Nottingham-born West Londoner. Author of Flip Chart Fairy Tales blog. Patient #NFFC supporter. Retweet means interest, not agreement.
Mar 29 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Easter is when many of Britain’s country houses open their doors to tourists for the summer season. Bodies like @nationaltrust and @HistoricEngland are getting a lot of stick from the right for daring to mention the role slavery played in the development of these buildings. 🧵
Country houses appeared during the Tudor period when the rich no longer needed castles and there were plenty of former monasteries being sold off. Traditionally they sat in the centre of the agricultural estates that provided their owners’ wealth.
Sep 28, 2022 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
Excellent thread here by @sturdyAlex. The adverse market reaction isn't just about what they've done. It's about how they've done it and what that says about their cavalier attitude to governance.
Fascinating piece about Sparks. theguardian.com/music/2021/jul…
This bit caught my eye. I’d completely forgotten about it. Few people of my age were listening in 1979. We’d put Sparks away with the rest of our early 70s childhood - Slade, Sweet and that bloke we’re not supposed to talk about any more.
Jul 16, 2021 • 7 tweets • 1 min read
I had a similar thought when I read about this. Most of the ‘talent’ at GB News has come from organisations where they have been supported by a horde of unseen staff. (Thread)
Right wing commentators often talk about other people being cosseted but they don’t come more cosseted than celebs in a media organisation.
Feb 27, 2019 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
There has always been a difference between the government, in the sense of the machinery of government and the government, in the sense of the governing party. This seems to have become sharper under the Conservatives. To differentiate, let’s use upper and lower case.
I first noticed it in the case of Nadia Eweida. While she was taking the government to court, THE GOVERNMENT was banging on about her right to wear the cross an how badly she had been treated by the government.
Jan 10, 2019 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
The language of international trade makes things that are crap sound good. Most Favoured Nation, for example, is the base level of WTO agreements. It’s what exists in the absence of any other agreement. It sounds good but it’s actually rubbish. wto.org/english/thewto…
The same is true for Free Trade Agreements. They make trade more free than it would be without them but nowhere near as free as it is within the EU, as explained here. bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
Dec 31, 2018 • 9 tweets • 3 min read
A few things about asylum.
Asylum isn't a big contributor to overall immigration. Apart from a spike in the early 2000s, it never has been. (Via @MigObs)
Dec 14, 2018 • 12 tweets • 4 min read
Brexit: 9 lessons but no carols. Great speech by Ivan Rogers, former UK ambassador to the EU, on the mess we are now in. (HT @DavidHenigUK) news.liverpool.ac.uk/2018/12/13/ful…
This needs repeating often. BBC interviewers, especially, need to understand this so that, every time a Brexter makes stuff up about not needing border checks, they can put him in his place.
Oct 7, 2018 • 12 tweets • 2 min read
Most of the people who claim the EU is trying to punish the UK also say they believe in market forces. Mogg, Hannan, Johnson, for example. (1)
But isn’t Brexit the ultimate market-testing of the UK’s international prestige? Is the UK an influential global power because we are just bloody good, or because it sits at the intersection of the EU, NATO and the Anglophone world? (2)
May 12, 2018 • 6 tweets • 1 min read
How would this Irish Sea border actually work? Would HMRC and DEFRA inspect under EU rules in NI? Would they collect tariffs for the EU, like a mini customs partnership? theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/m…
Or would inspections be done by Irish government officials? And if so, wouldn’t that be a red rag to Unionists?
Apr 6, 2018 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
Anecdotal but interesting. According to @KPMG the prospect of a transition deal has slowed down Brexit preparations in UK companies but speeded them up in Spanish ones. home.kpmg.com/uk/en/home/ins…
One of the things that has surprised me most about Brexit is the belief in so many businesses that, whatever happens, it will all be OK in the end.
Jan 26, 2018 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
Great @MESandbu piece on the benefits of free movement. ft.com/cde20d0e-01b7-…
Problem in the UK is the (sometimes deliberate) misunderstanding of the term. It's not about freedom to travel, it's about freedom to live and work.
