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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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Michel Barnier

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I was delighted to attend a superb event hosted by Professor Anand Menon of UK in a Changing Europe. Even more delighted to meet Michel Barnier and present him with copies of the books Reboot Britain and Private Eyelines.

Here are my takeaways from the event. It was necessary to attend in person to gain the full value of the conversation between these two giants. Just click the link to Twitter below or go direct to the the full article on Linkedin.

Merci beaucoup pour tout ce que vous avez fait pour essayer de sauver notre pays de lui-même. Le Brexit est perdant. Nous allons nous réveiller doucement.

Whilst we are here, do check out my riotous conversation with James O’Brien on LBC re Rishi Sunak’s motivational strategy.

Talking bollocks about Rishi Sunakered – Please download the album and subscribe to our Bandcamp page for updates

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We are failing

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Life long Tory voter Rod Stewart has just declared that the country is a mess and the Tories need to hand over power to someone more competent. This prompted me to think of the song he covered on his Atlantic Crossing album. Apologies for the lyrical changes which are occasionally grating !! 🙂

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Brexit Britain 2023

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Some will know that, in 2016, Britain voted to become an isolated country via the Brexit vote.  The marginal 52:48 popular vote was pumped up by:

  • Outlandish promises that we would fund our healthcare system with the proceeds of Brexit.
  • Brexit ‘freedoms’ from EU laws, 98% of which Britain helped to make.
  • The weaponisation of migrants ‘swarming’ into the UK, using the very same language used by the Nazis to justify the Holocaust.

It then took five years to leave our membership of the club we call the European Union, mostly because nobody in our Government could agree what Brexit meant.  Some wanted total isolation with free market capitalism on steroids, a kind of ‘Singapore on Thames’.  Others wished to retain all the benefits of trade and co-operation from Europe without any of the responsibilities of club membership.  The battle raged on between the various factions, consuming four Prime Ministers in the process, with our fifth currently sitting in the departure lounge.  Ultimately, it seems that Brexit consumes all its offspring.

Two years on from our departure, it is possible to see the beginnings of the realities of Brexit.  In this film, I have taken what could be described as a ‘Brexit Stock Take’.  This piece deals with the economic realities of Brexit.  Others in the series will deal with Social effects, Political futures, Legal outcomes, Environmental impacts and Technological effects.

Please take a look at the film and subscribe to our EU TUBE channel.  The film is 17 minutes long but well worth your time as a case study in populism which is sweeping Brazil, the USA, India, Russia and several other places.  Paradoxically, the world needs collaborative leadership and joined up thinking to face climate change and the many other global issues we must address if we are to survive.  Instead, many think that ‘strong men’ are the answers to such problems.  We shall see who prevails.

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European Movements

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I occasionally write about the lack of strategy, structure, cohesion, collective capability and leadership in the Remain / Rejoin movements. Once again, with a heavy heart, I must report that the chronic organisation development issues which divide us remain (sic) alive and kicking. This article concerns senior members of Grassroots for Europe, overseen by the CEO of The European Movement and its chair Lord Andrew Adonis. For some months I have attempted to resolve a worrying problem with a concerted smear campaign against me by senior people at Grassroots for Europe and The European Movement. I have had no reply in private from CEO Anna Bird, so I have reluctantly decided to go public. Here is a summary in the form of my letter to the EM CEO:

The WhatsApp group where much of this smearing takes place is overseen by Anna Bird and Lord Andrew Adonis, thus they are complicit in the campaign, by ‘letting it happen’. Andrew does not like uncomfortable truths and blocks people who he disagrees with. Thus I have no route to resolution with him.

Illiberal acts from the left

The ‘mob’ also follow the leader, sometimes without knowledge of the facts of a given cased. This is not without consequence. For example, I have been blocked from attending the March to Rejoin. I was blocked from attending a meeting with Gavin Esler. The ‘mob’ also asked that professional EM groups and affiliates in Sussex and Merseyside ‘deplatform’ me from speaking at events and so on. I mean, WTF are they frightened of?

I actively promote pro-European and anti-Brexit views and am perhaps more vigorous than many at a grassroots and strategy level, so I cannot understand their desire to silence me. Then again, I have worked on Brexit for 6 + years and I ‘get’ organisational illnesses etc. from my professional life as a business and organisational consultant. I’m hoping that Anna Bird will now make this nonsense stop and remove Richard Wilson and the other ringleaders from power. Here are some examples of the online smearing below – it is persistent and wearing. I cannot write to Richard Wilson to deal with the matter quietly, as he also adopts the Vote Leave strategy of blocking people he does not agree with.

It’s possible to see the level of confusion in these groups. For example, Lynne Armstrong manages to confuse me with Peter Corr, the leader of the March to Rejoin, but it does not stop her from condemning my / his work. In fact it’s unclear exactly who she is condemning. Other European Movement execs appear to join in with the ‘herd impunity’. For example, Emma Knaggs admits that she knows nothing about my work, but, of course, feels she must agree with those in power. She is also badly informed: Despite her assertion to the contrary, I remain Chair of The European Movement Mid Kent. Following a review by the Council chaired by Dominic Grieve QC I was confirmed in the position. My removal was an exec decision made by Anna Bird, without approval or authority of the EM. This, of course, mirrors the approach of The Conservatives re Brexit. It is quite surprising from an organisation that promotes transparency, open-ness and diversity.

In my professional life, I work with chronic organisational problems like this. When politics / egos and so on are added to the complexity, these issues become insoluble. I had offered my services for free to EM way back to help make them match fit, but they refused to accept professional help. Ostrich thinking and silos are not good enough if we are to build a movement fit to take Vote Leave on. As a result I have little confidence in Grassroots / EM’s abilities. Help can still be given but I’m not hopeful that they are in listening mode. One of their groundfloor troops, Magdalena Williams has recently stepped into the fray on Twitter.

Twitter thread

There is a long list of people who have actively initiated and / or amplified this campaign. Others have passively supported or allowed the campaign to spread. In no particular order: Richard Wilson, Colin Gordon, Yvonne Wancke, Chris Hammond, Anna Bird, Lord Adonis, Robina Jacobson, Peter Packham, NE for Europe, SSTIE, Sue Wilson, Bremain in Spain, Doug at SODEM, Magdalena Williams, some of the SODEM gang, Lynne Armstrong, Emma Knaggs, Patrick Reynolds. There is a longer list of people who hide in the shadows … come out into the light please.

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