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Changing Minds on Brexit

Changing Minds on Brexit

The aftermath of the Trump election shows us that we still have a long way to go in order to lead with truth, transparency and humility in a troubled world. In the UK, Boris Johnson is copying Trump’s design, by escalating his false promises, blame and lies to nuclear levels. “Operation Moonshot” has just failed to deliver. Christmas is almost certainly cancelled. Johnson continues to blame others for our Government’s continual “Cake and Eat it too” approach to Brexit negotiations. Changing Minds on Brexit on an industrial scale will be required if we are to return towards trust in politics and politicians. In this context I intend to serialise some chapters of my book “Let’s Talk About BREX..it“.

A successful Brexorcism takes skill, patience and time. Here is the preface to the book:

Why I wrote this book

I was in my late 50’s when Brexit began.  I am now over 60 and although Brexit is “in the microwave, gas mark four”, it is still far from done, some would say overdone.  Brexit will probably come undone in the coming year one way or another.  Speaking personally, Brexit will not affect me positively or negatively.  Outside my anti-Brexit life, I am an author, business consultant, speaker and knowledge worker who has always traded on a worldwide basis. In fact, I’m pretty sure I’ll be in a shallow grave by the time that any of the supposed Brexit benefits materialise.  Even 18th Century retro-Latin imperialist adventure capitalist Jacob Rees-Mogg said that we will get nothing back from Brexit for 50 years … I’m impatient in the age of Corona … not for myself, but for future generations.

Setting Brexit and Corona aside for a moment, we are merely responsible landlords of planet earth. If we do well in our lives, our aim should be to leave the planet in a better state that when we arrived.  If the nature of our life and work does not allow us to answer that call, we must at least be guided by the principle of “do no harm.”  We owe it to our children, their kids and the planet to do our best and stand up to those who would do harm in pursuit of narrower and more destructive goals.  Brexit is a narrow ambition that would continue England’s love affair with disaster capitalism, lower standards of environmental stewardship and increased carbon footprints from more global trading.  This is all happening at a time when the drive to solve world problems requires greater levels of collaborative leadership and co-dependency.  Complex world problems require joined up thinking instead of splendid isolation and “I’m alright Jack and Jill” behaviours.

This requires us to continue the conversation with leave voters and, of course, Remainers, some of whom now have terminal Brexit apathy.  These difficult conversations are made even more difficult when we currently must conduct them using socially distanced means.  This book equips you with strategies, skills and stories to help you have these difficult conversations.  A mind shift requires skill, patience and time.  Over thousands of hours of fieldwork, it becomes apparent that, sometimes you need several sittings with your chosen subject, client or victim.  The book provides a compendium of support with skill and patience.  It will also help you use your precious time to greater impact.

Grab a copy of Let’s Talk About Brex..it on Amazon – click the review

Human beings have achieved great things for the planet.  Sadly the human condition also includes a few human faults.  Greed, avarice, ego and so on.  We have witnessed it most recently in the fanatical stockpiling of toilet rolls amidst the Corona crisis. It means we think short term, sometimes selfishly and nostalgically. Crucially we don’t always realise that we are in this together with our neighbours and others we share this fragile earth with.  As far as I know, earthworms, hydrangeas and molluscs do not share the faults of the “human race.”  It is perhaps time to stop racing and trying to Trump each other, to consider what we can learn from the rest of the animal and plant kingdom.  After all, we are allegedly more intelligent than snails …  We must learn to be responsible custodians of planet earth.  Brexit threatens to isolate Britain in a world that desperately needs more collaboration and co-operation.  Worse still, Brexit takes Scotland, Northern Ireland and some parts of Wales and England down with it.  To what purpose?  I am still waiting for answers.

You may be asking yourself “Surely it is too late to stop Brexit?  A piece of paper was signed on 31 January 2020 so isn’t it all done now?”  I will work through the arguments as to why Brexit can be stopped later in this book.  However, some Remainers suffer from what psychologists call “Learned Helplessness”?  This is the condition where people believe that there is nothing they can do to alter the course of Brexit or that they should not interfere, due to faux notions of “democracy” or “the will of the people”.  In other words “we can’t do anything” and “we must not do anything”.  My own brother who voted to Remain is part of what the Rt Hon Ken Clarke calls the “indifferent majority” and has quoted “the will of the people”.  In truth he is fearful of the far right and it’s easier to comply rather than resist.  Whilst I completely understand his position and that of others like him, such people are an absolute danger to the resolution of such problems.  I am quite sure that the vast majority of the German people did not think that Mr Hitler would do anything awful in 1938.  Some simply looked away.  Simply stated, silence is assent. 

Taking first the issue of feeling there is nothing that can be done to change things, this is fundamentally untrue.  This book offers a wide palette of things we can do.  At the highest levels of thinking, quite simply, Brexit is a political process and not a legal one. All that is needed at the basic level would be an e-mail to cancel it, followed by a lot of grovelling in private, probably the fall of the prevailing Government or certainly the key players.   Eventually a lengthy public process would be created and some “ceremony” to allow us to rejoin the EU or simply not to leave.  However, this “christening ceremony” would almost certainly be followed by “terms and conditions”, based on the fact that our Brexit belligerence has been largely informed by decades of the UK “having its cake and eat it too” aka getting its own way on things like Shengen, the Euro etc.

On the question of “should we interfere?” this again is a simple matter to debunk. Democracy informed by gross lies on the NHS, immigration etc. targeted Facebook ads, overspending on election campaigns are not the high-water marks of democracy. In any case, some four years on, the demographics of Brexit have altered considerably with approximately 1.5 million leave voters having spun off this mortal coil and 1.7 million young people becoming eligible to vote, creating a significant shift on the “will of the people”.  As I write this update, it rather seems that these demographics are likely to be disproportionately affected by Boris Johnson’s Corona Cull of older voters.  In any case, “Generation Greta”, above all else, understand our connectedness and co-dependency.

The other question that should be troubling you some four years later is the one that asks the Buzzcocks’ Brexit question “What do I get?”.  Perhaps we don’t ask the question in a selfish way, but nonetheless it becomes relevant to ask what benefits are on offer to our fellow citizens if we are to endure some 50 years of pain to get there.  It is a question I’ve asked tirelessly during thousands of hours of street encounters and one I still cannot get any sensible answers on from the common man or woman.  The best I have had in recent times came from the man who wanted to leave the EU so that he could land a 5 lb bass from the Swale in Kent and the other man who was willing to throw all the benefits of EU membership away because he personally thought that garlic was used too much in the local cafes and restaurants.

Changing Minds on Brexit
Click on the image to view the follow up volume on Amazon.

Brexit is, at one level, a gross example of selfishness, greed and avarice by a few disaster capitalists.  These people have successfully persuaded the masses that Brexit will be good for them, although the mounting body of evidence suggests otherwise.  The Dunning Kruger effect and misplaced pride prevent some leave voters from admitting that Brexit will not deliver any of the supposed benefits we were mis-sold so slickly and compellingly.  This plays out daily via snappy catchphrases such as “Take Back Control”, “Brexit Means Brexit”, “Pop Brexit in the microwave”, “Let’s get Brexit done” etc.  Feelings overwhelm facts in the tsunami of data that arrives daily across our TV screens, computers and smartphones.  In the words of XTC “Senses Working Overtime”.

The information age is also in part responsible for the Brexit vote.  Aside from interference in the voting process by Cambridge Analytica and underground targeted Facebook ads, another effect is in play here.  We receive some 34 GB of data daily.  This more than the average person received in their entire life in 1800.  Quite naturally the response to “drowning in data” in some cases is to shut down from information overload altogether.  Nigel Farage understood this well, when he asked the nation to vote with their hearts and not their heads after we were numbed senseless by data.

I originally titled this book “The Brexit Monologues.”  Why a monologue I hear you say?  Surely a conversation is a dialogue?  Well some of the conversations I’ve had with some hardcore leave voters have been monologues.  In other words they simply wish to unload their “story” on me before there is any possibility of a dialogue.  I have had literally thousands of conversations with Brexiteers in cafés, bars and on the street. Listening skills do not usually begin until I have invested sufficient time and energy in understanding their viewpoints, however much I may disagree with them.  It is also essential to establish a platform of expertise and some basic trust if they are to listen to you in preference to their own trusted advisor, whether that is Nigel Farage or the bloke in the pub.  Why exactly should they wish to listen to me anyway?  Many of them simply want to download their concerns, issues and fantasies about Brexit and their feelings of being left behind.  In listening to these people, I have found that these monologues are actually quite revealing.  At the same time, some level of change can occur by simply allowing these people to vent their feelings of rage, disappointment, and regret about their lives.  Occasionally and usually after a degree of patient listening, it is possible to separate their feelings from the causes of these feelings.  In other words to separate their regrets from the fact that the EU is not the root cause of their regrets.  Once we achieve this, we have the possibility for what I term a “Brexorcism”, in other words a shift in their beliefs about the world and about Brexit in particular.

Brexorcism
Click the image to find the book.

Changing Minds on Brexit provides strategies, skills and stories to help you change minds, whilst helping you to look after yourselves in the process.  I use the word Brexorcism not because I’m expecting you to throw holy water at your subjects!  Nor do I expect you to have to deal with people whose heads and viewpoints rotate 360 degrees.  We are generally dealing with quasi-religious beliefs or even identity level change, where Brexit is intimately linked with people’s sense of self, Queen, country and flag.  When we engage with a leave voter, we are sometimes challenging people at the level of who they are or the very why of their being.  This requires skill, time, patience and flexibility on our part. 

The book also helps with healing the divides that Brexit has set up on our DIsUnited Kingdom, whether family, friend or community based.

This book is not just about Brexit ghostbusting.  Where Brexit leads, Trump, Erdogan and others follow.  Just as sure as ladies’ hemlines rise and fall for no particular reason with the whims of fashion every year, populism and the rise of the far right in difficult times are also fashion statements that others follow.  So, you will find this book of immense value if you are trying to fight populism anywhere in the world.  

On New Year’s Day 2017 I coined the catchphrase “Break Brexit Before Brexit Breaks Britain” in the shower.  I note this has been adopted and adapted quite widely.  I recently realised that it needed updating. On New Year’s Day 2019 I came up with a new mantra which remains relevant:

“We seek a Better Britain in a Better Europe for a Better World.”

I coined this phrase on New Year’s Day 2018. It’s still relevant.

We are all in this together and it is about time we woke up to the fact.  We can no longer live in unsplendid isolation in the 4th industrial age.  Yes, we need to reform our politics and the very notions of capitalism if we are to survive.  But turning our backs on problems and opportunities that we face as a global village is not a sensible response.

I hope this gives some clues as to why you might want to read the book … read on …

Take Action

Write to your MP and demand that they oppose the toxic combination of Corona + Brexit

Write to the press with the same ambition

Jacob’s Crackers

In this roundup of Jacob’s Crackers, we chart the unprecedented developments in our Government’s idiotic approach to Brexit, COVID and Trump. I am finding it very difficult to distinguish satire from reality, as Boris Johnson lurches from the COVID car crash to our Britastrophe in waiting …

Write to your MP

Ask that Brexit be suspended in the wake of Corona

Thank The Lords

The House of Lords firmly rejected the idea of breaking international law in order to “Get Brexit Done”. Johnson’s response? “Carry On Breaking The Law”. The likely outcome? Britain will be twinned with North Korea as a rogue state. The EU and US will treat Britain accordingly.

Trust is essential

Jacob's Crackers
Trust is essential for all trade and business – The UK is not trustworthy

Write to members of the House of Lords – Point out that the internal markets bill was NOT a manifesto promise and therefore it is perfectly reasonable for the House of Lords to continue to oppose it.

World Beating COVID deaths

Once again, we lead Europe with COVID deaths, due to our “too little, too late’ approach”. This Twitter thread sums up the problems:

Please Retweet this and related tweets. Tweet your MP with a personal message about #suspendbrexit. Hold their feet to the fire.

Rats deserting the sinking ship

If the COVID deaths were not bad enough, it seems that Downing Street is more concerned with petty power squabbles between Dominic Cummings, his cronies and Boris’ girlfriends. Whitehall is now occupied by a large number of Vote Leave cronies and we await the departure of Dominic Cummings and our idiot negotiator David Frost, following Lee Kane’s departure last night. Watch Channel 4 News last night to find out more:

Since this time cronyism has gone from bad to worse under Johnson. It has continued under Truss and Sunak.

To learn more about cronyism in Whitehall check out My Little Crony by Sophie Hill

Old Durham Town remade in our studio.

IBS – Irritable Brexit Syndrome

If all of the above were not enough to make you think that we have lost control of our senses, swivel eyed loons John Redwood and, not IBS, but IDS (Iain Duncan Smith) have pointed out that Britain is bigger than the US. They have also told Joe Biden had better watch his step if he wants to get a trade deal with Britain. Texas and California are bigger than the US geographically, never mind the economy. The US economy is 20 x larger than the UK economy. For the avoidance of doubt:

Size matters

Jacob's Crackers
Size is important – we are 40 x smaller than the US.
John Redwood “Mine’s bigger than yours” Retweet and share to your MP
Retweet please

Citizens of Nowhere

Boris Johnson and Priti Patel scraped the bottom of the barrel by claiming that ending our freedom of movement was somehow a great triumph, whilst trying to pretend that the matter does not apply to British people. Johnson seems to have forgotten that he said exactly the opposite when he was seeking people’s votes for Brexit. In the words of Johnny Rotten:

Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated?

We are all Citizens of Nowhere. Download In Limbo from our Bandcamp site.

Oh Brexit, up yours

In case you had forgotten, there’s a thing called Brexit looming. It turns out that 90% of UK trade is not covered by free trade deals after Brexit. So, when Johnson says Get Ready For Brexit, he means himself.

Oh yes, and the hauliers’ guidebook to handle border confusion has been delayed until after Brexit has happened. Presumably this is to give Dominic Cummings more time to appoint more cronies or indulge in a mud wrestling match with Carrie Symonds. Best get more of those portaloos in Kent, Sussex and Surrey …

Flush Brexit
Flush Brexit.

English exceptionalism continues to dominate our Brexit negotiations, in stark contrast to the EU’s organised and transparent processes to democracy:

An honorable man.

Bunkering down

If Jacob’s crackers, all the while, Johnson continues to self isolate from the truth about COVID and Brexit, Trump is also bunkering down, whilst he makes a new series of “Borat” with Rudy Giuliani. Sadly his tweet was deleted …

Jacob's Crackers
Crushed by Victoriana – Jacob’s crackers.
Paul McCartney meets Jacob at a Queen Concert.

Read our satirical front pages of The Sun, Maul, Excess

TAKE ACTION – SuspEND Brexit

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Brexit Self Isolation

Brexit Self-Isolation

In today’s spoof edition of the Sun, it’s hard to tell satire from reality as Johnson retreats from criticism of his handling of Carrie, Cummings, Corona and the ongoing Britastrophe from the toxic cocktail of Brexit + Corona. This Brexit self isolation is not really good enough, especially as it seems he broke lockdown rules to meet one of his MPs.

Brexit Self-Isolation
Nut Nuts – Read all the editions by clicking on “The Sun”

In case you are not sure which is the fake news and which is real, here is a guide:

Belgium did win the football match 2 – Nil. The playing field was level, unlike our approach to Brexit negotiations, where we want want to kick the ball into the goal whilst the other side are off the pitch.

Johnson did meet with an MP last week, breaking lockdown and causing his Brexit Self Isolation. There was no reason why he could not have done this remotely. It seems very convenient, as it means he gets to avoid questions about Cummings going, Christmas, COVID and the tragic state of Brexit negotiations which climax this Friday. Remember a Brexit deal is WORSE than no deal in terms of the long term future for our children. See Brexit Choices.

Carrie Symonds texts Johnson 20 times a day whilst he is trying to run the country. We now have reached the Eva Braun / Linda Mc Cartney / Yoko Ono / Princess Nut Nut moment of English democracy, where the will of the people has been replaced by the whim of the blonde bimbo Boris.

There is no medical virus called Brexitosis. However, it becomes clear that Brexit has now occupied the minds of a few swivel eyed loons in the ERG, whilst the vast majority of the British public are bored rigid by Brexit and want Brexit flushed down the pan.

Nigel Farage has not shit in his own backyard, yet, although Nige has dumped Brexit on the people who voted for him, as a steaming turd.

Johnson did say F..ck Business. This is the new Tory party. Can you really approve of someone who does this?

Mark Francois is still missing in action. What can be wrong? Write to Mark and wish him a speedy recovery.

We do believe that Larry the cat’s box was stolen by Cummings. Sources close to No 10 suggest that Larry was the only “person” who was not taken in by Cummings’ lies. Tweet Larry on the matter:

Take Action

Write to your MP and demand that they oppose the toxic combination of Corona + Brexit

Write to the press with the same ambition

Write to EU leaders and encourage them to hold firm on Brexit negotiations now that Johnson is alone

Join our ABV-20 (Anti-Brexit Virus-20) Super Spreaders group to increase our footprint on social media

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Alone again naturally – Boris Johnson.
Get Ready for the Brexit Wars

Get Ready for The Brexit Wars

In case you are unaware occasionally we parody the immense stupidity and lies from populist newspapers. Here is today’s edition as we get ready for the Brexit wars. This includes some fact checking below, just in case you are unable to separate Brexit fact from fiction.

Get Ready for The Brexit Wars
Click on the Maul to read our political satire Private Eyelines.

Fact and Fiction Checker

Conservative MP George “Useless” Eustace told farmers to switch from Sheep to Cows in the wake of almost certain bankruptcy in the face of 35% tariffs on Lamb. Useless Eustace also told Danish firm Lurpak to move production of their butter to Britain. Sadly Lurpak pointed out that it would be illegal. In any case, why would they wish to locate themselves in Brexit Britain?

Boris Johnson has suggested that Parliament will not have time to approve a Brexit deal. So, when he said “Take Back Control”, he meant for himself rather than Parliament or the People. In the words of Johnny Rotten:

Ever got the feeling you’ve been cheated?

Farmers fear that the turkeys they are rearing will be too big for Christmas. Some (turkeys, not farmers) have in fact been put on diets.

Johnson has summoned up more jingoistic rhetoric about war with his announcement of more money for our military. This amounts to more distraction from COVID and Brexit. And like most of Johnson’s announcements, it’s not quite what it seems …

Common sense reflection.

Minister for the 18th Century, Jacob Rees-Mogg did quote Caractacus on Parliament the other day, but did not make an explicit connection between Rolf Harris and his song The Court of King Caractacus. Unfortunately many other people did. Jake deleted his tweet so you cannot reply to him.

Meanwhile, it has been reported that 62% of British people now want to stay in the EU. 60% of people feel that the EU has handled the pandemic well.

Please click the image to support our work.

In the ultimate irony, it seems that “forins” will be manning the border posts if Brexit proceeds. They very thing that Brexiteers wanted will not come to pass and they will have their blue passports inspected by Romanians and Indians. Oh, the joy on their faces!

A book on Brexit has been released. Entitled “The Benefits of Brexit“. The book contains 234 BLANK pages. Some Brexiteers are outraged, having bought the book to find it devoid of inspiration. Here’s my review:

Click image to read our books on Brexit. They have words and pictures.

If you want a good book on how to have difficult conversations about Brexit around the Slimfast Christmas Turkey, please find our books on Brexorcism on Amazon.

Take action

Write to MPs and the European Union. Ask them to help Suspend Brexit in the wake of Corona.

Read our article on Suspending Brexit and share widely.

Get ready for the Brexit Wars … here’s an echo of what Johnson has created …

Which side are you on?

Banana Republic

Written by a former Conservative Councillor from Tunbridge Wells.

“I didn’t leave the party. The party left me”

In last week’s article on negotiations with the EU we showed that it was  Johnson’s regime which had acted in bad faith up to now.  One aspect of the level playing field, state aid, needs to be looked at further. Here, negotiator Frost enlarges on his usual mantra about Britain being an independent country by insisting that it is therefore entitled to spend its own money as it wishes. But there are limits to this seemingly reasonable argument.

As individuals, we all have the  right to spend our  money as we wish. However, if we do so in a way that gives us unfair advantages over our neighbours and damages them, we should not expect favours from them in return and may face retaliation. 

In the case of state aid, Frost is actually demanding a more favourable position for Britain than we had as an EU member. 

This is not reasonable.

It does not represent the spirit of Britain in terms of fair play. It is more like Trump’s spoilt child approach.

Click on the image to view last week’s post.

As a member of the EU, we had freedom from tariffs and quotas and had access to the single market. In kind we were expected to comply with EU state aid rules. These ban state aid to attract investment (except in development areas). Now we are demanding these advantages plus the right to offer state aid without limit. This is a benefit which even member states are not allowed to grant to their firms. 

It is hardly surprising that this unreasonable demand is a sticking-point for the  EU.

Report MP’s for breaking international law using the letters and contact links at Stop Boris’ Junta.

Particularly, since the UK was the top recipient in the EU of overseas investment until very recently. This is no longer so, thanks to Brexit. It could be retrieved if negotiations were not blocked by the inept negotiation skills and the hubris of Frost and the rest of Johnson’s regime.

Instead, however, the Government proceeds with the Internal Market Bill. This contains clauses contrary to the EU Withdrawal Agreement, Johnson’s General Election promises on Brexit. The bill also breaks international law.

Well worth your time.

Tory MPs have deflected the issue by referring to a vague EU threat to block the sale of  British agricultural products within the EU. They claim:

“This would prevent the transfer of animal products from Great Britain to Northern Ireland under the Northern Ireland Protocol.”

However, no information has been given as to who made this threat, whether it has formal status and the forum in which it was made. Without such details, it is doubtful if this threat was ever made at all, given this government’s record of lies.

The real Boris Johnson

The Johnson regime also lists scenarios in which the Bill’s illegal provisions would be used. These assume bad faith or unreasonable actions by the EU, and are highly provocative and self-defeating. This game of chicken has provoked the expected reaction from any organisation who is threatened by criminals. In other words, the initiation of legal action against the UK for breaking international law.

Ursula von der Leyen speaks the truth

It is Britain, not the EU, which has acted in bad faith. We continue to do so, notably by the mere act of passing an illegal Bill through Parliament. 

Write to your MP. Ask them to suspend Brexit on Monday 5th October via Halt Brexit.

Adrian Ekins-Daukes plans to lead Re-Boot Britain in order to boot Tories out of Local Government in the 2021 elections.

Please support our ongoing journalism and other activism.

In case of doubt, Boris Johnson’s statement about bananas was a big fat LIE.

Brexit is bananas – not straight

Brexit Choices for a Better Britain

As negotiations reach another hiatus, it’s a good idea to remind people that Brexit is not inevitable now that less than 37% of people still think that Brexit is a good idea. Here are the Brexit Choices for a Better Britain open to us at the moment.

Brexit Choices for a Better Britain
By the way “probability” is perhaps better expressed as “betting odds” – the numbers do not add up to 100% of course

In case people don’t understand why the EU cannot just give the UK what they want, consider the EU as a golf club with 28 members. One does not want to pay the subscriptions but still wants to use the club for gala dinners, special events and demands a free set of golf clubs every year without paying. The head of the golf club must decline. If he says yes, he will face a backlash from the other 27 paying members who will also want a rebate or more services for less money. The primary job of an enterprise is to protect its members and, regardless of our belligerence in the talks, The EU must set this aside and protect the greater good of the union.

We also have an unlikely ally on our side in the form of Theresa May at the moment, who has rebelled on several occasions taking others with her:

“I might have thought the government would have abandoned algorithms by now.”

We also heard how the Tory party abandoned Conservatism last week.

In case of doubt as to how these evaluations were arrived at, please read the associated articles:

Suspend Brexit

The Rejoin Unicorn

Brexit Choices for a Broken Britain
Death is guaranteed

Take Action

Report MP’s for breaking international law.

Write to your MP and ask them to make Better Brexit Choices for a Better Britain, by opposing reckless behaviour by the Cabinet.

Brexit Choices for a Better Britain

Populism will eat itself

More like this at Private Eyelines
The Son

Remember, the withdrawal agreement was a 2019 ELECTION PROMISE. It’s not even a year on and Johnson has broken his marriage vows, his election promises and caused at least 30 000 unnecessary deaths. Are you still happy about this?

Write to your MP and demand that Boris admits that he lied to win the election. Ask them to oppose Johnson’s reckless Brexit.

The Drugs Don’t Work

In this post, Wendy Nowak outlines the real issues facing those of you on medication if we allow Brexit to happen.

The Facts of Life … and Death

Believe it or not many of you will be affected by medicine shortages if Brexit happens come 31st December 2020.  Here I explain why I’ve been extremely worried for the past two years.

As soon as I heard rumours about shortages of medicines, alarm bells started ringing in my head. They are ringing even louder these days. I’m Type 2 diabetic and am prescribed insulin to control it, which is sometimes the case with Type 2s. Without insulin the complications of uncontrolled diabetes are dire

  • Blindness
  • Kidney failure
  • Cardio vascular disease
  • Amputation

By the way, Type 1 diabetics are totally dependent on insulin for survival. Only about 0.5% of the insulin used in the UK is manufactured here.  It is also animal insulin which not many diabetics can take. The rest comes mainly from Denmark or Germany, from the big manufacturers Novo Nordisk and Sanofi Deutschland.  The other issue with insulin is that, being temperature sensitive, it is not easy to stockpile. Before the last Brexit deadline the government promised they would buy loads of extra fridges and engage a wonderful ferry company to ship over our meds.  Remember Seabourne?  They didn’t actually have any ferries.  Another government scam, which made me fear for my life even more.

Editor’s note: This has been the case for many years. In my early years I worked at Wellcome who used to make much of the supply of beef insulin. I worked on the breakthrough treatment of human insulin with Novo Nordisk. A proud moment in my life, only to be thrown away by a government that only understands money rather than quality of life and lies systematically to make us forget the meaning of life.

A group small group of us, one of whom is a retired medic, got together online to organise demos and die-ins, along with FB posts and tweets, to raise awareness of this issue.  Considering the fact that this is a life or death issue the response from the British media and public has been appalling, which also worries me.  Despite numerous requests, the British media have more or less ignored us, up until fairly recently anyway.  Comments from the public ranged from brexiteers who basically don’t care if they or their relatives die as long as they get their blue passport (which isn’t actually blue!) to those who don’t quite understand the extent of the chaos we are facing.  That could be down to lack of coverage in the media.  There was also disbelief when faced with the hard facts which we laid before them, ie. The repeated warnings to the government from the medics and the pharma industry about shortages.

Are you prepared to see loved ones die for a blue passport?

Why we should all be worried?

Three quarters of our med supplies come from Europe. That figure is quoted in the government Yellowhammer report.  It’s not just about me and it’s not just about diabetes. It affects thousands of patients, including those suffering from cancer, those on dialysis, asthma, epilepsy, glaucoma, rheumatoid arthritis, many immune deficiencies and many more.  Anybody could be diagnosed with any of these conditions at any time.

The UK is pulling out of EURATOM, which guarantees our supply and ensures the safety of nuclear materials.  The radioisotopes necessary for cancer treatment and diagnostic scans are at risk.  They are also imported from Europe, are extremely time sensitive and cannot be stockpiled. Cancer patients are already being told that they will not be prioritised for treatment because they are over a certain age.  Are you OK with that?

Who cares about Brexit?

Uncool for Cats

Many veterinary medicines are also imported. These face the same issues as our own.  Brexit has also caused a shortage of EU vets (as indeed it has among our NHS staff) who have had enough of the hostile environment which now exists in the UK. Not only are our pets at risk, but these vets also monitor our farm animals and help to uphold our food standards.  Once again the warning went out a couple of years ago when we staged the Wooferendum marches.  Once again, not enough people listened.

Join us at Cats Against Brexit Mayhem

COVID + BREXIT = BRITASTROPHE

We had a stockpile of medicines (well, at least of those which can be stockpiled) as a no-deal contingency.  The pandemic has eroded these away, which leaves us in a dire situation in the event of no-deal.  This is before any second COVID wave hits us.

What am doing about this?

I have a bit of a dilemma. As a diabetic I have to ensure I don’t catch the virus, but if I sit back and do nothing I face severe illness or death from med shortages.  My risk assessment is that I can take precautions against COVID, such as wearing a mask, social distancing, hand-washing, but there’s nothing I can do if my meds run out. I go out protesting, socially distanced of course!  As I’ve been told many times ‘the government doesn’t care about you’. To everyone who thinks it’s okay to say that and then do nothing I say, ‘get out there’.  We the oppressed people of the UK need to show the government that WE care and we are willing to do hammer home that message. We are not willing to endure medicine, and indeed food shortages (I and many others need a healthy diet), enabled by their deception and corruption.

What can you do about this?

Write to your MP using this as a basis for your arguments. Ask for Brexit to be suspended.

Get out on the streets as Wendy suggests. It’s not too late to stop Brexit. Join us at Rage Against Brexit.

Brexit Trust Pilot

Trust Pilot

Yesterday Boris Johnson withdrew the withdrawal agreement. Let’s remember that he won an election primarily on the idea of getting Brexit done. He also then persuaded his party to vote for the Withdrawal Agreement. Today Theresa May has just cut Boris Johnson into tiny pieces over the WA.

It occurred to me that, although, I don’t want Brexit, Theresa May’s Withdrawal Agreement could be considered to be the high water mark of Brexit deals. All subsequent deals have been a considerable watering down of Theresa May’s achievement. No wonder she is angry about the wilful destruction of one nation Conservatism by Dominic Cummings.

Take the example of a plumber or builder. There are only two circumstances when you would have to not pay your dues or not deliver your work to the required standard. The first would be if you were fixing to die the following day. The second would be if you were planning to retire and live on a remote desert island so that nobody could call you to account. In the case of the UK, we are not fixing to die or live in splendid isolation (or are we?). We need the trust of other nations in order to secure future trading relationships.

In the modern world we have systems such as Trust Pilot to rate businesses for delivery and trustworthiness. If the UK plc were a plumber or builder, its Trust Pilot score would now be at minus 3000. Any future post-Brexit trading partners will doubtless include North Korea, Syria and Venezuela to name a few.

Write to your MP to say that you agree with Theresa. Point out that the party voted for the WA and that it was a pivotal election pledge.

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Dead Cats and Real News

Our Government have resorted to putting lots of dead cats in the way of the real news about Brexit, COVID and so on. So this week, we have resorted to providing a whole front page dedicated to dead cats and the other to news.

The Daily Maul – To read more like this click on the image
Soaraway Sun – Click for more

If you MP voted for the Enabling Act and is a barrister, report them to the bar via Report your MP

If your MP voted for the Enabling Act, write to them via Write to Them. Explain the consequences of breaking international law.

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