I’m delighted to announce the release of our 15th book on AMAZON and KINDLE and via direct despatch. The work of 60 citizens including a KC, two former MEPs and subject experts across a number of fields. Brexit is dead, but the body is still in our living room. Let’s bury this rotting corpse so that we can Reboot Britain to “fix the fundamentals”. This new book explores the opportunities to be seized and threats to be avoided by applying to Rejoin The EU.
Reboot Britain : Brexit RIP has had a complete overhaul in response to changing world conditions and feedback from MPs and readers. It is some 45 pages longer than it’s predecessor.
We invite you to purchase copies for distribution to MPs, influencers and media representatives now that moratorium on uttering the word Brexit has been lifted. Only NF does not wish to speak its name as Brexit is his Achilles’ Heel. Find the book on AMAZON, on KINDLE. Order copies direct by e-mailing us at reboot@brexitrage.com
To help spread the word, you can show others samples of the book by asking them to point their phone at the QR codes below to “look inside”.
Book launch event
Join Gavin Budge from North Herts for Europe at our launch event where you can ask questions about Rejoining the EU, political calculus, the rise and demise of the far right and much more.
I responded to one of Rupert Lowe’s dog whistle posts on Linkedin about deporting all foreigners and was greeted with this reply by Steven. Steven is angry. Rupert Lowe and Tommy Ten Names have triggered him. He lashes out at others rather than look deep within himself. Don’t be like Steven ….
It turns out that bad news travels fast. The post on Facebook attracted hundreds of thousands of impressions, likes and comments. Whenever I post something positive about what we can do about the populist wave or Brexit carnage, the world falls silent. It seems that people know what they are against but rather less about what they are for … 🙁
I attended the anti-racist event in Rochester. Some 200 people attended to face 15 UKIP supporters with perhaps 100 police in attendance. The bill for these protests will mean more money wasted to build a better Britain (The Farage Riots of 2024 cost £32 million). This year’s flagshagging events will cost more. The flagshaggers marched up to Rochester Castle, not to pour boiling oil and shower us with arrows from the turrets, but for a much needed toilet break after a heavy session in Wetherspoons … They then departed. MUCH MORE IMPORTANTLY, I bumped into the Labour Party MP Tristan Osbourne and met with the Green Party of Medway and Lib Dems at the event.
Labour in vain
I congratulated Tristan on Labour’s decision to talk about Brexit after snuffing out all conversation about a major source of our malaise in the General Election. See Labour GE Post-Mortem for more detail.
I then pointed out that ‘one swallow does not a summer make’. Tristan agreed and responded by saying that Labour would be making a statement about it in the budget. Whilst I fully understood why he could not tell me what the statement might be, I took away the idea that it may well be more ‘logical incrementalism’ rather than a fundamental reversal of the Brexit mess. He hinted at this saying that he wanted Brexit reversed within his lifetime, however he is around 40 and I am 67! I pointed out that the matter was urgent and important and that death by 1000 ameliorations is still death. Faced in real life with a rapid death over a slow painful one, I’d opt for the rapid one. So it is with Brexit. Labour must act now or face the consequences.
Tristan then tried to punt the idea to me that the EU had said that we could not return until the threat of Farage had passed, meaning post 2029 at the earliest. I re-rehearsed the arguments that we had previously: This would be too late for a host of reasons explained in Reboot Britain. I also pointed out that what matters is putting in the application, not the end of the process. Frankly this was the part of the conversation I did not believe, since the EU have stated publicly that they would welcome us back on many occasions. See political capital in Reboot Britain.
Tristan’s answer reminded me of a teenager wanting to ask a girl out but does not want to get a no !! This was the least believable part of our dialogue and I don’t know what purpose Tristan thought it might serve, given my knowledge, skills and experience.
We went on to discuss the optics of Reform UK and agreed about a lot of that. It was a cordial and intelligent dialogue and I thank him for it. I explained that I’d given a keynote at MP Sadik Al-Hassan’s town hall meeting on Brexit and it turned out that he and Tristan are good friends. All in all a valuable ‘brief encounter’. I’d had a similar meeting with my Labour MP Naushabah Khan recently and she dropped similar hints that Labour would be more bold. I’d welcome it.
The only good Brexit is a dead Brexit.
Zac attack
I also had a great encounter with Medway Greens and was asked why I had not joined them. I stated that I was still considering standing a cat for election locally in 2027, perhaps a green cat … What was most interesting was that there was broad agreement that Zac Polanski was a force for good in terminating the rise of the far right in Britain.
Dem Libs
The Lib Dems led the charge in terms of marshalling people at the event. I have explained to Mark Pack that since Labour are on the move re Brexit, it is time for the Lib Dems to recalibrate their position on Brexit to move the Overton Window. I do hope that they don’t miss the boat on this.
Helen Maguire for Epsom.
The local Lib Dem still sees my cat as an existential threat to the survival of the Lib Dems. Amazing !!
Side note: I asked a policemen early on, had they (UKIP – UK I Pee) urinated? – he seemed confused and a little disturbed. until I pointed out that this was the key metric which would determine their eventual departure back to Wetherspoons. Youth and inexperience !!
I am a regular attendee of open mic jam sessions where I live in Kent and use them to keep my musical skills up. But just recently I was told of a session being organised by the alt right wing and, in particular by two characters, both of whom I’d had some previous encounters with. This article concerns a chap by the name of Kes, who told me he went to prison (for drugs I think) during which time he learned to use knives and so on. I met him a few years back. He told me his hard luck story of drugs, knives and prison, explained that he was trying to get back on his feet and offered to fix my guitars for cash.
Fast forward a few years and Kes began messaging me about the open mic jam session. He knows my views on the far right and the pathetic flagshagging that is sweeping the country at the moment. He also knows that I would not attend a session organised by the far right, as they use them to recruit young vulnerable people. Nonetheless, full marks for trying. Kes quickly became threatening. Here is the transcript in time order. It all began from my observation that he was using the union jack as the backdrop for his advert. Kes makes it very clear that he is going to share the conversation – a veiled threat that others will be “looking out for me” in the local area. It’s only fair to repay the compliment …. Transparency is the best disinfectant.
Prepare for a lengthy diatribe. The comments in pale blue are Kes and the ones in dark blue mine.
How it began
Kes rejects all forms of information save for the ones he sources himself. This is typical of the hardcore Brexit supporters. It makes them particularly unappealing candidates for informed conversations. See also Our Jools.
The obsession with rape is of course palpable. But I refuse to debate parts of a problem as it only allows them to dig deeper down a rabbit hole. It remains a fact that the vst majority of rapes are committed by white English people, and many are known to their victims.
The video above is one suggesting that Ukraine started the war with Russia !!
Now quoting Katie Hopkins as a reliable journalist …
I’m still confused as the plethora of unanswered questions that this stream of consciousness raises. Kes’ anger at his situation is palpable. The refusal to accept the work of media outlets makes it virtually impossible for me to get any further with him, as he refuses to accept facts over his feelings, exaccerbated by Tik Tok videos.
That said, the work still needs to be done. Nigel Farage preys on people like Kes and he seems to be keen to do the same.
The image of Robert Jenprick, shadow Justice Secretary at the header of this post illustrates the belief that far right flagshagging is considered a vote winner. It is not a victimless crime. See our report on the abuse of women and children by such people.
I do feel sorry for Kes given what he told me of his health conditions, none of which were apparent when I last encountered him. Given the level of threats made and one or two doubts I have regarding his story, I am not in the mood to want to help him. His abuse and dismissal of me is forgettable. As my dad used to say “Sticks and stones can break your bones, but words can never hurt you”.
I remain extremely concerned that Kes seems to be planning to be a counsellor which requires considerable moral courage and other skills. He is of course right that education is supposed to be about how to think, rather than what to think, yet I see little independent thought in this diatribe.
Above all else, this once again demonstrates the poverty of online dialogue as a means of talking people down from ingrained beliefs about Brexit, Europe, Politics and populism. See also the recent close encounter with someone obsessed with stopping the boats.
The poverty of Online Brexorcisms. Click image to read the book.
I am now taking a long break from Kes, having gathered some basic data on his life, motives, fears and fantasies. Serious mindset change cannot happen without a series of face to face encounters and, given his threats of violence and his intention to ‘dox’ me, I cannot proceed.
Off to eat a Swan in a bap for breakfast …. and to read about how Brexit was backed by Putin as part of a longer plan to destroy the west. Of course, Kes won’t believe this, as it’s on the BBC, New York Times, Guardian, Politico, yada yada.
Postscript
Kes continues to send unverified bollocks made by people who have a phone and a voice. I am no longer replying, having gathered sufficient intelligence for Kent Police who have taken an interest in the cell structure of far right agit-populism. His final assault is included for amusement and or pity, depending on your point of view. Since Kes insists on telling others in the area of my details, I should make it known that the last time a far right agitator committed criminal damage and knife crime, he had to pay £3500 for his sins. The rate has gone up since 2023 …. fill your boots …
I'm pleased to say that I took the person who did this to court after the police bungled the case (he was an ex policeman). He has been fined £3000 for malicious communications, criminal damage and the use of a knife
I have long advocated the need for “Mass Brexorcisms” on an individual level, to heal the divides brought about by Brexit disinformation. I developed the proven methodology in our book Reboot Britain – Changing tired minds on Brexit. Sadly, my advice largely fell on deaf ears. Admittedly a “Brexorcism” requires vast supplies of skill, patience, empathy / UPR and time, lots of it, spread out over time, to be effective. But we must gradually talk people down from “Farage’s fictional mountains” of myths, mythinformation and downright lies. Brexorcism is therefore very effective but also very inefficient, as a way to change the minds of the masses.
Brexorcism summed up.
So, we must move from individuals to groups and whole communities. Although I have dealt with social groups, operating at scale for whole communities is not within our capacity. However, it IS within reach of political parties seeking to restore trust, truth and confidence in our politics. This will deflate the “dogwhistle” variant favoured by the populists and fantasists.
A National Conversation
To this end, I propose a nationwide series of town hall type events and a sustained campaign to restore truth and trust to politics. Better Britain events will combine notable speakers and experts with the crucial element of actually listening to the lived experience of those who would normally not get involved in politics via expertly facilitated small group sessions. In doing so, we will tease out a common vision of what would constitute a Better Britain. I’m under no illusions as to just how important it will be for this to be designed properly. I am available to help political parties do the necessary groundwork from my other side of life as a management / organisation and change consultant.
Who will do this?
I favour a coalition of progressive parties, such as the Lib Dems and Greens to engage communities. However, it it is clearly Labour and The Conservatives who have the most skin in the game to deal with people who believe that Reform UK is the only answer to our problems in Britain. We offer the idea to anyone who wishes to put an end to the populist rot that is infesting our nation.
Reboot Britain
If people wish to support a pilot scale event, to show the political parties what it looks like, I am happy to mount such an event with funding. Please go to Support Us, if you would like to see a better Britain.
Nigel F wants to get rid of the NHS and install “Two Tier Health”. He’s entitled to have that view in a democracy, but lets just think a while on what private healthcare means for most of us. There is already a way to see the future of a privatised NHS via the US model of healthcare. Just look at what you will likely be paying for critical operations and care:
This is not a joke. In the US if you cannot pay, you don’t get treatment. Be careful what you wish for …
Wendy Novak is an expert on this subject. Read her extract from the book Reboot Britain on Brexit and Healthcare. It was recently reported that Brexit has led to 1500 unnecessary deaths every year due to the exodus of European health professionals. Nigel did not put that on a bus! Perhaps that’s why he tells people not to listen to experts … Watch our mini film featuring several examples of people who rely on critical care. I’m glad to say that all are still alive as I write this.
Brexit kills … 1500 people a year … unnecessarily … let that sink in.Brexit is bad for your health …
Saving lives
But I’m an optimist, so I have a few suggestions on how to save lives for others through the unselfish acts of leave voters …
Just say no … to treatment
Do it yourself
Reforming Reform
If we want to deal with the causes of the Reform UK vote, deep therapeutic interventions into the minds and souls of the great unwashed are needed. I wrote a book to teach people how to do it based on 1000s of hours of deliberate practice. Please read the book of Brexorcism and attend our next meeting on Monday 12 May at 8 pm via ZOOM. I am also going to offer a six month professional development programme in the art and practice of what I call “Brexorcism” to give you the skills, strategies and stories to change mindsets if there is sufficient interest. Write to me for details via reboot@brexitrage.com.
I have also written to my Labour MP on the subject of mass Brexorcisms … and potholes … write your Labour MP a letter about Brexit and send a copy of Rejoin EU: Reboot Britain to them. See my letter below:
Dear Naushabah,
Firstly, may I congratulate you on the noticeable improvements to the roads after 14 years of Tory managed decline. As a cyclist, I am much closer to the asphalt than most road users and have fallen off my bicycle several times due to potholes in recent times. Although no physical damage has been done, I’ve had to replace a wheel due to the disgraceful neglect of the roads by the Tories. As a principle, I refuse to use my car on environmental grounds, preferring public transport and my bicycle and this gives me much better contact with the road (not literally for the most part).
I spoke with Cllr Vince Maple yesterday and pointed out that much of our “populist pothole problems” come from shoddy piecemeal repairs from dodgy contractors rather than complete resurfacing projects. To use a dental analogy, quite a few of these ‘drill and fill’ operations have now opened up on my street which will cost more money to fix. I’m pleased to see that your approach in Gillingham and Rainham (and in other parts of the Medway Towns) has been for wholesale renewal and hope these contracts are being closely managed.
I’m pretty sure that you have audited the area, as I see white lines around some of the most offending holes, but if I could add my two penneth of comment in, the bottom half of Barnsole Road has some very dangerous ruts and the middle of Canterbury St is very bad for bicycles. Please pass on the word to Tristan from bus drivers that the Brook in Chatham is extremely hazardous.
At the same time, I’m disappointed to see that many of the double red lines and now turning back to yellow. IMHO, it was shoddy work to just paint over the yellow lines, especially when the contractors were paid £800 000 to do it. Frankly I would have done it for less, to a better standard. Please ask them to make the work good at no cost to the taxpayer. I am currently dealing with a cowboy builder for my neighbours who are without good English language and I take a dim view of shoddy work which is not fit for purpose.
And whilst we are on the subject and at a national level, just stop the ‘drill and fill’ operation with Brexit. It opens the door to Nigel’s army of the “hard of thinking”. As discussed with Vince yesterday, the local election wins for Deform UK were characterised by low turnout and a certain number of people wanting to give Labour a bloody nose for what are, frankly, some terrible decisions, which have generated a great deal of angst for little real return. To strech the dental analogy a bit too far, more drilling and filling and tooth extractions without anaesthesia will not make the pain of Brexit diminish. It is time for some “Brexit root canal surgery” via an application to Rejoin the EU. Trump 2.0 / Putin / Farage etc. makes the burning platform of our relationship with the EU mission critical. Do remember that many of the people who voted for Brexit are now dead. As far as I know, dead people cannot vote in elections …
I am willing to help you design interventions to deal with the root causes of the Reform vote on a national basis via a series of large-scale interventions along the lines of the excellent event you held on climate yesterday in Rochester. I fear that if you don’t deal with Reform’s voter base, this will be a one term Labour party.
To sum up, I am extremely happy with all that you are doing locally. You prove yourself worthy of the job and I understand just how hard it is, given my other life working with senior people from global enterprises. I remain doubtful about some of the national choices being made by Labour, when there are easier picks to make, but I know you understand that. Keep going with the reforms (sic) to Gillingham and Rainham.
p.s. I’ve just published this review on the costs of Nigel’s “Two Tier Health” which gives people some foresight on Reform’s proposals to privatise the NHS. People may find it helpful, including Wes Streeting.
All the best
Peter Cook – Human Dynamics and The Academy of Rock
Trump 2.0 is now already in remission. The markets have faced him down. China have faced him down. Now Canada have voted decisively to stick it to the orange clown. Nearly ALL of Trump’s promises are in tatters. Here are a few whoppers.
Code RED – Trump’s lies debunked
I will end the war on Ukraine on day 1.FAILED. Instead Trump has perpetuated the war on Ukraine. He switched off the intelligence system and threatens to do it again, which will cause untold suffering. He has sided with Putin despite promising to be a mediator. Perhaps he should phone ACAS for a definition of the word mediation. Instead he set up a public humiliation of Zelenskyy live on TV, picking on his dress code rather than anything substantial. Pathetic. Here is our interview with James O’Brien on the subject of child psychology and Trump:
Click to listen to the LBC interview.
I will end the war in Gaza. FAILED. Instead Trump has sided with war criminal Netanyahu and used the distraction of a Disney styled resort in Gaza.
Trump, twinned with Putin.
I will get the price of eggs down. FAILED. Of course the price of eggs had nothing to do with Joe Biden, simply bird flu, and the price of eggs was bound to come down in time. But that’s what populists do, to ascribe the causation of random events to their opponents. Trump was NEVER able to control the price of eggs. Just another piece of egg-aggeration ….
Chicken run. Click to read more on Trump’s lies on food and energy.
I will invade Greenland and Canada. FAILED.
Earworms.
and so it continues. China has stood up to Trump, so has the EU and Canada. Only Starmer and Panama have kowtowed to Trump. Panama is a small country and has little choice whereas Britain could Rejoin the EU. But we are in a Brexit fire sale, desperate to curry favour with everyone. No wonder Reform UK are on the rise. Mass Brexorcisms and Trumpectomomies are part of an answer, but Labour show not signs of standing up to the populists.
Outlook
Trump 2.0 has now passed its Liz Truss moment. DOGE is now in failure and Elon Musk has rebelled against tariffs. Jeff Bezos had a pre-emptive strike on the tariffs as well although he appears to have backed down.
It would now be best if Trump limped on as a lame duck. Vance does not have the brand to continue with the illusions that Trump has spun and Republicans are slowly finding their voices. Meanwhile the Democrats are divided over nomenclature and muscularity, with Bernie Sanders leading the charge and other snowflakes shooting him from the side (See Remainers for the same story). We never learn.
To help things along, find ways to buy European where you can. Let’s ensure that Trump 2.0 hurts America more than the rest of the world. This is Trump’s Brexit moment. In the longer term, we may some realignment of the world’s tectonic plates with China and South East Asia.
Go European
Sign up to our newsletter to connect with our EU movement.
Trump 2.0
Postscript
I welcome the Ukraine / US deal as it provides some promise of US support to help end the war. It remains deplorable that Trump has used the killing of children as a lever for a “deal”.
It is a validation of President Zelenskyy’s leadership and unwillingness to kowtow to Trump in February.
I think he did this, to cover over his many other failures in his first 100 days.
Under the circumstances it provides some hope that the killing and abuse of Ukrainians will stop. But we must also remember that Trump is a pathological liar.
A group of us from all over Europe have just written to Lord Darroch about our white paper on Rejoining the EU after he published a piece in the Observer about Trump and our place in Europe. Here is the letter on Rejoining the EU, which you may adapt for your own purposes for use with Ambassadors, Lords and influencers:
Dear Lord Darroch of Kew KCMG,
We read with great interest your piece in The Observer on Sunday, where you mention the UK’ relationship with the EU. We are Reboot Britain, a network organisation that campaigns for a Better Britain in a Better Europe for a Better World
We write to appraise you of a comprehensive cross-party white paper on the question of rejoining the EU by 60 members of our network. You are right. The government’s painfully slow and minimalist reset towards the UK EU reset is not good enough. It amounts to a slow decline of Britain by 1000 ameliorations.
Public perception is now at the point where a number of polls suggest that 2/3 of British people realise that Brexit was a mistake and that we should rejoin as a priority. Sadly political paralysis accompanies the apparent “will of the people” in this respect. It is unlikely that UK growth will be possible by “ignoring the Brexit elephant in the room”. We are sure that, particularly given the likely governance inclination of President Elect Trump, you will agree the much needed “growth” in the UK economy is impossible outside of Europe. We potentially face a further depression in the Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) growth predictions for the next four years.
We would urge you to read the report and would be very happy if you were to circulate it to interested parties that you know. A two-page Executive Summary is attached also. If at all possible, we would like to meet for an open dialogue without prejudice in Westminster or at a place of your choosing. Would this be possible?
Yours sincerely.
Alan David – MBA, Member of the International Systems Dynamics Society,
Fellow of the Institute for Teaching and Learning 07729 828360
Michael Hindley – Three term MEP, Vice President of the European Parliament’s Trade Committee. Coordinator of the Former MEPs’ Guest Lecturers Programme.
Colonel Terence Knott MC – President, Amicale Europe Pays de Fayence, France
Peter Cook – MBA, MRSC C. Chem, FCIPD, Leader, Reboot Britain 07725 927585
I launch my manifesto out today for my independent candidacy in Gillingham and Rainham. Please download the ‘catifesto’. You may also wish to access the Hustings from last night in Rainham Kent. It was a joyous adult conversation amongst good people, made much better by the absence of the Tory and RefUK parties. As an independent I differ from most of the main parties in many ways, for example :
Brexit – Start the journey to end Brexit NOW
Climate – Accelerate progress towards Net Zero NOW and seize the opportunities provided by the Green Industrial Revolution
Gaza – No parasan – ceasefire and a Good Friday Agreement styled dialogue NOW
Plus many more local policies on NHS, Education, Transport, Housing, Immigration and so on.
We also attended the hustings recently. Find a livestream below:
Click image to view.
ITV news gave air time to Rehman Chishti and ReFUK even though they did not attend !! They also gave no coverage to the elephant in the room aka Brexit – quel surprise !! Nor did they give coverage to other small parties. This kind of political censorship by mainstream media is a deplorable development.
I’ve tweeted ITV about it and sent a formal complaint.
Dear ITV Meridian, why did you give a platform to The Tories and Racist UK parties when they could not even be bothered to turn up the hustings? But you gave no coverage to three candidates who DID turn up?
This list will probably be out of date by the time it is published. Thank you to my musical chum Dr Mike Alexander for sending me this list. Fear of losing one’s seat is a powerful motivator and the Tories have run to the hills to quote Iron Maiden. Order our leaflets to end Tory rule.
Douglas Ross – Moray (announced 14/10/21)
Charles Walker – Broxbourne (announced 2/2/22)
Crispin Blunt – Reigate (announced 1/5/2022)
Mike Penning – Hemel Hempstead (announced 17/5/2022)
Adam Afriyie – Windsor (announced 22/7/2022)
Andrew Percy – Brigg and Goole (announced 8/11/2022)
Chloe Smith – Norwich North (announced 22/11/2022)
William Wragg – Hazel Grove (announced 22/11/2022)
Gary Streeter – South West Devon (announced 25/11/2022)
Today marks the fourth anniversary of Brexit and we’ve nothing to show for it. The last remaining Brexiteers tell me that ‘it’s too soon to say’ – of course that’s rubbish, four years is plenty of time for some formative evaluation across the STEEPLE factors. They also say that people like me have thwarted Brexit … I never realised I had so much power !!… In case of amnesia, we were sold Brexit in 2016 with a brochure that promised ONLY sunny uplands and NO downsides. Neither have materialised. Meanwhile the dead cats are out in force : Vaping, Conscription, Rwanda, Cheese, Hanging … the list goes on in the Daily Excess, the Daily Maul and The Son. Brexit has failed. The only good Brexit is a dead Brexit. We can and must join EU anew as a priority.
Click to read Gina Miller’s piece in the New European today.
The comments below come from Linkedin in response to a post by The Crocodile Club. They are ‘one of a kind’ as the sum up the sheer desperation of the last remaining Brexiteers. They also bear testimony to the poverty of what I call ‘online Brexorcisms’. By definition these people are the extremists and I’m always more interested in the silent majority. Matthew deserves the chance to read what he wrote again. I pity his employer. He has become trapped by the quasi religion of Brexit.
When you lose the argument, attack the crocodile …
When you cannot answer the question, gaslight away from the question …
When you have REALLY lost the argument, just insult the messenger …
These below are some of the reasons why online Brexorcisms are often ineffective taken from my book Reboot Britain. It is a social process, not a social media process. We are fast approaching the point where a super majority believe that Brexit has failed. Once that happens, politicians have to listen or lose their seats. Labour are complicit in the radio silence on the matter, as are the Lib Dems who have copped out by saying that we’ll rejoin ‘at some time in the future. Simply dodging the question.
