April 2019 – The first UK passports without the wording “European Union” have appeared. They are made in the EU, and still burgundy red before turning blue in the autumn. The UK is still in the EU, of course, before being kicked out in the summer! (original post 30/12/17) If you thought that the […]
European ideals
Brexit Musings (12) – “Fool Britannia”
I thought that I could peacefully finish the day, away from Brexit and Facebook, when I accidentally came across the following tweet from a leader of a Western democracy whose shoulders are probably hurting from the weight of responsibility that they carry. The tweet is so full of self-contemplation, disregard for others (bordering on contempt), […]
Brexit Musings (11) – Blue Is The Colour, Brexit Is The Game
One of the most iconic things about being British is having a British passport. – Brandon Lewis (Immigration minister) In its first major announcement for getting a “country that works for everyone“, the UK government has announced the re-emergence of the giant hogweed, once labelled as Britain’s most dangerous plant. Touch it once, and you […]
De Brexit Overeenkomst Negeert de Burgerrechten van Britse Burgers in de EU
Terwijl 23 juni 2016 de boeken in zal gaan als een van de zwartste dagen in onze levens, als EU-burgers in het Verenigd Koninkrijk en als Britse staatsburgers in de EU, zal ook de aankondiging van een last-minute overeenkomst over het “verzekeren” van burgerrechten, opgenomen worden in dit lijstje als “heel donkergrijs”. Twee zaken komen […]
Citizens’ Rights Have Been Swept Under The Carpet
Whereas 23rd June 2016 will be remembered as one of the blackest days of our lives, as EU citizens in the UK and Brits in the EU, the announcement of a last-minute agreement “securing” citizens’ rights, will probably rank as being “very dark grey”. Two things come to mind when analysing the outcome of this […]
Brexit Musings (8): Ain’t Britain Got Culture, No More?
Riches And Stitches in the EU It’s quite interesting to see how different European countries tackle the outcome of a general election that didn’t quite go to plan. It seems that, nowadays, the electorate want a little bit of this, and a little bit of that, and end up getting nothing. Dutch politicians rhymed their way […]
“Adios…Catalonia?”
(image: barcelonaconnect.com) It seems like a rotten sequel to an already very bad film. If you thought “Brexitmania” was bad, now we have the very latest cheap remake on a theme that is well past its “sell by” date. In deciding to go it alone, Catalonia has done exactly what the UK did, on 23rd […]
Brexit Musings (5) – Brexit In America And “Eggs Florentine”
I read an interesting piece in the Mail On Sunday, the other day. And there was I, thinking that the Mail On Sunday, like the Daily Mail, was as far anti-EU as you could get, until an erroneous comment of mine, posted on Facebook, got corrected by someone who’s more familiar with the antics of the […]
Utopia, Anno 2017 – Catalonia And Brexit
During the UK referendum campaign, the Leave camp’s arguments for leaving the European Union focused on, (i) a full economic recovery only made possible outside the EU, (ii) close to zero immigration and, (iii) a financed healthcare system. Whilst a non negligible proportion of the Brexit voters are clearly isolationist and/or xenophobic, I do […]
Mayhem in Florence
In the beginning, there was Rome – six paths leading away from the city, towards an ever closer union of six warring nations. Then, there was Maastricht, the symbol of a European treaty that no-one voted for. More recently, Lisbon, emblem of the same treaty that no-one got a chance to vote for. Now, there […]