The UK Is Not Sending Us The Best People
Rock On, London!
A friendly reminder that Rant! is a reader-supported publication. Thank you for making this newsletter possible!
ALEX’S WEEKLY RANT
For a short week, it was really long with a lot going on. So I don’t have a super insightful, important Rant! this week (although, I think we can all agree, most of my observations are brilliant). I’ll keep it short.
Turns out, Monday—Memorial Day in America—was also a holiday in London, where I happened to be. I spent the afternoon in one of the city’s oldest pubs, drinking a pint and eating a meat pie (English cuisine has terrible names. Don’t even get me started on Spotted Dick). Absolutely no one could explain to me why the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, had just called snap elections, making me feel a little better for not understanding it myself. But one theme kept coming up: that maybe Sunak didn’t actually want to be prime minister, and was more interested in financial opportunities in the United States.
I don’t know if this is true, and I’m not a huge UK political watcher, but that the notion even arose was striking to me. Sunak is married to an heiress; their combined wealth is around $800 million. Most of that, though, is hers. Her father, in turn, is worth about $4 billion. The picture a number of people painted for me was of a large family gathering where Sunak, the prime minister of the United Kingdom, was the least relevant person at the table. That true power comes from money.
It seems a sign of our times.
Separately, no one I spoke to wanted to keep Nigel Farage. For those who don’t know, Farage was a politician for years and was instrumental in the Brexit vote. He is now a broadcaster on GB News, similar to Fox or OAN. He hangs out with Steve Bannon, which tells you a little more about his character. He announced he will not run for a seat in the upcoming UK election, but rather will focus his energy on helping elect Donald Trump.
Yeah, a British politician wants to spend his time and energy helping elect and American politician. Normal, right?
Or maybe it has something to do with that Steve Bannon connection and the rise of a global far-right, but what do I know?
One thing I know: people don’t understand how ambassadorships work. A number of outlets that wrote about Farage coming to America said Trump maybe was planning to make Farage UK ambassador to the US. Except, that isn’t up to the American president, even one who thinks he is king. The UK gets to pick its ambassador to the US. This is like when Wikileaks told Donald Trump Jr. to tell his dad to suggest to Australia to name Julian Assange that country’s ambassador to the United States. Um, no.
Anyway, I’m looking forward to Farage’s adventures in America and being a living example of spotted dick.
THE WEEK’S LINKS
A roundup of things you should be reading
SABOTAGE
As Ukraine war rages, Russia activates sabotage plans in Europe (Al Jazeera)
Six Nato countries plan ‘drone wall’ to defend borders with Russia (FT)
SANCTIONS
EU plots new ways to cut Russia’s cash as sanctions stall (Politico)
ESPIONAGE
Putin hijacked Austria’s spy service. Now he’s going after its government (Politico)
Alex Finley is a former officer of the CIA’s Directorate of Operations, where she served in West Africa and Europe. She writes and teaches about terrorism, disinformation / covert influence, and oligarch yachts. Her writing has appeared in Slate, Reductress, Funny or Die, POLITICO, The Center for Public Integrity, and other publications. She has spoken to the BBC, MSNBC, CNN, C-SPAN’s Washington Journal, France24, and numerous other media outlets. She was also invited once to speak at Harvard, which she now tells everyone within the first ten seconds of meeting them. She is the author of the Victor Caro series, satirical novels about the CIA. Before joining the CIA, Alex was a journalist, covering Capitol Hill, the Pentagon, and the Department of Energy. She reported on issues related to national security, intelligence, and homeland security. Did she mention she was invited to speak at Harvard?
I don't usually stoop to name-calling but around my household that cheesy British politician is called Neil Fromage.
PS: Now that you have seen it you can never unthink it. You're welcome.
Minced comes to mind..