The Queen and Prince Philip have been married seventy years today. This is an extraordinary achievement by any standard anywhere and unique in the long history of our monarchy. I remember the day. I was 8 years old. I think children were given a day off school, but my school did not join in as […]
But how long will it take? It is clear that Robert Mugabe is no longer in power and his rambling address and continued stumbles while reading it more than demonstrated, even if there were no other considerations, that he is not immortal, age has caught up with him and the burden of office is beyond […]
The era of the soundbite to explain Brexit is over. We have now arrived at the specifics. Several things are clear and if in the next two weeks some are not resolved we are in trouble. The biggest underlying problems are twofold. First the ardent Brexiteers, who promoted the project in the first place, never […]
Hammond’s upcoming budget can certainly break the government, even if it totters on in a political trance for the time being. If we get another white van man blunder, or if a major new funding initiative turns out to be robbing Peter to pay Paul, or some other issue arises as the small print is […]
Perhaps it is to do with my Baltic family roots. Perhaps it is my interpretation of history. Perhaps it is my unwillingness to follow the herd. But I have always seen Russia as the saviour of Europe, rather than the threat to its integrity. It was Russia that wore down and destroyed Napoleon’s all conquering […]
May’s remarks at the Mansion House last night about Russia were politically childish. It was a vain attempt to project herself as a strong leader and echoed the attacks by Margaret Thatcher upon the Soviet Kremlin, which earned her the title, the Iron Lady, which she wore as a star of honour for the rest […]
Two things happened today which are really telling. The first was a hastily convened meeting in Downing Street attended by representatives of British business and leading EU business leaders, who read the riot act to ministers about the muddle of the Brexit negotiations and the fact that not a single thing was yet agreed, making […]
This Blog fully endorses Bob Geldof’s action in returning his Freedom to Dublin in protest at the conduct of his fellow freeman, Aung San Suu Kyi. The fact that this peace Ikon stands silent while her military conduct ethnic cleansing on a massive scale, reveals just have mistaken the world has been in ascribing near […]
Never before has the British Government been so divided on the central issue it is mandated to resolve. This is why the Brexit negotiations are so cumbersome and why they cannot succeed. There are only two broad options open. It is not difficult. The EU is a remarkable Union of 27 sovereign states, or independent […]
Up to till now the Trump Presidency has been rather difficult for those outside the US to fathom. It is a fact that at home his power base holds firm and still backs him, but the majority who do not like his presidency are showing signs of stirring to the point of voting en masse […]