Category: Politics

Short and sweet

”A bill to confer power on the Prime Minister to notify, under Article 50(2) of the Treaty on European Union, the United Kingdom’s intention to withdraw from the EU.

Be it enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—

1 Power to notify withdrawal from the EU

(1)The Prime Minister may notify, under Article 50(2) of the Treaty on European Union, the United Kingdom’s intention to withdraw from the EU.

(2)This section has effect despite any provision made by or under the European Communities Act 1972 or any other enactment.

2 Short title

This Act may be cited as the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Act 2017.”

 

Clarity of expression is a thing of beauty.  Mess about with that, Bremainers!

Bye bye, Nicola!

SNP Party annual conference 2014The esteemed Supreme Court has spoken, understandably pointing out that its decisions are about the law, not politics. And as the gubmint expected, it will have to ask both houses to approve its implementation of Brexit. Fine.

But much cooler (I’m so modern, huh?) is its short sharp rebuke to the fringes of British Isles. Butt out! Brexit is a UK decision.  So will the Scotch PM finally leave the stage? I hope so.

Lookin’ good, Ms May

may-eu

The meeja clever dicks are already up in arms about the PM’s priorities for Brexit, kick-off timed for the end March BST. But the ever-fickle markets for money seem to approve and have swiftly reversed the Brexit discount they applied yesterday before she spoke.  So I approve too, given the sterling nature of my pensions.

Being British but not being liberal or elite, I applaud the idea of explaining slowly and loudly to the Continentals in English that there’s more than one way to trade together, to deal with immigration and to subsidise worthwhile activities – none of them involving the EU, its legal set-up and its federal ambitions. And more fool the Europrats if they can’t follow the logic or see the light.

Keep calm and carry the day, Ms May.

The green line

In ’67 I visited a relative serving in the RAF at Akrotiri, conveyed by an ear-shattering  VC10 in the company of other families. We landed in Nicosia, at an airport which fell out of service in ’74 when Cyprus was split in two, the warring sides separated by the green line on a military map. I was shown the bustling port of Famagusta too, which has been a ghost town since ’74.

So I’m intrigued by the latest efforts to reconcile the north and south of the island at talks now underway in Geneva. My good friends there would be more than happy to recover their families’ long-lost properties. But there are serious reservations about Turkey’s willingness to withdraw their forces.

I hope Cyprus achieves unification. Fingers crossed.

C’est la vie, n’est-ce pas?

Hacking, bugging, snooping, leaking, infiltrating, etc., etc., seem to be the daily agenda for governments, as they have, I guess, since Adam were a lad. So let’s save our concern that Russia showed interest in the US election. Do we imagine the US is idle in Moscow or Beijing or Delhi or London or…..?

No doubt the meeja will be reporting Trump’s first decisions as President almost before he has made them; and the Brexit negotiations will be about as secret as a fart in a bathtub.

It’s interesting that Trump chooses to herald his activities by using social media, which can hardly be pre-empted by data thieves! Not a bad idea, perhaps.

 

Edgukayshun

There’s a lot of noise about further education, its price and its value. Let’s not question the principle that studying a subject after school will be valuable, not as a substitute for eventual on-the-job training but as an intellectual challenge by way of preparation for work. Its price varies from country to country. Here in high-tax DK it’s free, as it was for Brits when I were a lad. Now in England somebody has to find £9k p.a. in fees (or thereabouts) and the cost of living on top. Loans, bursaries, etc. are available but it ain’t cheap for the average family to deal with.

But the meeja bang on about the demographic bias in universities – as if it’s a surprise. But have you looked at the mix in fee-paying schools? A lot of non-local children from the nations of the world.

So not surprisingly the top universities appear to be biassed towards the ‘home counties’. Sorry to say it but that’s because they and many of the top schools are there. Not all of course, before there’s an outbreak of under-collar heat! The brightest kids can be found everywhere but life is not an ‘equal opportunity’ experience.

Naturally, if you don’t believe in further education this whole issue is meaningless. But I do and it means  lot.

 

Fools rush in

I was foolish enough to mention Israel in my non-Yank post and Boa intimated she might comment at a later date. Probably a wise idea, judging by the current mayhem.

There is the Sec of State erecting a road-block before 20th January; the Pres Elect promising to sort it all out in no time; and Ms May (should I say ‘dismay’?) somehow managing to vote with the UN but oppose Kerry. Netanyahu meanwhile is white-hot with rage at it all.

Far be it from me to suggest anything by way of a road forward. Russia could annex The Crimea. Is the West Bank, occupied for almost 50 years, so dissimilar? Should the former occupants not be allowed to reclaim it? Or is such a comparison somehow inapposite? What are the rules?

Since the whole world (except Israel itself and its American cheerleaders) accepts a 2-state solution, what next?

 

A view from a non-Yank

While CT and CO are recovering from their culinary delights of yesterday, I’m asking myself why right-leaning US folk have such a dislike of Obama.

To many folk on this side of the Pond, he has shown a humanity sadly lacking among Presidents. He has tried to introduce affordable healthcare for all; he has refused to be sucked into the pro-Israel nonsense peddled throughout the Big Money clan; and he  refuses to accept the pathetic excuses for fire-arm ownership.

But I suspect there is a simpler reason: he is black, a proud family man of significant if not stellar education and he is sincere. Qualities hated by the red-neck tendency.

He will now be blamed for everything Trump disapproves of. And the gullible meeja will be delighted to give Trump credit where it is not deserved.

I’m sure I’m in for heavy incoming fire before the end of Boxing Day. But hey! That’s what Xmas is for, innit?