Author: anthonyzach

  • Links from the week of 28 May 2018

    Articles, reports and other links I shared on Twitter this week.

  • Links from the week of 21 May 2018

    Articles, reports and other links I shared on Twitter this week.

  • I see soi-disant “Liberal Leavers” are going through another bout of pearl-clutching…

    I see soi-disant “Liberal Leavers” are going through another bout of pearl-clutching about how dreadful Brexit is and how we should stay in the EEA. To which I say “are you ashamed of winning a referendum by riding on the back of illiberal xenophobia yet?”

    The dogs in the street knew that free movement would be impossible after a referendum driven by a press and politicians with hard anti-immigration messages. Apparently not “liberal leavers”.

    I guess they hoped that their weird sovereignty obsession would be smuggled through by politicians mugging anti-immigration leave voters. Well, I hate the outcome but at least voters are getting what they wanted.

    It won’t be what voters want when they get it, of course, and that will be when people will start asking hard questions of Leave campaigners who promised them all the benefits and none of the costs.

    I wouldn’t want to be a liberal leaver. Even if they don’t feel burning personal shame at what they’ve done to the country, they are going to have some very unpleasant conversations in their future.

  • Did you notice how there were no anti-Europe Day protests in the U.K.

    Did you notice how there were no anti-Europe Day protests in the U.K. today? #Brexit is the most drear, joyless, bitter independence the world has ever seen. The wet November Tuesday of nations.

    Looking forward to the proud revolutionary artwork Brexit will give rise to. The Statue of Peevishness. Farage Crossing the Shopping Centre Water Feature. Liberty tweeting angrily at the People from her spare room.

    Fortunately the U.K. already has a dreadful dirge-like national anthem that dwells on the past while saying nothing about the country as it is today, so that’s a big timesaver.

  • Links from the week of 30 April 2018

    Articles, reports and other links I shared on Twitter this week.

  • Links from the week of 23 April 2018

    Articles, reports and other links I shared on Twitter this week.

  • “We want to leave the customs union and single market but not put in place unnecessary…

    “We want to leave the customs union and single market but not put in place unnecessary barriers to our trade with the European Union.” David Gaucke in a perfect one-tweet summary of the UK’s bizarre policy.

    “We are going to burn down all the hospitals and ensure quick access to the latest surgical treatments.”

    “I’m going to encase my legs in this concrete and aim to break my personal best in the London marathon.”

    Fundamentally incompatible goals are GREAT Britain

  • Links from the week of 9 April 2018

    Articles, reports and other links I shared on Twitter this week.

  • Get past the Sun’s hysterical spin and this is just sloppy-minded rambling, like Trump…

    Get past the Sun’s hysterical spin and this is just sloppy-minded rambling, like Trump with grammar. twitter.com/simonjhix/stat…

    And note the Sun’s desperation. “90% done” they say, but what Davis says is he could write down a summary of 80-90% of where he thinks it will end up.

    Video on Twitter

    And – though the article is unclear – he appears to set the end of the year as the deadline for the withdrawal agreement. Well, sorta. June, really, if you want anything useful negotiated on the next stage.

    Oh, and saying that he was taken by surprise by how hard Northern Ireland was is *the* perfect summary of his and his colleagues’ wilful ignorance on the topic. They were told. They have no right to be surprised.

  • What the

    What the…

    *calls in air strike*

    I’m not drawing any conclusions about the demographics of garden centres but the next shelf is jigsaws and the greetings cards are Matt cartoon ones.

    There are six shelves of jigsaws. I’d bet Hamleys doesn’t have six shelves of jigsaws.

    I haven’t been in a garden centre in 30 years (after being dragged round them by my parents for years). Doesn’t seem much different.

    Actually maybe a bit different.

    No Zs though.