Opinion

Read a few interesting things today. James Dyson said on the Andrew Marr show that Brexit offers a fantastic opportunity for the UK, and that Britain should walk away from negotiations and the EU will come running after us with an offer. [ 1 ] The comments about this on the Get Britain Out of the EU! Facebook page were in full agreement, of course: Of course James Dyson is right - they NEED us. They want to trade with us. They will be queuing to strike a deal. Then we can all get on with it and it won't cost billions!  I agree, the Eu needs Britain far more than Britain needs the Eu. Leave now, without a deal, You will have one and a good one within days.  I agree with him, he said that it was appalling that they are demanding more money to talk to us, why can't our government realize that the E U will lose out in a "no deal" with us? I have always wanted NO deal with them anyway!! Similar sentiments have been expressed by Yanis Varoufakis, Greek minister of

Mark Lilla writes in the New Statesman ( September 2017 ) that the "Left", i.e. the US Democratic Party, social justice and anti-facism movements, lost the US election due to being side-tracked by gender and race issues. Enough of the electorate weren't buying it and Trump won. In hindsight attacking a large proportion of the electorate based on their gender and race is never a good idea, no matter which race or gender you are talking about. No, it's not acceptable to denigrate men or white people either. Trump of course did the same, by attacking foreigners, Mexicans, Muslims and women, but he got away with it due to media bias and partisan politics. At home, Peter North, a prominent pro-Brexit blogger, tweeted about "self determination". This immediately raised the issue of what is "self", and lo and behold we are back to identity again. If we all feel European, then being governed by the EU is indeed self-determination, and let's not ki

Theresa May has affirmed that the UK will be leaving the EU at 11pm UTC on the Friday 29th March 2019, and this will be enshrined into law. This sounds very strong, but actually it's another unforced error by a UK government out of its depth. So far the government have gotten away with its incompetence because the effects of their folly haven't become apparent yet, and won't until Saturday 30th March 2019. This gives a whole weekend of Brexit euphoria, before things start to go wrong on April Fools day 2019. These tough-sounding red lines are designed for two audiences. Firstly, Brexiters are getting jittery and need reassurance. They want out before EU directive 2016/1164 on tax avoidance comes into force. Secondly, Britain is playing a high-stakes game of bluff with the EU, whereby if the UK sounds serious, the EU may be forced into concessions. Unfortunately the EU is too big to be bullied, and this is a strategic blunder. The biggest problem with this date is tha