I attended a superb event with Peter Foster, FT journalist, where he examined Labour’s outlook on the Brexit question. The summary of Peter’s talk might be called “much ado about nothing”. In other words, Peter perfectly pointed out that Keir Starmer is indulging in a lot of dialogue about a series of low-grade adjustments to the Brexit deal, rather than confronting the Brexit elephant in the room and facing down the few Remaining Brexit culture carriers. We agreed that what I call “logical incrementalism” adds nothing to our ailing economy. Rather than leadership from Starmer, this is management by focus groups or “driving through the rearview mirror”.
Peter reminded us that Brexit was not considered to be a General Election issue. That’s true as I stood a cat for election in my area. The B word was not uttered much, but this was due to several factors:
Cowardice on the part of politicians.
A vow of silence across most of the political parties due to the toxicity of the B word.
Brexit fatigue on the part of voters who now wish it would go away …
… except it won’t.
To find out about our unusual GE Campaign, scan the QR code.
Whilst Brexit was not mentioned on the doorstep much by voters in the 2024 GE, all the ‘offspring of Brexit’ were: Cost of living, food inflation, NHS, social care, energy costs, UK stagnation, immigration etc. To fix the ills of society, we must talk about Brexit. Our ‘Brexit Iceberg‘ sums up the connections of front of the mind issues in Britain with Brexit as a major causative factor and not COVID or Russia for the most part.
Brexit has at least one foot in each of the visible problems – it must be gone.
Peter reminded us that he is an FT journalist on public policy and Brexit and not an activist or politician. As such, it is not his job to pontificate about what should be and so on. He is there to objectively report the facts as he sees them at this time. I don’t have such restrictions and that’s why a group of around 60 of us have produced an 80 page white paper which proposes an early (that’s NOW btw) application to Join EU Anew, to target politicians, influencers and, ultimately, the public at large. To read a copy of the paper, please mail me at reboot@brexitrage.com
What disappointed me most about the event was not Peter Foster’s excellent assessment of where we are now, but the reactions of the so-called Rejoiners, mostly members of the European Movement and Grassroots groups who have been bludgeoned to death by the likes of Lord Adonis and other apologists with their fallacious ‘step by step’ arguments aka cakeism. They asked questions about having even more of the increments that Peter Foster had suggested were fairly worthless and to which we might be accused of cakeism once again. If they were in a therapy group, I’d say to them that they have Catholic (or any other brand of religious) guilt since they ‘lost’ to Vote Leave and therefore they feel that “we don’t deserve better”. If they did, Nigel Farage and his thugs would “get them”. It’s what I call “learned helplessness” in Reboot Britain and is a systemic condition amongst many snowflakes. Remainers and Rejoiners must have higher expectations of themselves rather than being content with crumbs from the table.
The only good Brexit is a dead Brexit. 2/3 of the public know it. We must help the politicians to catch up. The obstacle to progress remains parliamentary paralysis. We must break that. To read our wide ranging case across all the STEEPLE factors, mail me reboot@brexitrage.com
I responded to a request to attend an event by my local council on the future of the area. At the same time I pointed out that Brexit remains a significant hold back factor to any notions of growth. To my surprise an old musical colleague replied. Bob is a superb keyboard player, but we sit on opposite sides of the Brexit debate. I nearly coughed my dinner up at some of the claimed benefits of Brexit and problems avoided by not being part of the world’s largest trading partner on our doorstep, so I made this short video to debunk the lies, falsehoods and so on. Watch the video in its entirety.
I find that replies on social media are often met with the Dunning Kruger effect so I resorted to a more personal medium. Bob seems lost and I tried to be gentle, but then again Bob is a straight talking guy. I hope he gets a copy of my book Private Eyelines as it corrects the fantasies of the Daily Mail / Express / Sun / Telegraph etc. Buy your copy direct to avoid Amazon’s rip off price.
Here’s how it began …
Bob was incensed by the video and has replied on YOU TUBE. It makes for interesting reading. Feel free to send Bob a comment!
We are putting together a wide-ranging case for Rejoining the EU. Please get in touch via email reboot@brexitrage.com with some details about yourself if you would like to be a co-author or signatory to the final submission. Join us on Monday 30 September 8pm UK time via ZOOM to find out more.
Written by Elwyn Lloyd Jones, Rejoin Party Candidate for Sevenoaks.
To explore my old haunts since David Cameron called the disastrous Brexit Referendum in 2016, to see how things have changed; and as a kind of a Benchmark before the introduction of EES, Digital Visas, and ETIAS, I took this day-trip to The Hague. The first thing to note is that the British Eurolines is no more; and the formerly proud British P&O Ferries is a pale shadow of its former self. Their places have been taken by the German Flixbus, and the Danish DFDS Ferries who have been growing significantly with new ships and new routes, e.g. Newcastle to Amsterdam.
It was after the School Holidays, so things were quiet. We left Victoria Coach Station at 22:00 BST, arrived at Dover at about Midnight, were whisked through Security and French Immigration to end-up with a long wait for the 02:00 BST sailing. I used my regular British Passport with about 18-months remaining validity. It received a regular French Inbound Visa stamp. The Ferry Company had a young staff who were all very welcoming, and the nice thing about travelling this way, was receiving a free meal-ticket which more than made up for the slightly higher ticket price. We arrived in Calais at 05:05 CEST. There was no French Customs Checks, so we continued our journey, stopping at Bruges and Ghent to pick-up or drop-off passengers. I noticed that we also had brief stops at or near the country borders. I don’t know whether this was a courtesy stop in case migration checks were needed, or simply to change drivers. In any case they were brief, and we quickly continued, arriving at The Hague Central Station at about 20 minutes after our scheduled arrival time of 09:30 CEST.
Rejoin EU
Driving through Belgium at sunrise lifted my heart to see the diversity of daily activities and industries, some even supplying our daily delights back home in the UK, fields were under cultivation, wind turbines were turning, and farmers were doing a good job. – The Netherlands, on the other hand, was a bit run-down with abandoned green-houses, and over-grown solar farms. (The Dutch green-house growers suffered badly with the fuel-price hikes that followed the sanctions on Russian gas.) One surprise was a 5¢ plastics surcharge above the listed price on fast-foods. A number of pro-Palestinian Flags were in prevalence; and on hearing I lived in England, one black guy had a go at me with some ribald comments – obviously venting his frustration at Britain’s treatment of foreigners.
To return, we left The Hague Central Station at 22:55 CEST, stopped at Ghent for passengers. At Calais we went through a thorough Security Scan, French Outbound checks (which included an Exit Visa stamp on my same regular British Passport), and followed by British Immigration, which surprisingly included a quick scan of all Visas, i.e. of all countries ever visited. Two passengers were set aside for interrogation. Again, there was a long wait for the 07:05 CEST sailing. – On board was very pleasant, not at all crowded, and a free meal which included a full English breakfast. We arrived back at Victoria Coach Station nearly a full hour after our scheduled arrival time of 09:00 BST.
Roaming
I only use Vodafone pre-pay, and one of my missions was to exchange my Dutch SIM card for the nano version. The nice thing about having a Dutch SIM Card is that roaming (including the UK) is free, and the number never expires. Not so the UK SIM card, if you want to use it in Europe, you need to buy 100 Calling Minutes for £5 or 200 Text Messages for £4 and they are valid for 8 days, and what you don’t use, you lose. But I was only there for only one day!
If you venture into Data Use, the story is different. At home in the UK you can use unlimited data for £2, which is valid for the rest of the day. (I have subsequently learned that NL also offers unlimited daily domestic data for €4, but you have to buy it.) This is ideal to get one out of a fix! – But, to roam from the UK you need to buy 3GB of Data for £9, which again is valid for 8 days. – To roam from the NL you need to buy 3GB of Data for €15 in a package called a Blox, which can be used throughout the EU, including the UK, and is valid for a whole Month.
In the early days, it used to be quite conspicuous that the smart black guys, almost in unison, would change their SIM cards every time we crossed a national boundary, while the whites from Western Europe would lay back and let themselves be screwed by roaming charges. It’s now been long established that a multi-SIM telephone is an absolute must for the International Traveller, and especially after Brexit. The Telecoms Companies will try and lock you into their Network; but the Indian ‘phone Retailers are the undoubtedly world leaders in multi-SIM devices, with even 7-SIM ’phones being available in India.
Booze Cruise
I tried to do a price comparison by dividing Wines into three categories: Fine Wines (Burgundy), Popular Wines (Beaujolais), and Cheap Plonk. There is no point in comparing cheap plonk, because I know from experience that cheap European wines are much cheaper (and better quality) than UK cheap wines; and this is because of Duty, which for typical wines is £24.77 per litre of alcohol, so at the low end of the market, all the money goes to the government, leaving nothing for the suppliers. In my travels, I did not find Beaujolais in any of the shops. But for Burgundy, I looked at Bourgogne (White Burgundy), which came out at about £18 to £20 per bottle in the UK, and €12 per bottle in The Hague. But this is not entirely a fair comparison, because there are many different Estates, Vintages, and Brands of Fine Wine – and I’m no expert.
For a sample of Lady’s Cosmetics, I found the on-board shop price to be the same as the UK shop price.
The problem with the on-board shopping is that everything you buy, you’ll have to carry to the car by hand. This means that they concentrate on high-value spirits where the savings are a maximum. They offered a wide range of spirits at £10 per litre bottle, but if you shop around, you can find the same price in the UK. Then, on top of that, they offer two for the price of one; which is great if you are into drinking the hard stuff. But, it’s a bit self defeating, because with such quantities, you won’t need to come back for quite a few months.
My favourite beer is Leffe, but I’m getting quite suspicious about the Leffe you can buy in the Supermarkets here. Who would buy a 750 ml Bottle? And who would drink it out of a one pint Chalice? And also 6% proof is not right for Leffe. – So, I bought a bottle there and looked very closely. Yes, the genuine EU Leffe is 6.6% proof and sold in a 300 ml bottle (our regular bottle is 330 ml); so yes, they’ve been watering it down by 10% for the UK Market. The price was €1.37, but at Sainsbury you can get 12 bottles for £13, which is even cheaper. – I was not able to buy a proper Chalice, and Internet shopping has always been problematic. But hey, Amazon is improving all the time, so in the future we may not even need to travel to do our European Shopping.
Conclusion
EU price differences are generally small, and bringing goods back for personal use is easy, but otherwise it is difficult to know you’re getting the genuine product of satisfactory quality. While we worry about our own situation; businesses don’t care, and will always compete; and in business, size matters. While UK businesses struggle, we’ve seen how: DFDS BV, Flix SE, AB InBev, and even Amazon are slowly improving their position day-by-day. We have a Government that either protects Shareholders, or Trade Unionists. But a good business listens neither to the shareholder nor the trade unionist, but is a combination of one or more highly skilled individuals (each in a class of their own) working together as a team. They need resources and defences, but we’ve never really had a Government that understands that. – I can only see the decline continue as skills leave the country and entities from outside take-over. This is the true cost of Brexit.
The Tory MP Kevin Hollinrake is moaning about giving worker’s rights. I suggested that he stop whingeing as he’d got his Brexit. Then “Dave Gilmour” entered the fray. No, not the brilliant Pink Floyd guitarist and singer/songwriter but Dave, cynic, affiliate at Mundo Cognito Ltd, author of “Privacy Architecture – guided by TOGAF®” according to his LinkedIn profile. The online conversation that ensued was comedy gold. Dave claims that he does not need any benefits or problems solved by Brexit and then goes on to pretend that he voted Remain.
Hollinrake’s original post.
Another prick in the mall.
Comfortably Numb.
Wish EU were here.
Angry Dave needs to chill.
Paul got no reply from Dave. Too busy promoting his new album I guess.
When you lose the argument, go for the gut. Very Trumpesque.
Dave makes a false claim that he voted to Remain but lets himself down with his grammar … “get over it”, “embittered losers” and so on are the ‘grammatical ornaments’ of Brexit extremists. I await the trial.
This rather reinforces the poverty of trying to influence people online. Brexorcism is a face to face discipline as I explain in Reboot Britain.
Don’t be like Dave. He just made a fool of himself in front of all his LinkedIn contacts.
We need an end to the populist politics that have infected the globe via Trump, Brexit, Putin, Orban and others. Kamala Harris offers that positive change and a safe pair of hands for troubled times.
America cannot afford to elect a man who thinks that drinking bleach or sunbathing might be a cure for COVID. Someone who believes he is entitled to grab women’s private parts or that starting riots is a form of patriotism. Or a Vice President who accounts for his stupidity by suggesting that maggots have eaten his brain. Sure this stuff is great for The National Enquirer, Viz Magazine, The Daily Maul and a chat with some blokes in a pub. But we need much better people to run the world.
Trumpism and Brexitosis are borne of the same basic malaise. Despair,disinformation and dystopia. But electing people who merely empathise with the 3D’s of discombobulation does not deal with the need to address the root causes of our problems. We need adults in the room to deal with complex issues such as climate change, migration, job security, the march of AI and machines, not clowns. Kamala Harris and Tim Walz offer these qualities.
Dark Reminder – our satirical piece of music on Trump’s BS and lies.
We are all in this together. Like it or not, when America catches flu we all get a cold. So the idea of an isolationist America under Trump puts the whole world at risk. And Trump’s tendency to blame everyone else for mistakes he has made is now see through to all but the most infected Trump cultists. Watch this amazing parody interview between Elon Musk and The Don.
Such is the state of misinformation and disinformation in Brexit Britain that I also thought the only way to deal with it was via satire. But people could not tell the difference between facts and fantasies in my satirical book “Private Eyelines” !! 🙂 By the way, DO NOT buy the book on Amazon. The price is set very high deliberately to point out that I gain hardly any royalties for six months worth of work. If you really want a copy of this masterpiece, message me via reboot@brexitrage.com
NOW is not the time to be complacent. If you are in America, befriend a Trump supporter, probably not a fanatic though. Choose your subject well. Listen to them without judgement for as long as it takes to build bridges. At the right moment, ask them gently if they think that Trump really has answers to the problems they have articulated. This gentle therapeutic approach is based on the work I have done over 1000’s of hours to talk leave voters down from the “Brexit mountain” in Britain.
To learn the skills of Brexorcism which are directly applicable to what I call “Trumpectomies”, read the book Reboot Britain.
It’s rather pompous of me to say so, but this deserves 25 minutes of your time. It’s an interview I did with Brendan Donnelly, leader of the Rejoiin EU Party. Nothing more needs to be said.
To support our work in generating a proposal to Join Anew, please send us some funds via PayPal
We set out five goals for Reboot Britain some years ago. It seems relevant to review progress as they set the conditions for joining the EU anew. Here they are below in hugely reduced outline form as they first appeared. I’m pleased to say that we’ve made significant progress on many fronts.
Our Five Goals.
Removing Brexit culture carriers from power
Part of Breaking Parliamentary Paralysis is the need to remove the Brexit culture carriers from power. Compared with 2019 we have made good progress when one looks back. ERG now a busted flush and divided into at least five families, more likely ten.
Gove is gone, so is Leadsom, Lee Anderson, Chris Heaton Harris, John Redwood, Kwarteng, Douglas Ross, Elphicke x 2, Bill Cash, Dehenna Davidson, Brandon Lewis, Craig McKinlay, Charles Walker, Nadine Dorries, Boris Johnson, Therese Coffey, Crispin Blunt, Failing Grayling, Peter Boner, Andrew Bridgen, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, Gordon Henderson, Lucy Allen and a long tail of swivel-headed Brexiteers who have been forced to resign due to rape, having one’s hand in the till and other peccadilloes. In a perfect world, most of these people would be in Belmarsh Prison by now, but politics does not work like that. This is why we need fundamental parliamentary reform. But this sets the tone for how we might be received by the EU when making an application to join anew and it’s quite clear that we have achieved some ‘ethic cleansing’ here.
So, who should be on the list for PPE, or “ParliamentaryPolitical Exfoliation“? Braverman, Badenoch, Mogg, Morduant, Steve Baker, Duncan-Smith, Coutinho, Michael Fabricate, Barclay, Patel, Esther McVey, Sir John Hayes, Edward Leigh, Desmond Swayne, Francois, Truss, Mone, Jenkyns, Sunak (Sunak may be gone by the time I publish this of course!!) Of course Farage has fled to his only remaining friend Mr Trump to rumours that Nige, Tice and Oakeshott no longer speak to each other.
Quite a few members of Reboot Britain have extended their work, with appearances on BBC Question Time, Any Answers, LBC and with letters and articles in local and national newspapers. All of this matters since mainstream media is effectively the ‘diet’ of the Brexiteers and we must change what they eat for Brexfast. See our selection of Radio appearances at Radio Gaga, our suggestions for media activity at media and our book ‘Private Eyelines‘ which satirises populist MSM. Ian Hislop and Gina Miller have copies of this large format fully illustrated and full colour book.
One of the pages from Private Eyelines. Click to view on Amazon. Best prices via direct orders reboot@brexitrage.com
It’s fair to say that mainstream media are now in remission on Brexit. Even The Sun recently reported on the fact that ‘BREX border checks’ would cost £4.7 Billion !!
BREX FAIL. Click to read The Son.
Taking back control of social media
The Brexit referendum was won in part by fake news spread on social media. We need therefore to fight fake news on this medium. We have a number of social media groups whose sole purpose is to amplify our footprint on social media. Join our ABV (Anti-Brexit Virus) groups below and subscribe to this website as an independent source.
We have reached a point where nearly 2/3 of people believe Brexit has failed and that we must join the EU anew. Of course, demographic change aka deaths of Brexiteers have affected this number. So has the entry of young people into the age of voting, most of whom are not polluted by faux nostalgia and illusions about ‘Brexitannia’. Soft Brexiteers are in remission, with only a thin minority of loud gammon voices still calling for a ‘pure Brexit’, a return to civil war as a means of running the country and drowning refugees in the English Channel. Farage leads the gammon charge but even he has fled the country for better pay by Donald Trump. Crucially, we must still talk to soft Brexiteers to help them down the mountain. Our book ‘Reboot Britain‘ teaches you how to conduct Brexorcisms, essentially a therapeutic approach to change. Unlike most of the books written about Brexit which are essentially therapy for Remainers, our book actually SHOWS you how to conduct these difficult conversations. Read samples on Amazon. There is more to do in this area but we have made significant progress from 52:48 towards 67:33 in favour of joining the EU anew.
Click to read Reboot Britain on Amazon.
Maintaining relations with Europe
I have developed a number of links with members of the EU on Linkedin, as have members of Reboot Britain, but it’s fair to say that there is more work to be done here. It would be a mistake to make Britain match fit for joining the EU whilst having forgot the other partner in the reunion. If you can help in this ambition. Yet Ursula von der Leyen recently reconfirmed that she looks forward to working with the new Government towards this ambition.
UK Tour
Once again we will take the Mini Cooper out around the UK with our leaflets in the coming month. Please support us via PayPal or GoFundMe.
EU Flag Mafia anti-brexit minis tour.Bollocks to Brexit MiniABC Leaflet
In the wake of a tsunami of fake news about asylum seekers, legal and illegal immigration, this helpful set of facts from Martin Housden sets the record straight for people with feeble minds. Sourced from a range of reliable sources listed below.
Immigration facts
Immigration is not the cause of unemployment, even for the unskilled. Immigration is not the cause of wages declining, even for the poorest paid. Immigration has not caused the shortage of housing and only exacerbates it because so little is built. Immigrants have always paid more in taxes than they take in benefits. Immigrants are much less likely to claim benefits than UK nationals. Immigrants are more skilled and better educated than the native UK population. The UK benefits from such skills without having had to fund the training. Without immigration the national debt would be higher. Without immigration the NHS would collapse. Without immigration care of the elderly would collapse. Stopping EU immigration has exacerbated staff shortages in the NHS leading to (more expensive) recruitment from countries that can ill afford to lose health workers.
To understand how to Brexorcise people who hold fantasies about immigration and Brexit which lies beneath this problem, read our book Reboot Britain
And the next Tory leadership race is off. Here are some helpful memes that articulate the qualities of some of the Runners and Riders through some allusions to boy and girl bands. Yes, I know that Farage is not currently in the Tory party and Penny Morduant is now not even an MP, but I needed to make up numbers. Like the Tories, never let the truth interfere with a good story … I left Tom Tugendhat out as one of more decent Tory MPs who feels he must say that leaving the ECHR is a good idea to make the cut to the final two candidates, even though he does not believe it. And Mel Stride is not even worthy of a mention. First the men ….
From Far right to Further right. Robert Jenrick, married to the grandchild of holocaust survivors. Fashi boi Jenrick wishes to re-enact Nazi styled approaches to asylum. Jeremy C Hunt seems to live by renting buy to let houses out to people who cannot afford the rent hence his boyband name. Nigel who wishes to drown immigrants by sinking boats. Iain who lacks sustenance in the House of Commons and needs to supplement his diet by eating his nose pickings. And the worst named MP ever – James Cleverly aka Dumb boi. And then we have the Spite Girls …
Priti Posh Spice – the nasty one. Suella who has eclipsed Priti for racism and hatred in some kind of strange grudge match. Dodgy aka Kemi Bad Enoch, a fraudster with a proven track record of incompetence, lying about CPTPP and much more. Nutty Slack Liz Spice, who crashed the economy in just 49 days. And finally, Busty Mordaunt Spice who thought that carrying a sword was a relevant qualification to be Prime Minister. The world thought otherwise.
It’s not much of a choice, is it?
Since we published this, Racy Spite (Suella) could not even get a nomination. Some good news then ….
A letter to my new MP Naushabah Khan. I supported her candidacy in the General Elections, helping to split the Tory vote three ways. Even more pleasing I got a reply on her 2nd day in office. This validates my decision to stand and, of course, my strategy to ‘do no harm’ to Labour during my campaign, in spite my key difference over Brexit. Write your own letter to your MP. Feel free to use mine as a template.
The next five years
Morning Naushabah,
Firstly, congratulations on your appointment – fully deserved !!
My campaign was instructive in so far as it revealed something that I already knew … just how little Rehman Chishti bothers to deal with local issues unless it was multi-faith or Saudi arms ‘consultancy’ – coughs a bit …. But turning to the positives here …
I wonder if you will reverse this lack of consultation by installing ‘citizens’ assemblies’ here in Gillingham and Rainham? I know you are much more plugged into local issues than Mr Chishti, but I detected a distinct lack of public consultation from my hundreds of miles cycling round the constituency and in cafes / bars and fb groups in recent times. There is disquiet about a number of current initiatives where local consultation would lead to better solutions.
And, of course, you will expect me to ask you to put an end to Brexit as a priority and not in 2032 as Tristan Osbourne has mentioned a few times. Nobody will know what Brexit is by then and the damage will be complete, much of it irreversible. Nigel F will exploit a slow drift towards Rejoin in 2029 anyway if he is still around. Keir need not have boxed himself in on Brexit. It would have been enough to say that Brexit isn’t working, but there we are. And slow death by a thousand sector by sector ameliorations (what I call logical incrementalism in Reboot Britain) is also not an answer. Mr S seems puzzled by the question of a business case for Brexit. I am not and will be writing one in the coming week. In common with 2019, people loaned their votes to Labour in order to remove the terrible Tories. I doubt that will happen a second time and I realise how unfair this is, given the scale of things that need improving, but that’s politics as they say !
On a note of help, you can rely on my assistance in every way to improve the high street and other areas in which I can provide help. I’m also a skilled campaigner having received more votes than I deserved and having been told by many people that although they wished to vote for me, would I mind if they voted Labour to ‘carry the ming vase across the ice rink’. I did not mind and actively encouraged it.
You probably figured out at the hustings that I am supremely talented as a ‘critical friend’. I am presently bogged down in getting repairs made to my property due to criminal damage and knife crime by Reform UK acolytes, but once I have raised funds to pay for their criminal activities, I will be ready to assist in making Gillingham and Rainham a better place.
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