FULL ENGLISH BREAKFAST

In the great Brexit debate we hear very little about how dire life will be if we DON’T leave the EU. Imagine for a moment that the remainers somehow manage to overturn the referendum results. Within Europe there will be rejoicing that we have failed to break free and a new confidence in the power […]

EUROPE UNITED AND DOOMED

News and views about the EU are confusing. How will it all play out? One of my imagined scenarios is that Britain will leave the EU and will be seen by the EU as a threat to all that it stands for. The American Civil War will be replayed in Europe but with economic and […]

THREATS POST AFGHANISTAN

The October 27th papers gave substantial coverage to the end of British military involvement in Afghanistan. Some writers doubted the possibility of Britain ever again wanting to, or being capable of undertaking such a campaign. I felt called to consider my own attitude. I am conditioned, of course. When I was a young man significant […]

SHALL I VOTE FOR UKIP ON MAY 22nd?

I live in a part of the country which is unlikely to elect a Westminster MP other than a conservative. So my influence on a UK election will only ever be zero. But in the European election the size of the vote for a minority party like UKIP is of interest to the major ones. […]

MORE ON SCOTLAND AND INDEPENDENCE

This issue comes up more frequently as the referendum gets closer. I am English, but a great admirer of the Scots and would be sad if they decided to leave us. It does not seem at all clear whether an independent Scotland would be better or worse off economically. So it looks like an emotional […]

PUTIN AND POWER

There is extensive news coverage about Ukraine and Putin’s land-grab of Crimea. What will happen next, and why? It is pretty clear that nobody is going to start a shooting war to stop him. Not the EU and not the USA. Putin knows it. The politicians and the commentators talk a lot about economic sanctions […]

SCOTLAND AGAIN

I posted on the Scotland issue yesterday but felt that I had missed something. I wonder if the deepest motive in the SNP campaign is just a historic ANTI-ENGLISHNESS. They have got some reason to feel this way because, on the whole, they came off worst in our various conflicts. But they did remarkably well in fights […]

BRITAIN, SCOTLAND AND EUROPE

Right now some Scots want out of Britain and some Brits want out of Europe. The arguments for and against an independent Scotland seem very complex and will never be proved either way because you can’t go back afterwards and try the other thing. But I can understand the emotional need for an independent identity, […]

STILL SYRIA

Obama is back from Moscow, with Putin and some others firmly against him. He still seems keen to attack Syria, and will try to get congressional backing.If he gets approval, and does attack, the US will be on their own except for (maybe) France. There will be a great many deaths and no certainty of […]

SYRIA

The memory of Iraq influences everybody in Britain and the No vote in parliament probably reflects the public opinion. If it were not for that legacy, how would military intervention in Syria seem? The strongest reason for attack is surely that the use of chemical weapons has to be challenged. If it is, then the challengers […]