I’ve recently been pondering what happens next in Britain’s attempt to Brexit. The summer, when Theresa May looked like she had most things in hand, is now very much behind us. But at the time of writing we are still no clearer what sort of Brexit the UK government wants,...
When, in a couple of years, we look back at the car crash that was the Brexit referendum and its aftermath, 4th September 2016 ought to stand out as the day when the post-referendum problems really started. Theresa May, we better not forget, had a relatively calm summer. The Tories...
This is a sequel to the post “12 ways to make it look like Brexit has happened“ So my tongue in cheek post about ways to make it look like Brexit has happened turned out to be a huge success. Newspapers Tabloids have even repeated some of the ideas! But...
2017 is election year in France. Le Pen is stealing votes from the traditional republican right and Nicolas Sarkozy, never one to shy away from stealing ideas to the right of him, thinks that he’s on to something to promise to tear up the Le Touquet agreement between the UK...
A sequel to this post is now available! “12 MORE ways to make it look like Brexit has happened“ It’s now two months since the UK’s EU referendum, but all has gone rather quiet on the Brexit front. The British voted for Brexit, not only has it not happened, but...
I’ve never voted Conservative and, considering that I am a lefty, the chances I ever am going to do so are pretty damned slim. That means I have been on the losing side in many elections I’ve voted in, most recently in 2015 (yes, I live in Germany, but I...
In amongst the Brexiteer rants on Twitter in response to my post about why Brexit will not happen, there was one long and thoughtful response. I’ve reproduced each point here as quotes, and then replied to each – that I think makes the response more coherent to read. 1. I...
This blog entry is going to be like a red rag to a bull to some people. The focus, as readers who persevere beyond this first paragraph will see, is on the practicalities of why Brexit will not happen, not on whether Brexit is right or wrong, or what sort...
Brexit, and the economic and political consequences of it, is serious. So why then has the UK appointed its least serious front line politician, Boris Johnson, as its Foreign Minister? (backed up by the little better Davis, Fox and Leadsom) That’s the question that politicians and journalists across the EU...
It has just been announced that Prime Minister May has appointed Boris Johnson as Foreign Minister. Reactions are not positive – see Mike Smithson, Gareth Harding, David Rennie, Antonia Mochan, Jeremy Cliffe. And I agree it’s going to look awful and indeed be awful. Johnson was already a laughing stock...
Bernd Hüttemann earlier pointed out to me that the mood section of the Facebook app for iOS has a mood “in favour of leaving the EU” but none in favour of remain. I scarcely believed it! But now I have checked and it is true. I am using an iPhone...
The deadline to add people to the electoral register has passed. The campaign is entering its final straight. Those of us caught up with the debate about the referendum see an end in sight after months of spending dozens of hours thinking and writing about nothing else. But up to...