Author Archives: bernardporter2013

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 →

This (if the link works) is what a pro-Brexit demonstration looks like. https://www.facebook.com/veryBrexitproblems/videos/416953239065093/UzpfSTEwMDAwMDc4Nzg3NTM0MjoyMTI1OTEzNTc0MTExNTUx/?notif_id=1553981741697960&notif_t=feedback_reaction_generic. People have been contrasting it with the entirely peaceful and indeed good-humoured conduct of the million-plus strong pro-Remain march that thronged the streets of London the week … Continue reading →

If I had hoped to get away from Brexit by flying to Sweden, I’d have been disappointed. It has been the major item in the Swedish newspapers and TV News for days now: on the front pages many days (here … Continue reading →

Thursday 28 March. Well, it looks as if she will be going soon, although she has an odd way of going about it: ‘back my Brexit deal or I stay’. Still, it seems inevitable. Within a few weeks, or even … Continue reading →

Another exciting week coming up. As a politics junkie, I have ‘Parliament’ on my TV all day. Unfortunately on Thursday, when we might see the climax – (May resigning? Her deal getting through? No deal? The sort of compromise – … Continue reading →

I’ve been getting some amusing letters – entirely unsolicited – from sixth-formers at a school in Hertfordshire. Here are a few. From Alex Rudin, February 25, 2019 at 1:22 pm. Hello Bernard, As a student in Higher Education, I was a big fan … Continue reading →

Over the past few weeks I’ve been rooting for Jeremy Corbyn’s ‘Common Market Mk 2’ solution to the present impasse – that is, Britain in the single market, a bit like Norway; but only because of my natural penchant for … Continue reading →