Letter to the I: Corbyn's Foreign Policy

Sir Michael Fallon's branding of Corbyn a "pacifist" was a clumsy attack that allowed Corbyn to side step explaining the worrying contradictions in his foreign policy world view.  Corbyn has waxed lyrical about the alleged folly of intervening in Iraq and Syria against IS or the Assad regime.  Yet he has completely ignored the fact that not only has Iraq officially requested our help, in Syria a lack of intervention on our part has not stopped the Russians taking advantage of the situation.  Talking about acting through the UN to bring about peace in Syria is as good as advocating for doing nothing given the Russian veto on meaningful action.  What Corbyn should be asked is how far would he go to save many lives if there were no easy options?

Regards

Zachary Barker

Letter to the I: Nationalism

Patrick Cockburn's article discussing English nationalism asked some interesting questions.  I would say it is inaccurate to state that the political left don't really like nationalism since our country is home to three notably left leaning nationalist parties; Sinn Fein, the Scottish National Party and Plaid Cymru.  These parties follow the 18th century concept of nationalism as a progressive movement calling for the building of a better future rather than for the return of a legendary past.  The main roadblock we face to this noble concept is that this country is fixated on the past to the point of obsession.

Regards

Zachary Barker

Letter to the I: Prince Philip Letter

I am very grateful to this newspaper for being courageous enough in it's journalistic integrity to devote a whole 3 paragraphs of critical coverage about Prince Philip's retirement.  To balance it out it was accompanied by nearly four pages of coverage taking the opposite stance, and even hailed Prince Philip as a conservationist, despite his history of posing with endangered species he has shot as trophies.  This coverage proves that the cult of self censorship in reporting on the British Royal Family is still disturbingly alive within the British media.

Regards

Zachary Barker

Bristol

Letter to the I: Theresa May Letter

I am not impressed with PM Theresa May's boast that she can be a "bloody difficult woman" and likely nor are her European negotiating partners.  Both her and Boris have played the heated rhetoric game to little effect.  Instead she could try to outflank her opponents by emphasising the case for a clan break that allows for the continuity of cooperation on mutually beneficial matters.  This wisdom comes from the alien ultra-capitalist civilisation from Star Trek; the Ferengi Alliance.  Number 76 of their Rules of Acquisition state "Every once in a while, declare peace.  It confuses the hell out of your enemies".

Regards

Zachary Barker

Letter to the I: Anti Islamic State Fighters

I was outraged to hear that the government has decided to prosecute the British anti-Islamic State fighter Josh Walker under counter-terrorism laws.  What outrages me more is how some British public commentators backs how the government has been treating him, claiming that he is just as bad an Islamic State fighter.  Josh went to Syria to help the Kurds fight to protect their lives and their freedom.  Islamic State fighters fight only to take away the lives and the freedoms of those who do not fit into their world view.  We should be supporting those who risk their lives in the cause of freedom, instead of arresting them.  Mr Walker deserves a medal, not a cell.

Regards

Zac Barker

Letter to the I: Macron Letter

Ian Birrell's article comparing French Presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron with the UK Labour Party provided much food for thought.  Corbyn's Labour Party has a worrying parallel to the French Front National by presenting a mostly negative view of globalisation.  Tony Blair had the right idea in emphasising the overwhelming net benefits in embracing a globalised economy while using the state to empower people enough to deal with its challenges.  Corbyn's attention meanwhile focuses too much on Labour interest groups such as jobs in industry and public sector workers, while Theresa May largely ignores either sectors.  The future lies in a vision that sees the big picture of the British economy though the eyes of all workers and not just interest groups.

Regards

Zac Barker

Letter to the I: Boris Letter

It was always a terrible idea to have a buffoonish opportunist like Boris Johnson be our Foreign Secretary.  He had the perfect chance to outline how Jeremy Corbyn's concept of British foreign policy is a threat to our country and blew it with name calling and bluster.  Jeremy Corbyn wants to live in a world governed by international law, but does not admit that it sometimes takes the use of force to uphold it.  Also for ideological reasons he rejects NATO which is not only the most successful military alliance in existence, but owes it's existence to one of our finest Foreign Secretaries in our history; Labour's Ernest Bevin.

Zac Barker

Bristol