Category Archives: Viva!

Brexit was becoming a farce. Now it is turning into a coup | William Keegan

2027.jpg?width=300&quality=85&auto=forma

Johnson may have come to power by legitimate means, but his language and actions in No 10 have been disturbing indeed

I continue to recommend re-reading Joseph Heller’s great novel Catch-22 for those of us who want to avoid being driven crazy by this Brexit farce.

As we are told that the cabinet is operating on a “war footing” and that frantic preparations are made for the austerity and hardship that would follow no deal, my mind goes back to the shortages I witnessed as a small boy during and after the second world war.

Continue reading…

Why Trump’s ‘maximum pressure’ foreign policy yields minimum results

2958.jpg?width=300&quality=85&auto=forma

The president is heading into 2020 with no major successes and looming crises – so many expect him to attempt to reverse the trend with dramatic deals

Donald Trump is heading into the 2020 elections with no clear-cut foreign policy successes, some dramatic failures and a string of looming crises around the world that could undermine his bid for re-election.

For that reason, many expect the president to try to reverse the trend with dramatic interventions around the globe with uncertain outcomes – which will make the next 16 months even more volatile than his presidency so far.

Continue reading…

Mr Johnson’s plot to subvert democracy is more dangerous than Brexit itself | Andrew Rawnsley

3500.jpg?width=300&quality=85&auto=forma

In the absence of a formal constitution, British democracy is heavily reliant on politicians acting with honour

Only once since 1945 has a British prime minister been evicted as a result of a successful no-confidence vote in parliament. That was on 28 March 1979, one of the most dramatic nights in modern parliamentary history. After many months of struggling for its life, Jim Callaghan’s battered minority Labour government faced a confidence vote brought by the Conservative leader, Margaret Thatcher. It was nerve-shreddingly close. The Callaghan government lost by just one vote. Once the tellers for each side had marched up in front of the Speaker and read the result, there was uproar, during which Tories cheered with delight and some Labour leftwingers sang The Red Flag. Callaghan then got up to the dispatch box to make a brief and dignified statement in which he declared “we shall take our case to the country” at an election that he promised to hold “as soon as possible”. This would be an election that Callaghan had concluded, rightly, that he was going to lose.

In strict law, he didn’t have to do that. The requirement that an election must be called by a government that has lost a confidence vote was “a firm convention” rather than solid legislation, as are the understandings that a government won’t unreasonably delay an election and will not do anything contentious once a campaign is under way. When people refer to the British constitution, they are talking about a hotch-potch of such conventions, combined with ancient charters, precedents, international agreements, legislative bolt-ons and unwritten understandings. The fabric of this messy tapestry is held together by a crucial thread. That is an underlying assumption that everyone can be trusted to behave in a proper way. In the absence of a formal constitution, British democracy is heavily reliant on politicians acting with honour and playing fair.

Continue reading…

I avoid giving parenting advice – except on infant vaccines | Séamas O’Reilly

4500.jpg?width=300&quality=85&auto=forma

Ever since Rocky IV I’ve loved injections… which may be weird but I’ll fight any anti-vaccine parent

This week my son had his MMR vaccine, stressing us all. No one likes injections. Except me. I’ve always enjoyed them. I think it’s from watching Ivan Drago in Rocky IV when I was small, which made me think of them as power-ups. Each childhood needle-sting thrilled me a little. It was like I felt some ominous Soviet liquid coursing through my veins, allowing me to dish out, and eventually receive, a beating so hard it ended communism. I thought everyone felt this way at first but quickly learned that of the millions of people who watched that movie, I alone took home a feelgood message about needles, and how sweet it must feel to receive a Cold War dose of performance-enhancing drugs.

Even if you don’t share my fondness for the actual injections, I hope I can spread my enthusiasm for vaccines. I’ve been writing this column for a year, and have never proscribed any practice. There are a million other organs willing to make you feel bad about your parenting choices. But vaccines aren’t one of those choices, and I refuse to be anything but strident.

Continue reading…

Waitress Waiting

mono log

A waitress waits for her customers
Waitress Waiting © 2019 Garry Knight

The waitress steps out of her door and walks to where her customers are sitting. They’ve nearly finished their drinks; are they ready to order? They seem more interested in talking than choosing from the menu. “Can you give us five minutes?” “Yes, OK.” She walks back and steps in through the door. A few seconds later, she emerges again, and takes up her position by the door, where she is out of the way but can see and be seen. She waits. Now is my moment.


A little under a month ago, I asked what it is that makes a good photo. And I said that, “for me, the three principles of encapsulation, orientation, and colour-toning are all present in a photo that I consider to be good.” Not just present, but used well. And while they’re necessary, on their own they’re not…

View original post 269 more words

It’s no time to play parliamentary poker. Let the people decide on Brexit | Sadiq Khan

5906.jpg?width=300&quality=85&auto=forma

Sadiq Khan gives a damning verdict on his predecessor as London mayor, Boris Johnson, as cliff edge approaches

When he became prime minister, Boris Johnson had a huge opportunity, and responsibility, to reunite our divided country. As the figurehead of the Leave campaign in the Brexit referendum, he was uniquely positioned to reach out to the 48% of us who voted to remain in the European Union and who have been ignored by the government ever since.

Johnson could have persuaded the most extreme Brexiters in his party that they should compromise with those who voted to remain. There are many young, urban and ethnic minority communities across Britain who are terrified about the future. Johnson could have chosen to use his position as the new prime minister to heal the divisions that have gripped us rather than widen them.

Continue reading…

Boris Johnson pledges to extend police stop and search powers

Your papers please or we will tase and lock you up if you don’t look like a white Brit!

5382.jpg?width=300&quality=85&auto=forma

Prime minister also announced creation of 10,000 more prison places at a cost of £2.5bn

Boris Johnson has said he is determined to tackle rising levels of knife crime by announcing an extension of police stop-and-search powers.

At the same time, the prime minister announced the government would be investing £2.5bn in creating 10,000 new prison places to ensure serious violent and sexual offenders got the sentence they deserved.

Continue reading…