Last night was an absolute nail-biter as Labour swept into power -in fact it wasn’t that exciting, since Labour’s win has been a foregone conclusion for months at this point. Of the 650 seats in Parliament, Labour took 412 leaving the Conservatives with only 121 seats, which is the fewest number of seats they’ve had in history. However, underneath the surface, this victory is not as straightforward as it seems. While the labour party has a huge majority in parliament, he only received about 34% of the popular vote. To put that in perspective, Jeremy Cornyn, the labour leader who was wiped out in the 2019 election by Boris Johnson, received 40% of the popular votes. Because of the electoral system, those votes did not turn into seats in Parliament. Worse still, Kier Starmer (the labour leader) has one of the lowest approval ratings of any prime minister entering office in history. It seems like the public are more against the conservatives than they are pro Labour. While the headline story of the night was a labour landslide, another landmark moment was the election of Nigel Farage to Parliament. Nigel Farage was one of the original architects of the Brexit campaign to leave the EU. His Party, called Reform UK won 5 seats - while at first this may seem minor, he actually received more votes than the Liberal Democrats who won 71 seats in parliament. Once again, because of the electoral system, this did not translate into seats in parliament. But they have demonstrated huge national momentum that consolidates the Brexit vote in the UK. Reform UK and the conservative party together got 38% of the vote share, showing that the right is still a major force in the UK, despite the electoral wipeout. Why is this important? It shows that four years after Brexit, even though the economy is far from perfect and the cost of living is high, there are still vast swathes of the British public who remained determined in their resolve to leave the European Union. So divisive was the issue, that Labour (who are full of remainers)  chose to keep the prospect of closer ties with Europe out of their manifesto. Kier Starmer, a remainer himself, has been silent on the issue, since expressing pro-europeans opinions would likely have cost him votes to reform. Even the Lib Dems who have fiercely campaigned for a second referendum set EU membership as a goal for the longer term, and kick the can down the road rather than making it an issue of the campaign. Even though the British people are tired of the conservatives, Brexit is here to stay. 

For example, the BBC had an article called “Why are so few politicians talking about Brexit?”. In the article, they said the following: “Both the Conservative and Labour parties have judged it to be against their interests to go strong on the issue. They believe people have made up their minds about it. Brexit dredges up divisions within their parties and alienates some voters, whatever the candidates say. Labour has chosen to avoid a fight with Tories about Brexit. It's done, says the party, and it's pragmatic to accept that. Labour is against re-joining the European Union, the single market or the customs union”. Even when the UK has made a huge swing to the left, Brexit remains a constant factor, regardless of whether Labour or conservatives are in power. It seems hat Nigel Farage’s party, although on the right of British politics, also took votes from many labour candidates, meaning that Kier Starmer is unlikely to suddenly become more radical in his pro-europeans views even after the election with the unpleasant prospect of Nigel Farage snapping at his heals. It looks like Britain is consolidating its position outside of Catholic Europe, as the Tarshish power of the latter days. 

The French Election 

Contrary to the UK’s swing to left, the story of the French elections is a swing to the right. France elects a president on the national level as the head of state for a five year term, directly by the citizens. The French parliament has two chambers. The national assembly has members elected for a five year term whereas the Senate has 348 members election for six years terms. Macron, who will be the president until 2027, called snap parliamentary elections. The first round of voting was held a few weeks ago and the second round will be held this Sunday. The outcome of the vote, following the second round on July 7 and a hasty campaign, remains highly uncertain as three major political blocs are competing: the right-wing National Rally, President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist alliance, and the New Popular Front coalition that includes center-left, greens and hard-left forces. The National Rally’s lead in the polls and the first round, means that their leader, Marine La Pen has a good shot at the being elected as the President of France in 2027. Politico had this to say: “The National Rally’s strong performance also opens the possibility that Le Pen — who has campaigned on distancing herself from NATO and the EU and pledged better relations with Russia — could finally make a successful run for president in 2027, sending a shockwave across the Western world”. CNN also reported this today: “As Ukraine bleeds territory to Russia, support from one of Kyiv’s strongest backers looks set to falter if the far right sweep to power in Sunday’s French parliamentary elections”. Ezekiel 38 implies a situation where Israel’s enemies span the territory of Russia and Europe - called Rosh, Magog and Gomer in Ezekiel 38. Similarly, Daniel 2, a parallel prophecy, speaks of a time when the Kingdom of Men will stand upon its feet in the latter days against Israel. When it does, it will unite the two ancient territories of the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium) and the Western Roman Empire (today, the land mass of the EU).  The religious and cultural legacy of the eastern roman empire can today be found in Russia - namely St Petersburg and Moscow. (For example, Moscow is sometimes called the “third Rome”. We expect to see a closening of ties between Russia and Europe - whether this is by war or diplomatic means remains unclear. However, it is certainly interesting that there are elements of the EU that may lean towards Russia. 

The US Election 

Finally, although the US presidential election is not until November, last week the first Debate between President Biden and Donald Trump took place. By all accounts, it was a total disaster for Joe Biden as his frailty and age was impossible to hide in front of millions of people across the world. The fact that Joe Biden’s age was becoming problematic has been something clear for months. However, anyone who talked about this a few weeks ago would was labelled by the mainstream media as peddling far-right conspiracy theories and being duped by ‘cheap fakes’. For example this was the response taken by many media outlets following Biden’s old-age wandering around during the D-Day commemorations or at a fundraiser, when Obama had to lead him off the stage as if Biden was in a home for the elderly. The Washington Post said things like he was “taking in an applauding crowd for a few moments”. Another example is how CNN flat out lying about  Biden’s frailty can be seen just a few weeks ago. Describing an interview Biden had conducted they said: "In the interview, Biden speaks at length and fluently, easily recalling in-depth details about his vice presidency, family life and lore. He digresses into discussing his power as a eulogist, waxes lyrical about his beloved Delaware and even seems to be trying to sell Hur on the merits of his administration’s foreign policy. While it may be a disappointment for Republicans looking for a smoking gun, the transcript will be a goldmine for future historians. The president comes across as helpful and sometimes like the windy old politician who knows how to filibuster like only a long-time senator can.” This is a joke! Its not news, this is out and out propaganda. Just a glance back to news articles over the past months will show the way that the mainstream media have been involved in covering up the aging president and his worsening frailty. With propaganda like that, is it so hard to believe that the left leaning legacy media have also worked to misrepresent conflict in Israel and Gaza, in order to promote antisemitism? Seeing the way they cover Joe Biden is an eye-opening reminder of how the legacy media work represent left-wing, antisemitic talking points when it comes to Israel. They are not a credible source for information, particularly when it comes to the Jewish people. It is not just Christadelphians who are talking about this - the reason for the rise of long-form podcasts and using twitter or telegram as a news source stems from a fundamental mistrust in the mainstream media. The unwarranted, favourable coverage Joe Biden has received until the dam broke during the debate is unprecedented. If the mainstream media is so willing to cover up the frailty of the president, to help hinder Trump’s re-election effort, who knows what they might say about Israel? They have been major contributors to the spirit of antisemitism that we have seen growing in the last year.
Join us again next week for another edition of Bible in the News. This has been Daniel Blackburn joining you.