Tag Archives: Brexit

In the final months of the Second World War, Winston Churchill’s desire to launch dangerous military adventures in the far-flung reaches of the Empire caused the head of the Military, Field Marshall Sir Alan Brooke to remark that “before you plant your right foot somewhere you ought first to know …

It wasn’t meant to be like this.  Although Margaret Thatcher was supposedly anti-EU, when it came down to it, her scepticism was primarily a negotiating ploy.  Thatcher understood that the threat of a referendum was powerful.  It bought Britain its rebate, its opt out from the social chapter, and fortuitously …

In the game of chess, the grandmaster seeks to dominate the game from the opening move.  The amateur, in contrast, risks making so bad an opening that the game is lost immediately.  One such opening is known as “fool’s mate,” which requires so foolish an opening move that none but …

Everything seems to be going wrong for Britain’s Tory government since the loss of the Brexit referendum and the resignation of David Cameron.  The coronation of Theresa May was supposed to usher in a new era of strength and stability.  Instead it has brought vacillation and U-turns, a disastrous general …

One of the ways you know you are living through a crisis is when satire offers a more accurate picture than news.  This was particularly true yesterday when the satirical website News Thump published a piece that told us everything we need to know about the antics of UK Foreign …

Listeners to the BBC Today programme this morning will have heard the interview with Ralf Speth, CEO of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), about the company’s plans to introduce several new lines of electric and electric hybrid cars.  In the course of the interview, Speth dropped three bombshells that threaten to …

The apparent resilience of the UK economy in the face of last year’s Brexit vote has confounded economists and pundits.  The Remain Campaign’s dire ‘project fear’ predictions simply failed to materialise.  The sharp fall in the stock market – more a reaction to the surprise result than to its economic …

The impact of migration on jobs is believed to lie at the heart of last year’s Brexit vote.  Free movement of people, it was argued, was responsible for depriving indigenous workers of the employment they need.  Halting free movement, then, was supposed to result in more and better jobs for …

Some years ago I watched a group of boys arguing over a bag of sweets.  The boy whose sweets they were was adamant that nobody else was going to have them.  Despite his friends imploring him to share at least some of the sweets, the boy refused.  Things deteriorated into …