Jonathan Pie: Welcome to Britain. Everything is Terrible. | NYT Opinion

Strong language alert! This video is not suitable for children. It is also not suitable for prudes. – © Mark

Mike Pence Attacks UK for 'Breaking US Sanctions against Iran'

NAME: Mike Pence, the US vice president, has accused Britain, France and Germany of trying to sabotage American sanctions against Iran and called on the European states to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal.

In an unusually blunt attack on America’s traditional European allies, Mr Pence told a summit in Warsaw that the three countries were leading “an effort to break American sanctions against Iran’s murderous revolutionary regime”.

He focused his criticism on a financial mechanism created by the three states and the EU to allow European firms to continue trading with Iran in a way that skirts punishing US sanctions.

“It's an ill-advised step that will only strengthen Iran, weaken the EU, and create still more distance between Europe and the United States,” Mr Pence said.

He said the British, French, and German governments had “not been nearly as cooperative” in backing America’s anti-Iran policy as Israel and the Gulf Arab states like Saudi Arabia and the UAE. » | Raf Sanchez, Warsaw | Thursday, February 14, 2019

Britain in 1940

Britain Set to Lose EU ‘Crown Jewels’

THE GUARDIAN: Rival member states vie to attract prestigious European agencies

The EU is set to inflict a double humiliation on Theresa May, stripping Britain of its European agencies within weeks, while formally rejecting the prime minister’s calls for early trade talks.

The Observer has learned that EU diplomats agreed their uncompromising position at a crunch meeting on Tuesday, held to set out the union’s strategy in the talks due to start next month.

A beauty contest between member states who want the European banking and medicine agencies, currently located in London, will begin within two weeks, with selection criteria to be unveiled by the president of the European council, Donald Tusk.

The European Banking Authority and the European Medicines Agency employ about 1,000 people, many of them British, and provide a hub for businesses in the UK. It is understood that the EU’s chief negotiator hopes the agencies will know their new locations by June, although the process may take longer. Cities such as Frankfurt, Milan, Amsterdam and Paris are competing to take the agencies, which are regarded as among the EU’s crown jewels. Read on and comment » | Daniel Boffey | Saturday, April 15, 2017

When Britain Split From Europe, in a Big Way

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The separation of Britain from Europe, set in motion by Prime Minister Theresa May last week, began a historic process but one not as abrupt as the first Brexit. That was the catastrophic destruction of the land bridge that for 10 million years had joined Britain physically to the Continent.

The bridge was a rock formation, about 20 miles wide, that ran from Dover to Calais and protruded several hundred miles into France and Britain. It was made of chalk, as can be seen in the cross-section where it has been ripped away at the white cliffs of Dover. » | Nicholas Wade | Tuesday, April 4, 2017

How Did Britain Choose Brexit?

A recap on the events that lead to the triggering of Article 50 by the United Kingdom.

Milo Yiannopoulos On Why Britain Should Leave The EU: To Stop Muslim Immigration

European Union Conspiracy – Britain on the Brink

Egyptian TV Host Mostafa Sherdy on France Terror Attacks: We Told You So, Britain and Germany Are Next

Britain Is Cruel
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Britain is a nation of cruel humour and angry people, according to Dame Helen Mirren, who believes life is far better in France.

The actress told a French magazine that the tradition of British decency is in decline.

"I'm under the impression that this notion is disappearing from our society, where conflicts are made worse on cinema and on television, where people are nasty and cruel on the internet and where, in general terms, everybody seems to me to be very angry.

"This causes me a lot of pain," she said.

She singled out British comedy as an example. "I prefer the finesse of French humour. English humour is harsher, more scathing, more cruel and more surreal too, as illustrated by Monty Python and the TV series Little Britain, where situations are far-fetched and over-the-top." Helen Mirren: British humour is cruel >>> | Sunday, November 14, 2010

Britain Will 'Obviously' Join Euro Says Mandelson
Euros: Google Images
THE TELEGRAPH: Britain "obviously" remains committed to joining the euro following the currency's "success" in helping its members to weather the economic crisis, Lord Mandelson said.

The newly promoted First Secretary of State, speaking in Berlin, hailed the euro as a saviour that had brought stability to the European Union during financial turmoil.

"It is perfectly clear that the euro has been a great success in anchoring its eurozone members during this financial crisis," he said.

"Imagine where all of us would have been if it hadn't. I hope people will recognise that this represents a major vindication for the single currency."

Asked if the British Government would consider joining the euro, Lord Mandelson replied: "Does it remain an important objective for Britain to find itself in the same currency as that single market in which it interacts? Obviously yes."

He added: "That has to be a decision taken on the right terms in the right circumstances and conditions and therefore at a future time than we have now." >>> By Bruno Waterfield in Brussels | Thursday, June 11, 2009

British and American Fighters Respond to Jihad Call in Somalia
TIMES ONLINE: Up to a thousand foreign fighters, including Britons, have answered the call to jihad in Somalia and are leading street-fighting Islamist extremists in the war-torn capital Mogadishu, The Times has learnt.

Early yesterday the Western-backed Government launched a counter-offensive after almost a fortnight of attacks by insurgents that have killed at least 200 civilians.

At least 45 people were killed yesterday in battles across the city, the highest daily death toll for months.

The insurgents’ attacks have threatened to topple the shaky Government of Sheikh Sharif Ahmed only weeks after the international community pledged £135 million to support him.

Senior security officials in the region say that the foreign fighters are behind the recent success of the extremists. More than 290 fighters from Britain, the US, Canada, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia entered Mogadishu in the past two weeks. >>> Tristan McConnell in Nairobi | Saturday, May 23, 2009

Olli Rehn Talks through His Pine End!
DAILY TELEGRAPH: The European Union's enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn has accused Britain of having an irrational and backward looking view on the EU's eastwards expansion and foreign workers.

European Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn . Photo courtesy of The Telegraph
He launched the extraordinary attack as the EU marked the fifth anniversary of the 2004 enlargement, when 10 mainly Central and East European countries joined.

He likened "scepticism" about expansion, especially in "established" countries such Britain, Germany and France, to sentimentality for the 1960s.

The 47-year old Finn insisted the negative reaction was a product of "popular psychology" and backward looking sentiment for a bygone age.

"I cannot see any rational reasons," he told The Daily Telegraph. "In the established member states there has been the feeling that it is a cosy club, by the fireside, where we can take decisions that concern all of us, who are very similar.

"There is plenty of sweet nostalgia. It is like Beatle records or George Best's performances at Man United. That belongs to a different era." EU Commissioner Accuses Britain of Having Irrational View of Europe >>> By Bruno Waterfield in Prague | Friday, May 1, 2009

Crazy Is as Crazy Does
EUROPE NEWS: The decision by Britain, America and certain other European countries to recognise Kosovo as an independent state is mind-blowingly stupid and suicidal and of a piece with their obvious determination to capitulate in the war for civilisation. It is a rotten decision for the following reasons:

1. It endorses a breach of a country's right to maintain its own integrity. Serbia is a properly constituted democratic country. To recognise the validity of such a secession is to undermine the principle of a country's right to determine its own composition. It puts up two fingers to international law, which explicitly recognises Serbian authority over Kosovo and upholds a state’s right to its own sovereignty. It opens the way for any other breakaway movement to do the same, both in the Balkans and around the world. So Tamils can now claim a precedent for seceding from Sri Lanka, Corsicans from France, Basques from Spain. And after Kosovo, can Scotland be far behind? Is this crazy, or is this crazy? >>>

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)