The Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, gave Donald Trump a gift of a model nuclear submarine with golden plates and finishes, internal documents reveal, during his visit to the White House last year which sealed the president's support for the Aukus pact.

The prime minister also presented the US first lady, Melania Trump, with a A$3,000 Paspaley pearl pendant.

Trump is a bully, a narcissist and a liar. Despite this our Prime Minister shamefully ingratiated himself in order to curry favour and was one of the first European leaders to sign up to a trade deal.

“Starmer praises Trump for trade deal that is ‘truly historic’.” (Metro: 08/05/25)

Starmer’s naivety knows no bounds.   When will he learn that would be dictators don’t do favours unless it benefits them?

He was not alone in his gullibility.

The Independent had this gushing headline:

“Starmer praised as UK outshines EU in Trump trade talks.” (04/04/25)

On top of this, Trump himself heaped praise on Starmer calling him a “great negotiator” and a  "great diplomat", assuring him the UK was “very well protected from tariffs”.

Hooray! The special relationship was alive  and well and working in Britain’s favour.

In return for a 25% tariff on steel, a 10% tariff on aluminium and a 25% tariff on automobiles and auto parts ( most tariffs averaged 2-3% before Trump) Starmer  agreed to allow more American beef into the country, thereby threatening British farmers, and he wilfully  sacrificed homegrown bioethanol production, allowing US bioethanol in at prices British companies cannot compete with. In addition, he offered Trump the opportunity to make an unprecedented second state visit to the UK with full honours. Clever Mr Starmer!

Starmer has been basking in the glory of this “historic trade deal" ever since. Well, up until today that is.  This is the headline from the Daily Express:

“Donald Trump sneakily slaps UK with tariffs on hundreds of products  - up to 25%.”  (24/08/25)

In a move described by UK industry leaders as “blindsiding,” President Donald Trump has stealthily expanded 25% tariffs to cover 400 additional categories of UK goods, ranging from washing machines to aluminium-packaged shampoos and babyfood. Industry leaders have described these unexpected tariffs as “a complete surprise" and “very damaging" to British industry.

Sharon Van Etten - "Sychophant"

Brooklyn singer/songwriter Sharon Van Etten displayed so much songwriting talent and musical ambition on her latest LP Tramp that it's almost not even surprising that she has released such an abundance of great bonus material from those sessions. I imagine this is what it must have been like when Weezer released Pinkerton in 1996; the album was incredible, and every b-side and rarity they put out that year was equally terrific. Sharon Van Etten's recent b-sides "Mike McDermott" and "Life of His Own" were nearly as good as anything on the new record, and with the addition of more non-album tracks in the brand new deluxe edition of Tramp that Jagjaguwar is releasing soon, Van Etten continues to drop stellar material.

"Sychophant" is one of the tracks packaged in with the deluxe edition of Tramp, and it continues down the electronic rabbit hole that Van Etten began flirting with on tracks like "Mike McDermott." Structurally, the minor key dirge should be familiar to any fans of Van Etten's work, but the ominous synths and reverberant programmed beats convey her trademark despair in an exciting new manner. Featuring Thom Yorke-reminiscent male backing vocals, the chill-inducing chorus is a particularly highlight; 

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