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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.

EU-Turn Sunak

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Don Adamson’s latest update from Barnsley in Yorkshire.

This week’s quotes: “ 18 Dec 2021 Frost resigned as chief negotiator citing concerns about ‘direction of travel’ ,,, Frost is a political appointee with no proven expertise “ (COMMENT: that is why the Foreign Office made him an Ambassador) … “ (Frost) tends to bugger things up, resign before the job is finished then write astonishingly brass necked columns from the sidelines … efforts to force copies of the biography of Daily Mail founder Lord Northcliffe on hacks at the paper even as they whimper and beg for mercy … Westminster reporters must undertake not to ‘put the reputation of Parliament at risk’ (COMMENT: Tory and Labour parties have already got that covered) … Efforts to clean GB News have been supplanted by an almighty meltdown … presenters must sign new contracts that make them personally responsible for fines resulting from breaches of the broadcasting code …  increasingly unhinged Neil Oliver … huge headache for Frangopoulos, the channel’s owner … whacky views … fears at TalkTV that the only possible way is down for Nadine Dorries …

BBC is in serious trouble for reporting excesses by an authoritarian government with dubious ideas on justice and efficiency. Before you get excited I should mention that the government concerned is the government of India. There is no question of the BBC reporting excesses by Richy Scumbag’s corrupt and incompetent government. Rupert Murdoch would not allow that to happen … Russia trying to overthrow the pro-EU government of Moldova … Moldova applied to join the EU … (COMMENT: Not so long ago we heard a lot of Jackanory from Gammons and Flagshaggers to the effect that the EU was on the brink of disintegration. The EU would collapse when Britain left. Yeah, right! Ukraine has also applied to join the EU and Johnson, of all people, supports the idea) …

83% rise in pubs and bars applying for insolvency … the image of Britain as a land of phlegmatic common sense has taken a beating in the last ten years … the country that voted to leave the EU without any coherent plan … simplistic answers to complex questions … Brexiters can still cause enormous damage … Richy Scumbag is surrounded by colleagues who cause him harm … waits in accident and emergency departments are gruelling … British economy will be living with the effects of the pandemic for years unlike the rest of G7 countries … damage unevenly distributed … Britain’s dismal growth over the past three years … laggard status … spending more but getting less for their money … unusually steep fall in British national income compared with peers … spending more than ever on health care but getting less for the money …  crabs poisoned by chemicals … following decades of industrial activity on the Tees … recklessly expanding the Freeport … like Long Island Sound where the lobster industry has never recovered … urgency is lacking …

France has a fatal fascination with Russia .. Marine Le Pen’s campaigns have been financed by Russia … Mr Pompeo remained obsequious – ‘He is like a heat seeking missile for Trump’s a***e … Britain’s especially limp PM Richy Scumbag … So far as I am concerned Johnson can F*** off …  Johnson is dreaming of a Churchillian return to 10 Downing St … Dominic Beales (Labour’s challenger to Johnson in his own constituency) … ‘we’re hitting the doorsteps’ … ‘I voted for Johnson last time; never again! … the government is hopeless … Johnson’s support seems remarkably soft …  his chances of beating Jonson … a startling 92% … If Uxbridge voted today it would damningly vote against the Tories … would be a seismic event in British politics …  visited Ukraine more often than his constituency … was it the visit of a genuinely concerned MP or just another photo op? … Johnson will do what is in Johnson’s interests …  he does not give a damn about Oxbridge … A charlatan’s new low …

Richy Scumbag is cursed to try to pass policies while Johnson torpedoes them …  Johnson screwed over the DUP …  a mess that needs to be fixed … “

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Rejoin Party Press Statement

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In the wake of Rishi Sunak’s admission that Brexit was a mistake and we should Rejoin the EU, here is a helpful statement from the Rejoin Party:

February 28, 2023

The government’s much-hyped Northern Ireland protocol deal shows the whole of the UK can and must return to the EU’s single market and customs union as soon as possible, the Rejoin EU Party says.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who supported Brexit, is now incredibly claiming the agreement has put Northern Ireland in a “privileged position” by having access not only to the UK home market, but to the EU’s single market as well – apparently forgetting that the whole UK had exactly that privilege before Brexit.

The comments have sparked a storm of criticism on social media, with many people demanding to know why – if having such single-market access is so desirable – he and his fellow Brexiters backed leaving it in the first place.

One tweet read: “Sunak claims that because NI is in the single market, it’s an attractive location for businesses. So why are Scotland, Wales and England outside it?”

Another said: “Does Sunak realise what he’s saying? What about the thousands of GB businesses suffering because we have all sorts of obstacles between us and our biggest market?”

The Rejoin EU Party says the massive hype surrounding this deal is merely a desperate attempt by Sunak and this Brexit government to cover up the fact that they created this mess in the first place.

It believes the only real solution to the problems Brexit has caused – the latest of which is the chronic shortage of fruit and veg in our supermarkets – is for the entire UK to return to the single market, customs union and EU.

Former Conservative MEP and Rejoin EU Party supporter John Stevens said: “Sunak said this morning this deal will unlock an enormous amount of investment because Northern Ireland has this very special position where it has access to both the UK and EU markets, making it an incredibly attractive place to invest for business.

“This should be entered as a contender for the most grotesquely shameless and hypocritical remark of contemporary politics. We need to end this farce and re-join the EU now.”

Rejoin EU Party leader Richard Hewison said: “This shows what happens when Brexit dogma meets cold harsh reality and will be seen by many as the first step back to re-joining the EU.

“As for the detail of the agreement, the green channel will swiftly turn into a smuggler’s paradise, whilst the so-called ‘Stormont brake’ is virtually impossible to activate and liable to collapse the whole deal if it’s ever triggered.”

Please sign the Rejoin EU Party’s petition to re-join the single market at: https://actionstorm.org/petitions/rejoin-the-single-market-now

The Rejoin EU party is campaigning to re-join the EU because we believe re-joining is the only way to solve the problems Brexit has created. Brexit is broken and it’s breaking our country too. All the promises on which Brexit was sold to the electorate in 2016 were nonsense. Far from reducing red tape and providing £350m a week for the NHS, Brexit makes trading with the crucial European market more complex, difficult and expensive and threatens to reduce funding for public services. If you agree Brexit is making our country poorer, less tolerant and less united, join us and send a message to Westminster that you want your EU membership back, with all its freedoms and benefits.

Find the Rejoin Party website at www.therejoineuparty.com. Please support us via the Rejoin EU Party Campaign Fund – www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/rejoin-eu-party-campaign-fund. You can also follow the party on Twitter at @rejoinp

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Brexit is not a complete disaster, it is an incomplete disaster

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From Don Adamson in Yorkshire. Brexorcist First Class, campaigner, writer and impressario:

This week’s quotes: “ Brexit re-enactment society: historical re-enactments are popular in Britain … fans of the genre should go the House of Lords … scrutinising the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) bill … lawmakers know the bill is dangerous, wasteful and one of the silliest pieces of legislation ever to come before Parliament … Parliament is again galloping towards an avoidable blunder … it is like lighting a fire in a library and handing the librarians a photocopier and a marker pen to save what they can … ministers do not know how many laws are in scope … hands the executive broad powers to make laws with no idea as to how the power might be used …

Treasury fears it could lose billions in tax challenges … an almighty time sink … for the vanity of those for whom the battle to leave the EU was the highlight of their careers … parliament is imprisoned by the shrill politics of Brexit … some of the most damaging features of the Brexit process … a sane country would never allow itself to be put in this vice … familiar mix of terror and irresponsibility … blithe optimism smothers debate …

Labour is wary of opposing Brexit … terrible mistake …  a clear majority of Brits believe that to Leave the EU was a mistake … Brexit causes politicians to lose their judgement …  The Old Bailey focuses mainly on murder, rape and terrorism cases … the majority of terrorism cases involved people on the far right of British politics. A minority involves Islamic terrorist cases …

Thick Lizzie addressed a reception at the Japanese Embassy … the feet shuffling mood hovered between embarrassment and cringe coated pain … Thick Lizzie assumes publishers would flock to offer her big bucks for her memoirs … interest varied between minimal and zero … must be hurtful … Johnson is clocking up millions for his memoirs and after dinner speeches … while persuading Richy Scumbag to fund lawyers to help Johnson pretend that he did not lie to Parliament over Partygate …

Brexit is choking the arts and the government is doing nothing about it … touring orchestras and music sales – British culture and arts are a huge success story … Brexit means struggling with tough opposition from abroad … rivals get better tax breaks … children’s TV is suffering … movies of all kinds, music, live theatre, dance, audio books and video games … the world loves British cultural exports but Brexit makes it far harder to sell them … games firms give £7B a year to the economy … music exports are worth £3.5B … creative industries contribute £116B to the economy … yet is one of the worst hit by Brexit … government is totally indifferent … British government promised to make up any shortfall but has not done so … huge problem for the industry … harder and more expensive … a ruinously expensive waste of time … hurt an industry where Britain has huge advantages … You have to be something of a strange breed to want to be an MP in the first place …

Daily Telegraph runs pieces overtly critical of Brexit and Johnson …  Johnson can only count on Daily Mail and Sunday Mail for blind loyalty … Michael Gove admitted ‘I ask myself if Brexit was the right thing to do ‘ … Gove’s loyalty lasts only so long as it suits his interests … wants to distance himself from the Brexit recriminations after the next election … frankly hilarious death spiral the governments poll numbers have been taking for months …

Thick Lizzie continues to peddle her ‘it was all the fault of communist currency traders’ … ‘le grande illusion’ encapsulates Brexit … Johnson’s audacity … ‘that is what Louis XVI did and he got the guillotine …  Redevelopment at Teesside Freeport is Europe’s largest and most risky Brownfield project… highly toxic land and riverbed is churned up at breakneck speed …

Environment Secretary Therese Coffey has little interest in protecting the environment … toxic waste is taken from remediated areas and piles driven into contaminated land … ‘business partners’ make tens of millions … Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy … it was in the days of Nigel Lawson and Peter Walker that this vital industry last enjoyed civil servants with genuine energy expertise … the timing of these disruptions could not be worse … a new defence export advocate to promote arms sales … given the job to a Tory peer … under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office  … there are more health professionals of Ghanaian origin working for the NHS than in Ghana … Brexit is not a complete disaster, it is an incomplete disaster … Brexit does not need fixing stormed Lord Frost to the Daily Mail …

Brexit is not a complete disaster, it is an incomplete disaster

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Brexit damages our industry

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By Adrian Ekins-Daukes

These include machinery, construction materials, electric and gas appliances, cosmetics and toys to name but a few. The CE mark indicates that the product concerned conforms with specified EU safety, health and environmental protection requirements. This is  assessed beforehand, normally by the manufacturer who is also responsible for applying the CE mark and drawing up supporting documents. The product is then acceptable across the EU as proof of compliance with all requirements, without need for further delays or inspections. Our Brexiteer government could have negotiated an agreement guaranteeing equivalence on the CE marking requirements; this would have enabled to enable UK/EU trade to continue to flow as freely as before. However, either through ignorance or ideological bigotry our negotiators rejected equivalence and chose to create a copycat system of our own, UKCA. This involves additional bureaucracy, lays heavy costs on our industry to no advantage to anyone.

Far from being, as Brexiteers claim, that we are finally free of EU red tape, they have  doubled red tape for any company that manufactures products for both the UK and the EU markets.

Adrian Ekins-Daukes – Former Tory Councillor and Brexorcist (1st Class)
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Brexit is finished

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From Don Adamson, Brexorcist in Chief from Yorkshire.

This week’s comments: “Britain left the EU on the back of dodgy promises … all over Europe leaving the EU is seen by ever more voters as a mistake after Britain’s wretched display … price of populism is becoming clearer … even Marine Le Pen has toned down her Euro bashing … voters now see that populism is long on rhetoric but short on solutions … I just do not believe a word this government says …

Richy Scumbag is briefing that the next election will be 1992 all over again … they are wrong … however bad the Tories were in 1992 they are now on another level … Richy Scumbag is more unpopular than any party leader in history after 100 days … his personal ratings have plummeted down to that of the Tories … there is no expectation of economic growth … wherever he looks there is another dead end or fundamental crisis … mired by endless allegations of sleaze … grim situation … impossible dream … truth matters … standards matter …

Rees Mogg got roundly rubbished … howls and head shaking scorn … people know that that Brexit is not working … Right wing economics have failed again … Austerity kills growth and productivity … UK fell further behind … growth lowest than any decade since the Napoleonic Wars … hard right continues to persuade people that they can have first rate public services  and tax cuts … intellectual justification … low taxes create growth … no evidence this is true … state is profoundly weakened … half remembered Thatcherism … ideological drag of Brexit … UK destined to have the worst recession of the major economies, including Russia … like madman they repeat the same experiment in the hope of a different result … Johnson’s resignation honours still to be announced … always the odd preposterous name on a list … Johnson’s are all preposterous …

BBC is a place of fear and loathing … post Brexit buggerations … screams of an incompetent liar … pathetic attempts to distract attention from a dodgy loan … Floundering economy … foolish monetary policies …  advice of experts ignored …  corrupt and incompetent supervisors looked the other way … crackdown on asylum seekers … nothing the government has tried has worked …

Richy Scumbag’s legislation is likely to end in disappointment … impractical as well as morally dubious … shortage of experienced Home Office Staff … sloppy decision making … the longer it takes for Britain to resolve these questions the further it will fall behind EU countries … sleaze is again crippling the Tory Party …  the tax burden has rarely been so high, the public services so creaky. … as for Brexit the best its backers can claim is that it is a work in progress …

Boorish Lee Anderson elevated to deputy chairmanship of the party … Westminster echoes with the chiselling of Tory epitaphs … Thick Lizzie hopes that history will eventually smile on the premiership that wrecked the Tory Party’s reputation for economic management …  Johnson wishes to be remembered for helping Ukraine TV interview with Nadine Dorries, the most adoring of his erstwhile cabinet (imagine the Watergate Plumbers interrogating Richard Nixon) … “ Meanwhile Rishi Sunak has not denied the existence of aliens in Downing Street …

Learn the skills of Brexorcism here.

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