it might be handy to compile a list of people driven stark staring cucumber-up-your-bottom crazy, by Brexit.
In descending order of importance:
The Finance Minister of the Netherlands The Times The Economist Anna Soubry Nick Cohen Ian Dunt Jolyon Maugham williamglenn of PB The Labour party ScottP
Did I miss anyone?
The FT has its moments....
Interestingly The Guardian (Polly aside) has largely kept its marbles and now generally presents the most balanced reporting.
it might be handy to compile a list of people driven stark staring cucumber-up-your-bottom crazy, by Brexit.
In descending order of importance:
The Finance Minister of the Netherlands The Times The Economist Anna Soubry Nick Cohen Ian Dunt Jolyon Maugham williamglenn of PB The Labour party ScottP
Did I miss anyone?
Nicky Morgan Sarah Wollaston the ugly bloke from Alan Partridge
Were we in a safe world that owed us something before?
Of course Britain was in a safer world a year ago when it travelled as part of a convoy of nations tied together by mutual interest and responsibilities. With Europe now so much more divided, its collective ability to guide a highly erratic new US president, always a stiff challenge, is non-existent. Its ability to stop the sprawl of expansionist Russian influence has largely evaporated also. Brexit has played a very large part in this.
Britain will continue to play a strong role in regional defence and security cooperation with our European partners.
Whether or not true (and that remains to be seen) that does not answer the points that I made. The world is a more dangerous place for Britain, in large part down to Brexit.
Which puts a huge amount of responsibility on the shoulders of those who were the failed advocates for Remain. The whole power of the State, business, tax-payer funded propaganda, only a bunch of pig-shit thick illiterates to beat - and yet STILL you blew it.
Let's face it - Theresa will capitulate to Donald and we'll end up getting the most humiliating and one sided 'trade deal' from the US. Nevertheless, the Leavers will spin it as the glorious proof as to how right they were. They have to.
This what I just do not get. By any measure the policies that Trump prioritises are more opposed to British interests than any we have seen coming out of the White House for decades. And yet the Tory right is fawning over him and declaring that together the US and the UK can lead the world. We are going to throw our lot in with a predatory serial liar who surrounds himself with white supremacists, and who is anti-NATO, wants the EU to break-up and believes in protectionism rather than open markets. Barack Obama was dismissed by our foreign secretary as an uppity colonial, but nothing he ever said or did was so antithetical to British priorities and needs.
it might be handy to compile a list of people driven stark staring cucumber-up-your-bottom crazy, by Brexit.
In descending order of importance:
The Finance Minister of the Netherlands The Times The Economist Anna Soubry Nick Cohen Ian Dunt Jolyon Maugham williamglenn of PB The Labour party ScottP
Did I miss anyone?
You forgot Dan Hannan, Michael Gove, the entire BBC, and yourself.
@SeanT's "Crazed-by-Brexit" list reasonably doesn't feature any Leavers. They were already straitjacketed and bridled before the referendum was a twinkling in David Cameron's eye.
Hacksaw Ridge is a stunningly good war film - or film, period. If La La Land weren't being lauded like Ben Hur, it might stand a chance. And I far preferred Andrew Garfield's performance in it to that of the much-touted Casey Affleck in Manchester by the Sea.
Amy Adams getting overlooked for Best Actress in Arrival was a shock. I suppose somebody had to lose out so Meryl could get her 20th....
Very gratified though to see Hidden Figures getting a Best Picture Nom. Entirely deserved. The film I most ENJOYED out of the whole awards crop.
Hidden Figures was a cracking film, I suspect we’ll be seeing a lot more of Miss Henson.
Were we in a safe world that owed us something before?
Of course Britain was in a safer world a year ago when it travelled as part of a convoy of nations tied together by mutual interest and responsibilities. With Europe now so much more divided, its collective ability to guide a highly erratic new US president, always a stiff challenge, is non-existent. Its ability to stop the sprawl of expansionist Russian influence has largely evaporated also. Brexit has played a very large part in this.
Britain will continue to play a strong role in regional defence and security cooperation with our European partners.
Whether or not true (and that remains to be seen) that does not answer the points that I made. The world is a more dangerous place for Britain, in large part down to Brexit.
Which puts a huge amount of responsibility on the shoulders of those who were the failed advocates for Remain. The whole power of the State, business, tax-payer funded propaganda, only a bunch of pig-shit thick illiterates to beat - and yet STILL you blew it.
It's always Remainers' fault. Leavers still haven't got the knack of that taking control business.
it might be handy to compile a list of people driven stark staring cucumber-up-your-bottom crazy, by Brexit.
In descending order of importance:
The Finance Minister of the Netherlands The Times The Economist Anna Soubry Nick Cohen Ian Dunt Jolyon Maugham williamglenn of PB The Labour party ScottP
Did I miss anyone?
You forgot Dan Hannan, Michael Gove, the entire BBC, and yourself.
Definitely Michael "I don't want to be PM" Gove, but also George "I should have been PM" Osborne.
This what I just do not get. By any measure the policies that Trump prioritises are more opposed to British interests than any we have seen coming out of the White House for decades. And yet the Tory right is fawning over him and declaring that together the US and the UK can lead the world. We are going to throw our lot in with a predatory serial liar who surrounds himself with white supremacists, and who is anti-NATO, wants the EU to break-up and believes in protectionism rather than open markets. Barack Obama was dismissed by our foreign secretary as an uppity colonial, but nothing he ever said or did was so antithetical to British priorities and needs.
What's hard to understand? The government is using the US as a stick in the EU negotiations. It couldn't be more transparent, surely. I'd do exactly the same if I were in Theresa May's shoes kitten heels.
Its ability to stop the sprawl of expansionist Russian influence has largely evaporated also. Brexit has played a very large part in this.
That doesn't make any sense at all; Georgia, Ukraine, and Russian involvement in Syria all predate Brexit. What ability has evaporated that was keeping Russia in check? I would say that If anything was to blame it was NATO nations fannying about and underfunding their defence that seems to have made Russia bolder.
it might be handy to compile a list of people driven stark staring cucumber-up-your-bottom crazy, by Brexit.
In descending order of importance:
The Finance Minister of the Netherlands The Times The Economist Anna Soubry Nick Cohen Ian Dunt Jolyon Maugham williamglenn of PB The Labour party ScottP
Did I miss anyone?
You forgot Dan Hannan, Michael Gove, the entire BBC, and yourself.
Definitely Michael "I don't want to be PM" Gove, but also George "I should have been PM" Osborne.
Theresa "Let the US and Britain Lead the World Together Once Again" May.
But Osborne and May did have something of the "cucumber up the bottom" about them even before the referendum:
it might be handy to compile a list of people driven stark staring cucumber-up-your-bottom crazy, by Brexit.
In descending order of importance:
The Finance Minister of the Netherlands The Times The Economist Anna Soubry Nick Cohen Ian Dunt Jolyon Maugham williamglenn of PB The Labour party ScottP
Did I miss anyone?
You forgot Dan Hannan, Michael Gove, the entire BBC, and yourself.
Definitely Michael "I don't want to be PM" Gove, but also George "I should have been PM" Osborne.
Theresa "Let the US and Britain Lead the World Together Once Again" May.
She lost it at "Red White and Blue Brexit". Very Nicola Murray.
Yes, a friend who is a lifelong Conservative (and very active in Leave) is also a prison visitor in two prisons, and she says the conditions are completely indefensible. A number of large prisons are on 23-hour lockdowns (confined to cells) and she thinks that this alone makes riots almost inevitable.
The best thing I did when an MP was helping with a Select Committee report on the effectiveness of prison in different counries. We discovered that the reoffending rate in Britain (defined as the number of ex-prisoners actually caught and convicted again within 2 years) was something like 70%, one of the highest levels in the world, so the system clearly does not work in the rehabilitation sense, which in turn feeds back into crime levels. The rate in e.g. Norway was a bit over 20%.
Alternatively letting them out didn't work and we should have kept them in longer.
This, not the rather good GDP figure, is probably the most significant economic news today:
British car production reached a 17-year high last year, but the country's vote to leave the European Union contributed to a roughly 33 percent drop in investment in the sector, [the SMMT] said on Thursday.
I'm convinced the biggest story in terms of economics moving forward will be the Current Account Deficit and our Balance of Payments.
We've ignored this problem for such a long time largely with the help of North Sea Oil which covered the cracks temporarily. Last years figure of a 7% deficit was atrocious and long term it's getting worse.
As an economy we are dominated by the marketing of services which simply move money around. Our ability to actually produce products which can be exported and sold both internally and around the world is pathetic, and governments of both stripes since 1979 simply haven't cared.
Nobody in politics is talking seriously about the matter for all the bluster about "march of the makers" ect, perhaps events will force them to.
Um, when I did my stint in Wormwood Scrubs prison in the late 1980s, "23 hour lock up" was the norm - we spent 23 hours of every day locked in our cells. With a bucket (they were still slopping out back then)
Did we riot? Did we hell. We put our heads down and did our bird. I'm quite frankly ashamed of the calibre of modern British criminals. They don't know their born.
This what I just do not get. By any measure the policies that Trump prioritises are more opposed to British interests than any we have seen coming out of the White House for decades. And yet the Tory right is fawning over him and declaring that together the US and the UK can lead the world. We are going to throw our lot in with a predatory serial liar who surrounds himself with white supremacists, and who is anti-NATO, wants the EU to break-up and believes in protectionism rather than open markets. Barack Obama was dismissed by our foreign secretary as an uppity colonial, but nothing he ever said or did was so antithetical to British priorities and needs.
What's hard to understand? The government is using the US as a stick in the EU negotiations. It couldn't be more transparent, surely. I'd do exactly the same if I were in Theresa May's shoes kitten heels.
Hmmm. If you can see it Richard, then I suspect the Germans and the French can too. The problem is that Europe is a far bigger market for us than the US. The Germans and the French know this too. Among other things they will also know is what you pointed out below - that investment in the auto industry is down 33% since Brexit.
Were we in a safe world that owed us something before?
Of course Britain was in a safer world a year ago when it travelled as part of a convoy of nations tied together by mutual interest and responsibilities. With Europe now so much more divided, its collective ability to guide a highly erratic new US president, always a stiff challenge, is non-existent. Its ability to stop the sprawl of expansionist Russian influence has largely evaporated also. Brexit has played a very large part in this.
Britain will continue to play a strong role in regional defence and security cooperation with our European partners.
Whether or not true (and that remains to be seen) that does not answer the points that I made. The world is a more dangerous place for Britain, in large part down to Brexit.
Which puts a huge amount of responsibility on the shoulders of those who were the failed advocates for Remain. The whole power of the State, business, tax-payer funded propaganda, only a bunch of pig-shit thick illiterates to beat - and yet STILL you blew it.
It's always Remainers' fault. Leavers still haven't got the knack of that taking control business.
The establishment are still Remainers, there hasn't been a revolution. UKIP are the only party led by a Leaver.
Let's face it - Theresa will capitulate to Donald and we'll end up getting the most humiliating and one sided 'trade deal' from the US. Nevertheless, the Leavers will spin it as the glorious proof as to how right they were. They have to.
This what I just do not get. By any measure the policies that Trump prioritises are more opposed to British interests than any we have seen coming out of the White House for decades. And yet the Tory right is fawning over him and declaring that together the US and the UK can lead the world. We are going to throw our lot in with a predatory serial liar who surrounds himself with white supremacists, and who is anti-NATO, wants the EU to break-up and believes in protectionism rather than open markets. Barack Obama was dismissed by our foreign secretary as an uppity colonial, but nothing he ever said or did was so antithetical to British priorities and needs.
Yes. I think partly it's a reflex.. If the left is anti-US, then the right should be pro-US.
There was a discussion on here about Trident... Do we need a different system that is more independent of the US? The level of military knowledge on here seems to a complete non-expert like me to be very high so interested to hear views.
(Assuming you accept the premise that Trump is not a friend of the UK)
We are going to throw our lot in with a predatory serial liar who surrounds himself with white supremacists, and who is anti-NATO, wants the EU to break-up and believes in protectionism rather than open markets.
It's probably worth point out again that Mattis is avowedly pro NATO and anti Russia, and only yesterday Trump was saying he would defer to Mattis and Pompeo on security and defence matters. Trump's rhetoric and actions may well differ quite a lot.
This what I just do not get. By any measure the policies that Trump prioritises are more opposed to British interests than any we have seen coming out of the White House for decades. And yet the Tory right is fawning over him and declaring that together the US and the UK can lead the world. We are going to throw our lot in with a predatory serial liar who surrounds himself with white supremacists, and who is anti-NATO, wants the EU to break-up and believes in protectionism rather than open markets. Barack Obama was dismissed by our foreign secretary as an uppity colonial, but nothing he ever said or did was so antithetical to British priorities and needs.
What's hard to understand? The government is using the US as a stick in the EU negotiations. It couldn't be more transparent, surely. I'd do exactly the same if I were in Theresa May's shoes kitten heels.
Hmmm. If you can see it Richard, then I suspect the Germans and the French can too. The problem is that Europe is a far bigger market for us than the US. The Germans and the French know this too. Among other things they will also know is what you pointed out below - that investment in the auto industry is down 33% since Brexit.
Let's face it - Theresa will capitulate to Donald and we'll end up getting the most humiliating and one sided 'trade deal' from the US. Nevertheless, the Leavers will spin it as the glorious proof as to how right they were. They have to.
This what I just do not get. By any measure the policies that Trump prioritises are more opposed to British interests than any we have seen coming out of the White House for decades. And yet the Tory right is fawning over him and declaring that together the US and the UK can lead the world. We are going to throw our lot in with a predatory serial liar who surrounds himself with white supremacists, and who is anti-NATO, wants the EU to break-up and believes in protectionism rather than open markets. Barack Obama was dismissed by our foreign secretary as an uppity colonial, but nothing he ever said or did was so antithetical to British priorities and needs.
Yes. I think partly it's a reflex.. If the left is anti-US, then the right should be pro-US.
There was a discussion on here about Trident... Do we need a different system that is more independent of the US? The level of military knowledge on here seems to a complete non-expert like me to be very high so interested to hear views.
(Assuming you accept the premise that Trump is not a friend of the UK)
The Galileo satellite navigation system is certainly looking like a very good idea now.
This, not the rather good GDP figure, is probably the most significant economic news today:
British car production reached a 17-year high last year, but the country's vote to leave the European Union contributed to a roughly 33 percent drop in investment in the sector, [the SMMT] said on Thursday.
Serious question, Richard. How do you isolate the effects of the Brexit vote on investment?
It strikes me that huge items like investment in car manufacture, like aircraft exports, must be a very variable figure. coming in big incremental dollops. I'd like to see the historical variance in that number before assigning too much to this 33% drop.
Let's face it - Theresa will capitulate to Donald and we'll end up getting the most humiliating and one sided 'trade deal' from the US. Nevertheless, the Leavers will spin it as the glorious proof as to how right they were. They have to.
This what I just do not get. By any measure the policies that Trump prioritises are more opposed to British interests than any we have seen coming out of the White House for decades. And yet the Tory right is fawning over him and declaring that together the US and the UK can lead the world. We are going to throw our lot in with a predatory serial liar who surrounds himself with white supremacists, and who is anti-NATO, wants the EU to break-up and believes in protectionism rather than open markets. Barack Obama was dismissed by our foreign secretary as an uppity colonial, but nothing he ever said or did was so antithetical to British priorities and needs.
Yes. I think partly it's a reflex.. If the left is anti-US, then the right should be pro-US.
There was a discussion on here about Trident... Do we need a different system that is more independent of the US? The level of military knowledge on here seems to a complete non-expert like me to be very high so interested to hear views.
(Assuming you accept the premise that Trump is not a friend of the UK)
The UK's sovereign industrial base has been eroding since the 50s. We purchase a good deal of equipment that's foreign manufactured, some by our allies (e.g. BOWMAN radios) some by kinda-sorta-allies (e.g. WATCHKEEPER drones).
One of the functions of CESG (part of GCHQ) & others is performing assurance work on those equipments. The amount of effort obviously depends on the classification of the gear. There's a middle ground (e.g. F-35) where we're not only buying foreign, but we need to install sovereign crypto capability (that's still coalition capable as required).
The idea that the UK are a bunch of hayseeds who buy kit without checking it over *thoroughly* is a bit odd.
We are going to throw our lot in with a predatory serial liar who surrounds himself with white supremacists, and who is anti-NATO, wants the EU to break-up and believes in protectionism rather than open markets.
It's probably worth point out again that Mattis is avowedly pro NATO and anti Russia, and only yesterday Trump was saying he would defer to Mattis and Pompeo on security and defence matters. Trump's rhetoric and actions may well differ quite a lot.
OTOH US and Russia are flying coordinated missions in Syria.
Cosying up to a supporter of torture (because she has to) might alienate plenty of voters not to say Cons MPs.
Meanwhile despite the poll, it seems our very own @Cyclefree is a regretter. Not that we know how she voted so we should consider it on behalf of the country.
On Brexit, what I regret is that inflexibility and stupidity on both sides have landed us in a situation which will likely cause disruption and pain to those least able to survive it and which could, with a bit of common-sense and thought, been avoided. I regret the vicious way in which some on both sides talk about those who take a different view, one reason why I am not revealing my vote because I can do without the abuse, frankly. I regret the fact that the EU does not seem to have asked itself in any meaningful way whether its behaviour might possibly have had something to do with the way the British voted and I regret this not because it will make much difference to Britain but because such self-delusion and indifference bodes ill for the people in the EU.
But, frankly, that is not really the issue for me. Trump's election has changed matters and if the facts change, as Keynes once said, why shouldn't opinions change too? That's not being regretful. It's being sensible.
What I really loathe is the way British PMs feel the need to prostrate themselves before US Presidents. Why can't we have some self-respect, for heaven's sake?
The idea that we should suck up to a President who seems to have no moral qualms about torture and thinks that it works and blithely says so is a bit much.
Yes - we have to do realpolitik. Yes - we have build a working relationship with the new regime. But do we have to be so fawning and so delusional: "Together we can lead the world"? For crying out loud, what fantasy world do Downing Street speech writers live in? What planet are our politicians on?
Britain can set an example. One example would be to be realistic about ourselves. Another would be to make it clear that we do not use torture and that if British values and America's conceit of itself as a "shining hill" mean anything, they mean that we don't behave like medieval autocrats.
Strongly agree. One might also add that the new president appears to have very little respect for (understanding of ?) the rule of law.
This, not the rather good GDP figure, is probably the most significant economic news today:
British car production reached a 17-year high last year, but the country's vote to leave the European Union contributed to a roughly 33 percent drop in investment in the sector, [the SMMT] said on Thursday.
Serious question, Richard. How do you isolate the effects of the Brexit vote on investment?
It strikes me that huge items like investment in car manufacture, like aircraft exports, must be a very variable figure. coming in big incremental dollops. I'd like to see the historical variance in that number before assigning too much to this 33% drop.
We are going to throw our lot in with a predatory serial liar who surrounds himself with white supremacists, and who is anti-NATO, wants the EU to break-up and believes in protectionism rather than open markets.
It's probably worth point out again that Mattis is avowedly pro NATO and anti Russia, and only yesterday Trump was saying he would defer to Mattis and Pompeo on security and defence matters. Trump's rhetoric and actions may well differ quite a lot.
"Trump was saying he would defer to Mattis and Pompeo on security and defence matters. Trump's rhetoric and actions may well differ quite a lot."
Yes, a friend who is a lifelong Conservative (and very active in Leave) is also a prison visitor in two prisons, and she says the conditions are completely indefensible. A number of large prisons are on 23-hour lockdowns (confined to cells) and she thinks that this alone makes riots almost inevitable.
The best thing I did when an MP was helping with a Select Committee report on the effectiveness of prison in different counries. We discovered that the reoffending rate in Britain (defined as the number of ex-prisoners actually caught and convicted again within 2 years) was something like 70%, one of the highest levels in the world, so the system clearly does not work in the rehabilitation sense, which in turn feeds back into crime levels. The rate in e.g. Norway was a bit over 20%.
Um, when I did my stint in Wormwood Scrubs prison in the late 1980s, "23 hour lock up" was the norm - we spent 23 hours of every day locked in our cells. With a bucket (they were still slopping out back then)
Did we riot? Did we hell. We put our heads down and did our bird. I'm quite frankly ashamed of the calibre of modern British criminals. They don't know their born.
We are going to throw our lot in with a predatory serial liar who surrounds himself with white supremacists, and who is anti-NATO, wants the EU to break-up and believes in protectionism rather than open markets.
It's probably worth point out again that Mattis is avowedly pro NATO and anti Russia, and only yesterday Trump was saying he would defer to Mattis and Pompeo on security and defence matters. Trump's rhetoric and actions may well differ quite a lot.
"Trump was saying he would defer to Mattis and Pompeo on security and defence matters. Trump's rhetoric and actions may well differ quite a lot."
Well, quite.
Absolutely. I think Trump speaks very carefully! Commitment is different from rhetoric
Funnily enough, I am actually in Paris for a week or so in March, where my French publishers are launching the new S K Tremayne, La Menace, and they want me to do publicity, signings etc. Le Doute (the Ice Twins) was a big hit over there.
i think they're putting me up in the George V or something ridiculous. I'll let you know if I get any perspective from my suite.
Don't go there. Go to the Plaza Athenee (or Le Meurice). Georges Cinq is pretentious and caters to Middle Eastern taste. Plaza has the most hookers per square foot of any hotel in the West
Comments
Interestingly The Guardian (Polly aside) has largely kept its marbles and now generally presents the most balanced reporting.
Sarah Wollaston
the ugly bloke from Alan Partridge
George "I should have been PM" Osborne.
"The world is a more dangerous place for Britain, in large part down to Brexit."
When did we leave NATO? Did the Common Market save us during the Cuban Missile crisis? I must have missed that.
Be careful, you're in danger of making Mr T's list.
But Osborne and May did have something of the "cucumber up the bottom" about them even before the referendum:
An acquaintance of mine was delighted to hear that not only had one of her novels been translated into Slovenian, it had even won an award.
Until her agent reminded her that she hadn't actually sold the Slovenian rights.
NEW THREAD
We've ignored this problem for such a long time largely with the help of North Sea Oil which covered the cracks temporarily. Last years figure of a 7% deficit was atrocious and long term it's getting worse.
As an economy we are dominated by the marketing of services which simply move money around. Our ability to actually produce products which can be exported and sold both internally and around the world is pathetic, and governments of both stripes since 1979 simply haven't cared.
Nobody in politics is talking seriously about the matter for all the bluster about "march of the makers" ect, perhaps events will force them to.
There was a discussion on here about Trident...
Do we need a different system that is more independent of the US? The level of military knowledge on here seems to a complete non-expert like me to be very high so interested to hear views.
(Assuming you accept the premise that Trump is not a friend of the UK)
It strikes me that huge items like investment in car manufacture, like aircraft exports, must be a very variable figure. coming in big incremental dollops. I'd like to see the historical variance in that number before assigning too much to this 33% drop.
One of the functions of CESG (part of GCHQ) & others is performing assurance work on those equipments. The amount of effort obviously depends on the classification of the gear. There's a middle ground (e.g. F-35) where we're not only buying foreign, but we need to install sovereign crypto capability (that's still coalition capable as required).
The idea that the UK are a bunch of hayseeds who buy kit without checking it over *thoroughly* is a bit odd.
One might also add that the new president appears to have very little respect for (understanding of ?) the rule of law.
https://www.smmt.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/SMMT-Sustainability-Report-FINAL.pdf
- from which you can extract figures for R&D in 2000 (£900m). 2014 (£2.3bn) and 2015 (£2.5bn). Doesn't look that lumpy.
Well, quite.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1990_Strangeways_Prison_riot
One might also note that the prison population has more or less doubled since then.