There is a theory that the world’s politicians are relying upon at present, which is that “Trump always chickens out”. The logic is that a President who loves to threaten, and who rarely delivers because he changes his mind before any deadline is reached, will not, as he threatened on Saturday,...

A realistic analysis. Murphy’s conclusion:

What happens next? I do not know. I do know there are lessons to be learned.

The first is that we must not allow fascism.

The second is that the USA and Israel must now be treated as the pariah states they are. They are not our allies. They are, in a very real sense, because of the threats that they pose to our well-being, our enemies. The toxic politics they both represent have to be openly and directly rejected.

Thirdly, the warning has been given, and it is that we need to prepare for a world without oil and gas. We have known this for a long time. We have done nothing about it. The moment to transition to a sustainable world has arrived. Whatever happens, we have no choice but to do that now.

Fourthly, we also have to reimagine how we live. The excess that has characterised some aspects of life for many in the West is not sustainable. This, too, is something that we have known for a long time. Now is the time to embrace that fact.

The only options we are now being given are to make these transitions in a disaster situation or through careful planning.