Friday , April 26 2024

Comment

Considering Project Fear’s No Deal Brexit Plans

Earlier last week, we found out that May had finally decided to get planning for a No Deal Brexit. This was something Brexiteers were very eager for – everybody felt that now, after two years, perhaps we could finally get somewhere and achieve what we had voted for. Perhaps now …

Read More »

Solving The Northern Irish Border Problem After Brexit

There will be no border in Northern Ireland which means customs dues will need to be collected elsewhere.  The simplest solution is for customs dues to be declared as part of a quarterly return by Northern Ireland businesses.  Perhaps VAT liable NI businesses could make a return as part of …

Read More »

The Poisoned Chalice

The loud voices of the Remain camp get louder and more shrill as the endless machinations of Brexit grind inexorably on with yet another chapter in Project Fear. It’s probably up to Mark 3 with the latest of food stockpiling and medicine shortages so we don’t get hungry or ill …

Read More »

We’ve survived worse

It looks very much as if the Chequers deal has been rejected by M. Barnier. So Theresa May’s softest of soft Brexits isn’t enough. A plan that has outraged much of the Conservative Party, most Brexiteers and caused the resignation of any number of ministers still doesn’t satisfy the EU. …

Read More »

Melting the frozen conflict

The purpose of history is not to learn from it in the sense that it prevents us from making the same mistakes. When did that ever work? 1812 would suggest the dangers inherent in attacking Russia, but the lesson was not learned in 1941. The pattern repeated itself with Russia …

Read More »

The Return of Meritocracy

Social mobility has stalled in Britain; The Return of Meritocracy argues that it is Conservative policies that can unlock opportunities for the many and the few… There are many vital issues which this country is currently grappling with. From Brexit, to terrorism, to funding our NHS, the country faces monumental …

Read More »

Fake Holocausts, Anti-Semitism and Zionism

Earlier this week, Mark Zuckerberg decided how he intended to police “Fake News” on Facebook. It would be, “intent”, he said, but otherwise, Freedom of Speech would continue to attempt to reign on Facebook. While intent is doubtless a very important part of a court case, it requires time and …

Read More »

We still have our fingers

The Brexit White Paper agreed by the Cabinet at Chequers has more or less already been rejected by the EU. They want still more concessions. So a plan that amounted to Brexit in Name Only, where the UK would mimic the EU Single Market and Customs Union, where we would …

Read More »

Scottish Chequers

I only really started to support leaving the EU after the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. Until then I had been able to balance the benefits of EU membership with the flaws inherent in that organisation. What changed my mind was that I could see the path we were on was …

Read More »

A Conservative Government for Low Earners

It has been a difficult decade for millions of people in this country. With the Coalition Government inheriting a budget deficit of £160 billion back in 2010, the country faced economic meltdown. In many parts of the media, the general narrative of the last 8 years has been one of …

Read More »

Killing The ‘Friendly Giant’

When I was a student hip deep in the study of third-year politics, I remember attending a class on public administration. I cannot tell you the date and time, but I recall one particular lecture that covered a subject that has stuck with me to this day. It was a …

Read More »

Paper Lions

This is a rather short article. I wouldn’t even call it an article – it’s more of an appeal or a statement. Gareth Southgate and the England football team taught us to dream again. To look up to the hights we as a nation have once scaled, but fallen from …

Read More »

Get us out

We are in very odd political times in Britain. It’s something very difficult to write about in advance because the story is so fast moving that no-one can predict what will happen tomorrow, next week, let alone next year. Theresa May’s White Paper on Brexit could I think change everything …

Read More »

Globe at the Weekend #Podcast: Episode 16

This is the Globe at the weekend podcast featuring co-hosts Ted Yarbrough and Isaac Anderson for 13 July 2018. The podcast Co-Hosts Ted Yarbrough and Isaac Anderson review the recent British political events in a frank, forthright, and fair manner. This weekend’s discussion focused on three main topics:. You can …

Read More »

Waking up dead

A few years ago my Aunt went into hospital with an infection. She came out dead. The day before she died she was apparently quite well. She was sitting up in bed doing the crossword. Everyone expected her to be out in a few days. My guess is if we …

Read More »

Bungling over #Brexit, or Neofunctionalism in Action

We are creatures of habit – every one of us. When given a choice between the predicable and the speculative, we lean toward the familiar. Part of it is ingrained in our nature. Despite our rhetoric where we congratulate the bold and the innovative, the so-called ‘risk takers’, we are …

Read More »

The £ of flesh

There is an interesting scenario that Scottish nationalists haven’t thought about. Let’s imagine sometime in the future there is a referendum on Scottish independence and the Leave side wins. There would then be negotiations between the United Kingdom and the representatives of the soon to be independent Scotland. The negotiations …

Read More »

We are twenty feet short

There is a reason why politicians from all parties are almost universally disliked and not trusted. They say one thing, but mean another. They promise, but keep their promises in name only. It is for this reason that while I am philosophically conservative I have never joined the Conservative Party. …

Read More »