tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-102547802024-03-12T23:54:03.351+00:00notmyopinionWhen I need your opinion, it will be assigned to you. Or something like that. Maybe.Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17551433393657324982noreply@blogger.comBlogger264125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10254780.post-36805949189002202112023-11-16T14:06:00.000+00:002023-11-16T14:06:38.602+00:00Are we getting a minister of funny walks?So Rishi Sunak, the PM, has appointed a TV presenter and newspaper columnist as minister for common sense, or minister without portfolio. I wonder if the fact that both descriptions are used of the same post is a sign of how little common sense we can expect to see from her in her new job?But who is going to get Esther McVeigh's job at GB News when she and David Cameron are appointed to the Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17551433393657324982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10254780.post-51125494099467302132022-06-06T21:16:00.001+01:002022-06-06T21:16:18.686+01:00The JubileeThe Queen has been on the job for 70 years. That's an unimaginably long time in one job for most of us. Unimpeded by the sort of reorganisations and reshuffles that affect many of us, she has devoted herself to her role. She has been a constant during 8 decades of change in the UK and the world. And even as she has changed and adapted, she has done so with grace, dedication, and an integrity thatPaulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17551433393657324982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10254780.post-10215552423050796372021-10-12T20:21:00.007+01:002021-10-14T13:42:57.442+01:00Out of the Protocol, Into... what? Ulster Unionist Party MLA Steve Aiken said: "Anyone who has a grasp of the provisions of the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement will note that the principle of consent is fundamental and that at the very least the protocol does not have the consent of the Unionist and pro-Union population". (BBC News)But how is consent necessary for the Northern Ireland Protocol, but not for Brexit itselfPaulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17551433393657324982noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10254780.post-69668752054219459082020-04-02T15:16:00.004+01:002020-04-02T15:38:36.835+01:00Testing frontline NHS staff for CoronavirusYesterday Health Secretary Matt Hancock said that Hospitals should use spare laboratory space to test self-isolating NHS staff in England for coronavirus.
But if there was spare capacity, why weren't they being tested already?
And if there isn't spare capacity, is he just pretending to do something?Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17551433393657324982noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10254780.post-61369960991393940542019-10-22T03:26:00.000+01:002019-12-02T22:33:25.457+00:00BREXIT Myths: Can't we just get Brexit done?
Short answer: No.
Longer answer: No. When we leave, we're straight into a decade or so of the real Brexit negotiations. What we've negotiated so far is just the Irish Border, the divorce bill, and citizens' rights. Everything else (the hard bits) will be negotiated after we leave. We will be trying to replace all our current trade deals with the rest of the world - all the Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17551433393657324982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10254780.post-33562649570819883092019-10-01T19:59:00.001+01:002019-10-01T20:31:25.977+01:00BREXIT myths: Do we need the threat of "no deal" to strengthen our negotiating position?
Short answer: no.
Longer answer: Right now we're only negotiating the arrangements for the actual trade talks. The real negotiations come after we leave. At that point, we are committed to reaching trade deals, and we'll have no way to walk away. The no deal "threat" won't help with that - we'll have to take what we can get. If "walking away" now means leaving with no transition Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17551433393657324982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10254780.post-59309967606867608472019-09-07T20:14:00.002+01:002019-10-01T20:32:06.145+01:00BREXIT Myths: Can't we just leave and get it over?
Short answer: No.
Longer answer: No, we can't. It's wrong on both counts. We can't "just leave", and even if we do, Brexit won't be over...
We can leave, when
Parliament passes the withdrawal agreement,
or Boris negotiates a new Withdrawal Agreement with the EU (with a diferent font, say, or a with a renamed backstop), and Parliament passes it,
or the UK does not agree a Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17551433393657324982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10254780.post-16772973338289812412018-08-02T23:38:00.002+01:002019-10-01T20:32:41.670+01:00No-deal Brexit by Accident?
Jeremy Hunt says we are heading for a no-deal Brexit by accident. He could be right...
If you can believe that...
the Brexiteers accidentally failed to come up with a plan either while they were calling for Brexit, or even during the referendum campaign,
and the cabinet accidentally omitted to agree what kind of Brexit they wanted,
and accidentally told the media and each other Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17551433393657324982noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10254780.post-91180972605710220472017-05-22T18:55:00.002+01:002017-05-23T15:02:50.609+01:00Are you a Marxist?Sometimes the question you are answering is not what you think. Especially in politics!
Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17551433393657324982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10254780.post-37350125107750538112017-03-01T18:53:00.001+00:002019-10-01T20:34:01.747+01:00If we don't vote for a better future, who will do it for us? If not now, when? If not this way, how?
So here we vote again. Some people are cynical, saying "all politicians are the same - what's the point of voting?" I've heard people complain about their MLAs and then say, resignedly, "what can you do?"
There is only one thing to do, if you're not happy with the way your MLAs have been behaving (or your Ministers, or First Ministers, for that matter)...
Vote for Change!
If you don't like Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17551433393657324982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10254780.post-23906825156343183042016-07-12T14:54:00.000+01:002019-10-01T20:35:01.033+01:00Labour - what are they for?
Labour, it seems, needs a new leader. The current one, apparently, is "not electable". But what difference will a new one make? What is the problem with the policies of the current leader that has driven rebellions and resignations in the parliamentary party since the day he was elected? Surely nobody can seriously suggest the day-one wave of resignations and subsequent chorus of complaints Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17551433393657324982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10254780.post-37421914562502785422016-07-11T15:20:00.001+01:002019-10-01T20:35:16.290+01:00On anger and what to do with it
When the Referendum result gradually became clear, I was very disappointed. Not by the result so much as by what it said about us as a country. But as I thought about how it had come about, I felt anger. This is what I wrote on FriendFace shortly afterwards...
I am not angry with the voters, but with the establishment that deregulated the financial sector that caused the crash.
I am angry Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17551433393657324982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10254780.post-79007621352669099592016-06-25T13:35:00.001+01:002018-08-11T12:12:20.925+01:00Our Disenfranchised Young - Let them be heard
The EU Referendum was an outrage. The young - who have most to lose - were denied a voice. And to be quite blunt, the old - who voted to leave in such numbers - will have to live with the consequences for the shortest time. This is wrong!
There must be another referendum, in which our 16 and 17 year old citizens who were denied a voice - denied a vote - can have their say!
Young lives Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17551433393657324982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10254780.post-73625741330135628212016-06-24T08:19:00.001+01:002016-06-24T08:40:28.324+01:00DUPed again!
I am saddened by last night's referendum result. The vote to leave will cause economic damage, it is true. But more seriously, it threatens the stability of the UK and Europe. And the working people who seem to have voted overwhelmingly for exit are likely to pay the price - how will they not, under a government which has already made them pay the price for the Bankers’ Recession?
Britain (Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17551433393657324982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10254780.post-26080670975224438452016-06-19T15:05:00.000+01:002016-06-19T22:21:04.466+01:00Vote Leave because... Migration?
Migrants are flooding into the UK, claiming benefits, clogging up hospitals and stretching services to breaking point - all thanks to EU rules - or so the Brexit campaign seems to say.
But are they?
Well, some flood in, and some flood out. Lots of elderly Brits, for example, swarm to Spain and clog up their hospitals. Many British people work in Europe. Or study at European UniversitiesPaulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17551433393657324982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10254780.post-29069922560309298402016-06-07T00:16:00.000+01:002016-06-07T00:26:48.889+01:00Farage - the new Trump?The poisoning of politics continues apace, as Nigel Farage plumbs new depths. Following on his "there will be riots" speech, with its echoes of Enoch Powell, now he seems to be channelling Donald Trump, who earlier called Mexicans criminals and rapists. Farage in his turn seems to be characterising migrants - or maybe just Turks en masse - as molesters of women.
At least we have the English Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17551433393657324982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10254780.post-90401859380122553122016-06-03T01:38:00.001+01:002016-06-05T16:46:17.917+01:00Spend spend spend!
I wonder how many people the Brexit campaign have promised the £350 million a week of savings on EU membership to?
Last week it was the NHS. Then it seemed to be the Environment. Neither of them are causes close to the hearts of the right wing conservatives who make most of the running in the Brexit campaign. But if you talk to Brexit-inclined farmers concerned about loss of EU subsidy, they Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17551433393657324982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10254780.post-56623192062219257172016-05-18T00:01:00.001+01:002016-06-07T00:17:27.760+01:00What next - Rivers of Blood?
The EU debate is becoming toxic. Nigel Farage seems to be channelling Enoch Powell, in his very own "rivers of blood" moment. He claims to foresee violence on the streets if immigration is not controlled. He says it is difficult to contemplate, but nothing is impossible.
Of course, by talking up the difficulties and ignoring the benefits of immigration, by stoking fears - not least by raising Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17551433393657324982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10254780.post-33144072515808764552016-04-30T14:16:00.002+01:002018-08-11T12:20:12.544+01:00Things I don't understand about executive pay
rather apt image from clipartbest.com
Mark price, ex head of Waitrose, decided last year to look for a better job (or, more accurately, another job to add to the list of jobs he already manages to do at once). A week ago, it came out that this somehow entitles him to £1.9 million compensation. If the rest of us decided to look for a job we liked better, I'm pretty sure our employers would Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17551433393657324982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10254780.post-58726996242456468512016-04-10T01:19:00.000+01:002018-08-11T12:22:00.033+01:001916 and all that
It's been a funny old year. One hundred years on from 1916, the Easter Rising, and Battle of the Somme, some of the old wars are still being fought. Just not quite how I expected.
The commemoration of the Easter Rising in the Republic has seen a nuanced, mature reflection on a rising whose failure is nevertheless seen as a foundational event for the Irish State. The rising was acknowledged Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17551433393657324982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10254780.post-53209464262560350702015-09-13T20:04:00.001+01:002015-09-13T22:56:58.715+01:00What next for Labour
Labour has a new leader. Jeremy Corbyn won 59.5% of the vote. The party seems quite clear about this choice: Corbyn won a large majority - not just among recently-joining affiliates, but also among the full members of the party. They are clearly in it for the long haul - this was not just a campaign by a few blow-ins who wanted to sabotage the election.
And yet senior figures in the Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17551433393657324982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10254780.post-80144996206013223712015-09-10T22:38:00.000+01:002015-09-10T22:38:45.149+01:00Party like it's 1997It seems like both of Northern Ireland's main Unionist parties are stuck in the last Millennium, partying in the last chance saloon like it's 1997. The trigger was a murder, believed by the Police to be by members of the IRA, although sanctioned neither by the IRA's leadership nor by Sinn Fein (formerly known as the IRA's political wing).
First the Ulster Unionists walk out of the Executive. Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17551433393657324982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10254780.post-22497377120101569442015-09-03T23:40:00.003+01:002015-09-11T12:42:54.414+01:00Crisis in Calais?How is a strike in Calais suddenly all about immigrants?
If you've been watching the news on the BBC, you'll know there is a huge crisis of illegal immigrants swarming through Calais, and causing traffic chaos throughout southern England. At least that's how the BBC and other outlets have been telling it. But is this really what is going on?
Sort of. A bit. Apparently a ferry company is Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17551433393657324982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10254780.post-525748391284361062015-08-02T17:36:00.002+01:002018-08-11T12:22:53.730+01:00How history is made
Picture: Greg Gjerdingen
Henry Ford (of motor car fame) famously said that History is Bunk - or so we think. What he actually said, in the Chicago Tribune in 1916, was: "History is more or less bunk. It's tradition. We don't want tradition. We want to live in the present, and the only history that is worth a tinker's damn is the history that we make today."
He wasn't really talking about Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17551433393657324982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10254780.post-20259715233264815542015-05-07T00:48:00.000+01:002015-05-07T00:48:15.231+01:00WhatabouteryJust got around to watching the Northern Ireland Party Leaders Debate.
I can't remember when I last heard so much whataboutery from a single person. I'm struggling to think of a single positive thing the DUP representative said. It's depressing.
The political culture here in Northern Ireland, particularly in the DUP, really is incredibly negative and fixated on the past. Could we get Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17551433393657324982noreply@blogger.com0