Author Archives: bernardporter2013

OK, it’s only a trivial complaint, and not my main one against Brexit; but I still haven’t received several orders and even Christmas presents from the UK, apart from one where I was made to pay more in import duty … Continue reading →

Jeremy Corbyn is perhaps the most honest politician Britain has had in decades, who has been right on nearly every important issue over the past thirty years, and who in the last General Election stood for policies that – as … Continue reading →

‘An electorate of fools manipulated by a small group of clever bastards.’ This is how I’m tempted to see ‘democracy’ in Britain and the United States just now. Is that fair? If so, the solutions seem to be straightforward. Don’t … Continue reading →

No blogging recently because busy with proof-reading (the stale essays collection). Also a big birthday yesterday; normally the occasion for a huge party, but reduced this year to Zoom. I’ll resume – re-zoom? – in a few days, when the … Continue reading →

I’ve never been one for generalising about nations and their ‘characters’, and indeed my many travels – and actually living and working in three countries I wasn’t born in – have confirmed to me the range of ‘identities’ that exists … Continue reading →

Cover of my new – and almost certainly last – book, due out on 3 June. It’s a collection of old historical articles and lectures, representing the non-imperial side of my work; together with a couple of new ones on … Continue reading →

I don’t want to believe that Brexiters are stupider than Remainers, especially as anyone claiming they are is immediately marked out as an ‘élitist’ – that dreadful word – by Brexiters who will immediately reject his or her opinion for … Continue reading →

The criminal incompetence of the current British government in the face of both Brexit and Covid is breathtaking. But that’s what you get when you elect a joker as PM at the start of a national crisis. It takes me … Continue reading →

Most Brexiteers probably have no wish to live abroad – God forbid! –  but they might have spared a thought for those of us who do. My situation is not as dire as many expats’, having taken out dual citizenship in … Continue reading →

I now think I was over-impressed by Trump’s ‘farewell’ speech. It has been outshone by Biden’s inauguration address, and by the rest of the celebration yesterday. I was surprised by how ‘right’ that all was, in present circumstances. ‘Sleepy Joe’ … Continue reading →