Looking on the bright side, the clocks have changed, the days are getting longer and warmer and the there’s a distinct feeling of spring in the air. I’m looking forward to being able to get out and about more and there’s some great assignments to look forward to over the course of the year.

On the less than bright side, there’s still the long-running Brexitshambles, which seems to get even more desperately stupid by the day. Despite the claims in some newspapers about how negotiations with the EU are ‘progressing’ it’s clear to anyone who pays any attention to the details that all the Government’s done is kick the can further down the road. There’s absolutely no agreement on the issues that really matter (like the Northern Ireland border) and we’re running out of time as the can goes flying again.

Meanwhile, just when we need an opposition party worthy of the name, Corbyn and Co manage to screw things up yet again. His sacking of Owen Smith for speaking out on a new Brexit referendum) was incredibly inept – and duplicitous. Of course, Corbynistas have formed their wagons into a circle around their ‘Golden Boy’ but from the comments I’m seeing across social media it’s obvious that many people who oppose Brexit but reluctantly supported Corbyn are exasperated and the scales are dropping from their eyes. Corbyn’s not part of the solution, he’s part of the problem. The scale of that problem has been made clearer by an interview that Labour’s Sir Keir Starmer gave to the Guardian. In it he sees the future of the party as more important than the country under the headline “We cannot allow Labour to break apart over Brexit”. Actually Keir, if it’s a choice between stopping Brexit or the Labour party, then it’s a no-brainer. Your party has proved to be utterly inept when it comes to providing leadership on the most important political and economic crisis to face this country since the second world war. Instead, you’ve been busy playing party politics and deceiving people. I thought Teresa May’s ‘Brexit means Brexit’ was the most vapid political slogan of recent decades, but Corbyn’s ‘jobs first Brexit’ is in the same class. It’s just another lie. There can be no ‘jobs first’ Brexit. No political party has a God-given right to exist (as UKIP has found out!). You are the servants, not the masters and you’d do well to remember that. Sadly, both main parties have put their good ahead of the nation’s. The Tories are equally culpable here.

Meanwhile, whilst Labour have dug themselves another hole and Corbyn is on the rack about anti-Semitism (again). Her majesty’s opposition are leaving the Government and the Brexit campaigners to escape scrutiny over the latest allegations surrounding Cambridge Analytica, the vote Leave campaign and the accusations that the whole campaign was void due to dirty money being channelled to fund it (link).

If we had a decent opposition worth it’s name they should be flaying the Government alive over this, but as team Corbyn actually want Brexit, they’re taking their foot off the gas as it could all be a little bit awkward.

What makes me laugh is the way Brexit supporters, many of whom used the excuse that we needed to leave the EU because it was ‘undemocratic’ are either completely silent about the allegations that the Brexit referendum was bought and subverted, or even attack those who’re exposing the story. After all, what could be more undemocratic than someone buying the result of the referendum? Talk about double-standards…

Thank God for the Guardian and Channel 4 news, as much of the rest of the media seems more intent on keeping quiet about some of these things. The BBC especially so. I’ve never bought into the argument of BBC bias before now but there’s been too much evidence emerging over the past few years that suggests not all is what it should be. The ‘walls of gammon’ (angry, elderly Brexit supporting white men) who always get to appear on Question Time, the fact Nigel Farage seemed almost a permanent fixture on the show. The revelations that the programmes ‘audience producer’ was anything but impartial and was found to be sharing Britain First posts on Facebook (links here and here) did nothing but re-inforce that feeling.

Now we find the BBC making a poor job of reporting on the Anti Brexit marches around the country yesterday. It’s not surprising that people are getting worried that the country seems to be in thrall to a small but hugely influential bunch of right-wingers at the moment. I hate to draw parallels with 1930’s Germany, but the way some sections of the media are acting, throwing around accusations of ‘betrayal’ and labelling people ‘traitors’ I can’t help but wonder…

Is the country going to sleepwalk into the looming brexitshambles? I’m beginning to think it might. Many people are still woefully ignorant of what’s around the corner and we have large sections of the media devoted to keeping them that way.

Depressing times…

But, it’s not too late. There’s no giving up and the local elections in May are an ideal opportunity for those of us who’re fighting the Brexitshambles to send a loud message by refusing to vote for the party’s that support Brexit. If Labour gets a bloody nose at the polls because people switch their votes to parties who oppose Brexit (such as the Lib-Dems and Greens) we may yet find that a few more Labour MPs rediscover their backbones. Never say never…

Sorry for the break in blogging these past few days, I’ve been caught up with family stuff, work and cycle-training (more on which in the blog to follow)…

Today’s already been busy as we’ve picked up the ‘new’ car. Well, it’s new to us anyway!It’s an 11 month old Honda Civic that we’ve exchanged for our older 2014 model. Those three years have seen several refinements in the design of these Swindon made cars, the results of which mean it’s more economical and comfortable. Dawn loves driving it, which is just as well as I can’t: I don’t drive!

Being a passenger on the way home gave me time to think about what the future may hold for Honda’s Swindon plant because of the shambles that is Brexit. As things stand at the minute it’s looking increasingly likely that the price of new cars will rise by 10% and car plants like Swindon could face a very uncertain future. The Japanese have made it very clear that if the UK does leave the Customs Union and Single Market, leaving businesses unprofitable, they’ll be taking their businesses elsewhere. (link).

The problem is, our politicians aren’t listening. This week we’ve had a typically shambolic speech from Boris Johnson. It was lightweight, full of platitudes but absolutely devoid of any real content. We need answers about the Irish border, instead we got organic carrots. We needed to know what’s happening with the customs union, instead we got a sniggering reference to British sex-tourism in Thailand (link). It was cringe-making. The full text of the speech can be found here. Our politicians have become clowns, the problem is, the joke’s on us…

Now we have Teresa May visiting Germany, where the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel had to point out that she’s still none the wiser as to what it is the UK Government actually expects from Brexit (link). She’s not alone. It’s clear our Government has no idea either! Yet the clock is ticking ever louder. Businesses can hear it, many of us can hear it – but May’s government appears deaf. Mind you, Labour need new batteries in Corbyn’s hearing aid too!

I try to laugh, but in truth I’m angry – very angry, at the way the UK’s reputation’s being trashed on the world stage by the actions of both political parties and their spineless reluctance to be honest with people over the economic and social consequences of Brexit- not to mention their unpreparedness for what’s to come as a result of that inertia. Meanwhile, our EU neighbours aren’t. The Ducth have announced plans to recruit 750 extra customs staff to deal with the consequences of the UK leaving the Customs Union and single market (link). What are we doing? Nothing…