May 14th,2023. There is so much going on in politics in the UK at the moment that it is difficult to select items to discuss. Therefore, this letter will try to give a picture of life in non-metropolitan UK and share a flavour of everyday happenings. Many of you
April 23rd,2023. Before we look at the events happening to and within the Scottish National Party (SNP) it is useful to look at the difference in the prosecution processes. In England, criminal prosecutions are controlled by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) which is an independent service. In Scotland, they
April 12th, 2023. Now that life is settling down Post Covid my work schedule is returning to normality. Unfortunately, the rest of the country seems to be suffering from a massive hangover and communal apathy. I had to travel from Cornwall to Norwich for a meeting and normally it would
March 28th, 2023. In Nashville, Tennessee a heavily armed 28-year-old killed six people at a Nashville elementary school in a devastating mass shooting on Monday morning. Police initially described the suspect as a woman in the aftermath of the shooting. Nashville police said on Monday that the shooter was 28-year-old
March 23rd, 2023. There were a few interesting comments on my last letter which I shall try to answer here. I mentioned that I had worked in the Ukraine, but I had avoided commenting on the situation in my letters. The answer is complex but here goes. I was in
March 15th, 2023. I was sitting outside today (yes, it wasn’t raining or snowing!) thinking about the impending storms and it was only yesterday that I realised it was Spring as the swans had returned to our little river. Photos supplied. The BFD. Having reflected on how quickly seasons
March 5th 2023. The latest polls were released last week, showing Labour with 50% support from those polled and 22% supporting the Conservatives. Bringing up the rear were the Liberals (9%), Reform (7%) which is formed from the Brexit movement, Green 6%, Scottish Nationalist 4%. As preferred Prime Minister, Keir
February 15th 2023. Nicola Sturgeon resigned today as First Minister of Scotland. The little piece below is suddenly doing the rounds! Nicola Sturgeon resigned at 11 am today and gave her main reason as burnout. Meanwhile, an SNP official told Politico: ‘It’s a Jacinda Ardern moment. Better to leave
February 6th 2023. On the Politics Live BBC TV programme at lunchtime today, Emily Thornberry Labour’s shadow attorney general let slip a comment that shocked me. She either meant something different or didn’t realise what she was saying. She said that the same corporate tax rate should apply
January 30th 2023. Well, the new year is well underway and there is an undefinable feeling that something is wrong with the UK. There is a feeling of malaise and an overriding sense of general unhappiness sitting like a damp blanket across the psyche of the nation. It is almost
January 19th 2023. Having seen the reports of Jacinda Ardern’s resignation in the UK media I thought it would be useful to share a few comments from the UK MSM. To quote Robbie Burns “O, wad some Power the giftie gie us To see oursels as others see us!
January 14th 2023. A Happy New Year from the frozen North. After a welcome break over the holidays it is back to what currently passes as normal in the UK. We are greeted back with the nurses, ambulance drivers and NHS workers continuing their industrial action. The railways are getting
December 23rd 2022. Christmas is nearly upon us as the UK slowly slides further down the gurgler. It is hard to find a body in the public sector that isn’t suffering from a strike. Ironically, border force staff at six airports have gone on strike, but incoming passengers seem
December 16th 2022. As a break from the deluge of incompetence coming from the Conservative Government, I have been watching the blanket coverage of the soccer World Cup and then had a visit to Exeter Cathedral Christmas Market. I saw the Senegalese supporters in the Crowd at one game. I
December 12th 2022. Well here we are, coming into Christmas and Britain is in a little bit of strife. There is a rising of discontent throughout the country as more and more unions lobby for wage increases and then successfully ballot their members to vote for strike action. This has
November 17th, 2022. The only chance the conservatives have electorally is if the electorate thinks that the measures are fair and the pain is shared. It is 2 budgets in one, 1 for today’s issues and one for election year 2025. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) needed to
