Category Archives: Extreme right

Opinion – Dan O’Brien: ‘Britain is leaving Europe. And it is not coming back’ – Op.ed. Irish Independent

September 2, 2019 By in Boris Johnson, Defense Policy, Democracy, Extreme right, Foreign Policy, Immigration, Politics 1 Comment

As a contrast to the increasingly jingoistic British Right-Wing media, it’s interesting to reflect on the following op.ed. article published in the Irish Independent. The author, Dan O’Brian is Chief Economist at the Institute of International and European Affairs, a columnist with Independent newspapers and senior fellow at University College Dublin.

Dan O’Brien: ‘Britain is leaving Europe. And it is not coming back’

Not being a historian, I am unable to challenge the factual representation in the article but it is well researched and argued. It’s powerful and well written, providing snippets of key events in British history going back to the Hundred Year War and tries to distill a common theme.  Of course historians would perhaps take exception based on a different world-views or question the methodology. Notwithstanding these caveats, I was very surprised by the strength of the conclusion – it really is relevant and probably generalizable. Read it for yourself and share your own opinions. A friend in Dublin brought the article to my attention and I thank him.

At the moment, the British media is in a frenzy and pumping out highly biassed viewpoints, with newspaper owners and editors looking to be on the winning side.

Yesterday, I critiqued an excellent article from the editor of the Spectator: Opinion – Battle begins – the Spectator – Fraser Nelson

My personal conclusion remains gloomy. History reminds us that when the jingoism subsides, there is often much blood and tears before victory or defeat.

Opinion?

Opinion – Battle begins – the Spectator – Fraser Nelson

September 1, 2019 By in Boris Johnson, Brexit, David Cameron, Extreme right, Far Right, Fiscal Policy, Healthcare, Immigration, People, Politics, Public Services Reform, Shared Services, Theresa May, Transformation Risk, Uncategorized Leave a comment

Here’s a highly recommended article by Fraser Nelson, the Editor of the Spectator.

Boris Johnson is praised for being a decisive leader but the article looks at the political context, focusing on botched decisions by the Home Office, which are once again blamed on the systems with EU applicants for permanent UK residency told by the Home Office that they pressed the wrong keys.

I am a UK national, living in Cyprus, having recently received permanent residency in Cyprus. Because of demand, it took me a about four months to get and interview at Immigration – I used an agent at a cost of EUR200. The requirements were well documented. It’s important to have the right documents available. The interview at the Immigration Department, with my agent, took a few minutes and my certificate of permanent residency came through as promised several months later.

The UK Home Office has a long history of complaints and poor service to the public. If you open the link you will see an article which describes how the Home Office has profited financially by outsourcing decisions whilst complaints have escalated. Whether it’s outsourcing or systems failures, the Home Office never seems to blame the Minister for interventions and reversals. Of course, many question Preti Patel’s credentials as Home Office Minister. For sure the Home Office is heading for further scandals. Fraser Nelson questions whether the omnishambles will be on the scale of the Windrush scandal.

Rather than focus on the major battle lines, strategy and tactics, precipitated Boris Johnson, Fraser Nelson deep dives into the context – for me the analogy is whether there will be shovels to dig trenches. He tries but fails to paint Boris Johnson as a ‘One Nation Tory’. I remember well both David Cameron and Theresa May coming to power with one nation credentials – they failed to deliver, impaling themselves on Brexit.

In my judgement, Fraser Nelson is one of the shrewdest political commentators of his generation. This article gives us a subjective insight into the Government’s readiness for Brexit. For me, the natural tendency is to speculate on other high risk areas. I have seen central UK government’s risk management first hand and am deeply fearful for Brexit. Meanwhile, the stakes have never been higher for MPs to be accountable.

The article is entitled ‘Battle Begins’. History reminds us that when the jingoism subsides, there is often much blood and tears before victory or defeat.

Thoughts?