This is not just that old joke about how many Tories does it take to change a lightbulb? (Answer: none – they prefer gas lighting). This is about the private industry who, they actually tell us, that by paying their taxes create the money to pay for ‘our’ NHS. Mr Gove said on Marr: “Make… Read more
Category:
European Union
Is Nye Bevan right?
So the Australia type deal that Britain will flourish under, according to Johnson, is a trade deal that, in fact, Australia is trying to actually improve in the already existing trade talks with the EU, where both sides have agreed that: The discussions confirmed a shared commitment to rules-based trade as well as to helping… Read more
The satire in how far we have come…
This, in the video below, is what the Brexiters originally told us. All of it has turned out to be lies: And yet this (below) is what Thatcher – rightly – said in the Tory Conference in Blackpool of 1971: It is true that she later got frustrated with the EU – but few haven’t… Read more
They learn Orwell newspeak in the Cabinet Office
So what was sold as getting rid of red tape is now actually “growing the customs sector”. The Tory Cabinet Office is crowing about increasing bureaucracy and about increasing the number of bureaucrats. What we were told was a cost has now, miraculously, been transformed into a benefit… In the phrase of the disconsulate civil… Read more
Frictionless trade for the future?
Oh dear – the Conservatives’ ‘easiest trade deal in history’ has turned out to be a little more difficult. We can of course, export but will the regulations allow us to export as a previous PM used to say – “without friction”? As anyone who knows about trade deals – friction is the word. Reducing… Read more
The French will have to build a wall …
If Brexit in fact is actually happening – and so far it seems it is – then unsurprisingly, its spirit is gradually dying of its own contradictions. Immigration is just one area when taking back control means actually relying on the co-operation of the er, French. True we already rely on French co-operation, but that… Read more
Your aeroplane, Prime Minister
So this is the £980k paint job painted on to an Airbus A330, which as I understand it is assembled in France, fitted out in Spain and powered by Rolls Royce engines – a pretty good example of European cooperation in fact! And it seems likely that all the British wing assembly will not survive… Read more
Will the UK go Rogue on Northern Ireland?
Introduction As we have left the EU, the “trivial” task of negotiating the Withdrawal Agreement (WA) is done. It is now a legally binding international treaty, including the Irish Protocol. We now move onto the far more complex future relationship talks. It always seemed impossible that the talks could be concluded successfully within the 10-month… Read more
A Fond Farewell to the UK from an EU27 Citizen? Part IV – class, racism and militarisation
Introduction In part I, I discussed origins, in part II three obvious differences between the UK and Ireland and in part III three differences which were less obvious. The final three, discussed in this post are ones whose power I had underestimated and thought were declining. The Royal Family, Class and Accents Racism and the… Read more
A Fond Farewell to the UK from an EU27 Citizen? Part III – politics, history and greatness
Introduction In part I, I discussed origins and in part II of this series three obvious differences between the UK and Ireland, which ultimately made Brexit more likely. The next three took longer to process: Political Culture and Structures Empire, WWII and Fake History Big vs. Small Country Syndrome First: Politically Ireland had a very… Read more