A blast from the past has reappeared to add a much-needed dash of comedy to the Brexit fiasco. Uri Geller, psychic and spoon bender, has promised to stop the process telepathically since he intuited that most Brits were against it. His track record is a touch spotty when it comes to claims of … Read more
The Good Friday Agreement which lies at the heart of the Irish backstop problem was the peace agreement between the British and Irish governments, and most of the political parties in Northern Ireland, on how Northern Ireland should be governed; and relations between the North and the South and the British government. It guaranteed an … Read more
John Bercow, Speaker of the House, threw a spanner into the Brexit works yesterday by denying a further (third) vote on Theresa May’s deal unless it was substantially different from the previous one. Which seems reasonable since it’s been heavily defeated twice but his action has raised an almighty furore. And this despite … Read more
The first three defectors from the Tory Party – Anna Soubry, Heidi Allen, Sarah Wollaston – timed their exit for maximum impact on Theresa May just before PMQ and (yet another) Brussels visit. Soubry was trenchant in her criticism of Theresa May and her handling of Brexit. “I think she is in … Read more
A breakaway group of 7 MPs have abandoned the Labour Party because of concerns over Corbyn’s handling of Brexit, far-left bullying and anti-Semitism. They have set themselves up as an independent group with Chuka Umunna saying that the old, tribal politics were broken and inviting others across party lines to join them. He … Read more
An astro-quickie on Olly Robbins, Theresa May’s favourite civil servant, who’s been spearheading the Brexit negotiations in Brussels. In an extraordinary lapse of judgement (or was it?) he gossiped about the UK government’s strategy over a late-night drink in a bar earlier this week and was overheard by the ITV journalist Angus Walker. … Read more
Amidst all the Brexit carnage and panic, a moment of fun, well high farce anyway. The witless and ill-starred Transport Secretary Chris Grayling managed to prepare for a no-deal Brexit by agreeing a £14million contract with a ferry firm that didn’t own any ferries. Mystifyingly he and the deal stayed in place until … Read more
Another month, another flurry of excited panic as yet another deadline approaches. And we appear no nearer to any real closure than we were two years back. Even Tony Blair is sounding lucid: “We need to know the destination of the train before we get on it and depart the station; especially when … Read more
Untying the Gordian knot of the Ireland problem is where the majority of Brexit attention is being focussed. Though heaven knows there are multifarious other worries about customs borders and future trade requiring preparation which appear to be sliding under the radar. As far as Ireland is concerned, Leo Varadakar, the Irish … Read more
David Cameron opened Pandora’s Box with the Brexit referendum and then slunk away after it turned into a can of viperous worms. Looked at one way he was the unwitting agent for what had to happen, a necessary step along the way of dismantling the UK’s sclerotic political system. Not what he intended … Read more