In the small post office, one man without a mask walks around, talking loudly. He had pushed in as others in masks waited circumspectly outside to go in. These are the people emboldened, empowered, by Johnson. It is his brutal political calculation that there are more people like that than the number of those who will die or be seriously ill and their relatives.

Maybe those booing fans were booing out of envy of a team that has the amazing international record that Germany does, envy of a country that, unlike the U.K., has learned the lessons of its history to build itself anew, overcoming a shameful past... ... or envy of a country that, unlike England, actually has a national anthem of its own, envy of a country that, unlike England, actually *is* a country and not merely some region of a cobbled-together conglomerate known as the YooKay.

At the point where the England fans started booing the German national anthem, the authorities should have stopped the game and given a win to Germany. Or maybe Gareth Southgate should have taken the mic and told the fans either they shut the fuck up or the game is off.

On the 7th day of Christmas industry leaders warned of “invisible chaos” in coming weeks as businesses grapple with new trading rules & software systems required from day one for exports to the EU. In NI there are fears of immediate chaos and confusion. theguardian.com/politics/2020/… On the 8th day of Christmas I read the FCA has said UK-based companies could instead use EU platforms, provided they do not have the option of using another location such as the US. That could result in more trading happening in the EU rather than London. theguardian.com/business/2020/…

How long before people wake up to the disaster that has befallen us? Let me count the days. On the 1st day of Christmas Barrie Deas of the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations said there would be “frustration and anger” across the industry. “Johnson wanted an overall trade deal and was willing to sacrifice fishing.” theguardian.com/world/2020/dec…

For those of us who didn’t know it before, these negotiations have revealed the beauty of the Single Market. It enables the creation of enormous economic power through scale while at the same time by regulation setting economic activity firmly in the context of social values. Contrast this with the brutalist, one could almost say 19th century, approach to economics of #Brexit advocates whose vision is limited to a simplistic profit motive & who consider social provision, the environment & human rights etc essentially as hindrances to economic growth.

An educated friend tells me everything was going well until the French decided to get involved. I asked him where he had heard that? Answer: the BBC. And this shows that unlike the UK the EU are all disunited and at each other’s throats. Source: the BBC.

#Brexit is driven in large part by hate and destruction. Delivered by - amongst others - the BBC to an uncritical population. When the destruction begins to take effect, the hate will also probably peak. We are in for a rough time.

My prediction: there will be a poor, threadbare deal, and then will begin the long, slow climb (over many years and probably many different governments, with incremental improvements to the ‘deal’) back to sanity. The whole Brexit thing has been an absolutely pointless and absolutely destructive waste of time. 😡

“As an MP, Zahawi earns £74,962 a year. He also earns £241,500 a year from the Kurdish oil company Gulf Keystone, on top of regular bonuses. He is paid a further £40,000 a year by the recruitment company SThree.” theguardian.com/politics/2017/… “Zahawi has embarked on a series of property purchases, including a £13.75m house in one of the most exclusive areas of London in 2013. He has spent more than £10m on commercial property through Zahawi & Zahawi, a company he co-owns with his wife, in the last 18 months.”

Why aren't the British people angry? I must have been phenomenally naive in 2016 because I could not believe people would vote for the rightwing project of #Brexit, something no one could say they understood but that was obviously extremely damaging, in the nonbinding frauderendum. I was phenomenally disillusioned.

What does it mean to you to be British today? I find it hard to answer this question. A necessary legal technicality? One step up from statelessness? Resentment? Anger? Shame? Horror?

Turns out our politics are broken. Who would have known? Who killed UK Democracy?
I, said the Non-binding Referendum,
with my fraud and hypocrisy
I killed UK Democracy.

Who saw it die?
We, said the UK public
with our uninformed eyes
We saw it die.

Who took its place?
I, said Boris Johnson
with my grinning face
I took its place....