Tag: Brexit
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They Don’t Half Pick Them
Grim news from the Lebanon where Beirut has been left looking like, well, Beirut. Domestically, commentators on all sides were shaken by the proclamations of Sir Iain Duncan Smith who has concluded that the EU Withdrawal Agreement – that he voted for – is in fact a juicy steamer. Even a nine-month old baby would…
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Meddle Ceremony
I am a fan of etymology and the origins of words, but I have always known that they might sometimes be susceptible to the incorporation of urban legends. This false etymology, as linguists term it, sometimes takes the form of outwardly reasonable explanations that are essentially flawed or backronyms (acronyms that are contrived to provide…
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Plane Daft
A banner reading ‘White Lives Matter Burnley!’ was towed by an aeroplane over the Etihad Stadium during Burnley’s game against Manchester City. The plane circled over the stadium five times just after kick-off after players and staff had ‘taken the knee‘ in support of the Black Lives Matter movement moments earlier. Predictably, the reaction to…
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One Hundred and Eight…Eh?
There is something afoot with the number 108. The Government’s preparations for a no-deal Brexit and a contract awarded to Seaborne Freight at Dover? Worth £108m. The coronavirus contact-tracing contract awarded to Serco? Valued at £108m. The PPE contract awarded to Pestfix? Yup, £108m. Somebody even made an Freedom of Information request to the Department…
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Scum Off It
There’s a lot of anger about at the moment. ‘Dominic Cummings has undermined the Government’s key messaging, and people will die’. That’s the gist of the populist line, and yes, the sublime irony is noted. How about an alternative perspective: ‘The Government has ballsed up their strategy, policy, and messaging for the coronavirus response’. I…
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Phone a Friend
Another day, another distraction. This time, the Prime Minister’s principal adviser, Dominic Cummings, has been outed for allegedly breaching lockdown rules 10 weeks ago. He denies that, and no action had been taken at the time. Meanwhile, the eloquence of lawyers who had been falling over themselves on social media to create ‘reasonable excuses’ for…
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Tweet to Woe
Out in the wide, beloved cybersphere, there seems to be just a slither of controversy about celebrities buying in fake social media followers. Ooh, the abject shame of it. It’s ruffled a few feather boas, I can tell you, and several fame hoggers have been on the receiving end of allegations that they’ve bought millions…
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The Red Flag
We learned today that the economy has shrunk by 2%. The Chancellor observed that the damage had been done in just a few days of bug chasing, but HMG Titanic has only just glimpsed the iceberg from the bridge. We shouldn’t get too hung up on percentages and the technical definitions of economists. What’s important…
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Enough Rope
After a fluffy savaging from Ireland’s Taoiseach Leo Varadkar this week, the EU has spluttered into action (of sorts). Yes, dear Leo is still clinging to power, courtesy of COVID-19 and a level of incompetence in Irish politics that makes the new UK Labour Shadow Cabinet seem like a brains trust. Deliciously ironic when you…
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Man Over-Bored
As I’ve mentioned already, it won’t be the virus that kills you. It will be the circus that has gone woomph around us. And there is no shortage of clowns. We do nevertheless appear to be favouring collapsing economies over collapsing cars. It’s boring me rigid now. All those asshats posting messages on LinkedIn or…
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