John Major, in this interview with Andrew Marr a few weeks before the Brexit Referendum in 2016, has been proven right in every respect. Brexit has proved a disaster.
Category: News and politics
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“Brexit is a Colossal Mistake”
There are still a few wise Tories, but unfortunately they ain’t in the shower in power at the moment…
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Fireside Chats We Could Do Without
Thank heavens that Michael Spicer is on hand to pull aside the curtain.
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The Brexit Effect – the Facts
I see that the Financial Times has at last weighed in with a film on the effects (mostly malign) of Brexit on the UK Economy. Well worth watching – but depressing as hell as an example of seeing a country indulging in an act of self-harm…
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UK Government in Chaos
Turmoil in the UK Parliament. Matt Green sums it up very well and exaggerates the situation only slightly.
Now that Truss has resigned after only 44 days as PM, the competition is on to find her replacement. Frankly, none of the candidates give me much hope, and I see that the appalling Johnson is likely to throw his hat into the ring. Be afraid, be very afraid…
Addendum: and Michael Spicer illustrates just how hopeless Truss was…
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When Rude Gestures Are Appropriate
Apparently, the ex-Chancellor of the UK was somewhat upset to (allegedly) receive a “rude gesture” from an estate agent in his home constituency.
Personally, I think he thoroughly deserved it… He tanked the UK economy with his “mini-budget” and caused a tsunami of problems in the property market.
And let us not forget that he went to a champagne reception with venture capitalists as soon as he had delivered the “mini-budget”.
I’m somewhat surprised that he hasn’t been pelted with something by now…
Of course, he is not alone in causing this disaster. There will be more Brexit chickens coming home to roost before too long, I think…
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A Fine Elegy
Elizabeth Windsor has died. Whilst I am no fan of the Monarchy, she served the country well. Jonathan Freedland has penned a fine elegy.
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Out Of The Frying Pan…
So Liz Truss has been anointed by a small bunch of elderly, well-off, white men as the next Prime Minister of the UK. The silver lining is that at least the disgraceful Boris Johnson no longer holds that office, after having consummately trashed its reputation.
The citizens of the UK, I fear, cannot afford to breathe a collective sigh of relief with the coming of Truss. If she puts into practice what she has promised with her views on economic policy, we are likely to see things in the UK getting worse, rather than better.
William Davies, in the Guardian, has a good analysis of the flaws in Trussonomics. He appears to hope that Truss will recant, but my fear is that she believes her ideology to the extent that it will not just destroy her, but the country as well. Beware the true believer.
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Brexit: An Update
A parade of shits, charlatans and shysters (hat-tip to John Crace for this all too accurate description of this bunch of idiots who have irreparably damaged the UK).
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The Room Next Door
The Boris Johnson Farewell Special is a work of genius – Boris, sadly, is not. And he’s still around…
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Good Riddance to Bad Rubbish
So Boris Johnson has finally decided to resign. As usual, even in his resignation speech, he blamed others for his manifest failings.
And even now, he wants to stay in office until the Autumn, until a new party leader is found. No thought of handing over the reins of power to his deputy. Given that the deputy is Dominic Raab, one might be forgiven for thinking that we would see little improvement in that eventuality.
Indeed, looking at the rest of the current government, there seems little hope that things will improve for the UK.
Still, at least the UK will eventually have got rid of their worst Prime Minister in living memory. Rachel Clarke sums up the legacy of this loathsome man very accurately.
Addendum 8 July 2022: I watched his resignation speech yesterday. I got as far as him uttering the words: “…I felt it was my job, my duty…” before turning off in disgust. Johnson never had, nor ever will have, a sense of duty, except to himself and his ego. The Guardian has a good analysis of what he said, and what he actually meant.
Addendum #2 8 July 2022: Marina Hyde in the Guardian is on fire. The second sentence sets the tone and the bar high, and it gets only better from then on…
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How Very Convenient
Marina, I worship at thy feet…
“I couldn’t believe it when Prince Andrew announced he had Covid and therefore would not be attending today’s service at St Paul’s. That was the exact same excuse I was going to use to get out of writing a column on a bank holiday, but then I remembered that I’d had it in January, and also haven’t just paid £12m to an accuser in a sexual assault case. So here we are. And, indeed, here the Duke of York is not.”
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jun/03/kardashian-prince-harry-andrew-jubilee-royalsI remain a republican – and am with First Dog on the Moon on this one…
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Mordant Mordaunt Myths
The continuing spew of disingenuous claims from British Ministers moves me to despair. Latest is Trade Policy Minister Penny Mordaunt trying to pull the wool over our eyes by describing the recent Memorandum of Understanding with the state of Indiana as the beginning of the path to a Free Trade Agreement with the US Federal government.
As Chris Grey points out, this is just wishful thinking and yet another example of Brexit newspeak.
And, as he says, Mordaunt also refers to the US as “our biggest trading partner”, when in fact that is the EU single market. Really, when are the UK public going to wake up to the fact that Brexit has been an absolute disaster on so many levels?
I’ll leave you with Matt Green, channelling Rees-Mogg. This is hardly satire any more – it’s too close to reality…
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Entirely Coincidental…
The headline from John Crace’s column in yesterday’s Guardian reads:
Any correlation between the truth and what Liz Truss said was entirely coincidental
Never a truer word was spoken. Let’s see, Boris Johnson declared the Brexit agreement an “Oven-Ready Deal” and signed it. Now he and his cohorts want to renege on the agreement and break International law. How anyone in their right mind can trust anything that this bunch of lying incompetents say is quite beyond me.
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We Told You So
Chris Grey is on form as always in his Brexit Blog. This week he turns his attention to Boris Johnson, and Johnson’s debasing of the parliamentary system. Not that Johnson is alone in this, his entire cabinet resembles a fish that has rotted from the head down – and is about as useful.
I particularly liked Grey’s comment that
It is, as ever, worth recalling that Johnson and Brexit are as inseparable as a dog and its vomit. Yet even if the Prime Minister ends up being toppled by Partygate that will only remove the dog from the metaphor.
The damage that Brexit continues to do to the UK carries on, as do the lies told by the Brexiters, with William Rees-Mogg leading the pack.
Also on top form as usual is Matt Green. Here’s his party political broadcast on behalf of the Conservative Party. Never a truer word was spoken.
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Anne Frank as Vlogger?
A modern-day Anne Frank. Hopefully she will not suffer the same fate.
Fuck Putin and his regime.
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Knighthoods – On A Slippery Slope?
I see that Tony Blair has got a Knighthood bestowed on him in the New Year’s Honour’s List. Some are questioning this, given his actions in taking the UK into the Iraq war in 2003. It’s a fair point.
I note that the Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle has defended the appointment by saying:
“Whatever people might think, it is one of the toughest jobs in the world,” the Speaker said, “and I think it is respectful and it is the right thing to do, whether it is Sir David Cameron. They should all be offered that knighthood when they finish as prime minister.”
Really? Irrespective of how good or bad they were in office? Can we now look forward to seeing the ennobled Sir Boris in a few years time? My irony meter has just exploded.
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Brexit as Greek Tragedy
I’m currently about halfway through Chris Grey’s magisterial flensing of Brexit in his book: Brexit Unfolded.
He takes us through the events of the five years since the fateful referendum, recording who said what, and whether what was said made any sense, either at the time or since. Disingenuousness, or downright deception, particularly from the Brexiteers, reaches stratospheric levels time and time again.
I remain convinced that leaving the Single Market and ending Freedom of Movement for citizens was a huge mistake, one that began with the fluttering of Cameron’s butterfly wings and his ill-judged referendum, and that has ended with the ongoing catastrophe that is Brexit.
I’ve been following Chris Grey’s Brexit Blog for some time, where he does a weekly analysis of the current events related to Brexit. This book is, in large part, a distillation of the contents of his blog, and is eminently readable, if depressing in its message.
Highly recommended.
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