14 December 2017 Keep Calm And Carry On Davis puts his foot in it. By John Watson Blab, blab, blab, blab. The ink was hardly dry on Mrs May’s agreement with the EU Commission on the three preliminary issues (the Divorce Settlement, the status of EU nationals already resident in the UK, and the Irish… Continue reading Issue 133: 2017 12 14: Keep Calm And Carry On (John Watson)
Tag: EU
Issue 132: 2017 12 07: Time For Reform (John Watson)
07 December 2017 Time For Reform It isn’t just Brexit. By John Watson Which is the precedent? The US in 1775 or Britain in 1536? Will the current period go down in British history as the start of a trip towards independence from Europe, or as the beginning of a social revolution? Both of them,… Continue reading Issue 132: 2017 12 07: Time For Reform (John Watson)
Issue 130: 2017 11 23: Ace Reporter (Chin Chin)
23 November 2017 Ace Reporter! Chin Chin turns to politics By Chin Chin Phew, the Shaw Sheet published my article last week. That is a big relief. Unfortunately though, my career as an investigative journalist has suffered a setback. You see a crucial part of the “Panorama method” is confrontation, hassling the victims so that… Continue reading Issue 130: 2017 11 23: Ace Reporter (Chin Chin)
Issue 127: 2017 11 02: A Long Time In Politics (John Watson)
02 November 2017 A Long Time In Politics Keeping the real issues at the top. By John Watson A well-worn quotation it may be, but there is a good reason for that. Prime Minister Harold MacMillan’s reply to the question of what he most feared, “Events, dear boy, events,” sums up the position of every… Continue reading Issue 127: 2017 11 02: A Long Time In Politics (John Watson)
Issue 126: 2017 10 26: Could Brexit Save Twinning? (Lynda Goetz)
26 October 2017 Could Brexit Save Twinning? A new raison d’etre. By Lynda Goetz Portsall is a picturesque Brittany village. If the name means anything to you at all it may be because it was just off the coast here that the Amoco Cadiz went down in March 1978 spilling 220,000 tonnes of oil which… Continue reading Issue 126: 2017 10 26: Could Brexit Save Twinning? (Lynda Goetz)
Issue 126:2017 10 26: News Highlights
26 October 2017 A Lens On The Week UK BREXIT: Something somewhere seems to be moving but what it is and in which direction it is really very hard to say. The rumour mill whirls in Brussels. Did Mrs May plead with Juncker for help over the dinner table or didn’t she? If she did,… Continue reading Issue 126:2017 10 26: News Highlights
Issue 125: 2017 10 19: Week in Brief: UK
19 October 2017 Week In Brief: UK NEWS Brexit THE EU POSITION: Currently the parties are at something of an impasse. On the one hand the UK Government is not willing (and indeed is politically unable) to improve on the offer made by Mrs May in Florence to fund our share of the current cycle of… Continue reading Issue 125: 2017 10 19: Week in Brief: UK
Issue 125: 2017 10 19: A Hard Brexit (John Watson)
19 October 2017 A Hard Brexit Why we need the figures. By John Watson It was always inevitable that at some stage we would have to make preparations for a “no deal” Brexit, and at long last the Government seems to be focusing on the possibility. And so they should, you might think. What is… Continue reading Issue 125: 2017 10 19: A Hard Brexit (John Watson)
Issue 124: 2017 10 12: Week In Brief: UK
12 October 2017 Week in Brief: UK Brexit EU NEGOTIATIONS: The failure by the EU to react constructively to the proposals in Mrs May’s Florence speech has changed the emphasis of the government’s approach. Mrs May’s position is that the ball is now in the Brussels court and that we are not prepared to offer more money… Continue reading Issue 124: 2017 10 12: Week In Brief: UK
Issue 124: 2017 10 12: A Sense Of Belonging (Lynda Goetz)
12 October 2017 A Sense Of Belonging A primal need. By Lynda Goetz I happened by chance to listen to part of a programme on Radio 4 this morning on the choral history of Britain. In it, the British baritone and composer Roderick Williams OBE was exploring the way music used to be much more… Continue reading Issue 124: 2017 10 12: A Sense Of Belonging (Lynda Goetz)
Issue 123: 2017 10 05: Referendum in Catalonia (John Watson)
05 October 2017 Referendum in Catalonia How does the upsurge in separatism affect the EU? By John Watson It is a pattern we have all seen before. The authorities are challenged by those who want independence. They overreact. Their brutality feeds the very movement they seek to repress. Remember Dyer at Amritsar in 1919; remember… Continue reading Issue 123: 2017 10 05: Referendum in Catalonia (John Watson)
Issue 122:2017 09 28;Kicking the can down the street (John Watson)
28 September 2017 Kicking The Can Down The Street What are the two years for? By John Watson Two years more? Just what will it achieve? That is the question which Mrs May will be asked about her proposal in Florence that there should be a two-year transitional period after Brexit in which nothing much… Continue reading Issue 122:2017 09 28;Kicking the can down the street (John Watson)
Issue 122: 2017 09 28: Week in Brief: UK
28 September 2017 Week in Brief: UK Brexit MAY IN FLORENCE: In a speech on Friday, the Prime Minister proposed a two-year transition period which would, in effect, put off much of Brexit until 2021. During that period Britain would no longer have any representation at EU level but would continue to participate in the… Continue reading Issue 122: 2017 09 28: Week in Brief: UK
