Brexit is done but world peace was the inspiration for the European Union, do Britons no longer share that dream? Or do the majority feel it was the wrong plan with too many faults and unlikely benefits? Imagine a similar plan in another continent, would it hold together? John Lennon’s song Imagine has many fine … More “Imagine there’s no countries”
It will take several posts, of which this is the first, to go through this Agreement, even superficially. It is officially a draft, presumably because it still has to be approved by the EU Parliament (the House of Commons has approved). The general view, as we write, is that the Agreement is satisfactory. We will … More EU-UK Draft Agreement-1
Two arguments have been made against the Government’s struggle to accomplish a satisfactory Brexit deal. First is that the effort has been run by a fool and second that any deal will make Britain poorer than it would have been had it remained in the Single Market and the Customs Union, or indeed the whole … More A Fool and Our Money
To cavil is to argue or protest about unimportant details. It’s too late for that, what matters now is for Britain to find the best possible future after leaving the European Union. Since the start of the covid pandemic Boris Johnson has tried to resist limits to people’s freedom but at the last moment has … More A Christmas Cavil
‘European Values’ are loudly proclaimed as virtuous attributes of the European Union. Acta non verba – deeds not words. Emmanuel Macron has threaten to cut our electricity supplies if the UK doesn’t submit to his Brexit demands. His threat is rather like Trump’s sanctions against Iran except the UK is not threatening to physically annihilate … More European Values
This is the fourth in our brief series of posts on the decision of Her Majesty’s UK Government (“HMG”) to modify—‘clarify’ to use their word—the terms of the Agreement to withdraw the UK from membership of the EU. We start with the latest spat, which arises because under EU rules there are restrictions on certain … More More on Sovereignty
Will the year-long ‘Transition’ from formally leaving the EU be to an agreeable or disagreeable relationship? The answer depends at least on answers to these questions. Question 1. Why did Johnson sign a bad withdrawal agreement (WA) and now wants to change it? Parliament had rejected Theresa May’s bad deal three times but also refused … More Red Lines and Deadlines
Passing some time until an agreement is reached—or not—between the EU and the UK, we reviewed some of our posts from before the UK Referendum and summarise our thoughts in the light of more recent events. The unjustified centralisation and top-down control of the EU provide sufficiently strong reasons for Britain, having avoided joining EMU, … More Not Our ‘Ode to Joy’
Back in April 2019 we wrote to Nancy Pelosi, the Democrat Speaker of the US Congress, concerning her comments about Brexit, the Irish border and a US-UK trade deal [1]. She didn’t answer and we don’t think the President Elect will do us the honour but at least he has shown he will not ignore … More Dear Joe
There’s a gap between what the EU says it is and what it really is. This is not simply because the project is incomplete and has (inevitably) encountered some bumps in its path. There are two main reasons why this European Union cannot work, from which all our concerns follow: 1. What the EU really … More Is EU is or is EU Ain’t?
This EU Won't Work 