Category Archives: Politics

Crunching the StopHs2 social media numbers. February 2019

01 Friday Mar 2019

Posted by in Anti Hs2 mob, Hs2, Politics, Railways, StopHs2

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Yep, it’s that time of month again, as February morphs into March I’ve manfully ploughed my way through hours of rubbish to ignore the hyperventilating and crunch the actual numbers. There’s been more mush than usual in February as Hs2 antis were cock a hoop at the fact Hs2 would be featured in Channel 4’s Dispatches. Once again, they hyped it as the ‘smoking gun’ that would finally kill off Hs2! How many times have we heard that now? Allied to Dispatches were efforts by the same small group of right-wing Journo’s associated with the residents of 55 Tufton St to spin as many negative articles as they could in the media. We were (un)reliably informed that Teresa May’s Cabinet couldn’t wait to kill off Hs2 and that it was only a matter of time now. How many times have we heard that one too? Needless to say, February came and went – and so did Liam Halligans lazy and badly researched Dispatches programme (filleted here). Despite all the froth, Hs2’s still here. Informed sources who’ve been talking to members of the Tory party have told me this was always a non-story, that it was posturing by individuals who privately admit there’s no chance of Hs2 being killed off at this late hour. To say that the Cabinet are rather more concerned about an issue beginning with B would be an understatement.

So, what’s all this hoo-ha done for StopHs2 on social media? The answer is – very little. Here’s their Twitter statistics over 2019.

Twitter stats

As you can see, they’ve gained 2.5% more Twitter followers this month. 166 in total. The irony of this is that’s more than the total number of people who’ve retweeted any of their nonsense. The largest amount of retweets they’ve had all month has been 122, which is just 1.8% of all their followers! Not exactly Twitterstorm material, is it? Their average is a paltry 23.1, which is a miserable 0.3%! When you consider 6,6 million people live in the 63 constituencies Hs2 passes through, 6650 followers is pathetic. It’s 0.10%! Whichever way you cut these numbers, they’re tiny – and this is after 9 years!

Wading through StopHs2s twitter timeline one thing becomes obvious. How mind-numbingly banal most of the stuff is. StopHs2 spend most of their time tweeting links to stories in newspapers or from other media outlets. In fact, anything they can find that’s critical of Hs2, or the railways. What they don’t do is Tweet news of their ‘campaign’ because there isn’t any! Rukin wasn’t even interviewed for Dispatches, he spends most of this time throwing around childish insults on Twitter. The only instance of anything resembling a grassroots event happened yesterday when a few hundred people turned up to protest at an Hs2 event in Calvert Green (Bucks) and that’s it. This isn’t the stuff of a campaign going anywhere other then into the history books as a grand failure. A quick look through StopHs2’s followers list soon shows the problem. Many of their followers gave up years ago, like this pair.

dead acc. 2013

dead anti acc. 2017

This problem hasn’t escaped the attention of some of the Right-Wing backers of their campaign as an increasing number of pro Brexit Trolls and bots have been reprogrammed over the past month to include anti Hs2 tweets – as I’ve blogged about here.

Right, now let’s have a look at Facebook.

FB hs2

For some reason Facebook stats on the number of followers isn’t available right now. As you can see, activity’s increased since January thanks to Dispatches, but the numbers (bearing in mind the 6.6m living on the route) are appalling. There’s something else too. Of the 49 posts made by StopHs2 all but the last two were nothing more than links to media articles. There were no notices of forthcoming events from ‘action’ groups like meetings etc. Nothing that would reflect a campaign that’s actually going anywhere. Like Twitter, it’s always the same handful of names posting comments, many of which are either completely bonkers or pure bluster, like these…

fb nutter

eu hs2

I expect stophs2 March social media stats to be on the slide again now all the ‘excitement’ has died down. Both Panorama and Dispatches have flopped and the penny’s going to drop sometime that Hs2 is continuing. In the meantime, their little band gets ever smaller as more people settle, sell up and move away from the route. Meanwhile, work continues along phase 1 in preparation for the notice to proceed with the main civils work and Phase 2a continues its journey through Parliament. No-one’s stopped Hs2…

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When February feels more like Spring.

22 Friday Feb 2019

Posted by in Musings, Politics, West Yorkshire

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Today’s been one of those unseasonably warm days when you really do wonder what month you’re in. I’ve had a day at home sorting out pictures for a magazine, then sorting out some paperwork before spending more time on tiling our bathroom – a job which has taken almost as long as building the Pyramids, much to my wife’s annoyance! Now I’m on the final stretch, having learned one or two valuable lessons which I’lll never have to put into practise again (days he, fingers crossed). Firstly, never ever decide to tile a small bathroom in an old Victorian cottage with large tiles – until you’ve checked the level of the walls with a large spirit level! It was only when I started tiling that I realised our bathroom must have been plastered by a drunken midget! The curvature on the walls was ‘challenging’ to say the least. There’s not a straight line in the bloody thing! Even the woodwork is on the piss. I’ve just been tiling above the bathroom door and realised that the doorframe is cock-eyed, so I’m really going to have to be creative with the new architraving!

I can’t do any more work to the bathroom tomorrow as Dawn’s parents are coming  round for a meal to celebrate her Mum’s birthday which was earlier in the week. Instead I’m going to dig out the garden gloves and move into the garden to get that ready. Bulbs are popping up all over the place, so with the weather forecast to hit a balmy 14 degrees tomorrow (the same as London!) it sounds like an ideal time to clean up the garden, clear down the bench and prepare for when Spring really does arrive. Mind you, as this is the Pennines that probably means snow!

Whilst doing the DIY I’ve been listening to the latest  instalment in the never ending farce of British politics. Labour has lost yet another MP, this time it’s Ian Austin the MP for Dudley North in Birmingham. He’s said he won’t join the other rebels as, unlike them, it seems he still believes in (Brexit) unicorns, but then he only had a majority of 22 and Dudley North voted Leave.

Whatever his future choice, he was very scathing about Corbyn, his acolytes and the way they run the Labour party. It’s difficult to see how ‘Magic Grandad’ is going to recover from this as I very much doubt Austin will be the last Labour MP to jump ship. There’s no sign of the party or the hard Left Corbynistas getting the message. Instead, they’re blaming everyone else but themselves. Right now, it’s almost worth seeing what odds the bookies will give on who from the Tory or Labour ranks deserts next as the Brexitshambles looms ever closer to D-Day.

A quiet day at the office…

21 Thursday Feb 2019

Posted by in Musings, Politics, West Yorkshire

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Well, the home office. Wait, No! I mean my back room, not THE ‘Home Office’. I’m sure there’s plenty of headaches there dealing with the Brexitshambles and the uncertain status of over 3.5 million EU citizens living in the UK after March 29th, not to mention the stuff around a young girl in a refugee camp in Syria.

My status was that of someone having a quiet day editing pictures, shuffling paperwork and generally clearing the decks. Whilst I was working I had one ear tuned to the news to see if anymore MPs had jumped party ship today. In that respect it was a slow news day. I did check in on Facebook to see what the reaction was amongst some friends who remain members of the Labour party. Denial was the only word to use. I saw a very pained post from someone where the essence of their whole validiction was “I’ve been deeply involved in Labour for years. If Antisemitism exists, I’ve never seen it” So, that’s alright then. As you were. No mention of the problem his ‘golden boy’ Corbyn is about as popular as a fart in a spacesuit – and the fact EIGHT Labour MPs have abandoned the whip never even got a mention! This is why I think Labour are screwed. Their inability to engage with the disappointment and frustration with Corbyn and his acolytes many people are feeling and expressing is incredible. For them it’s business as usual and –

basil

Mind you the Tories don’t seem to be much better. Our two party system’s broken. Both have lost the trust of the people (and may of their natural supporters). I can only hope that the defections continue and it will lead to the disastrous path we’re following to the Brexit cliff-edge changes.

On the bright side, I’m making my own personal financial preparations and I’ve just booked a number of jobs that mean next week is going to be full of interesting and varied events at several locations that’ll fill a few rolling blogs.

 

The curious crossover of Brexit supporters who oppose Hs2 and Twitter trolls.

19 Tuesday Feb 2019

Posted by in Anti Hs2 mob, Brexit, Hs2, Liam Halligan, Politics

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The past few weeks have demonstrated a curious crossover between the dogmatists who still support Brexit (despite all the evidence of the utter shambles it was always going to turn into) and opposition to building Hs2. Anyone could be forgiven for thinking this is actually collusion. Today we’ve had Andrew Neil add his name to the list, claiming Hs2 money should be diverted to building high speed rail in the North. For the North this is all very touching. It’s also completely false. None of them could really give a damn about the North, it’s just the latest excuse to try and get Hs2 cancelled.

Liam Halligan trotted out the same excuse in Dispatches (which I analysed here). By pure co-incidence Neil is the Chairman of the Spectator, a magazine well know for printing anti Hs2 stories. Who had one in there recently? Yep, you’ve guessed it – Liam Halligan.

The crossover isn’t just through this little cabal of right-wing media types. It’s taken an interesting and rather darker turn. We’re suddenly seeing a lot of Twitter trolls which have been bashing out pro-Brexit propaganda now starting to tweet in opposition to Hs2. Who’s the guiding mind behind this I wonder? Meanwhile, other (long dormant) Twitter accounts have been resurrected to Tweet against Hs2. Here’s some examples.

brexit

pro brexit 2

stratfan

It’s clear that this is now a co-ordinated campaign. The truth is, the anti Hs2 campaign’s getting rather desperate. They’ve been campaigning to stop Hs2 for nearly a decade now and got absolutely nowhere. In that time most of the local Stophs2 groups have collapsed, meaning there’s little in the way of a ‘grassroots’ campaign anymore, just a few isolated people. Even the notionally ‘national’ groups like HS2aa have failed and gone to the wall as the cross-party support for HS2 has remained unbreakable. Now, all that’s left is the Tory right-wingers in the media and their curious contacts with the shady world of social media manipulation through the use of Twitter trolls to further their aims.

Trolls are desperately needed because StopHs2’s own tiny band of Twitter followers are pretty useless. There’s just over 6000 of them. The problem is most of them never retweet or like anything, so they’re as much use as a chocolate fireguard! Foolishly, StopHs2 keep ‘pinning’ tweets to the top of the page, which makes it easy to see how many retweets or likes they get. It’s never over 100 and often far less. I crunch their social media numbers every month. Here’s last month. There’s a very obvious flaw in their troll strategy. Trolls and bots can’t write to their MPs or vote in elections. Oh, you might influence one or two people, but as Hs2 has never been an electoral issue you’re on a hiding to nothing. Also, this is not a referendum. Besides, who would Chiltern or Northern Nimbys actually vote for other than their normal party. UKIP? They’re finished. Try as you might, you’re not going to frighten many MPs in to opposing Hs2 – if any -and it’s MPs who vote on building Hs2.

Here’s a graphic illustration of their problem – all the dead Twitter accounts of people like this who’ve moved away from the Hs2 route after being bought out/relocated of their own accord. Unlike bots, these people could vote but Ms Carter gave up in June 2015. There’s many, many more like her…

caro

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More Stophs2 straw-grasping and daft scaremongering.

18 Monday Feb 2019

Posted by in Andrea Leadsom MP, Anti Hs2 mob, Hs2, Politics

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A copy of a desperate letter being sent round Parish Councils dropped into my email inbox this morning. It’s been composed by some members of Greatworth parish council, which lies in the South Northamptonshire Constituency of prominent Brexit supporting MP and opposer of Hs2 (funny how those two things often go together), one Andrea Leadsom MP. It’s highly likely that Leadsom was the source of the spin about the Cabinet wanting to scrap Hs2 that was reported by Liam Halligan in his poor hatchet job broadcast by Dispatches. It’s also highly likely that this letter (riddled with factual inaccuracies and spin) was approved by her. The covering email from Helen Du Bois, the Clerk of the council, claims ” The  insidious  changes  that  are  being  made  to  the  original  blueprint   for  HS2  need  to  be  made  very  clear  to  Parliament.    The  plans  for   HS2,  presented  in  the  hybrid  Bill  for  this  massive  infrastructure   project,  that  were  put  before  Parliament  in  2013  and  2014,  no   longer  mirror  the  detail  in  the  plans  for  this  railway  today”. No, that didn’t make any sense to me either, until I began to read their letter. Her email ends ” A   prompt  reply  would  be  much  appreciated  as  there  is  an  urgent  need   to  get  this  message  across  before  it  really  is  too  late  to  halt  this   unaffordable  vanity  project”.

Here’s the actual letter.

“HS2 – THE SLOW TRAIN TO OLD OAK COMMON

FROM PARISH COUNCILS ACROSS SOUTH NORTHAMPTONSHIRE, WARWICKSHIRE, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE, WEST MIDLANDS, STAFFORDSHIRE, OXFORDSHIRE and GREATER LONDON.
The all consuming Brexit babble is drowning out major concerns that the Government is failing to address. All over the country the concern that excites the most vociferous condemnation is the HS2 infrastructure project. Mr. Thurston, HS2’s Chief Executive, claims that there is a groundswell of support nationwide for this railway – we do not believe him.

When launched nine years ago, HS2 was heralded as the train that would carry 1,100 passengers every four minutes from London to Birmingham at speeds well in excess of 200mph. A straight line was drawn across England, obliterating anything in its path, in order to accommodate this “high speed” wonder. After nine years of planning and numerous changes of management at senior level, the Government needs to reassess the criteria on which the viability of this project should be judged.

Everyone knows that the budget is ballooning and out of control. In order to try and regain control we hear that the trains may now go slower – to save cost. The trains may be greatly reduced in number – to save cost. The line may never be built beyond Birmingham – because the cost will be too great. The latest ex-Chairman suggests that the development at Euston should be delayed and the trains should stop at Old Oak Common – to save cost. Local observation of the preliminary enabling work that has been done already shows a total disregard for cost control, and a complete lack of common sense.
There are claims that this whole project is already obsolete. It earned the nickname ”White Elephant” almost at its inception, and it still carries that description today. “White Elephant” projects make people nervous. Improving our existing railways nationwide is so obviously the better option and would be a far more popular plan.
Andrea Leadsom, our Member of Parliament, has put all these points about HS2 to Mr. Thurston and challenged him to review the business case and the value for taxpayers money. He trots out an all too familiar assurance that the project will be “on time and on budget” – a commitment also made by Mr. Grayling. Another major infrastructure project, currently under construction, that boasted to be “on time and on budget” is Crossrail. Now the Government admits that Crossrail will be late and over budget. By the time HS2 is up and running the IT phenomenon will see more and more people working from home – they do already. The whole world can already make instant contact, with eye contact, on screen. The cry for more and more capacity (a necessity strongly advocated by Teresa May) will fade away. Who will need to travel, on an expensive ticket, from Old Oak common to Birmingham, with no stops en route and no saving on time?

Mr. Grayling still labours under the illusion that Phase One of HS2 will cost £27.18bn. We all know that the cost is over £50bn and rising. He also says that HS2 will become the backbone of our national rail network. A backbone is no use to anyone if it only connects a third of the body. If this railway never goes beyond Birmingham, the improvement to connectivity between London, the Midlands, northern England and central Scotland will be greatly diminished.

Every week recently there have been more and more revelations which demonstrate the inadequacy of those in charge of delivering HS2. The source for the considerable amount of electricity needed to power the HS2 trains has long been questioned. The possible, unbelievable answer to this problem at this late stage is wind turbines and solar panels along the route. More land acquisition and much, much more cost, both financial and environmental. There was no mention in the EA of wind turbines powering the trains. Therefore when Parliament gave the go ahead for HS2, there was no knowledge of this huge environmental impact to wildlife and the countryside.

We, the undersigned, urge all those with power and influence to stop this bloated mammoth now, before any more money is wasted, and thus release billions of pounds for far more important, necessary and worthwhile projects”

I had to laugh at the line about ‘Brexit babble’. It shows these people really don’t DO irony, as Leadsom is one of the prime sources of such babble! As for the stuff about solar panels and wind farms along the route powering Hs2 – I’d love to know what these people have been smoking! Quite where they’ve got this idea from is a good question, but it does show how out of touch with reality they are. The very idea that HS2 could be powered from wind turbines and solar panels is (frankly) barking!

The letter reeks of desperation and it’s interesting to see which areas the letter claims to have support from as it (unintentionally) highlights the fact the opposition to Hs2 is very much centred on the route – and on Phase 1. Somehow, I can’t see such a load of nonsense from Parish councils (who’re very much at the bottom of the political food-chain) carrying much weight with the people who actually decide on these matters. MPs and Ministers. It’s also worth noting that whilst Leadsom may still be playing political games, as long as she’s a member of the Government she’s bound by collective Cabinet responsibility – and Hs2 is firmly Government policy…

May you live in interesting times…

18 Monday Feb 2019

Posted by in Brexit, Musings, Politics

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The old Chinese curse “may you live in interesting times” has never seemed more apposite than now. The countdown to the Brexit shambles is now less than 1000 hours with no sign of our politicians coming to their senses – unless you count the fact that seven Labour MPs ( Chuka Umunna, Luciana Berger, Chris Leslie, Angela Smith, Mike Gapes, Gavin Shuker and Ann Coffey) have jumped ‘magic Grandad’ Jeremy Corbyn’s ship to set sail as independents.

The split has been a long time in the making and I’m certain they’re not the only Labour MPs who’re considering such drastic action. Under Corbyn and his cronies, Labour has lost all touch with ordinary voters. It’s become a party of hard-line dogmatists. Political theoreticians who’re happier living in another political age than actually dealing with the realities of this one. Who would have thought we’d see a party set up to represent the interests of ordinary working men and women helping facilitate Brexit, a scheme from the rich, for the rich that will only make Labour’s core supporters worse off financially and leave them with fewer rights and freedoms than our European neighbours?

A question now is, will any Tories do the same? There’s clearly huge unhappiness in some circles as Teresa May continues to pander to her Brexit fundamentalists and leads to the edge of the cliff without any idea of what to do – other than continue on the same crazy course. Will some Tory MPs decide that they don’t want to shoulder the blame for the Brexit shit-storm and cast off the  Tory whip? Time will tell as the political farce that is British politics in 2019 continues to unfold.

Meanwhile, the economic woes continue as companies abandon Brexit Britain. The latest bombshell looks like it’s going to come from Honda, who are going to close their car plant in Swindon, losing 3,500 jobs (plus who knows how many in the supply chain).

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-47282603

The Japanese had repeatedly warned of the consequences of Brexit. Now it looks like those warnings are coming to fruition. The country has just signed a free trade agreement with the EU (which we’re now excluding ourselves from). This, coupled with Brexit means there’s no point in them staying in the UK. If I was a Nissan worker in Sunderland who’d voted Leave, I would be keeping very quiet about it right now as I don’t see Honda being the last Japanese company to shut up shop in the UK.

 

 

 

Brexit: the shambles continues

07 Thursday Feb 2019

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As night follows day, the British media and Brexit supporters produced the all too predictable furore over Donald Tusk’s verbal (and Twitter) reality check yesterday. His comment, wondering what the special place in hell looks like for those who promoted Brexit, provoked squeals of outrage from many of those who are guilty of exactly that. Farage, Andrea Jenkyns, Grant Shapps and Andrea Leadsom being amongst them.

tusk2

Leadsom went on the BBC to say Tusk has “no manners”, which is weapons grade hypocrisy when you consider the anti EU rhetoric that’s come out of the pro-Brexit camp these past few years. The EU has been compared to both Nazi Germany and the Soviet union by these clowns, whilst newspapers like the Mail have labelled remain supporters as ‘traitors’.

Tusk has hit a nerve because he’s telling the truth – as the whole sorry shambles demonstrates. They NEVER HAD A PLAN, just bombast, bluster and downright lies – and now the chickens are coming home to roost and the blame game’s in full swing.

Today, the next part of the shambles will play out in Brussels, as Teresa May goes (cap in hand) to ask the EU to dig her out of the mess she’s helped create – because she HAS NO PLAN. She threw her negotiated agreement with the EU under a bus and now wants the EU to rescue her. Her claim to have a ‘mandate’ from Parliament will cut no ice in Brussels as the EU leaders have a mandate and instructions of their own – and they have the upper hand. This is what ‘take back control’ looks like away from the Brexiteers bluster. We gave control away just as soon as we triggered article 50 and set the clock running without having a clue what we wanted (just what we didn’t). All we had were May’s ‘red lines’ which had doomed us to failure from the beginning.

So, what will happen in Brussels today? Nothing of any substance, because May hasn’t got a plan. Oh, the language may be more diplomatic, but the EU isn’t going to offer anything that gets the UK off the Brexit hook. Why should they? This epic disaster is of our own making, not theirs, and they have other fish to fry – looking after the interests of their member states – which includes Ireland. We squandered our stock of goodwill a long time ago, we’re running on empty now.

No doubt the media will be full of speculation and poring over an interpreting (or, in some cases, spinning) whatever is said. It’ll keep them busy for a while producing acres of copy and pointless pieces to camera. Meanwhile, the clock continues ticking in the background as the day of reckoning gets closer and closer. Next week there’s another vote in the House of Commons. No doubt this will be yet another sorry farce as a bunch of people completely incapable of facing reality and the consequences of their decisions drag out our national humiliation to its awful conclusion. The only question now is how long this farce will drag on. Will they continue to fiddle whilst Rome burns, or faced with the awful reality that’s staring them (and us) in the face, will they finally discover their backbones? I wish I could say I was optimistic. Instead, I’m off to stock up on tins of chickpeas…

UPDATE. 13:18.

I’ve stopped for a coffee and logged onto the news to find out exactly what we knew was going to happen. May got nowhere in Brussels. Despite the warm words in a joint communique which carried the classic old line about ‘robust but constructive’ discussions, Junker has made it crystal clear (yet again, how many times does the poor sod have to say it?) that the withdrawal agreement is NOT for renegotiation. Words may be tinkered with, but that’s it. Talk about a waste of time. Here’s a copy of the statement.

eu statement

Note the line that ‘President Junker drew attention to the fact that any solution would have to be agreed by the EU Parliament & EU27’. Does that sound like us having taken back ‘control’ to you?

The only noises that can be heard now are the sounds of a clock ticking and a can being kicked down the road.

 

Brexit: the iceberg looms…

06 Wednesday Feb 2019

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The most depressing aspect about being back in the UK after a month in New Zealand is being trapped in a country about to do an economic and political RMS Titanic impression. Like the Titanic, many of us poor sods have no chance of a place in a lifeboat, so we’re expected to go down with the ship. Meanwhile, those in charge are busy denying responsibility for our course, or blaming the iceberg for existing, or are fighting over who gets to steer us into it…

Meanwhile, many people go about their daily lives oblivious to what’s happening as they’re not interested in politics, have little understanding of economics and care more about what’s happening to the characters in their favourite soap opera. All the while, the clock is ticking…

How many people understand that, unless our Government and the EU come to a deal by 29th March we automatically (by rule of law) crash out of the EU without a deal. Nor can we stop the article 50 clock unilaterally. The EU has to agree. This is what “taking back control” actually looks like. This is the cold hard reality behind all the bullshit and bluster from the Brexit camp and why the situation we’re in is such a sick joke. Not that those who foisted Brexit upon us are taking any responsibility for any of this. Oh, no. Some of the Brexit supporting MPs have dropped even the pretence of honesty and resorted to outright lying, even doubling down on the lie when exposed. Step forward Daniel Kawczynski, the Tory MP for Shrewsbury – as the Independent explains.

https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/daniel-kawczynskis-brexit-reparations-mp-germany-marshall-plan-lies-a8762361.html

People like him, Dominic Raab and Chris Grayling are busy making their excuses for the impending disaster by trying to pin the blame on the EU for its ‘intransigence’ in not rolling over and giving in to their impossible demands. The fact the EU made it’s position clear right from the very start by saying it wasn’t going to change the rules of the club for someone who’s leaving, and that our Government (and what passes for an ‘opposition’ nowadays, which is another sick joke) have wasted nearly three years in arguing with itself matters not. Oh, no. When the shit finally hits the fan none of them will accept responsibility.

Whilst this charade is playing out in Westminster, dark forces are active on social media, just like they were during the referendum. Someone (know one can establish whom) is spending 100’s of 1000s of £ on pro no-deal Facebook ads, whilst on Twitter a large number of bot accounts have sprung up pretending to be young people who voted Remain but now want to see no-deal because they’re sick of the way the EU is treating us. You can see where this is going, can’t you?

The picture looks very different in the EU, where the very people we’re meant to be spending the next several years negotiating ‘better’ access to the EU than we had are so thoroughly pissed off with the UKs time-wasting and posturing that Donald Tusk has just said this. Clearly, the EU is washing its hands of us, and who can blame them? We’ve proved ourselves a joke, time-wasters, nothing more.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/politics/uk_leaves_the_eu

tusk

Someone pass me a lifebelt, please…

UPDATE.

After typing this I saw more of the news coming out of Europe and the meetings the EU’s had with the Irish government. To my mind it’s clear that the EU position has hardened and their attention is on standing by and protecting Ireland. But who can blame them? The UK has proved it can’t be trusted to negotiate in good faith, after all, Theresa May even threw her own deal under a bus! Christ, have our politicians and those devious, lying Brexit promoters Tusk referred to got us into a mess – and no amount of their bravado, bombast & bullshit is going to get us out of it. As many of our politicians have still to find a backbone and stop this madness I can only see two options left. Either they will kick the can even further down the road by asking the EU for an extension of the article 50 timetable, or we crash out of the EU with no deal on March 29th.

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Returning to the madness of Brexit.

29 Tuesday Jan 2019

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After a month in beautiful and progressive New Zealand it’s time to fly half-way around the planet to return to a country that’s busy trying to destroy itself: Britain.

We’ve been spared the daily madness of Brexit over here, although I have tried to keep abreast of what’s been happening. That’s been a challenge in itself as what’s been happening makes little sense. Today I checked the news to find that Parliament had voted to renegotiate the Irish border backstop in an utterly futile gesture as Parliament is without the power it up. The EU has made it crystal clear that the negotiations are over – as has the Irish government. The EU could be forgiven for asking “which bit of NO is it that you don’t understand”?

We look complete clowns who’re living in a dreamworld of their own creation. We’ve totally trashed our reputation and our standing on the world stage. All other countries can do is look on agog and feel sympathy for those of us who’re caught up in this madness.

Meanwhile, whilst our politicians fiddle, our economy burns. More and more companies are reaching for plan B and the lifeboats to get away from our sinking country before the clock stops ticking in 59 day time. Just 59 days – that’s all we have left now after our politicians (and quite a few voters) have wasted the past two and a half years pretending Unicorns exist, we’ve ‘taken back control’ and that ‘they’ really do need us more than we need them. Brexit is looking more and more like a death cult.

I dread to think what we’re returning to as the impression I’m getting out here and through social media is that many people haven’t got a clue what’s going on and don’t really care anymore (if they ever did). The cry of “just get on with it” (when they haven’t got a Scooby Doo what ‘it’ is) seems to echo around certain circles. My fear is when (far, far too late) the penny finally drops and the consequences of ‘it’ can no longer be denied, things are going to get messy – and possibly bloody.

The Brexit chickens are coming home to roost. Sadly, so are we – and I’m really not looking forward to it…

15:02 (USA time).

After a 12hr 30m flight we’re passing through the faff of US customs. Despite our baggage being checked in to Heathrow the Yanks insist you have to collect it and then check it in again, which is a bit stressful when your connection boards in an hour & the carousel breaks!

Viewing the Brexit madness from afar…

15 Tuesday Jan 2019

Posted by in Brexit, Politics

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To be honest, this is a good time to be on the other side of the planet, away from a country that’s tearing itself and its economy apart thanks to the utter stupidity of its politicians and the fact so many of its citizens are completely detached from the reality of the world beyond their islands shores.

I’m talking about the UK and Brexit. I’ve just heard on the news that the inevitable has happened and Prime Minister Teresa May’s ‘deal’ has been rejected by Parliament. This is as much of a surprise as the fact the sun comes up each morning. Everyone knew it was inevitable, yet she ploughed on like the Captain of the Titanic. To continue with the nautical metaphor, the UK is in completely uncharted waters now. Parliament has given May three days to come up with a plan B. Problem is – she doesn’t have one. Neither do the Brexit fundamentalists, other than persisting with the utterly insane idea that the UK can crash out of the EU with no deal and everything will be better! Meanwhile, the  Labour party continue to provide neither opposition nor alternative leadership, never mind a plan. They also persist with the insane – the idea that a Labour Brexit will be wonderful ‘cos their unicorns are painted red, not blue.

Whilst this political madness persists, businesses are tearing their hair out. Many are activating their plans to either get the hell out of the UK, or move what business they can back into the EU. Many businesses don’t have that luxury. We’ve had 2 and a half years of political and economic uncertainty because our politicians triggered article 50 without a plan. They set the clock ticking without any though of where that would lead. Tomorrow we have no-confidence vote in the Government. What will happen next? I have no idea – and I suspect many in Parliament are in the same position.

Compounding this are the people who voted for Brexit who still don’t understand the consequences of what they voted for – or who blindly refuse to accept them. English arrogance and exceptionalism is all too tragically alive and well. ‘Johnny Foreigner’ was going to roll over for us and give us everything we wanted to when we voted leave remember? “They need us more than we need them”. We’re “taking back control”. How idiotic and arrogant those slogans sound now. Only some people still believe them, because we’re English – God’s chosen people. They still can’t accept that they’re about to be served a very large slice of humble pie they cooked themselves – and the rest of us will be forced to eat it too. Let’s just remind ourselves what some of the architects of this shambles claimed…

brexit lies

What have we achieved in the past 2 and a half years? Well, we’ve wasted billions of pounds in pursuit of the impossible (a better deal than we had) and preparing for the inconceivable (a no deal Brexit). We’ve trashed our international reputation and shown the world how utterly stupid and arrogant we can be. We’ve suffered two and a half years of political paralysis and time wasting chasing our tails rather than Parliament doing something useful and meaningful. We’ve proved that we’re governed by a bunch of political chancers, spivs and  dogmatic lightweights who put party before country – and we’ve shown that actually, the UK’s more to be pitied than feared when it comes to trying to throw its non-existent weight around on the world stage (one only has to look at the way the PM’s been side-lined on the world stage to see that).

I’ve never seen a developed nation implode through its own arrogance and incompetence before. I am now. Sadly, it’s my own country.