It is silly season at present, and therefore it is very telling what each of the major parties is putting forth as policy announcements. The Tories are releasing a whole bunch of policy papers regarding Brexit in the hopes that the dodgier bits of it will fly by most pundits and the public (this has […]
How it looks like the government is involved in a year long climbdown on hard Brexit – will it work?
“UK offers climbdown on European courts deciding cross-border cases” reads a Guardian headline this morning. This is in response to a government paper released today that sets out the need for a smooth transition from what we have now as a member of the EU and what a post-Brexit judicial world will look like. This […]
The five worst Kiss lyrics
Kiss, the rock band from New York that I find it hard to believe is still going, have been noted over their long tenure for many things: face paint, shagging copious groupies, breathing fire, explosions…..and really, really, really terrible lyrics. In fact, when I look back on Kiss, it is the lyrics that I find […]
Ireland and Brexit: the plot thickens
The government has published a paper about what it wants in regards to the “Irish question” in relation to Brexit, namely how to avoid a hard border between north and south Ireland that would bring with it numerous problems (not least of which would be the end of the current government via the DUP dropping […]
Why I don’t think Jacob Rees-Mogg as the next Prime Minister is as far-fetched as it currently sounds
Moggmentum, those right-wing enough to be into that sort of thing call it. What started as a quasi-joke has taken on a life of its own. Seems there really are enough Tory activists out there in thrall to the Moggster. This is mostly still being treated as a very remote possibility by the right of centre […]
What the Hammond/Fox “no customs union post-Brexit” article actually means
Over the weekend, Philip Hammond and Liam Fox co-authored an article in the Sunday Times that was meant to show cabinet unity on the subject of transition from being inside the EU to whatever being outside of it will supposedly be; what the three years, or however long it goes for, that will kick in after March […]
Could Brexit be stopped altogether? It would probably take a new party at the very least
A feeling of anti-Brexit momentum is in the air. Perhaps it’s just the silly season that accounts for it and such ideas will seem quaint come the autumn; perhaps the tide really is turning against the UK leaving the European Union. Yet for all of the James Chapman hits Twitter inspired hope stirring Remainers the truth is, Brexit […]
Why comparing Venezuela to Saudi Arabia doesn’t get Corbyn off the hook
Corbynistas have taken to social media to defend their hero in the face of a fairly relentless right-wing onslaught on the topic of the Labour leader’s refusal to say a single bad thing about Maduro and his regime. When pushed by the press to condemn the Venezuelan leadership, Corbyn said: “What I condemn is the […]
There is going to be a pro-EU rally outside Tory conference this year. That’s good news for all sorts of reasons
The Guardian informs me this morning that there will be a pro-EU protest outside of Conservative Party conference in Manchester this year. I will now tell you why this is good news – even for Eurosceptic Tories. The Conservatives hold their conference in Manchester every two years. I don’t know why they do this – I […]
The freedom of movement quandry sums up Labour’s Brexit headache
Clive Lewis, David Lammy, along with trade unionists and Momentum members have written an open letter to Jeremy Corbyn, asking the Labour leader to accept continuing freedom of movement post-Brexit as the party’s official position. Not, for clarity, that freedom of movement should be swallowed as part of a trade deal; but that freedom of […]