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)
Tag: Labour
Issue 115: 2017 07 27: Week in Brief: UK
27 July 2017 Week In Brief: UK Brexit BREXIT NEGOTIATIONS: Last week’s round of talks ended with little agreement. Points at issue include whether EU citizen should be able to bring their families to the UK without restriction, whether the European Court of Justice should have any jurisdiction in the UK, whether the British people… Continue reading Issue 115: 2017 07 27: Week in Brief: UK
Issue 108: 2017 06 08: Following the oracle (John Watson)
08 June 2017 Following The Oracle Has Mrs May misjudged her position? By John Watson Data is all very well but for it to be useful you have to know what it means. A failure to interpret forecasts correctly ruined Croesus in 347 BC. Now it threatens Mrs May. Of course the two cases are… Continue reading Issue 108: 2017 06 08: Following the oracle (John Watson)
Issue 107: 2017 06 01: General elections 2017 – Scottish version (Antoninus)
01 June 2017 General Election 2017 – Scottish Version A view from north of the border. By Antoninus It scarcely seems yesterday (it was 12 January – Ed.) that Antoninus wished his Shaw Sheet readers a ‘Happy Hogmanay’ and offered a forecast for Scottish politics for the year ahead, confidently assuming that the call to… Continue reading Issue 107: 2017 06 01: General elections 2017 – Scottish version (Antoninus)
Issue 104: 2017 05 11: Pledges and Promises (John Watson)
11 May 2017 Pledges And Promises The fun will shortly begin. By John Watson “Sweet lovers” may love the spring, but the public’s enthusiasm for general election campaigns is rather more muted. And yet they have something in common. In spring, as the buds burst open, we see the renewal of much with which we… Continue reading Issue 104: 2017 05 11: Pledges and Promises (John Watson)
Issue 103: 2017 05 04: Week in Brief: UK
04 May 2017 Week in Brief: UK Brexit JUNCKER’S DINNER: German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine carries reports that a dinner at Number 10, which Mr Juncker described as “a constructive meeting”, was in reality nothing of the sort. Rather, it is suggested that the occasion was fractious with “megaphone diplomacy” and that it left him sceptical… Continue reading Issue 103: 2017 05 04: Week in Brief: UK
Issue 102: 2017 04 27: The Distortion Of The Political Process (John Watson)
27 April 2017 The Distortion Of The Political Process The election – just too simple. By John Watson No one likes shortages. The worst, of course, are of food or wine. There is nothing more irritating than to arrive at the shop and find that the treat you had promised yourself has already left the… Continue reading Issue 102: 2017 04 27: The Distortion Of The Political Process (John Watson)
Issue 101: 2017 04 20: Draining the swamp (John Watson)
20 April 2017 Draining The Swamp Mrs May’s appeal to the people. by John Watson Gosh, for a political magazine like the Shaw Sheet, the year 2017 has cherries on it. We were looking forward to the French and German elections, popcorn at the ready, sauvignon blanc in the fridge, avidly reading Richard Pooley’s articles… Continue reading Issue 101: 2017 04 20: Draining the swamp (John Watson)
Issue 87: 2017 01 12: Week in Brief: UK
12 January 2017 Week in Brief: UK DIPLOMATIC: The Ambassador to Brussels, Sir Ivan Rogers, has resigned in protest at what he has described as “muddled thinking” in Whitehall over the negotiating stance to be adopted by the UK in its discussions with the EU over the terms of disengagement. Retired civil servants have expressed… Continue reading Issue 87: 2017 01 12: Week in Brief: UK
Issue 59: 2016 06 23: A Jolly Voting Day (John Watson)
23 June 2016 A Jolly Voting Day Quiet, too damned quiet! by John Watson In most parts of Britain, voting day is an oasis of peace. Before it, came the last stages of the campaign, the opposing factions shouting their wares like coster-mongers in a Victorian engraving. Afterwards will come the recriminations and the wrangling… Continue reading Issue 59: 2016 06 23: A Jolly Voting Day (John Watson)
Issue 56: 2016 06 02: The Rise And Rise Of Mr Khan (John Watson)
02 June 2016 The Rise And Rise Of Mr Khan Are we looking at a future prime minister? By John Watson On Monday I watched the news on television. That isn’t something I always do. Normally I pick up what’s been going on from all sorts of different sources: the press, websites, the car radio,… Continue reading Issue 56: 2016 06 02: The Rise And Rise Of Mr Khan (John Watson)
Issue 53: 2016 05 12: Week in Brief: UK
12 May 2016 News in Brief: UK Referendum TRUMP: Republican nominee Donald Trump has said that Britain is better off outside the EU, citing the EU’s role in pushing migration. BANKING LAWS: The Deputy Governor of the Bank of England has said that Britain’s only ability to influence EU Banking laws is a right to… Continue reading Issue 53: 2016 05 12: Week in Brief: UK
Issue 23: 2015 10 08: More Mayor
08 October 2015 More Mayor by J R Thomas They do things differently over there. The circus and jamboree (latest: Hilary duets on Saturday Night Live) currently in full swing as the two great American parties select their Presidential candidates is merely the most visible of a whole series of contests to select candidates for… Continue reading Issue 23: 2015 10 08: More Mayor
