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Author Archives: Peter Cook

About Peter Cook

When I was five years old, I wanted to be in The Beatles, but all the jobs were taken … By the age of 12, I wanted to be a scientist and I became one. At the age of 18 I took a job with a philanthropic pharmaceutical company, working around the world and developing the first human insulin, novel medicines for herpes and to bring the first HIV / AIDS treatment to the world in record time. This means that I bring a scientific mind, curiosity and rigour to your enterprise. By the age of 30 I had developed an interest in business leadership and began teaching MBA programmes, having completed 3.5 degrees myself. At 34, I took myself out of a paid job and, for the last 28 years, I have worked independently as a consultant, author and speaker with people at all levels all over the world, helping them to transform their enterprises. My clients seek to balance their passions, purposes and profit for a more responsible and sustainable form of capitalism in the 4th industrial age. I also help leaders digest what we call "wicked problems and opportunities", in other words, the issues that keep them awake at night, using a unique mixture of divergent and convergent thinking skills. My 28 years of consultancy experience bring a wealth of expertise and wisdom to you, in enterprises as diverse as Unilever to the United Nations. Along the way, I have written 12 books on leadership, innovation and creativity, gaining a prize for my work from Sir Richard Branson and various accolades from Professors Charles Handy, Adrian Furnham, Tom Peters et al. Over some 50 years, I have gradually combined my three passions of science, business and music into a potent mixture which reaches the head, heart and soul of your enterprise. In combination, your enterprise benefits from rigour, analytics and curiosity due to my science and business background, plus the emotional intelligence, creativity and improvisation skills that come from my life as a music composer and producer. As a musician I have been privileged to interview world class musicians such as Roberta Flack, John Mayall, AC / DC, members of Prince’s ensembles, Queen's production team and Meatloaf's singing partners for their insights into leadership, innovation and success. I am a passionate advocate for better politics and better business for a better world, fighting populist politicians and short-termism in our global affairs. I am an "HR" person, i.e. a "Hippy Realist": green by ideals, but pragmatic by actions to change the world towards more sustainable behaviour.
Rejoin

Rejoin Day

It’s Rejoin Day 11th November. Please read our newsletter via Reboot Britain : Rejoin EU and subscribe for updates. In this issue:

Send our 89 page white paper and two page executive summary to your MP. A template letter is provided, so a few clicks and you are all done. It matters not if your MP is a Tory, a Brexiteer etc. It will be read and shared by others, eventually finding its way to the Civil Service, hence the 89 page version. Share the summary online with an invite to ask for the white paper via reboot@brexitrage.com

Over time we will provide you with graphics, films and other ways to persuade your chosen targets.

We need a tsunami of letters a la opening scene from Harry Potter … all political parties have attempted to airbrush Brexit out of the conversation. Rekindling a fire is much harder than fanning the flames of one that’s already raging … and most of the major political parties are trying to ignore the Brexit elephant in the room, SO

Share the Reboot Britain : Rejoin EU newsletter with friends by e-mail and ask them to write letters to MPs as well. Share again and again on all platforms in the coming weeks and months.

Join us on ZOOM this evening Monday 11 November at 8 pm UK Time via ZOOM.

We need a tsunami of letters to MPs / Councillors and others spread out over time ….

Semi-detached European

The Semi-Detached European

If there wasn’t a 20 mile strip of sea between Dover and Calais I suspect that Michael would not have written this book and I would be reviewing it … Michael Hindley is a former Labour politician and MEP over many years and writes from years of experience of our turbulent relationship with Europe.

The Semi-Detached European describes our hokey-cokey relationship with Europe and the EU.  Importantly it gives us a lesson in history for those who appear to have forgotten or distorted the truth about our relationship with Europe.  From Winston Churchill to Margaret Thatcher, Jacque Delors, Clement Attlee, Theresa May, Charles De Gaulle, David Cameron, Jean Monnet and many others.

We continue to suffer catastrophic losses from our so-called freedoms from the largest market and successful experiment in large scale democracy on the planet.  Our continuing ambivalence towards Europe will finish The United Kingdom off economically, socially and politically.  Michael helps us to understand our grand mistake.  In his words … ” We had to resort to a referendum to put a complicated question, whose solution had escaped the wit and skill of politicians, to a popular vote.

Sign our petition to Rejoin the EU

The Semi-Detached European will help you explain the real value of the European project, warts and all, to the few remaining doubters who believe that we should erect more walls to make us feel secure rather than building bridges.

Michael gives talks across Europe about his work.  You are welcome to contact him via mhindley1947@gmail.com

Financial Times

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

Brexit Kills

Correcting Brexit Lies

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.

Calais

Daytrip to The Hague

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
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.

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.

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.

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.

Posted in Brexit, Britain | 2 Replies
Dark Side of the Loon

“Dave Gilmour”

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.

Online Brexorcisms
Online Brexorcisms.

Punk Floyd.

Join EU

Reboot Britain – Join EU anew

Keir Starmer seems to be “confused” about the case to join the EU anew, stating that there is no such case. I thought I would put him out of his misery on the topic, so we have written this proposal. It is far from complete, so please add your contributions via e-mail to reboot@brexitrage.com. I will incorporate and credit you in the final work. Ending Brexit is not a magic bullet solution to Britain’s problem but the impacts will be wide ranging and felt right across the STEEPLE factors (Sociological, Technological, Economic, Environmental, Political, Legal and Ethical). We must join EU anew as part of a strategy to Reboot Britain after 14 years of managed decline.

Brexit is costing us £100 BILLION every year with a 4.5% drag on our resilience. Remember Michael Gove’s claim of frictionless trade? Well that so-called ‘non-friction’ is costing us £40 BILLION every year in lost revenue. For comparison, Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage’s much vaunted £350 million per week for the NHS that we supposedly saved from our EU membership only grosses up to £18.2 BILLION per annum. As far as I can tell, we never actually spent this money on the NHS anyway and the 40 mythical hospitals never materialised. In 2020 the UK made an estimated gross contribution to the EU (after the rebate) of £17.0 billion. The UK also received £4.5 billion of public sector receipts from the EU, so the UK’s net public sector contribution to the EU was an estimated £12.5 billion. So, we are bleeding something like £140 bn to save £13 bn. For the avoidance of doubt and for those Brexiteers who Rishi Sunak suggested have issues with mathematics, 140 is quite a lot more than 13.

The word BILLION is also an eye watering number. To put this into context it means that each citizen is £2000 worse off due to Brexit.

And some 300 000 jobs have been lost from the City of London alone. This alone ought to be a wake up call to Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves. I cannot detect whether they are frightened of someone or something (CAN’T do it) or whether Labour’s vacillation is ideologically based (WON’T do it). Either way, it’s certainly not in the interests of the country. We are expected to be £311 billion worse off by 2035.

Brexit has also made the cost-of-living crisis more severe in the UK. City Hall analysis shows that 30% of the 25%  increase in food prices between December 2019 and March 2023 could be attributed to the effects of Brexit. Other research from the London School of Economics (LSE) confirms this by showing that Brexit added an average of £250 to household food bills over the two years to the end of 2021, costing UK consumers a total of £6 billion.

GVA (Gross Value Added) analysis : Source Sky News.

Given the eye watering cost of Brexit and lost opportunities measured in multi-billions, some comparisons are helpful. £140 billion could pay the annual wages bill for ALL NHS staffTWICE at £71.1 billion !! Or we could nationalise water with some spare change left (£90 billion). Or fix social care at a mere £7 billion ! Repairing schools a snip at £11.4 billion and upgrading defence £50 billion. Our police force costs £23.5 billion per year. £140 billion could go a long way towards fixing broken Brexit Britain. Rachel Reeves is just fiddling whilst Brexit Britain burns … WHY, WHY, WHY?

Join EU - Economic Appraisal

But, it’s not just about the money, money, money … If Starmer / Reeves choose to ignore the numbers, they cannot ignore the ugly face of Brexit inspired fascism which is sweeping the nation as I write. Farage / Robinson / Braverman et al’s Provisional English Defence League have moved beyond rioting towards terrorism by trying to burn people alive in a hotel under the guise of ‘taking back control’. Claiming to be patriots whilst looting shops, smashing up property and threatening to kill people is an odd way to be patriotic. This is justification enough to end Brexit inspired racism and Reboot Britain, never mind anything else. It also comes with an economic cost. In 2011, the riots were estimated to have cost Britain between £200 million and 500 million in damages, lost trade and policing, a hit to monthly U.K. GDP of roughly 0.15% The WSJ also estimated that riots damage the economy through loss of confidence and so on.

Hate crimes have seen a consistent rise since 2014. Farage used racism as a weapon to swing the 2016 Brexit referendum, some analysts belive by up to 12%. The referendum vote was followed by an increase in race and religious hate crime of 15-25% in England and Wales. The recent reaction to the tragic events in Southport by far right thugs is itself a demonstration of just how much Farage, Tice, Braverman, Anderson, Oakeshott, Badenoch, Robinson, Jenrick, Patel et al. have emboldened overt racist behaviour by a small section of society. Brexit is the fuel for these fires. People demonstrated that they no longer fear racist behaviour and, in some cases, it is seen as a badge of honour, just like in the 1970s.

Source Gov.uk crime statistics England and Wales.
Join EU - Social Appraisal

In 2020, a set if predictions were made about social impacts of Brexit. All have come to pass in one way or another. Potential impacts included: loss of rights, economic and public services impacts, increase in hate crime, immigration and labour market impacts, and the potential for further dilution of equalities rights and protections. Of course, undoing social illnesses is not as quick as economic ones and, in some cases, these changes are not easily reversible.

The Scottish Government also reported that the impact of Brexit on consumers would be gendered because women are the main managers of family budgets and the shock-absorbers of poverty. In contrast to Nigel Farage’s 2016 ‘brochure’ Brexit benefits have turned out to be “for the few and NOT the many. Since there is so much focus on immigration due to Braverman’s moving of the “Overton window” on this matter, it is worth repeating the fact that immigration can be fixed. Watch our two minute explainer film on the matter:

Just two minutes – Keir Starmer, take note.

A piece on NI to be written.

We continue to be critically short of skilled people in social care, the NHS, farming, hospitality, science, engineering and many other professions. Some 330 000 shortages in fact. And the Farage loving Brexiteers have not stepped up to the plate to pick crops and wipe ar..es in care homes, let alone train as doctors, space scientists, computer programmers and so on. In my own area of Kent, they now complain that the faces of people coming here are darker … they are just never satisfied with their Brexit, all of which was predicted for them so painfully. But the number of people I encounter on a daily basis who say such things is much reduced. Only Nigel Farage, Suella Braverman, Badenoch et al continue to promulgate the myth that migration is a blight on our society, followed by a few people with feeble minds.

As a direct result of leaving the EU, healthcare has suffered due to loss of EU NHS staff. Waiting lists are appalling. This is having an effect on our health in general. Patients can’t be sure of getting essential meds. Amidst worldwide shortages UK govt. has made this much worse by cutting supply chains.

We are what we eat and Brexit red tape has also restricted our supplies of healthy, low-carb food (essential for diabetics, for example). On top of that Brexit has made our food much more expensive. People can’t afford to eat properly, which can have a detrimental effect on health. We’re seeing many more cases of malnutrition since Brexit. When people suffer sickness the economy gets sick too because workers are off sick.

The Tory government is to blame for mismanagement and underfunding of the NHS and also appalling response to the pandemic, causing long term sickness for those with Long Covid. Rejoining the EU would certainly help us to alleviate some of these issues.

This section would benefit from some data links.

The Royal Society of Chemistry recently reported that Brexit continues to cause significant damage to UK businesses. They recommend a UK wide National Chemicals Agency. This kind of call for a ‘sticking plaster’ rather than reaching for a cure is replicated across many industries and sectors, in the great British “make, do and mend” tradition. I would rather emulate the Japanese with a “right first time” approach. In other words, rather than “death by a 1000 ameliorations”, the best option is to put an end to Brexit.

Brexit resilence concrete
The only good Brexit is a dead Brexit …

Furthermore, science and many other sectors face critical skill shortages. See the FT article on care workers for example. Science is not practised on a country by country basis. It requires the finest minds from across the world. The RSC reported that there are still obstacles to attraction and retention of talented people.

Source : FT.

Even the Brexity BBC Radio 4 reported on the fact that we lack resilience in our food supply. Our decision to Brexit has magnified the problem. I even suggested that BBC Farming Today be renamed Brexit Today as they speak of little else on every programme whilst the nation slumbers.

Source : The Independent.

More to be added here.

I’d hazard an informed guess that the 2024 General Election result was a reversal of the 2019 one, where Boris did not win, but Corbyn and the false promise of ‘getting Brexit done’ lost Labour the election. In 2024, the Tories undoubtedly lost, but did Labour really win, with a resounding success for the Lib Dems and a significant protest vote by the Reform party aka ‘none of the above’? Recent Statista analysis shows that views on the Brexit vote continue to be negative, especially with younger people. If Starmer continues to ignore these findings, he could find himself in the 2019 position in 2029. Labour MPs continue to float the myth that we can rejoin in 2032. Well guys, you may not get that far …

This section needs expansion re Labour, Tories, Lib Dems, Leave Voters and of course the EU.

The key barriers to success are the UK parties, especially Labour and Conservatives, then there is the EU itself and of course the 67 million people of Britain. Dealing with these one by one:

Remainers are the best asset that Nigel Farage and Richard Tice. They are meek, unassuming and make few demands on the political system. Here is a quote from an older gentleman that does not believe we can rejoin without decades of repentance:

The issue then is arrogant British exceptionalism that both sides seem to possess. Because the major stumbling block for Britain Is .. Will the EU ever trust the British again? Not the baby boomer generation I suspect.

Of course, what is needed are more than calm words. We are now at the point where 2/3 of the UK population believe that we must rejoin. Given the numbers of young people who wish to rejoin and the certainty that people of my generation who still believe in Brexit will literally expire in the coming years, this represents an irrevocable shift in public attitudes towards Europe and EU membership. This is an overarching majority and politicians do not hold grudges where there are opportunities to be seized. What is now needed at a macro level would be some guarantees and at a micro level further education and mass Brexorcisms of the soft Brexiteer population, see objective four of our Reboot Britain strategies and our book which offers a practical guide to the gentle art of Brexorcism.

Our five strategies to Reboot Britain.

The few remaining Brexiteers claim that Brexit was not about making us wealthier and that you cannot put a price on freedom. Well, you can …

The freedom NOT to waste £4.7 billion of YOUR taxes on Brexit border checks.

The freedom NOT to lose 4.5% GDP EVERY year from Brexit.

More to be added here.

The longest journey begins with the first step. In other words, it’s all about strategic intent rather than the destination. People waste a lot of energy discussing the end point of the Rejoin journey. What matters is the beginning of the process and this simply requires the completion of an application for to join the EU anew. Since markets are perfect, this act of intent would have immediate benefits. The financial sector would stop bleeding key staff to Europe. The car industry would be assured of continuity of operations since rules of origin laws would no longer apply once re rejoin. The pharmaceutical, high tech, finance sectors and so on would immediately realise that there is no need to continue the slow drift away from Brexit Britain. Shared industrial standards would bring many benefits e.g. to construction and the chemical industry. Since markets are perfect, all of this would mean a fairly instantaneous uplift to our fortunes. And so on …

So, it does not matter so much when we complete the rejoining process. What matters is when we begin …

Remoaners also keep talking of the need for a referendum. No referendum is needed, nor is it the best or only route to achieve the goal. There is incontrovertible evidence that Brexit is a socio-economic, environmental and political disaster. I pay my taxes for Government to make complex decisions on my behalf. The Brexit referendum was declared unlawful by The Supreme Court if it had been anything but advisory. It is a mistake to repeat a broken process and our best choice is to let Government do their job. If however we felt compelled to do so due to faux reasoning about democracy, we should conduct it in EXACTLY the same way as we did before, i.e. with a simple yes/no question and the same criteria for the decision. No need for the super majority demanded by some Remoaners – if 52:48 was good enough in 2016, it’s good enough now. but with a proper campaign so that people could understand the decision being presented to them, without misinformation or disinformation. The best option will be to let Parliament do the job we pay them for.

People also say that another referendum will open up the toxic debate in families. That may be true for some. Yet the Brexit question will otherwise plague the nation of several more generations without dealing with the unfinished business of Brexit. We must pop the boil of Brexit, otherwise it will continue oozing toxic puss for many decades to come without resolution. Britain will otherwise continue to be a basket case re grown up attitudes to politics. The referendum revealed the need for fundamental reforms to our democracy and governance.

This proposal needs many refinements. For example, sections on legal, ethical and environmental benefits of joining the EU anew. A Pros and Cons grid as a summary would also be great. And more on European perspectives. The final document will be organised as a WORD document with appendices for detail to preserve the benefits of summary highlights and granular detail. Please mail me your contributions via reboot@brexitrage.com.

Eventually, we’ll need mass media spreading of the proposal and targeted letter writing to MPs and influencers. Other ideas include a book, films, petition, media pieces and so on. Your thoughts are welcome. If you find this useful, send us a tip on Paypal so that we can keep the website running and cover our basic costs of maintaining our work.

These videos are well worth your time: For an independent viewpoint, visit Post Factum.

The wonderful work of Rob Groves – subscribe to his channel.
Michael Lambert’s work is well worth your time – subscribe and learn.

Seamless borders. Ease of doing business with one of the world’s biggest markets that is RIGHT on our door step! Ease of collaboration and partnership with an enormous range of the world’s most advanced companies. Shared access to similar grant/research funding. Access to a mobile, highly skilled, multi-lingual workforce….. Cross border skills exchange/training. Shared industrial standards. Shared values.

To reopen barriers chosen by a brainwashed electorate! Viz: single market trade and free movement of goods; ability to live, work or study in any EU country; free access to emergency health care; common standards for health and environment; access to funding and investment.

My partner of 11 years & future wife (had to cancel wedding due to a no fault eviction notice) is an EU citizen- our travel is curtailed & restricted due to my EU passport being taken from me without my consent.

With thanks to Jane Berry, Richard Moore, Greg Newman, Wendy Nowak, Michael Lambert, Political X, Max Robespierre, Rob Groves, Robert Holman, Denis Buckley, Ian S Forrester KC, Terry Knott, Alison Murray, Adrian Ekins-Daukes, John Stephens, Andrew Hessleden.

Kamala Harris

Kamala Chameleon

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.

@austinnasso

His ear hurts bigly (feat. @Malcolm Kelner)

♬ original sound – Austin Nasso

Kamala Chameleon – Culture Club

Join EU

Join EU anew

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

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Brexit resilence concrete

Progress towards joining EU anew

Read General Election first

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.

Five Goals
Our Five Goals.

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 “Parliamentary Political 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.

Order your GE leaflets now

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.

Private Eyelines
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.

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.

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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.

Books
Click to read Reboot Britain on Amazon.

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.

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.