I have been carrying a little string of thoughts in my head for several weeks. They make a point I haven’t seen being made elsewhere and which might be worth adding to the mix. Maybe it would be of interest to someone passing, even throw some further light, however dim and peripheral, on what’s happening around us, or at least… continue reading
Tag brexit reflections
In Search of Good Faith
The Parrot and the Elephant
This piece was written a few days after Mr Johnson became Prime Minister. Mr Toad seemed quite puffed up by now, that jolly mop on top sticking out in all directions. He was centre stage and the cameras were following him everywhere. And again we kept hearing that “Labour Must…” And “Now’s the Time…” but no one seemed to know… continue reading
The Caged Parrot Watches the Demons Dance
This piece returns to a preoccupation of my own, concerning language. What is the point of writing, the point of taking a position and then articulating it ?
And of course that leads to the question, why keep writing these stanzas, these mere words amid all the bizarre and frantic and disastrous political action going on all round us, mere… continue reading
Parrot on the Labour Die-Hards
Self-evidently, these are times of national crisis from which only the best of governments can rescue us. We do not have the best of governments and one still worse is coming. So it matters that Tom Watson cuts a rather lone figure in the Labour Party just now. What he stands for, I believe, is decency and Labour’s true values.… continue reading
The Parrot Glimpses Mr Toad
It continues to look certain that our new Prime Minister will be a toad. In saying that, I am thinking partly of Mr Toad of “Wind in the Willows.” I am also mindful that the UK ambassador in Washington, Mr Kim Darroch, has just resigned, due to being betrayed by some colleague, and to the fact that, afterwards, when Mr… continue reading
The Parrot Goes to Glastonbury
The 2019 Glastonbury music festival is now behind us. The parrot attended, at least in spirit. Then he came home and read this article in The Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/…/brexit-jeremy-corbyn-len-mc… It suggests that, out here in the present-day world, what goes on in dear old Len Mcluskey”s tent/castle/head-harbour-of-the-past seemed to be having an immoderate affect upon Corbyn’s position and actions over Brexit,… continue reading
Jez Has Trouble with Today
In the press, the same phrases have kept coming up in relation to Jeremy Corbyn’s failure to take a clear position, or offer any real leadership, on Brexit. Almost on a weekly basis, there has been “new pressure” on him from one or another of his various supporter groupings, to “come off the fence.” “Crunch meetings” have kept being arranged,… continue reading
Jez Holds the Bridge
For days now, the Tories have been capturing the UK headlines with their exercise to find a new leader, who will also be the nation’s Prime Minister at this fraught and crucial time in our history. Today, mid-summer, with just Hunt and Johnson left in the competition, and with Johnson way ahead, we are moving towards some kind of exquisite… continue reading
The Parrot Falls off his Perch
This stanza refers to the Tory leadership contest following Theresa May’s resignation as UK Prime Minister. At present, Boris Johnson is far ahead of his rivals. The stanza’s warning, that in his career he has been sacked twice for lying, is a matter of public record. So is much else that is disreputable. In a world that made sense, such… continue reading
The Parrot Brings us Up to Date
Key to references in case any are needed : 1/ The minotaur is Trump who has just paid a State Visit to the UK. 2/ The Maybot is Theresa May (I didn’t coin that one, of course) who seems to have resigned as UK Prime Minister recently, at the kind request of her Party, the Tories. 3/ Jez is Jeremy… continue reading