Monthly Archives: November 2017

Deleted.

Although she’s getting the brunt of the criticism just now for her imperialism – see https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/nov/22/british-empire-museum-colonial-crimes-memorial – Britain was obviously not the first nation to go in for this kind of thing, nor even the latest. I don’t want to … Continue reading →

Sport is there to be enjoyed. It’s not war. So why do so many Australian cricketers behave as though it were? And as though they can’t win matches simply through their skills, but need to demoralise their opponents first? First … Continue reading →

Deleted.

Britain should not try to intervene, even to ‘help’, in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe, remember, used to be a British colony, founded by a wealthy rogue – Cecil Rhodes, hence Southern Rhodesia – and neglected by the British for the whole of … Continue reading →

I’m not surprised at this – https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/nov/15/six-uk-universities-break-advertising-rules-with-pitches-to-students. Ever since British universities became a ‘market’, they’ve adopted market ethics; especially – but not exclusively – the lower-status, and so more vulnerable, ones. I first noticed this when I was directing my … Continue reading →

Everyone now seems to agree with me (https://bernardjporter.com/2016/06/16/is-it-really-about-the-eu/ – though I’m sure they didn’t get it from me: it’s pretty bloody obvious, and scarcely anyone reads this blog) that the great EU Referendum last year wasn’t about Europe at all, … Continue reading →

….could it be a diplomatic ruse by Boris to lead the Iranians to think that he believes them, so making them more amenable to the idea of releasing her? Is Boris as clever as that? (I imagine his FO advisers … Continue reading →

Of course Corbyn is right about Boris Johnson: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/nov/11/boris-johnson-jeremy-corbyn-iran. Everywhere you go abroad he’s regarded as a joke. If he remains much longer as Foreign Secretary he’s likely to be a disaster, for his compatriots as well as for him. … Continue reading →

Poppies are not patriotic. They are worn to remember the terrible slaughter of war, irrespective of the poor victims’ nationalities. For this reason it’s wrong for the International Football Association to ban players’ wearing them for international matches; but equally … Continue reading →