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: John Watson
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 131: 2017 11 30: Low Productivity (John Watson)
30 November 2017 Low Productivity A price paid for virtue? By John Watson For all the cautious common sense behind Mr Hammond’s measures, as he doled out a billion here and a billion there to serve as sticking plaster for the nation’s problems, they could only achieve so much in the face of the forecast… Continue reading Issue 131: 2017 11 30: Low Productivity (John Watson)
Issue 130: 2017 11 23: Keeping Our Balance (John Watson)
23 November 2017 Keeping Our Balance Sexual predators. By John Watson Mirrors are the harbingers of self-doubt. To shave effectively in the morning you need to concentrate very carefully on the image which confronts you. How easy it is to fall, by way perhaps of a short narcissistic reverie, into a critical examination of the… Continue reading Issue 130: 2017 11 23: Keeping Our Balance (John Watson)
Issue 129: 2017 11 16: The Tesco Advertisement (John Watson)
16 November 2017 The Tesco Advertisement What are immigrants invited to join? By John Watson It is all rather surprising. When I heard that Tesco were being attacked on Twitter over the inclusion of Muslim families in their Christmas advertisement, I not unnaturally supposed that it was the work of Islamic fundamentalists. Some North London… Continue reading Issue 129: 2017 11 16: The Tesco Advertisement (John Watson)
Issue 128: 2017 11 09: Tick The Box (John Watson)
09 November 2017 Tick The Box A system for the simple. By John Watson It is always illuminating to read the Shaw Sheet’s “Diary of a Corbynista” and last week’s column was no exception. One of the areas on which it cast light was the NHS tracker which tells you how your local hospital has… Continue reading Issue 128: 2017 11 09: Tick The Box (John Watson)
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: The Christian Anchor (John Watson)
26 October 2017 The Christian Anchor The Race Disparity Audit underlines its importance. By John Watson It is the word “worthy”, I suppose. It should be so inspiring, redolent as it is with themes of good intentions and stout endeavour. But it isn’t, is it? Describe the cooking at a restaurant as “worthy” and most… Continue reading Issue 126: 2017 10 26: The Christian Anchor (John Watson)
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: Mrs May’s Speech (John Watson)
12 October 2017 Mrs May’s Speech A look at the substance. By John Watson “I am no orator, as Brutus is.” So spake Shakespeare’s Mark Anthony, before proving, of course, that he was a very good orator indeed. Mrs May could use the same words with more justification. She is no natural on the podium and… Continue reading Issue 124: 2017 10 12: Mrs May’s Speech (John Watson)
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 121: 2017 09 21: The Accursed (John Watson)
21 September 2017 The Accursed Child pornography addiction. By John Watson Can there be a sadder story than that of the Australian politician Rachel Carling-Jenkins who discovered that her husband was addicted to child pornography? She reported the matter to the police and is now haunted by the images she saw on his computer. Her… Continue reading Issue 121: 2017 09 21: The Accursed (John Watson)
