Author Archives: bernardporter2013

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 →

This just about sums it up (from around 2 minutes on).

I’ve always especially despised those who take on positions of responsibility without having any of the necessary qualities for the job. I include myself in this category: I should have known how hopeless I would be as a Head of … Continue reading →

8.45 p.m. Theresa May has just made her (fairly) eagerly-awaited statement on Brexit to the cameras in No.10. Some people thought she was going to announce her resignation. No chance. Instead she simply reasserted the position she has held for … Continue reading →

Historical precedents for current events are usually neither particularly relevant, nor helpful. Certainly there is very little in our (British) past to give much guidance on what has been widely described as the ‘national crisis’ we are in now. But … Continue reading →

Kajsa has started referring to my country as ‘your poor little island’. I can live with that. But I don’t imagine that patriotic Brexiteers will appreciate their proud nation’s being pitied in this way. But it’s all their fault. The … Continue reading →

I’ve never been there – there was a pilots’ strike when I planned to make a trip there once from Australia – but New Zealand has always lived in my imagination, as a kind of prelapsarian society where peace, justice … Continue reading →

This is good (from the New York Times). Be patient. It gets on to Brexit in the end. https://static.nytimes.com/email-content/INT_11167.html?nlid=66729954