might be a little difficult to call and that England might want to prove a point after their defeat at the hands of the Scots last week. But the Irish comprehensively defeated England in every single department of the game and the final score of 42:21 indicated the highest number of points that Ireland had every scored at Twickenham as well as the largest margin of victory. The match that follows this is Scotland vs. Wales and I dare say that my sympathies will be with the Welsh as they are so much the underdogs and are in danger of losing every one of their matches in this season’s competition.
After his defeat in the US Supreme Court yesterday, Trump has responded with a show of petulant fury slapping a 15% tariff on every nation (i.e. the rest of the world) trading with America. This is almost certainly illegal but Trump has scant respect for any legal niceties that he seems to brush away as through they were irritating cobwebs. It is probably the case that this action of tariffs will slow World Trade and will only invite reciprocal tariffs all round but Trump is convinced that only by imposing tariffs can he ‘save’ America. Trump is renowned for his economic illiteracy in any case and a general imposition of tariffs all around benefits none of us in the long term.