Monthly Archives: April 2019

Yesterday marked the centenary of the Amritsar Massacre. I’ve written about this, of course, in my Empire histories; and also in a review of a biography of the villain of the piece for the TLS, afterwards republished in my Empire Ways (2016), … Continue reading →

Extradition to Sweden may be the least bad outcome of the recent Assange seizure and arrest: (https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/apr/12/give-priority-to-julian-assange-claim-home-secretary-urged). It would get the British government off the hook. If it gives priority to the Swedish extradition request over the American, as these … Continue reading →

Boris Johnson has been caught out yet again – maintaining in his Daily Telegraph column that ‘No Deal’ – that is, crashing out of the EU blindly – is the most popular of all the options relating to Brexit among voters. … Continue reading →

The Julian Assange story rolls on. His arrest this morning at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, where he was granted asylum six years ago, is the latest chapter. I blogged quite a lot about him at the beginning of his … Continue reading →

The current crisis is more than about Brexit. Indeed, in my opinion, voiced from the very start of the process – https://bernardjporter.com/2016/06/16/is-it-really-about-the-eu – it was never really about Brexit at all. That was simply the issue which the Right and their … Continue reading →

Incidentally, I don’t want to, but if I did want to renounce my British citizenship, the British government would charge me €400 to do so. Extraordinary! In what other walk of life do you have to pay for returning something? ‘Sorry, these … Continue reading →

Well, my Swedish citizenship has come through at last. No cost, no exam, no interview, no language test, no ceremony (unfortunately); and I have yet to apply to the Police for my passport. But – so far as I’m concerned … Continue reading →

I’m still a Eurosceptic – a doubter, that is, rather than an opponent; as I try to be about more or less everything. (I’m an academic, after all.) The word is often used misleadingly, which is what makes it difficult … Continue reading →

Working on a new edition (the 6th!) of The Lion’s Share. A young American historian has been signed up to revise the existing text, but I’ll be contributing a chapter on ‘Brexit and the Empire’. At first glance there seems … Continue reading →