Tel. +44 (0)20 7287 4414
Email. info@brugesgroup.com
Tel. +44 (0)20 7287 4414
Email. info@brugesgroup.com
The Bruges Group spearheaded the intellectual battle to win a vote to leave the European Union and, above all, against the emergence of a centralised EU state.
The Bruges Group spearheaded the intellectual battle to win a vote to leave the European Union and, above all, against the emergence of a centralised EU state.
Image
Image
Image
Image

Bruges Group Blog

Spearheading the intellectual battle against the EU. And for new thinking in international affairs.

Michael Wood dropped out of art school and worked in agriculture until accepted for business training by a leading Japanese trading house. Working for major Japanese, Dutch and German firms he was involved in International trade from the mid sixties to his retirement in 2010. His career focus was mainly on agricultural products and he developed...

Michael Wood dropped out of art school and worked in agriculture until accepted for business training by a leading Japanese trading house. Working for major Japanese, Dutch and German firms he was involved in International trade from the mid sixties to his retirement in 2010. His career focus was mainly on agricultural products and he developed extensive knowledge of shipping and storage of perishables. He travelled widely and has lived and worked in Nigeria, Ukraine, Central Asia as well as the EU (Belgium, Germany and Luxembourg). He became involved in information technology in the late 90s and was engaged by LM Ericsson to advise on a mobile telephone business model applicable to sparsely populated developing countries in Central Asia.

Prior to retirement he was CFO and GM of a London based manufacturing, warehousing and property company. The manufacturing division sourced raw materials and parts from Italy, UK, China, Taiwan and India.

After retirement he has concentrated on writing and illustrating children’s books as Evelyn Wood (his middle name). He lives in Kent with his wife, a lawyer, and writes on a variety of subjects including disability issues.

More
sheep-983137_128_20241127-112058_1 Fourteen Years BaaaBaaaBaaa

Fourteen Years

Pantomime has come early, every day we are treated to Labour MPs, advisors and commentators shrieking 'Fourteen Years'. Like a demented Animal Farm chorus line the phrase is repeated to answer everything from cigarettes to army numbers. Seemingly, the only talent required to become a senior minister in our new government is an adenoidal vowel destr...

  152 Hits
liberty-1988107_1280 An Unlikely Saviour?

Common Sense?

Arguably the history of Britain, indeed the world has been damaged by 'religious fervour'. Experts and those claiming an elite right to rule have, through the ages, clung to beliefs that damaged society. When Robert Peel split the Tory party on free trade and led many, including Gladstone into opposition he espoused a sensible solution to the probl...

  403 Hits
alarm-3410065_1280 The only wat to get help?

Burn the Alarm

In the summer we had relatives visiting from Kyrgyzstan They wanted to see England, but also the Continent. We took them to Germany and Belgium. In Germany we stayed in a four star hotel I had enjoyed when I lived there. It's old and has a wonderful kitchen. It did not have a phone in the room. "Everyone uses mobiles these days", I was told. Even i...

  419 Hits
ai-generated-8983837_128_20241008-110641_1 Work of the Future!

160% Tax?

A lasting regret of my time travelling in the ex Soviet Union is not having bought a postcard. In my mind I can still see the object of my regret. It was titled 'Sofia by Night'. The photo was of the main square in Sofia, Bulgaria. Brightly lit at night. No traffic, no people, not a dog, cat or owl, just an empty square. I never enjoyed my business...

  467 Hits
spider-1530143_1280 Is it Terminal?

The Webb’s Web

On 4th of January 1884 a group of middle class socialists met to found the Fabian Society. They named their society after the Roman general Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus who defeated the Carthaginians by avoiding battle. Instead, he wore his enemy down with guerrilla tactics. Their first motif summed it up. A Tortoise and a Wolf in Sheep's...

  1739 Hits
communism-157634_1280 Do we want this future?

SCUM !

When Angela Raynor, deputy Prime Minister, called Conservative voters Scum she was using a Socialist tactic. So too was David Lammy, now Foreign Secretary, when he described Conservative MP members of the ERG (a group that supports Brexit and Democracy) Nazis. When challenged he said the label was "not strong enough". Socialism has always been nurt...

  823 Hits
Flag-Collage Toward the Dictatorship of the Proletariat

Thugs?

During the reign of Tony Blair a slow fuse was lit under the values the vast majority of British people value as normal. Simply, democracy and fair play were the norm. Immigrants who happily integrated were welcome. Of course there were roughs who hate everybody, but by and large Britain was a success. Compared to most other countries with diverse ...

  1341 Hits
laundry Off to the Laundry!

Why the UAE is Becoming a Liability

The United Arab Emirates is causing increasing concern in democratic capitals. Russia's invasion of Ukraine prompted western nations to impose sanctions on them. The purpose was to constrain Russia's ability to wage an illegal war through economic sanctions. Although a bullies appetite is never sated this has not deterred the UAE and to a lesser ex...

  780 Hits
surrender-4296604_1280 They Did Not Even Try

SURRENDER

We have just witnessed a six week long surrender culminating in a humiliating defeat that the vanquished have greeted with joy. The glad handing between Starmer and Sunak might lead people to imagine that England's footballers had triumphed, not that Sunak had failed. After the Conservative triumph in 2019, it quickly became obvious that the so cal...

  883 Hits
businesswoman-617134_128_20240629-171625_1 We are all Waiting

Keynesian Inspired Nightmare

Some years ago, at a Cambridge University event, I talked to a young lady PhD student. She explained that she was hoping for a career in HMRC or the Treasury. To boost her opportunity she was preparing her thesis on the subject 'Flat tax inefficiency and economic damage'. It was a social event and I did not engage her starry eyed subservience to or...

  879 Hits
middle-finger-149667_128_20240618-072533_1 A Message from your Rulers

Where is the Centre?

Ask a child to tell you where their centre is and they'll point at their belly button. It's obvious. It's in the middle. Politicians of the legacy parties bleat incessantly about the 'Centre'. Apparently, no one ever won an election to anything unless they were precariously perched on a fence. Where has that got us? In reality the 'Centre' is the e...

  957 Hits
ai-generated-8411998_128_20240528-153032_1 Five Minutes to Midnight

Success that Can Not Speak. Success Denied.

Words can define eras. Harold Wilson's government was full of people who, like their union paymasters, 'Acquiesced' so they could keep their jobs. Today, all of a sudden, all sorts of politicians, journalists and business people have discovered their contemporaries are guilty of egregious behaviour (not themselves of course). Are they all guilty of...

  983 Hits
to-learn-2387228_128_20240419-134452_1 Simple Arithmetic

Simple Arithmetic

According to the experts, Kier Starmer will be Prime Minister by March next year at the latest. On one level it makes little difference. The Conservative Party is indistinguishable from the Liberal Democrats, they are indistinguishable from Labour. Starmer pretends that Labour has moved right, to the centre ground. The reality is that while Cameron...

  1275 Hits
ghost-ship-8306430_1280 Democracy Heading for the Rocks

Democracy on the Rocks?

The Tory party having abandoned Conservatism is now drifting like a metaphorical Marie Celeste. From the Heroic 80 seats to a potential near zero. An updated story of "From Hero to Zero". Rishi Sunak having usurped the leadership plays Captain Ahab uninterested in the calamity he has unleashed. The plan is working he cries while the Tempest rages. ...

  1564 Hits
lenin-155794_1280 Socialist Nightmare!

It's the Hard Left, Stupid.

 Friday March 1st Rishi Sunak stood at a podium outside ten Downing Street. Like a trainee teacher lacking any form of sanction, he confronted a rebellious class. He did not quite say, "You are all very naughty", but it wasn't far-off. Lots of words, a threat to back the Police if they ever get off their knees. He had harsh words for two group...

  1392 Hits
niqab Is this our future?

Another Glorious Revolution, or a Caliphate?

We are in trouble. It started when Ted Heath told lies about the Common Market and its true intention. Since then, a certain type of self-serving politician has lied about everything from expenses to democracy. According to Nick Robinson, Lindsay Hoyle can be forgiven for caving into Starmer because, "he's only human and wants to keep his job". The...

  1526 Hits
rescue-phone-98582_128_20240207-105546_1 Forget Emergency Contacts

Digital Persecution

We live in a small village in Kent. Our 'Medical Centre' in the next large village has gone digital. Repeat prescriptions are only accepted if one uses the NHS Ap. It has a box where you can write a message. Oddly it has a notice stating "You can add a note about your prescription here. Your note may not be seen or replied to, so if you have an imp...

  1336 Hits
Green-in-Tooth--Cla_20240126-174804_1 The Global Agenda

Green in Tooth and Claw

By  Niall McCrae  Green in Tooth and Claw is not so much about climate change, but the elite forces that use fear and ignorance to push their agenda. Niall McCrae's fact filled book is a must read for all who value freedom and honesty. A variety of self appointed 'elites' belong to organisations that have been manipulating democracies to ...

  1677 Hits
tin-2535070_1280 The Government is Constipated

Cameron is Not the Tories Suppository

The conservative party is constipated. Bringing back Cameron makes it worse, not better. The One Nation group of MPs led by Damien Green are Europhile. Despite the failing performance of the EU's major economies they still worship the 'project'. It's hard not to believe that their shenanigans are not deliberate sabotage. They have no hope of rejoin...

  1180 Hits
pressure-3026568_128_20231114-115315_1 Contempt for the people

The Blob Triumphant

I have no idea whether Rishi Sunak worships Kali among his pantheon of Hindu Gods. His betrayal of Johnson and coup against Truss and the membership of the Conservative party certainly bear they hallmarks of the Thuggee sect that worshipped her. The word 'Thug' comes from the Hindu word 'Thag' which means 'swindler' or 'deceiver'. Certainly it seem...

  1345 Hits
businessman-2798560_1280 Five Minutes to Midnight

A Moment so Brief it Never Happened

Women seem to provide us with consistently better common sense leadership than men. Leadership that reflects the values of the majority rather than a self-indulgent minority. Elizabeth 1, Queen Anne, Victoria, Margaret Thatcher all reflected the hopes and wishes of the people. All were proud of their country and their pride was matched by the ...

  1380 Hits
celebrating-1297377_1920 Thanks for the € Subsidy!

Danegeld and Cult Crash

The chief executive of Deutsche Bank Christian Sewing told a meeting in Frankfurt "We are not the sick man of Europe. But, it is also true that there are structural weaknesses that hold back our economy and prevent it from developing its great potential. And we will become the sick man of Europe if we do not address these structural issues now." Ac...

  1457 Hits
thumb-440352_1920-1 84 Wasted Years

Were all our tomorrows yesterday?

'Thirteen Wasted Years' is the war cry of Starmer's Labour party. To those who remember, it simply demonstrates that they have not got a new idea - on anything. The slogan was used by Wilson for the 1964 General Election. I suggest that the truth is that, apart from Thatcher, we have had 84 wasted years, well 79 if one deducts WW2. Neville Chamberl...

  1333 Hits
robot-153635_1280 Artificial Idiocy

Artificial Idiocy and Productivity Damage

Last Saturday we went to the theatre in Windsor. The car park no longer has a machine that takes cash. It does have two parking aps. The first was out of order, or at least it could not be downloaded. The second was one my wife has. Her credit card is registered with them, but she could not pay. She phoned them. A human sorted the problem, confirme...

  1292 Hits
RO-Book World War II The First Culture War

World War II The First Culture War

Robert Oulds new book, 'World War II The First Culture War', is a remarkable literary accomplishment. This is history of a different sort. It looks in detail at nations, cultures and people and examines the reasons for events. Rather than a catalogue, with endless references, of events, it examines the reason for the event(s). When the events thems...

  1715 Hits
person-41402_1920 Panic

Predictable Panic and Populism

The by-election results have had a predictable effect on MPs of the two main parties. The real story is that because there is not a Conservative party to vote for, Tories stayed at home. With the exception of a minority of democrats still fighting to implement Brexit, the conservative party is now Labour-lite. The real Labour party in full throated...

  1424 Hits
Noose Strangled to Death

Inquisition Resurgent

As Cayetano Ripoll slowly choked to death on the Spanish scaffold, he would have been unaware that he was the last to suffer that fate at the hands of the Inquisition. They had demanded he be burned at the stake. As a compromise he was hanged, a slow death compared with the recently mandated garrote. Ripoll's crime was to have taught Deism, that th...

  1236 Hits
crying EU Loser Tantrum

The Seven Year Tantrum

Two weeks ago I wrote an article about the show trial of Boris Johnson. It attracted attention and comment on twitter. I have never looked at comments on the Bruges Twitter feed and it was a revelation. The level of spite and childish name calling was staggering. Since the removal of Boris the antics of EU acolytes and their rejoiner friends has be...

  1335 Hits
Boot Treading on Justice

An Attack on Law and Democracy

The hatred of Brexit is so great that it seems its opponents are happy to destroy not just the rule of law, but democracy itself in their quest for vengeance. Those who deny this, should read the Guardian newspaper Opinion piece 13th June 2023 Titled "Brexit was Johnson and Johnson was Brexit. Now that he has gone, Britain must think again" Its sub...

  2485 Hits
propaganda-3543257_1920 Ignore Facts

Answer the Question

Seven years after the Brexit referendum and three years since we actually left the EU project fear has intensified. Those who could never, and still cannot, explain why they want to be ruled by an unelected and democratically unaccountable president and 27 person commission, daily attack democracy. According to Osborne, Soros, Labour, Lib Dems, SNP...

  1382 Hits
face-4908263_1280 See Behind the Mask

The Conservative Party is Mr. Hyde

The Conservative party is in trouble. The problem is that most of its supporters and a few of its MPs don't understand its ethos. During most of the last century, fear of a rabid socialist party (Atlee's 1945 party was really communist) has conspired to keep the wool pulled over most voter's eyes. If Brexit had never happened this situation may hav...

  1429 Hits
DS Civil Service Replace Elected Government

An Anonymous Tyranny

Adam Tolley's report on the behaviour of Dominic Raab is flawed. The accusations were plainly coordinated between departments and were 'afterthought' accusations that would have been dismissed by an employment tribunal. Of the accusers "Only some of those individuals had any direct experience of the DPM (Deputy Prime Minister - Raab); some had neve...

  1491 Hits
rejected-5250678_1920__20230330-144103_1 The Blob Rejects Democracy

The EU Lobby’s Repudiation of UK Independence

The repudiation of the sovereignty of the UK's people by a pro EU elite has always been a puzzle. It is a puzzle because not one of them was able to explain their reason. In the absence of a cogent argument, independence opponents resorted to 'Project Fear' during the referendum campaign on leaving the EU. Blood curdling threats were rolled out exp...

  1342 Hits
The-assassination-of-Julius-Caesar Democracy in Danger

Where Have All the Tories Gone?

Politicians should have a vision. George H. W. Bush's perceived lack of one probably cost him a second term. Atlee's vision of a British Socialist Commonwealth condemned the UK to a painful exodus from the privation of WW2. Its legacy hampered our development. The Reagan - Thatcher vision was a time of hope, a vision of a renewal for the world demo...

  1562 Hits
New-Horizon The World is more important than the end piece of Eurasia.

A True, Tried and Tested Horizon

Whatever the choreography we have a clog dance not a ballet. Sunak's 'deal' is yet another fudge. Involving the King in politics and the manipulation, copied from the EU, demonstrate a cynical disregard for probity. The Northern Ireland Protocol is a travesty. No Independent nation can agree to be ruled by a political court (The ECJ) whose sole rem...

  1587 Hits
tact-3036245_1920 Wake Up to the Woke Threat.

Wake Up!

 The values that have nurtured our law and democracy are increasingly under attack. Keir Starmer endorsing the move to enable people to declare that they are not the sex they were when born. He claims women can have a penis. He also, unsurprisingly was unable to define a 'Woman'. Supporting this idiocy, media reports of a rapist who claims he ...

  2228 Hits
stop-1001138_1920 Time for honesty and courage

Has Anyone the Courage to Lead?

Since the referendum governments have squandered opportunity. We should be in a strong position, but a combination of Pro EU Tories, the Blob and the Civil Service has put democracy at risk. The daily attacks on Brexit citing idiotic opinion polls, demonstrate a determination by the opponents of democracy to take us back into the EU whatever the co...

  2147 Hits
Counter-Attack

Counterattack: Montgomery and the Battle of the Bulge

Kindle Edition by Robert Oulds   'Victors write history', is a disputed truism that today could be more accurately rendered as 'Movie makers create history'. Certainly, Hollywood has done an excellent job of presenting the Battle of the Bulge as an exclusively American victory. The military historian Robert Oulds's new kindle book 'Counteratta...

  2160 Hits
signpost-5274077_1920 Our future destroyed?

The End of The Road

For over a century the UK has struggled with political realism and to an extent, its identity. In 1918 the Labour Parties pamphlet 'Labour and the New Social Order' set out an essentially communist agenda. Beatrice and Sidney Webb's 1920 book ' Constitution For The Socialist Commonwealth Of Great Britain' fleshed it out. Many were taken in by talk ...

  1870 Hits
death-5770668 The Grim Reaper

For Whom the Bell Tolls - Democracy, It Tolls for Thee

The short-lived Truss government came to power with a mandate to change Britain. She fought her campaign clearly stating her policy. She was lawfully elected according to the rules. Her policy was designed to produce growth. Cutting taxes was a part of the program. The respected US Tax Foundation in its 2020 report on UK tax wrote: "All things bein...

  2217 Hits
Janus-Building Janus Building Burns

Can the Turncoats Turn Back?

The UK faces problems, problems that to a great degree are the fault of the political and financial establishment. There is no point in blaming every ill on Covid and Ukraine indeed it is only to the latter crisis that the establishment response has been sure footed. Otherwise, the failures are legion. Brexit has not been fully implemente...

  1962 Hits
big-ben-450819_1920 Churchill Led the Fight to Preserve Democracy

Democracy Under Threat

Democracy is in serious trouble. Before Trump was sworn in, many Democrats took to the streets to protest. 'He is not my president' was their battle cry. The American people were presented with a choice between Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump. They had to elect one of them and the majority chose Trump. For democracy to function there must be loser ...

  2022 Hits
crisis-5238323_1920 Crisis. What Crisis?

Déjà Vu and a Confected Crisis

An energy crisis hit world economies and after almost three years the pain exploded in most countries. The exception was the USA. Acting pro-actively President Reagan slashed regulation to free the economy. He fired over 11,000 striking air traffic controllers. Breaking the strike. An action Paul Volcker saw as a 'watershed' moment in the battle ag...

  1917 Hits
climate Climate - C02 Nature's Gift

Climate - C02 Nature's Gift

In this important book, the author Jeremy Nieboer sets out the case for CO2 as a vital element of mankind's survival. It is also a powerful indictment of the UN and Global elite who have so woefully failed to protect the earths population. Shockingly the author explains that this failure is brought down upon us solely by unquestioned submission to ...

  2094 Hits
astronaut-4106766_1920 Looking for reality

Liz, Land on Our Planet

There is a disconnect between the media, politicians and the people of the UK. We are fed a daily diet of gloom. Hysterical millionaire 'experts' rant with messianic fervour. A plethora of experts, who helped cause the problem, seek to out do each other in their apoplectic zeal to blame others. It is as if they seek to reprise the late Jack Hawkins...

  1866 Hits
windmills Minds?

The Windmills of Their Minds

It is time to reset our expectation of democracy. We have drifted into a situation where people vote for politicians who, mostly, ignore their duty. That duty is to protect the nation and its people. To create an environment where, in security, hard work is rewarded and people can flourish peacefully under the law. Perversely, politicians have adap...

  2581 Hits
Green Destruction Green Anarchy and the Illeberal Elite

Green Anarchy and the Illeberal Elite

Democracy, liberty and the continuation of western civilisation is under threat. It is threatened by those we have elected to protect and nurture our society. A small number of self entitled politicians and bureaucrats take decisions without reference to their electorate. Sunak's decision to raise Corporation tax to 25% next year has everything to ...

  3296 Hits
chaos-485491_1920 Ordo Ab Chao.

‘Ordo Ab Chao' Do Tory MPs have the Courage?

Boris Johnson's fall is due to a combination of factors. The man who was London's Mayor for eight years seems to have forgotten the reason for that success. He chose able lieutenants to implement his policy. As Prime Minister he desperately needed them. Without them, everything from BREXIT to Tax Cuts stalled and it seemed increasingly that the gov...

  1896 Hits
carnival-g708d1b115_1920

Morality and Respect for Democracy

Being ambushed on his birthday to listen to a small group singing 'Happy Birthday' and sip a glass of wine may have been foolish of the PM. It does not count as crime in rational people's book. 10 Downing Street is a huge office. The Police issued 126 fixed-penalty notices naming only three recipients. The other 123 were presumably issued to specia...

  2123 Hits
stock-exchange-g338d8c2e6_1920

The Cost of BRINO

Margaret Thatcher broke the mould of British politics. A grocer's daughter raised above the family shop. She benefited from free state education including university. She believed in equal opportunity. She believed in wealth distribution through hard work and getting rid of as much state intervention as possible. As Prime Minister she encouraged pr...

  2273 Hits
oil-rig-g54a793945_1920

Brexit Independence Must Include Energy

There are still areas of our lives that have not benefited from the people's decision to choose independence from the EU. The unfinished business is harming our country and its future. One aspect of government policy that it shares with the EU, is the Green agenda drive to Net Zero. How a small island off the coast of Eurasia became a world superpo...

  2090 Hits
watercolor-g3bffaff10_1920

Down Another Rabbit Hole to a Mad World?

Since Heath bamboozled us into joining the Common Market successive governments of all parties have treated the electorate and democracy with contempt. John Locke, in his Second Treatise of Government, declared: "The Legislative cannot transfer the power of making laws to any other hands. For it being but a delegated power from the People, they who...

  2292 Hits
britain-g8a8bad940_1920

Hatred and Hypocrisy, Froth and Wobble

As Boris hatred reaches yet another crescendo the media, opposition parties and remainers in the Civil Service and assorted Quangos hugged their self perceived purity. Like a pack of crazed Wolves scenting blood, they moved in for the kill. The impending power disaster. Possible wars in Ukraine and Taiwan. The woke destruction of culture and free s...

  2309 Hits
glasgow-g6ddc9390c_1920

The Great Glasgow Cop-Out

 We face an existential crisis. It is not imminent, but for the sake of the planet's growing 7.9 billion inhabitants it must be prepared for. Those who govern, elected or otherwise, have a duty to ensure the security of those for whom they have accepted responsibility. The question is simple. "As Fossil fuels are a finite resource, what can re...

  3105 Hits
bbc-g178ad4bc9_1920

The BBC: An Orwellian Nightmare

Recently, we moved home. I advised all the utilities and services by phone or online. I did so well in advance, so that no last minute hitch would add to a naturally stressful time. Everything worked perfectly, except the TV licence. At first, I was encouraged by what seemed an easy notification system. "Advise us three months before you move" the ...

  2778 Hits
flag-3370970_1920

Good News. The EU is Spiteful!

All except its acolytes knew (and accepted) that, but how spectacularly have the EU Imperialists lived up to expectations. In a recent article (Liberal Fascism's Last Hurrah?) I wrote: "The EU has never been interested in a mutually beneficial deal. To deal with that I offer something I learned in negotiating with a variety of corrupt countries' re...

  3337 Hits
UK-and-EU

Escaping the Sublunary World of the EU

If anything the hysterical clamouring of EU supporting re-moaners (now relabelled Re-Joiners) has increased since January 1. Those of us who had hoped that democratic realism might have inoculated the afflicted should not be surprised. The fanaticism of EU acolytes and collaborators is religious in its intensity and belief. Indeed, there is a paral...

  3021 Hits
Bojo

Liberal Fascism's Last Hurrah?

As we approach December 31st and our exit from the EU, anti democrats are using the COVID pandemic as their last ditch assault on democracy. We should not be surprised. The so-called liberal left both here and in the USA have damaged democracy and restoring it is a monumental task. In the US the Democrats waged a four-year guerrilla war against Tru...

  3468 Hits
British-papers

Time for the Kissing to Stop

The Cummingsaffairfollowed a pattern familiar to those who have observed the Brexit process, since David Cameron announced the referendum. The pro EU media assisted by the civil service have lied, invented, threatened and twisted their way to what should have been ignominy. They have escaped that fate. Indeed, support from the Supreme Court's decis...

  3555 Hits
London-sky

Our Last, Great, Opportunity

Those fond of disasters unhesitatingly claim that the seeds of the next catastrophe are created in the current one. One can understand the theory. Tulip Mania, the South Sea; Mississippi; Junk Bond and Dot-Com Bubbles are all examples of feverish speculation gone wrong. The problem does not, however, lie solely with get rich quick dreamers and spiv...

  3645 Hits
DFID

Aid - a History of Waste and Self Harm

The first part of this article describes my experience of aid, starting over 40 years ago in Africa, and then in the ex-Soviet Union. Some will hotly deny my conclusions, but their veracity is only too apparent in the current state of the world and the decline in western values. Part one deals with the background and part 2 illustrates it...

  10476 Hits
cid_4D817249-A628-46A8-9776-24C2AB5EA890lan

The Future is East, Time for Electoral Realism

We recently returned from a trip to S.E. Asia, mostly holiday, but meeting with some of my wife's clients too. Smog, created by Indonesian farmers' crop burning joined the humid heat to hang like a blanket over Bangkok, our first stop. The difference to late September London was a shock. Less of a shock was driving on the left and familiar names li...

  5007 Hits
Oliver-Cromwell

An Unholy Alliance

The left were always solidly against the Common Market and remained so as it evolved through the EEC to EU. The reason was simple. Its rules stood in the way of a Socialist state. Blair, having defeated Clause 4, became an ardent advocate of the EU and repositioned Labour as a centre party. Labour has always been a target for extremist entryism and...

  5975 Hits
Juncker-and-Barnier

Cry "Havoc!" and Let Slip the Dogs of War

When the history of Brexit is written, two primary mistakes will stand out. One was the Conservative party's decision to appoint Theresa May as its leader and the country's Prime Minister. The second was by the 27 member states of the EU. They appointed a team of EU federalist fanatics, rather than pragmatists, to negotiate our exit. They saw the n...

  6331 Hits
Parliament

An Existential Crisis: We Are Threatened by a Parliamentary Coup

 Sir Austen Chamberlain, speaking about Germany's violation of the Treaty of Locarno, remarked: "It is not so long ago that a member of the Diplomatic Body in London, who had spent some years of his service in China, told me that there was a Chinese curse which took the form of saying, 'May you live in interesting times.' There is no doubt tha...

  6097 Hits

Ritual Humiliation in the New Theocracy

In my article "The Extreme Middle and a New Theocracy," I argued that supporters of the EU worshipped at the altar of a new Theocracy. As the arguments over Brexit grind on, nothing has changed my view. Indeed, I'm more convinced than ever that it is true. Forgive me for repeating familiar facts, but it is necessary. Following David Cameron's reneg...

  5657 Hits

Fruit, Fear and Brexit

At the end of January, I was interested to learn how the BBC's news website reported Italy's recession. It was not on their radar. Unsurprisingly, several scare stories were. One, by business editor Simon Jack, was headlined "No-deal Brexit to leave shelves empty warn retailers." My attention was grabbed, however, by a dramatic warning with a state...

  5828 Hits

A Dangerous Legacy

In 20th century Continental Europe, democracy had a rotten time. Russia's attempt to frame a liberal constitution, described by W. E. Mosse as "the only time in modern Russian history when the Russian people were able to play a significant part in the shaping of their destinies," was snuffed out by the Bolshevik revolution. At first, the attempt to...

  5592 Hits

Politicians are in power to serve the people

Since Anglo-Saxon times, the Monarch has been required to rule for the benefit of the people. As with our law, our democracy is based on consent and has been evolutionary. Its genius is that as individual sovereignty replaced that of the monarch, the monarchy became the repository of the people's sovereignty. The people are sovereign and lend their...

  12240 Hits

Bismarck's Ghost

The spectre of Charlemagne (Karl der Große) has tantalised demagogues in the western part of Eurasia for centuries. The dream of recreating his short-lived empire has cost countless millions of lives. European history is littered with the shades of failed empires. The result of personal egos, they were bound to fail when the egos dimmed. The latest...

  8165 Hits

Lest We Forget

For centuries, wool was the mainstay of our economy; so vital that Edward III ordered his Lord Chancellor to sit on the woolsack. Export of raw wool financed trade and new towns. Flemish and Huguenot weavers fleeing European persecution added their skills. By the 16th century, English cloth dominated European markets. It provided the trade good use...

  5596 Hits

The Extreme Middle and a New Theocracy

The EU has accused one of its members, Hungary, of not upholding European Values. The EU parliament has voted to 'launch action' against the government of Viktor Orban. There are many charges, but according to Judith Sargentini, the EU parliament's rapporteur on Hungary: The main issue is that Hungarian citizens are losing out on an inclusive democ...

  7534 Hits

Outsourcing and the Death of Democracy

In 1989, events that led to the fall of the USSR overshadowed one that arguably would have an even greater economic, cultural and political impact. According to Poole College of Management, outsourcing was formally identified as a business strategy that year. The collapse of Carillon in January 2018, the loss of thousands of jobs and billions of po...

  8293 Hits

Political Economics in the USSR and EU

Since the late 1970s, I had been travelling and doing business in the Soviet bloc and USSR. Soon after its collapse, I was working for a German company, responsible for its major interests in Ukraine and development in Central Asia. The fall of the USSR was sudden and to the ill informed, unexpected. Those of us who knew it, had wondered for years ...

  5328 Hits
America Retreats - What Next?

America Retreats - What Next?

Theresa May's dismissal of Boris Johnson's suggestion that technology could allow customs checks without physical infrastructure (to solve the Irish border issue) is perverse. Her claim that such systems do not yet exist is not true and one must query if Number 10 talks to anyone other than the Treasury. The UK was a pioneer of electronic clearance...

  6953 Hits

Contact us

Director : Robert Oulds
Tel: 020 7287 4414
Chairman: Barry Legg
 
The Bruges Group
246 Linen Hall, 162-168 Regent Street
London W1B 5TB
United Kingdom
KEY PERSONNEL
 
Founder President :
The Rt Hon. the Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven LG, OM, FRS 
Vice-President : The Rt Hon. the Lord Lamont of Lerwick,
Chairman: Barry Legg
Director : Robert Oulds MA, FRSA
Washington D.C. Representative : John O'Sullivan CBE
Founder Chairman : Lord Harris of High Cross
Head of Media: Jack Soames