As we move ever closer to the 4th of July, we deserve to hear the plans of those parties most likely to form the next government – the detail, and how any 'wish-list' would be costed. Until detail is supplied, then any manifesto promise, or gimmicky card 'pledge' is meaningless, as there is nothing specific against which to hold a newly-elected gov...
By Dr Jonathan S. Swift ISBN: 9-781739-092009 Published By The Bruges Group There cannot be many people who are not aware of the virus classified as Covid-19 by the WHO in March 2020 – indeed some people may have contracted the virus – as did the author of this novel. The pandemic hit the UK in March 2020, and l...
A year ago, I wrote suggesting that many of the current Conservative MPs would rue the day they ditched Boris. The blog was published in October 2022, and identified three key reasons why people had voted Conservative in the 2019 election: (1) Boris's call to 'get Brexit done' – this reflected the national mood when 'leave' won the referendum in 20...
By Dr Jonathan S. Swift On Saturday 14 October, I took my daughter to the Open Day at Manchester University. It is some five years since I have spent any length of time in Manchester, and I was shocked by what had happened to a once-vibrant and beautiful city. The most disturbing part of the whole experience was the seeming acceptance - dare ...
We are now well into May, and it appears that the flood of illegal immigrants across the channel has not abated – if anything, as the weather improves it is likely to increase. The opportunity to control our borders, and to decide who enters the UK and for how long, was a key strand of Brexit, yet nearly seven years after the momentous vote, nothin...
One of the less-endearing qualities of the Conservative and Unionist Party (and I speak as a life-long Conservative voter), is the lemming-like compulsion to immediate change leader if things appear not to be going their way. 'Throwing out the baby with the bathwater' appears to be the inevitable jerk reaction by some MPs, regardless of the value o...
Whether the PM had gatherings/meetings/parties at No 10 and/or Whitehall is merely 'froth' or 'fluff', compared with the events unfolding throughout the country and the world. It is this unbalanced focus on trivia that has increasingly annoyed me, to the extent that I have been motivated to put metaphorical pen to paper, in an attempt to highlight ...
We are scheduled to begin what will hopefully be our last trade talks with the EU; I suspect we can be sure of a bumpy ride featuring the same of old EU tricks of deceit, mendacity, obfuscation, procrastination, threats and attempts to undermine our position through appeals to the Brussels 'Fifth Column' that is apparently still alive and well, and...
I will be celebrating the 'New year' on 31st January 2020, although I cannot help be a little annoyed by the fact that we have to celebrate at 11:00 rather than 12:00 – presumably for the convenience of Brussels! Having said that, it is a very small price to pay for our freedom. This year will be momentous, as not only are we escaping the EU, but w...
Eventually we have a Brexit deal that has been approved by the partisan Parliament, in what is hopefully their last ever appearance on our television screens for some of this current batch of members. As was doubtless their intention, they have left the government, and Boris in particular, with a major problem, and many of those who have deliberate...
I would hazard a guess that the majority of people in the country are by now exceedingly fed up with the Brexit saga, and just want us to leave at the earliest opportunity. This view has even been expressed by 'remainer' friends of mine, most of whom appear to have accepted the outcome of a democratic referendum, even though they disagreed with it....
Make no mistake about it, we are at war, and it is one of the dirtiest wars yet fought, in which the truth has been hijacked by the 'Remainers' and twisted to suit their personal agenda. Look at what has happened over the last three years, and especially over the last three months: those who never wanted to leave have stepped up their campaign of l...
Having one's cake, eating it - demanding more, and eating that, has long been a feature of the EU Brexit negotiating team. A recent example of their hypocrisy is to be found in the wave of faux outrage over Boris Johnson's threat that if he became PM, he would refuse to pay the £39 billion that Brussels is demanding from us. In terms of the race fo...
"Life is very short, and there's no time, for fussing and fighting, my friend." (John Lennon and Paul McCartney – 1965 "We Can Work It Out")We had one deadline - 29th March – for leaving the EU, which was inexplicably lost in the mists of political time. (Political time is like real time, but without reality, adherence to deadlines, or t...
I have become increasingly annoyed over the last year by those people who decry the desirability of leaving the EU on WTO terms – commonly referred to as 'no deal'. As I have pointed out on a number of occasions (Swift, 2018a, 2018b, 2019a, 2019b, 2019c), an exit without an agreement would give us numerous advantages when dealing with the EU, in pa...
So we now know that the leaders of the other EU nations, doubtless pressured by the cabal of Eurocrats, have agreed to an extension of time before we can finally escape from the EU. They have, however, made this extension conditional on MPs accepting the PM's deal. Very clever. As I have consistently pointed out, Brussels does not want us to leave,...
As we grind inexorably to the Brexit finishing line, we should remember what happened just under three years ago, since it is becoming increasingly obvious that many - in particular our MPs - have either very short or very selective memories. In June 2016, there was a nation-wide referendum when the then government asked the people whether they wan...
Whilst I would be the first to concede that everyone (including MPs) has the right to voice their personal opinion, those Members of Parliament who were elected to represent their constituents, must do so regardless of their own opinions when it comes to major issues of national importance such as Brexit. In other words, where an MP represents a co...
Having listened to the ravings of the men from Brussels as they become increasingly afraid of a 'no deal' scenario, it is heartening to hear the latest outburst from a man who is supposed to show responsible leadership to the EU and the rest of Europe. I am outraged (but rather pleased) by the highly inflammatory comments that Donald Tusk made. I a...
A 'scrap of paper' was how the German Chancellor famously dismissed the Treaty of London (19th April, 1839), in which Britain, France, Germany, Austria and Russia all agreed to recognise the existence, neutrality and sovereignty of the newly – formed country of Belgium. "Peace for our time" was what PM Neville Chamberlain promised Britain, after me...
1. Introduction Despite Phillip Lee's last minute betrayal of the government, the House of Lord's amendment to the EU Withdrawal Bill was defeated by twenty-six votes on 12th June. Whilst there is doubtless some celebrating, Mrs May is still not out of danger – in fact, the dissention amongst a number of Conservatives would appear to be growing. Th...
