In the aftermath of Britain's decision to leave the European Union, I cannot help thinking of that old Mitchell and Webb sketch in which the terrible truth dawns on two Nazi SS officers fighting in the Second World War: that they're the "baddies". I don't think the same realistion has come to the British yet, that in the wake of last week's disastrous Brexit vote, we are the villains of Europe. Consider what happened. We voted to abandon our friends and allies. Even as Europe's borders are … [Read more...]
Who Killed Jo Cox?
June 18, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Who killed Jo Cox? Not Nigel Farage. Though he showed us the broken and helpless and told us to fear them. They fled crucifixion and poison gas and he told us to hate them. "If voting doesn't work, violence is next," he said. But that's just Nigel, that's his way. Did you see him on the Thames? You've got to put Britain first, you see. Not David Cameron. Though he told us a "swarm" was coming across the sea to take advantage of us. David Cameron is an honourable man. he was just trying … [Read more...]
A Vote to Leave is Just Running Away
June 14, 2016 by Leave a Comment
That is no country for the young, where the old plan to rob their children of a future just to bask in the nostalgia of a past that never was. That is what the British people plan to do next week, if they vote to leave the European Union. They will turn out in their millions to vote away their children's inheritance, because they are scared of a world that has grown too large for them. I remember as a child asking my grandmother, a Londoner born and bred, if she thought life was better when … [Read more...]
A Tale of two MPs; or why Nadine Dorries is a Buffoon
November 7, 2012 by Leave a Comment
So, Nadine Dorries has abandoned her responsibilities as an MP and gone off to take part in I'm a Celebrity, get me a Brain Transplant. She's got a lousy sense of timing. Just as the entire world is transfixed by politics, with Barack Obama's re-election in the US, Ms Dorries has flounced off muttering that politics is boring and what people are really interested in is has-been celebrities being ritually humiliated by having maggots poured over their heads. At a time when Britain is facing a … [Read more...]
Dancing With the Devil: Rupert Murdoch and Russell Brand come to London
April 26, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Rupert Murdoch and Russell Brand do not, on the face of it, have much in common. But this week they were both giving evidence to the great and the good of the British Establishment -- Murdoch at the Leveson Enquiry, and Brand at a parliamentary Select Committee -- and I found myself undergoing the alarming vision of the two of them meeting up to celebrate their respective appearances with a night on the town. I saw them carousing the night away together in some of Soho's less salubrious … [Read more...]
Distracted by its own din, Europe cannot hear the gathering storm
April 18, 2012 by 2 Comments
The wolves are circling Europe. The emerging economies of Asia and South America sense weakness. Day by day, they are pushing the boundaries, seeing how far they can go, testing a new world order. But inside the camp, the old European economies are too deafened by the din of their own internal squabbles to hear the approaching danger. This week it was Spain's turn, as Argentina nationalised the Spanish-owned majority stake in its largest oil company. The Spanish government warned of … [Read more...]
