What seems like many years ago, in the year 2016, I wrote about how we might make the most of leaving the European Union (EU). At that time (late June), it did not occur to me that the referendum had been illegal, and we could campaign for it to be rerun. So, it seemed […]
Under cover of both the pandemic and Brexit, the government has already given itself the ability to make laws with only nominal parliamentary involvement, in other words without asking you.
Mr Johnson hopes that “with a fair wind in our sails” the vaccination will have been offered to the top four priority groups by the end of the lockdown. Even his own words betray that the likelihood of this being achieved is frankly remote.
Mr Johnson, the time has come for you to step out of the cosy bubble of denial in which you exist. It is the citizens of this nation who gave you power based on your election manifesto. We expect you to make decisions that are beneficial to all, not just one section of society
The members of the House of Lords now number more than 830. This is ridiculous. It’s supposed to be 600. Boris Johnson has been Prime Minister for twelve months and has appointed 52 new peers.
Brexit has tested to destruction the limitations of devolution. It could and should have been different. Scots will rightly ask why the special arrangements accorded to Northern Ireland cannot be granted to Scotland which also overwhelmingly voted to remain part of the EU.
A reflection on John Donne’s Meditation No 17 No man is an island,Entire of itself,Every man is a piece of the continent,A part of the main.If a clod be washed away by the sea,Europe is the less As Big Ben chimes the new year inThe Ode to Joy’s still ours to sing! We’re part of […]
What to say anew this boxing daywith presents already goneand voices stretched, strained, long drawn outthose well-known grooves so thinly worn St. Stephen knelt and prayed aloudthat forgiveness might be foundby those who midst the clatterheard only rain of stone There was no music therethere was no soft fall snowflake airthere was no hush of […]
A letter signed by 48 MPs, peers and clergymen has been sent to PM Boris Johnson. It expresses concern that last week’s National Audit Office (NAO) report on vaccine roll-out ‘contradicts’ government claims that the UK will be ‘back to normal after Easter’.
It is a long time since I have heard a Conservative MP claim to be a ‘compassionate Conservative’.
Cricketing image?
I am a farmer and a keen cricketer (though not a high standard player by anyone’s account). I love playing the game and find all its nuances and foibles fascinating but right now, there are certain cricketing analogies I’d like to draw with the situation this country finds itself in.
These are often entrepreneurial individuals who take risks to create and establish new businesses or individuals who have no option but to work in a freelance capacity, such as performers and many others associated with our vital arts sector.
Jason Evans is the founder of the Factor 8 campaign group. His father died in 1993 when Jason was only four years old. For years, he has been trying to find out exactly what happened.
At PMQs today Keir Starmer referenced a Wellingborough Tory party newsletter. EM Bylines has obtained it and would like to share a little with you about Tory party recommended tactics to fool gullible people in a Trumpian way.
A new poll shows 2 out of 3 voters want a good deal with the European Union (EU). They do not want a no deal or what Boris Johnson calls an ‘Australian style arrangement’. The whole country says #no2nodeal.
The cuts coming to the UK’s aid budget, a reduction in its commitment from 0.7 to 0.5 per cent gross domestic product (GDP), are a clear sign that the ‘Global Britain’ slogan is just another meaningless soundbite.
Since the 23 June 2016, when the UK voted to come out of the EU, UK businesses have been uncertain on how the UK government is going to organise its trade policy with the EU and with non-EU countries.
So what is the goal of this task force? No 10 won’t really say but speaking to OpenDemocracy, Kailash Chand, the former British Medical Association deputy chair, said he believed the purpose of the task force was part of a wider effort to drive forward more NHS privatisation…
The UK holds very few cards and I can imagine the US being like Private Walker rubbing his hands with glee as he spots a desperate punter to take advantage of. We are constantly told that nothing will be allowed in that is below our high standards. If this is true then why are thousands of tonnes of oilseed rape being allowed in that have been grown using neonicotinoids? Will this stop at the end of the transition period? I doubt it. How can we trust the Government without it being law? They promised oven ready deals with the European Union (EU), and told us it would be the easiest thing in the world to make an agreement, and farmers would get more support payments.
Do we naively believe that capitalism (as currently pursued by the few, for the few) rests on a Keynesian economic system, complete with a good British sense of fair play? Do we think that capitalism is being used to strengthen our democracy?
