Farage: the unpopular populist

The Parliamentary Standards Commissioner is investigating the secret £5 million ‘gift’ that Nigel Farage received from the Thai-based crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne, and in particular, whether or not it should have been declared at the time. Farage has insisted he took legal advice and, because the money was given before he became an MP in July 2024, says he didn’t need to declare it, although the rules clearly suggest otherwise.  Bear in mind that Farage declared £445 for a ticket to the Television and Radio Industries Club awards, £475 for a ticket to the British Journalism Awards and £9,253.60 for travel expenses to Belgium for a speaking engagement, all before he became an MP. Why disclose a paltry £10,000 but decide £5 million could remain secret? It makes no sense.

Brexit ten years on

It was quite predictable that the tenth anniversary would be the perfect opportunity to review Brexit, and I’ve lost count of the number of articles appearing on various aspects of the decision, none of them complementary. It is also notable that not one of the Vote Leave protagonists felt able to publish a valedictory piece. It was left to the idiot BoJo, writing in the Daily Mail, to claim that any politician advocating rejoining would be out of their tiny mind. He is an irrelevance, destined to wander around the edges of political society defending his own reckless stupidity until he finally expires.

Brexit: the saga continues

For the tenth anniversary of Brexit, the BBC has broadcast a two-part series with people at the centre of it all reminiscing about events leading up to and following the 2016 referendum. It's title is: Brexit: A Very British Civil War, and its described as: "The inside story of a vote that divided a nation. Unravelling the rivalries, betrayals and conflicts that tore apart the campaigns, told by those at the heart of Leave and Remain."  I confess I haven’t bothered to watch it all, but I have seen a few clips and social media comments. As far as I can see, nobody who was deeply - or even peripherally - involved is crowing about it and proclaiming that it has been a great success, something we should have done years before. 

Brexit, the lost decade

As we approach the tenth anniversary of Brexit, look out for plenty of articles to mark the date. This one in The Guardian by Jonathan Friedland is a good start. Another, on Substack by a Finnish journalist, Mika Horelli, in Brussels is even better and also well worth a read. Both men focus on the lies that delivered Brexit and have cost this country dear for the last decade.  On the topic of political lies, I watched Question Time last week, which covered the Makerfield by-election. An audience member said voters wanted honesty. I nearly burst out laughing. This is the very last thing they want. They got honesty in 2016 but rejected it in favour of the comforting lies peddled by the leave campaign.

The Brexit 'Horror Stories' are true

In a few weeks, we will be celebrating (if that's the right word) the tenth anniversary of the 2016 EU Referendum. It is no exaggeration to say that Brexit has, without question, been an abject failure. This isn't to say everyone agrees the project has failed, but nearly two-thirds of the population consistently say that it was a mistake. As always, there are a few diehard supporters who are trying to convince themselves and others not that Brexit has been a success, but given more time, they will somehow be vindicated when its finally 'done properly' - code for not all the ways tried so far. 

Reform's tide is on the way out

I genuinely believe we have now passed Reform UK’s high-water mark. Usually, you can’t keep Farage off the airwaves, but he has seemingly gone to ground during the high-profile by-election in Makerfield, which Reform needs to win to maintain a sense of forward momentum. The reasons for the deafening silence are obvious. The self-declared man-of-the-people is having difficulty in explaining an undeclared £5 million ‘gift’ from a cryptocurrency billionaire, a £10,000 County Court Judgement against him, and it now seems he will be investigated for contempt of court over comments he made after the two juries in a case involving two Muslims fighting with police in Manchester Airport failed to reach a verdict.  A man less fitted to be prime minister would be hard to find.

Britain can never lead in Europe

There were some exasperated raised eyebrows among the pro-EU cognoscenti last week when the LibDem spokesman on defence, James MacCleary, during an opposition debate on defence readiness (column 574) made an amazing statement that, “This is not about choosing between Britain and Europe; it is about recognising the obvious truth that Britain is safer when Europe is stronger, and Europe is stronger when Britain leads.” It’s not entirely clear to me what he meant. The most charitable explanation is that he was talking militarily, although even that is probably seen in Berlin and Paris as an exaggeration, bordering on hubris.

Time for Starmer to go

It was quite a week for Sir Kier Starmer. On Monday, following disastrous local election results, he delivered a speech which almost certainly ended his premiership. I had a lot of respect, hope and some sympathy for the PM. He is a decent man doing his best in a difficult job, but I’m sorry to say that he is probably the most frustrating person ever to occupy No 10 Downing Street in my lifetime. He's absolutely tin-eared, and he makes Theresa May look decisive, even reckless. So, I am a recent and enthusiastic addition to the Starmer-must-go camp.

Reform and the theory of stupidity

It seems certain now, after last week’s local election results, that we are destined to follow America down the same destructive path as Trump’s MAGA movement. A significant portion of the UK electorate are clearly impervious to reason, logic, truth or facts. Reform UK Ltd, led by Nigel Farage, has become a cult made up of the terminally stupid. Following revelations that he secretly took £5 million from the British-born, Thai-based, cryptocurrency billionaire Christopher Harborne, in 2024, just before he changed his mind about standing as an MP, people across the country went out and voted for his party in droves.

Charles III and the ultimate irony

It is surely the ultimate irony, as we approach the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, that it has taken a speech to Congress by the King of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to show how, in the last decade, the United States has twice elected a despot with far more power over them than George III ever had. King Charle's speech was a masterclass in quiet diplomacy and a much-needed reminder of the fundamentals of democracy. Republicans applauded and seemed totally oblivious to what amounted to a criticism of the Trump administration over the separation of powers and executive overreach. Reading the grievances that sparked the violent overthrow of British rule in the 1775-1783 Revolutionary War is quite revealing. 

Rejoin is becoming the mainstream position

It seems to me that there is a steady increase in the number of articles in the mainstream media about the prospect of Britain rejoining the EU. Both the Daily Express and the Daily Mail have run polls in recent days, presumably to reassure themselves that their readership is still blindly following the proprietor’s Brexit line. They may have been surprised by the results, which showed a huge majority in favour of reversing Brexit, 86% in the case of the Mail. The polls are, of course, meaningless since remainers get wind of it over social media and simply pile in tp spoil the party. I may be fooling myself, but I think perhaps in the past that wouldn't have happened to the same extent without some mad Brexiteer pushback.

The case for rejoining grows stronger

There is a lot of unsavoury pearl clutching going on amid calls for Starmer’s resignation over the vetting of Peter Mandelson’s suitability for appointment as Britain’s ambassador to the USA. It's all getting completely out of hand. I don’t know if a reasonable person could accuse him of misleading the House of Commons if he himself had been misled by the permanent secretary at the Foreign Office, Ollie Robbins. Statmer is due to make a statement to MPs tomorrow, and I assume we will get closer to the truth then. I should say that Robbins doesn’t believe he did anything wrong. I don’t have any particular reason to support the PM, he’s far too timid on Europe for me, but neither do I think he would have deliberately misled parliament. 

Donald Trump: "He's an idiot."

Being president of the USA is the most important job in the world, bar none. No other position of power compares in terms of the consequences for everyone and everything on planet Earth. The occupant can have a profound effect on our security, health, environment, living standards and even the progress of humanity. The Iran war is the most current example of that. Thousands have already died, or been badly injured. Infrastructure is being destroyed daily, people in the region are suffering displacement and terror, economies across the globe are grinding to a halt, oil supplies are struggling, and the price has doubled in the past five weeks.

Trump's ultimate contradiction

Trump is a walking mass of contradictions. You can find any number of examples on social media where he has in the past said and done the opposite of whatever he happens to be doing today. I have no idea why anyone still takes him seriously, or tries to parse his rambling narrative for signs of meaning. It is fruitless work. The only certainty is that he will shortly argue the reverse and accuse those who draw attention to his incoherence of peddling ‘fake news’ - a phrase he claims to have personally coined. These inconsistencies occur on a daily, even hourly basis, but after a decade or more, they have become accepted and even normalised. They are his signature philosophy.

Trump: When a madman rules the world

My mother-in-law spent her last couple of years in a care home specialising in mild dementia cases, and it wasn't unusual when we visited to find ourselves in slightly bizarre conversations with other patients in the public areas. I swear they were more lucid than yesterday's press conference-cum-cabinet meeting at the White House, which increasingly has the appearance of a secure institution for one man, while those around him humour his wild, off-the-wall ramblings. The terrifying thing is that the man happens to be Donald Trump, the President of the USA and the head of the most powerful military force in history. 

Starmer: the pressure builds

The irresistible pro-EU forces gathered against Kier Starmer and his Brexit red lines continue to grow, like water rising dangerously behind a structurally faulty dam. It is clearly only a matter of time before he is forced to make serious concessions, erase the red lines and fully commit to rejoining the EU. This week, the Spanish PM said societies can "review their mistakes" and admit the chosen path was the wrong one. He was followed by a declaration from the French foreign minister that Britain would be greeted with “open arms” if it decided to return to the single market. These are important indicators.

Trump's Iran escapade is already out of control

Donald Trump's personal war in the Middle East, barely two weeks in, has rapidly spiralled out of control.  Within days of being launched, he had declared it "already won" and mocked Kier Starmer, who he claimed was contemplating sending both Britain's aircraft carriers into the region, saying: That's OK, Prime Minister Starmer, we don't need them any longer - But we will remember. We don't need people that join Wars after we've already won!"  The president was specifically warned that Iran would likely seek to close the Straits of Hormuz before he made the decision to begin air strikes, but dismissed the idea, believing they would 'capitulate' within days.

Brexit. Still deceiving ourselves

The recent report by the Foreign Affairs Select Committee to assess the government’s progress against its own objectives for their UK-EU “reset” is revealing. The 2018 comment from Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel about Britain, that “they were in with loads of opt-outs, now they are out and want a load of opt-ins”, was never truer. Cameron in 2015 was trying to negotiate more opt-outs but in the end didn't satisfy the Eurosceptics in his party, or in the country. Since then, we have had Brexit, followed by five years of struggling to negotiate opt-ins with some limited success. The reset is simply the latest iteration.

Iran: Trump lights the blue touch paper

Among the more ludicrous reactions to Donald Trump’s war on the Iranian regime (and it is his own personal war) was the sight of Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations condemning America and Israel for Saturday’s brutal assault on cities and installations across Iran. This was at an emergency meeting of the Security Council, which only exposed what a pathetic body Trump has reduced it to. Prattling on about peace and security and passing resolutions that nobody sticks to. It’s a total waste of time. Israel claimed that the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had been killed by a missile launched into his compound, which the Iranians first denied before it was finally confirmed by state TV.

Gorton and Denton: Everyone's a loser

The Green Party took the Gorton and Denton by-election, with Labour being pushed down into third by Reform. It was a contest without any winners, and the best thing to celebrate was Matt Goodwin failing to get elected as an MP. At least there is one less divisive voice in the House of Commons. The one person who might raise a quiet glass this morning is Andy Burnham, who will be able to claim he could have won the seat for Labour. If anything, the result strengthens his quest to replace Starmer as party leader. In the end, the pollsters were wrong. It wasn't the tight result they had been forecasting. The Greens won by over 4,000 votes. Reform's support in the constituency was well overstated.