– just not with blogging I’m afraid! I’ve had a busy month working from home. It’s left me little time to write or compose my thoughts but that should change now.

It’s not as if there’s nothing going on. As each day goes by Brexit becomes more and more of a shambles. For example, today, the Guardian highlights a survey of UK retirees who’re now less keen to spend their golden years abroad in the sun. They cite concerns about medical care after the UK leaves the EU. I have to say, this is a bit of a ‘No, shit, Sherlock!’ moment – especially when you consider the fact that it was a majority of elderly people who voted for Brexit! So, as well as crashing the value of their currency, they’ve potentially deprived themselves of access to reciprocal medical care abroad. Of course, for the UK, this is a double whammy. As well as losing economically active EU residents (who’re deserting the NHS in droves) we find they’ll be replaced by the economically inactive who’ll be putting extra strain on the NHS! – and that’s before we take into account the 100s of thousands of pensioners who’re already living abroad and who may be forced to return to the UK.

Meanwhile a House of Commons committee has been rather scathing about the referendum itself – and also alluded to foreign involvement in trying to influence the result. It’s deeply ironic about the ‘patriots’ who’ve been trying to take us out of the EU. The trouble with such ‘patriots’ is they’re so easy to manipulate. All you have to do is pander to their prejudices, wave a flag, tell them they’re patriotic, wind them up and let them go. Most are too blind to see that their ‘patriotism’ hasn’t served the UK or Europe’s interests – just the Russians…

I expect this story to keep running. No-one who was involved in the referendum campaign on the Remain side will be surprised. The huge number of foreign ‘tweetbots’ & fake profiles involved was obvious.

Away from politics, expect to see a blog to appear telling the story of my recent travels around South-East Asia, I’m writing up my trip from Singapore, through Malaysia up to Bangkok in my spare time.

After the our Government presented the article 50 letter to the EU, announcing the UK’s intention to leave Brexit fans were cock a hoop. It didn’t take long for cold hard reality to bite. Within a couple of days the EU’s response poured cold water on the UKs ambitions, but also contained a surprise (well, to Brexit fans anyways) which has since broken out and shown just how mad Brexit is.

The Spanish lobbied to get a mention of Gibralter in the EUs reply and managed to bushwack the Brexit camp . The inserted text reads.

As the implications of this began to dawn on Quitters, all hell broke loose in the media. Despite sovereignty not being mentioned at all in the text, some people (including many who should have known better) began to fulminate. Comparisons were immediately drawn with the Falkland Islands and former Home Secretary Michael “something of the night” Howard gave the most ridiculous interview in which he essentially threatened Spain with war. Needless to say, the other pro Brexit newspapers ramped up the rhetoric. This is how utterly bonkers (and a diplomatic disaster) Brexit has become in the space of 4 days. We’ve actually had a ‘serious’ newspaper discussing the idea that the British Navy could ‘cripple’ one of our NATO allies (whom NATO would automatically defend, so – do we fight ourselves then?) – and rabid Quitters have joined in.

Remember, this sabre-rattling is directed at one of our European partners. One in which rather a lot of British citizens have chosen to reside.  One which will have a veto over any deal with try and do with the EU, whether it’s the ‘divorce settlement’ or a new trade and access deal. This is what passes for diplomacy in Brexit Britain.

What’s so stupid about this is that Quitters are surprised at this turn of events. No-one else is. Brexit has  handed the Spanish a golden  opportunity to make Gibralter an issue – as many diplomats and other mentioned before the referendum. As usual, quitters stuck their fingers in their ears (just as they did over the border question with Ireland) and ploughed on regardless.  Now it’s come back to bite them it’s obvious they haven’t got a clue what to do – hence this ridiculous sabre-rattling. The Leave slogan ‘take back control’ looks more and more hollow as it’s painfully obvious that we’ve done exactly the opposite!

To make matters worse, one of the people who’s expected to sort all this out is the buffoon and inveterate liar, Boris Johnson. He’s also been in the news this weekend, condemning the introduction of the new Vnuk tax on off-road vehicles in the Times whilst saying that it made him “glad Britain had voted for Brexit”

This is a classic example of Boris’ intelligence insulting soundbites and disinformation. For a start, we didn’t have to leave the UK to stop this. We could’ve simply voted against it. I mean, we did, didn’t we? Err, no. The UK voted FOR this law.

Once again Johnson proves how duplicitous he is. These are the type of people who’re leading us into the Brexit disaster – and this is only the first week! I wonder which of our allies we’ll threaten next week? This is the madness and depths of stupidity the UK has sunk to now – and this is why we’ve got to continue to fight against it.

With Howard back in the fray Brexit more and more feels like ‘when dinosaurs roamed the earth’ and a ludicrous column from Simon Heffer in the Telegraph adds to that feeling. I won’t give the Tel anymore free links, so here’s the opening piece of Heffer’s idiotic claim.

Brexit Britain sounds more and more like an octogenarians theme park. One where they’re desperate to turn the clock back to the ‘good old’ days of Empire. There was a very good reason we dumped imperial measures. They’re neither logical or practical (so, a perfect fit with Brexit then). Only one other country still hangs on to pounds and miles – America. Not only that, but we started to go metric way back in 1965 – long before the EU came along. In fact, we first started talking about metrication in 1818 and UK scientists developed some of the earlier electrical measurement in – metric! Here, in a nutshell, is why it’s madness to ditch metric.

Can you imagine the effect on the sciences, business and international trade if we went back. It’s utterly stupid – but it’s a classic example of the mindset we’re seeing from the Brexit fan club. The sooner these dinosaurs are extinct, the better…

Well, that was predictable. Yesterday Teresa May sent her formal letter to the EU invoking article 50. Apart from flowery words it also contained threats. May tried to play hardball, threatening the EU that Britain would be less co-operative on security issues if May didn’t get simultaneous talks on the exit settlement and new trade arrangements. Needless to say, the threat  impressed no-one. Within a few hours she’d got a ‘Nein’ from Angela Merkel and ‘Non’ from François Hollande which exposed just how hollow and stupid the Brexit slogan of ‘take back control’ really was. We’ve not taken control, we’ve thrown it away. Now the negotiations start in earnest and it’s becoming painfully obvious who holds all the cards – and it ain’t us – although (with typical English arrogance), Brexit fans think it is. When the truth can no longer be blocked out, it’s going to hit some people very hard.

This was all so predictable. But would the Quitlings listen?  We are in for some very, very difficult times in the next two years.

The Guardian newspaper has taken the time to do what Brexit fans never do – listen to what Europe thinks. Here’s the view from various newspapers in EU countries. It makes interesting but depressing reading.

Parliaments craven cowardice by caving in the ‘will of the people’ (well the 37% of all voters who were allowed to and voted to leave the EU) without securing the rights of EU citizens who’re residing in the UK is one of the most shameful chapters in recent political history. It’s created millions of hostages. EU citizens whom have had the right to live, work and settle in the UK for 40 years now face years of uncertainty – and growing levels of intolerance and abuse. How the hell have we come to this?

The UK calls itself a thriving democracy, yet it sinks to depths of political cowardice and cynicism where it’s Government in prepared to use people who’ve contributed to its success for decades as human bargaining chips. If this wasn’t bad enough, what happens to them if (as is looking increasingly likely) we crash out of the EU in ‘hard Brexit’?

The UKs reputation for tolerance and fairness (all those attributes Brexit fans love to boast about) is in tatters, frankly. Many EU citizen are leaving, or planning to leave, leaving us poorer culturally and financially. We will find them hard to replace. After all, why would anyone come to a country that’s clearly and very publically thrown away the welcome mat as it sinks more and more into isolationism, xenophobia and downright fantasy?

Meanwhile, the hard political realities that the Remain campaign warned about but were labelled ‘project fear’ by the Leave campaign are coming home to roost. The break-up of the union is looking increasingly likely. The Scots are looking at a second independence referendum. In Northern Ireland, Sinn Fein have called for a referendum on joining Eire. The Irish border problem is one Quitters  have resolutely refused to deal with, preferring to stick their heads in the sand rather than tackle it. It’s a timebomb that won’t go away.

More and more we seem to be living in a political fantasy world. We always said Breixiters didn’t have a plan. They never had. All the promises of what wouldn’t happen, all the claims that we’d still have access to the single market et al were hollow. Now, the ‘plan’ seems to be to crash out of the EU, and blame the EU for it! It’s the political equivalent of ‘a big boy did it and ran away’.

The old World War 1 adage needs to be updated for the modern age. Now we’re donkeys led by donkeys.