Tag Archives: Civil Liberties

How Not to Do It

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Whilst the Catalan referendum on independence was illegal and a bit of a stunt, it is totally clear that the way the Spanish Government handled it was amazingly stupid as well as very violent, this is certainly not the way to handle these kinds of situations.

I am not sure about how the Latin temperament handles and processes these conflicts but highly emotionally seems to be the answer just like the Junta in Argentine and the Falklands war, it is a case of rash actions having negative longer term consequences so why do it in the first place ? Continue Reading →

Beware Ambition

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“The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.” (James 3.6)

“The words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing”. (Proverbs 12:18)

Both these Biblical quotes should be uppermost in the minds and hearts of every politician and journalist speaking or writing about the tragedy at Grenfell House and yet they are not, both Corbyn, Sadiq Khan and many in the media have been unbelievably reckless and this needs to stop. Continue Reading →

Another Terror Attack

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Today Sunday after another brutal terrorist attack, this time around London Bridge last night, many different people will be living with very varied thoughts and fears along with some understandable anger but as ever, it is a time for cool heads and sober judgements.

Theresa May in her statement following a COBRA meeting this morning was quite right to say “Enough is enough” and that a totally new approach is needed because the type of threat has changed. Continue Reading →

Slaughter in Manchester

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Much has been written about the appalling events in Manchester last Monday night when a suicide bomber killed 22 people and changed the lives of hundreds of others, survivors with injuries and all the family and friends connected to each and everyone.

I will not add to those countless words both written and spoken centred on the immediate tragedy and its aftermath but perhaps some general thoughts on the inevitable question that arises, Why ? Continue Reading →

A Foolish Challenge

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Today the High Court decided that the Government didn’t have the legal right to trigger Article 50 without Parliament’s agreement. The case was bought by a group of people led by a lady called Gina Miller who of course said in true mealy mouthed fashion: “she has stressed throughout that the challenge is not an attempt to overturn the referendum decision”. Of course not dear !

However whilst this lady may feel she has got her way, in reality she may well have triggered events opposite to her intentions because there is no such thing as a “limited war”. As a “Leaver” am I bothered ? Not really but it leads to a range of “unintended consequences” as is so often the case… Continue Reading →

Turkey a Brewing Storm

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Nobody in the European context wants to see a military coup so the fact that the one in Turkey was stopped by the Police and people coming out onto the streets is a “good thing” unfortunately it is also a symptom of further troubles ahead, this attempted coup is wholly down to the foolish tactics used by the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

This is not a very bright man and Europe in terms of the EU and NATO need to start contingency planning for a Turkey that becomes embroiled in internal friction whilst also being targeted by other Middle Eastern forces determined to destabilise it. Continue Reading →

The Outline Deal

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I thought it very amusing to see Junker insisting that once there was a new UK Prime Minister he would expect an immediate clarification of their negotiation goals overlooking deliberately perhaps that the Leave camp was drawn from different political parties so there could not be a set of clear aims during the campaign, those could only appear after a victory. Junker really is a silly old fool so I’ll try and help him out.

Obviously because of the circumstances of the referendum result plus the fact that the Government had only made financial plans to deal with an unexpected Leave victory, there is quite a bit of confusion and the appearance of a power vacuum. To give George Osborne credit, he has stepped up as Chancellor making public statements to reassure the ‘markets’ and acknowledged that he could not realistically stand for the Tory Leadership because of his part in the campaign. Continue Reading →

Plus ça change

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Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose – “the more it changes, the more it’s the same thing”. Perhaps the most remarkable thing about the post EU Referendum result is the total bollocks being put about by those on the losing side. A petition of over 2 million people to set the result aside is one, a totally dangerous precedent if ever there was. Nicola Sturgeon banging on about Scotland’s essential interests in being part of the EU when economically it is totally bound to the UK, is another example and all sorts of other statements by European politicians with ‘hurt’ feelings.

High time some common sense was injected into the situation and people took notice of the wonderful French phrase above because for now, nothing has changed all that has happened is a signal has been posted to enable all the people involved to manage positive and beneficial changes over the years ahead. So to all whingers who didn’t like the result, “Get Over It and Yourselves !” Continue Reading →

Golly Gosh

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Despite the fact that I voted Leave, my expectation was for a Remain victory around 55/45% so to wake up this morning to a 52/48% win for leaving the EU is quite astounding but none the less, quite delightful too. Full marks to David Cameron announcing his intention to step down in the Autumn, as I wrote before today, win or lose that was an inevitability because of the way he ran the campaign, a win for Remain wouldn’t have changed that.

It is too early in the immediate aftermath to make very many predictions about the immediate way ahead, the dust needs to settle a bit and it will only be during next week that one can come up with realistic prognostications but here some thoughts. Continue Reading →

Remain is for Small Minds Only

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Finally we are into the run in to the EU Referendum and thank heavens for that, it has been a peculiar campaign that has shown no one in a positive light and whatever the result, which I still suspect will be for Remain, the aftermath should be highly entertaining with a number of political careers grinding to an early end.

However and in my final piece before next Thursday on the topic, I thought that I might round off with a couple of points as to why I will vote Leave and why, despite having respect for opposing views, in the end the Remain camp seems reliant on a very narrow perspective and as such, this Referendum will not settle anything of any real value. Continue Reading →