Uttlesford’s planning committee has voted to allow the number of  passengers using Stansted Airport to increase by over 50%. They claimed that this was necessary to help save the national economy from the effects of Brexit. The chairman of the committee had to break a tied five-all vote by using his casting vote to permit […]

It’s good that the local debate on Brexit has restarted. We all should know the future realities and risks of Brexit. I attended the recent debate organized by the R A Butler Debating Society. I was reassured by the overwhelming rejection of the proposition that crashing out of the EU without any agreement on future […]

I recently learned a new word; it’s never too late. Kakistocracy – a form of government in which the worst persons are in power. Least qualified. Unscrupulous. In my lifetime there have been three governments that have unscrupulously attempted to manipulate public opinion. Sir Anthony Eden’s in 1956 lied about the motivations behind the invasion […]

Let’s start this post with optimism – I will use my blog more often. Not quite a new year resolution; more a good intention. I started 2017 with the following:  Optimism comes from the belief that people will follow leaders who speak the truth and take the population with them, rather than seduce them with false promises that lead everyone into […]

Yesterday evening the sun crossed the equator on its annual journey south and away from the northern hemisphere. Looked at from the sun, it was us in northern latitudes who are tilting away from our source of natural heat and light. Like much of life, what you see depends on where you stand. Earlier in the day Mrs Theresa May gave […]

Today’s news is the UK Government’s struggle to construct a credible system for Ireland when (and if) the UK departs from the EU. They say they don’t want go back to a controlled border between the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland (the 1920s partition), because they claim to want to keep trade (and people) flowing freely within […]

The first anniversary of the EU referendum decision by the UK to leave cannot be celebrated by anyone, whether a Leaver or a Remainer. The country has been plunged into chaos and confusion, made worse by Theresa May’s foolish decision to call an unnecessary and unwanted general election. She craved for a larger Tory majority to  strengthen (so […]

What is the point of the Snap General Election on June 8th? Theresa May claims that having more Conservative MPs lined up behind her will strengthen her ability to negotiate a good deal for the UK as it leave the EU in less than two years from now. That justification sounded hollow when it was […]

Thus spoke Kenneth Clarke in the House of Commons yesterday in the debate on triggering Article 50 to leave the EU. Having won a court battle for our Parliament to have say on the Brexit process, it now seems that most MPs won’t exercise their democratic responsibilities and vote according to their consciences and what they […]

Whether one thinks locally, nationally or internationally, 2016 was either a year of deep disappointment or a year for continued optimism, depending on one’s mood and outlook. Internationally, we in this country have either shot ourselves in the foot by voting to leave the EU and divorcing ourselves from that European co-operation partnership, or we […]