Never underestimate the power of words because their psychological impact can be quite disturbing. The day after the EU referendum I felt, like many, that my whole world had changed. Having been born in the UK where I obtained my professional qualification, moved to France in 1984 and living in the Netherlands since 1999, my […]
Brexit Negotiations
ROYAUME-UNI: Les Revenants – La Politique Sombre de Boris Johnson
Le conseil de Boris Johnson au parlement britannique sur la meilleure façon de rendre hommage Jo Cox est tout simplement honteux. Jo Cox, députée du Labour, a été brutalement assassinée lors de la campagne référendaire de 2016, par un fasciste dérangé qui cria “La Grande-Bretagne d’abord” lors de l’attaque. Pour un homme aussi puissant, Boris […]
Populism In Manchester
Boris Johnson was simply being himself at the Conservative party conference in Manchester. Full of energy and wild metaphors, he captured an already captive audience, sent Jeremy Corbyn into orbit and got Brexit done. All this, and more, with a panache that Cyrano de Bergerac would have been proud of and a sense of optimism […]
Waking The Dead – Mister Johnson’s Murky Politics
Maybe this time, Mister Johnson has so run out of ideas and friends to deliver Brexit, that he has to rely on dead members of parliament who have the innate ability not to answer back or refuse. Boris Johnson’s advice to Parliament on the best way to remember Jo Cox is nothing short of […]
The Brexit Fundamentalists
Populism and dogmatism have replaced empiricism and pragmatism, leading to an ideological frenzy, the perpetrators of which are in a constant civil war with their opponents. It is a psychodrama that has cut through political divides, carved apart families and neighbourhoods, to finally break its way through to the very top of the State and […]
Three Men In A Vote – Cameron, Johnson, Gove (And Larry)
If we are going to play a blame game like David Cameron does in his memoirs, I would personally blame Mrs Pickleworth who lives in Sunderland, and the people like her who voted Leave in a frenzy of anti-European fantasies. She has never held a UK passport because the furthest that she has travelled is […]
Has Europe Lost Control Of Democracy?
Up to now it has been a harsh year for European politics. For the UK, Brexit has resulted in Westminster losing its grip on a political process and, if it is not careful, will also lose control over its representative democracy. Elsewhere in Europe, the populist AfD is progressing in Germany, the Italian coalition is […]
Operation Yellowhammer: A Hitchhiker’s Guide To No-Deal Brexit
The leaked Yellowhammer report evokes “EU exit fatigue” but it is the English who are tiresome. “Readiness will be further limited by increased EU exit fatigue caused by the second extension of Article 50” How my heart bleeds for the English who having been knackered by a farcical referendum and exhausted by negotiations […]
Boris Johnson: An Agitator Within The Law
Like it or not, Boris Johnson’s prorogation of Parliament is perfectly legal. The Queen might very well have choked on her porridge, she gave the prime minister her blessing and paved the way for Parliament to be muted whilst Brexit is being irrevocably defined. It’s a sad state of affairs for UK democracy, of course, […]
The Queen’s Consent – “One Is Very Amused, One Must Say!”
How I would have loved to be a fly on the wall in the royal room when Queen Lily met prime minister BoJo. Well not really, of course. For one, I would have a brain the size of – well – a fly’s brain, I suppose. And two, I would have been smacked by a […]