What Donald Trump Means for Britain and the EU - Byline Interviews EP #3 | Mike Galsworthy

Nov 15, 2024

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A Wise, Thoughtful and Observant Norwegian Asks a Very Important Question: What Happened to England?

Oct 26, 2024 | What happened to England? Has the entire UK become a 3rd world country? They call it "Broken Britain", and my heart is certainly broken because of what has happened to my beloved England.

Why Britain Joined the EU

Jun 5, 2024 | On D-Day we remember how brave men and women from many allied countries fought the final battles against the Nazis to bring the most brutal world war to an end in Europe. Peace came at last as a direct result of their enduring efforts.

Tens of thousands of lives were tragically and horribly lost in the pursuit of that aim. But how was lasting peace achieved between European countries that, for centuries, had been more used to resolving their differences through violence, war, and subjugation?

The European Community, established during the post-war years and now called the European Union, played a key role. Yes, NATO helped to protect us from external threats. But it was the European Union that brought sustained security and peace between its members.

By collaborating and cooperating, in peace and democratically, to decide on the running and future direction of our continent, European countries found and agreed solutions to common problems.

It worked. Never has a shot been fired between EU member states. An amazing achievement, for which the EU won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2012. So, when people ask, ‘Why was the EU started?’ the answer, first and foremost, was peace. Yes, trade was one of the means, but peace was the primary goal. And it’s why Britain joined the European Community. To work together, peacefully and democratically, with our European allies to recreate our post-war continent based on democracy, human rights, free market trade and the rule of law.

Did people truly understand this when ticking the ‘Leave’ box in the 2016 referendum?

Public Order vs. Civil Rights: Is Liberal Britain Under Threat? | DW News

Jul 16, 2023 | Civil liberties and human rights - are they under threat in Britain? The United Kingdom sees itself as a champion of democracy. But new laws that criminalize some forms of protest and limit workers' right to strike are worrying human rights organizations. The right to asylum is also in the spotlight. What's happening to liberal Britain? How free and fair is Britain today?

Britain Has Delusions of Grandeur, Says Former Australian PM Paul Keating

Ben Wallace and Liz Truss visited Australia over the weekend to discuss China’s influence over the Indo-Pacific region | BIANCA DE MARCHI/POOL/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
THE TIMES: A former Australian prime minister has mounted a scathing attack on Britain, saying Australia’s oldest ally suffers from “delusions of grandeur and relevance deprivation”.

Paul Keating, who left office in 1996, said the UK was led by a “disreputable government” and labelled Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, as “demented”.

Keating, 78, who succeeded Bob Hawke as Labor prime minister in 1991, released his statement on Sunday after Scott Morrison’s government hosted Truss and Ben Wallace, the defence secretary, in Sydney as the allies work to counter China’s influence in the region.

Keating’s attack was prompted by an interview Truss gave to the Sydney Morning Herald in which she said China could replicate a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine through aggression in the Indo-Pacific region. » | Bernard Lagan, Sydney | Monday, January 24, 2022 [£] *

The Times currently has a special offer for new subscribers. New subscribers can gain full access to the newspaper for the first month free.

What have I been saying all along? Exactly this! Thank you, Mr. Keating. Thank you for saying the truth. – © Mark

‘Astounding’ Haul of Roman Sculptures Discovered under HS2 Building Site - BBC News

Oct 31, 2021 • Archaeologists have uncovered a "remarkable" set of Roman sculptures on the HS2 rail link route.

Two complete sculptures of what appear to be a man and a woman, plus the head of a child, were found at an abandoned medieval church in Buckinghamshire. The discoveries have been sent for specialist analysis.

Dr Rachel Wood, lead archaeologist for HS2’s contractor. said they were "really rare finds in the UK".

Britain Is Like a Bottle of Non-homogenized Milk!

In a bottle of non-homogenized milk, one can observe all the cream in the milk rising to the top of the bottle; and so it is in British society! All the cream rises to the top, so that those at the top can live off the fat of the land! – © Mark

With many thanks to Google Images and Farmer Bob for this image.

Peter Hitchens on Re-issue of 'The Abolition of Britain'

Britain Should Not Have Fought in the First World War

Filmed at the Royal Geographical Society on 15th April 2014.

The First World War is not called the Great War for nothing. It was the single most decisive event in modern history, as well as one of the bloodiest: by the time the war ended, some nine million soldiers had been killed. It was also a historical full stop, marking the definitive end of the Victorian era and the advent of a new age of uncertainty. By 1918, the old order had fallen: the Bolsheviks had seized power in Russia; the German, Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman empires had been destroyed; and even the victorious Allied powers had suffered devastating losses. It was supposed to be the war to end all wars. And yet barely two decades later, the world was again plunged into conflict. Little wonder then that historians still cannot agree whether Britain's engagement was worth it.

For some, the war was a vitally important crusade against Prussian militarism. Had we stayed out, they argue, the result would have been an oppressive German-dominated Europe, leaving the British Empire isolated and doomed to decline. And by fighting to save Belgium, Britain stood up for principle: the right of a small nation to resist its overbearing neighbours.

For others, the war was a catastrophic mistake, fought at a catastrophic human cost. It brought Communism to power in Russia, ripped up the map of Europe and left a festering sense of resentment that would fuel the rise of Nazism. We often forget that, even a few days before Britain entered the war, it seemed likely that we would stay out. H. H. Asquith's decision to intervene changed the course of history. But was it the right one?

Britain and Appeasement

This documentary called 'Did we have to Fight?' explores Britain's options in the run-up to the Second World War. It will be particularly useful for students of appeasement, Neville Chamberlain, and of the wider conflict. The primary sources used are exceptionally good.

France vs Brexit Britain: Who Will Come Out On Top?

Will Looking to Its Past Help Britain's Future? – Inside Story

The United Kingdom is on course to break away from the European Union. So, it's looking for economic and political opportunities elsewhere. One important tool is the Commonwealth: an organisation made up of former British colonies - and one of the most diverse - created 87 years ago. The British government says it will try to 'revitalise' the Commonwealth and increase trade with its member states. So, can the Commonwealth help a post-brexit UK economy?

Presenter: Sami Zeidan | Guests: Alex Vines - Head of the Africa Programme at Chatham House; Sophie Gallop - Teaching Associate at the University of Birmingham; Murtala Touray - Former Senior West Africa analyst at IHS Global Insight.

Making Britain Great Again? Lessons for America from Brexit

Niall Ferguson, MA, D.Phil., is senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, and a senior fellow of the Center for European Studies, Harvard, where he served for 12 years as the Laurence A. Tisch Professor of History. He is also a visiting professor at Tsinghua University, Beijing, and the Diller-von Furstenberg Family Foundation Distinguished Scholar at the Nitze School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, DC.

Cold Britannia: Searching for the True Britain

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: What happened to Britain? It's a question many Europeans are currently asking. I traveled through the country on the search for answers -- and found a deeply divided land.

Europe seems to have come up with a narrative about the United Kingdom: The British are losing their minds. An otherwise extremely rational people, according to this oft-repeated tale, succumbed to a fit of irrationality in listening to populist clowns and turning their backs on the European Union. All that's left to us is to prevent the virus from jumping the Channel and infecting the Continent. » | An Essay by Christoph Scheuermann | Thursday, October 13, 2016

French Warn Britain: Brexit Could Be Your Waterloo

THE GUARDIAN: As French politicians stay away from battle commemorations, le Monde publishes editorial in English telling UK ‘just as in 1815, your future is in Europe’

French politicians were notably absent from the 200-year commemoration of Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo, but that did not stop the country’s biggest national newspaper using the symbolism of France’s bloody loss to warn Britain against a carnage of another kind: the Brexit.

Le Monde, France’s paper of record, took the unusual step of publishing its daily editorial in English under the warning: “Britain beware, Brexit could be your Waterloo!”

“The country which cornered Napoleon cannot succumb to Nigel Farage,” the paper pleaded, urging “our British allies” to “resist the familiar temptation of splendid isolation”.

“Today, we solemnly say to our friends across the Channel: beware, Brexit could be your Waterloo! And to make sure the message is really heard, we have gone as far as to convey it in English. Messieurs les Anglais, don’t let the sirens of a fake independence pull you away from the continent. Just as in 1815, your future is in Europe.” » | Angelique Chrisafis in Paris | Thursday, June 18, 2015

LE MONDE: Messieurs les Anglais, le Brexit pourrait être votre Waterloo » | LeMonde | jeudi 18 juin 2015

Washington Frets Over 'Distracted' Little Britain

Prime Minister David Cameron and U.S. president Barack Obama

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Relief at a clear election victory for David Cameron is undermined by the prospect of a Britain distracted by EU membership referendum and another Scottish vote

David Cameron’s surprise election victory was greeted with mixed feelings in Washington yesterday as relief over a clear-cut outcome was tempered by worries about the stability of the UK and the prospect of a divisive EU referendum.

Officially, Barack Obama congratulated the prime minister on his “impressive victory”, issuing a statement promising to continue to “strengthen the bonds between our countries, as we work together on behalf of global peace, security and prosperity”.

Behind the scenes however, officials conceded that the prospect of the EU membership vote in 2017 and a resurgence of Scottish demands for independence risked weakening Britain’s ability to deliver on its side of the so-called special relationship. » | Peter Foster, Washington | Friday, May 08, 2015

THE INDEPENDENT: Unshackled from Coalition partners, Tories get ready to push radical agenda: Cameron is expected to move to the right to consolidate support among his backbench MPs after five years of compromise with the Liberal Democrats » | Whitehall Editor | Friday, May 08, 2015

MERS Virus Arrives in U.S. from Middle East

CHICAGO TRIBUNE: Two years after it first cropped up in the Middle East, a potentially fatal respiratory illness arrived in the United States aboard a jetliner that landed at O'Hare International Airport 10 days ago.

The news that Middle East respiratory syndrome, or MERS — a virus that by one estimate has killed roughly a quarter of the relatively small number of patients confirmed to be infected by it — is on U.S. soil quickly triggered investigations by federal and state health authorities. (+ video) » | Juan Perez Jr., Tribune reporter | Saturday, May 03, 2014

MERS virus spreads to US via Britain »

Welsh and Cornish Are the 'Purest Britons', Scientists Claim
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Natives from Wales and Cornwall could hold the title for the "purest" Britons, a scientific study suggests.

Scientists drew up a map of the British Isles revealing the genetic ancestry of people from different rural areas across the UK.

After extensive DNA surveying, they found that Welsh and Cornish people were among the most genetically distinct groups in the country.

One theory for the difference in their DNA is that they are a "relic" population, tracing their ancestry back to the tribes that colonised Britain after the last Ice Age 10,000 years ago.

Welsh genes proved to be similar to those of the French and Irish, suggesting they were connected to the pre-Roman population.

The Cornish were also shown to have a distinctive DNA make-up, different to those from the neighbouring county Devon. » | Harriet Cooke | Sunday, June 17, 2012

Luxembourg PM: 'UK Will Become Euro Zone Member'
ITV NEWS: Luxembourg Prime Minister, Jean-Claude Juncker has predicted that the UK will eventually join the euro currency.

He told The Times [£] that the eurozone would emerge “stronger than ever” and the UK could soon become a member of the euro area. » | Saturday, June 09, 2012

David Cameron: Scottish Independence 'Deeply Sad'
Prime Minister David Cameron began his visit to Scotland today with the message that he is ''a patriot for the whole United Kingdom''.

Read the article and comment here | Thursday, February 16, 2012