Last night there was a riot in Derry in Northern Ireland, cars were set on fire, petrol bombs were used and guns fired at the Police. A journalist, Lyra McKee was shot dead. My condolences to her family. I thought this had ended twenty years ago. …
We’re still here
Yesterday, the EU and the UK extended the Article 50 notice period again to 31st Oct. We remain in the EU for the summer at least.
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In response to 6m, Parliament says …
And earlier in the day i.e. yesterday, the House of Commons honoured its commitment to debate the proposal of the 6m person petition to Revoke Article 50. It has been recorded on parliamentlive.tv and I shall look to embed it here, but it’s not piss simple and I don’t have the time. …
Back from Berlin
Back from Berlin, here are my pictures: skyscape, streetscapes, remembering the Wall, the Hotel Adlon and a bit of anti-brexit activism and a bit of food. Enjoy! …
Berlin Buses
I had thought the Berlin transport system to be clean, efficient and punctual but on the last day, on the journey home I was checking the arrival time of my bus, which is one of the less frequent services and one of the other putative passengers said, “they are often late”. It reminded me. …
The Gemalderie
I went to the Gemalderie in Berlin’s Kultur Forum. The art was a bit too religious or bit too civic. It made me want to got back to the National Maritime Museum for some seascapes, or the the art gallery at Newmarket. I missed the classic, i.e. Botticelli pictures of Venus which it seems are there but found one by Titian, called Venus & the Organ Player, fortunately painted and titled 425 years or so before Peter Cook’s satirical speech on the Jeremy Thorpe trial summing up. It reminded me a bit of the Jo Brand & Helena Bonam Carter sketch on the objectification and changing fashions of female beauty.
The Gemalderie has a sign saying photography permitted, the staff were wonderfully polite, even when correcting me, and the Cafe had a fabulous salad, but I think I need to go to Musee Insel next time., now over to the Embassy to show solidarity with comrades on the “finalsay” demo. …
Nigel Farage, 4 more years?
And as the odds that the UK will participate in the European Parliament elections shorten, we come to understand why NIgel Farage has launched a Brexit Party. You can’t stand for the European Parliament as an independent and he’s left UKIP which has fallen into the abyss of xenophobic stupidity, although it wasn’t a long drop from Farage’s leadership position. Watch that space! …
Intellectual Property & economics
Intellectual property laws have alsways been designed to encourage and reward innovation and invention. When the laws are too strong they become barriers to entry to markets.
This is where we are today!
The most immediate challenge is to #saveourinternet but no matter the results there, the rich and powerful wll lobby for laws that benefit them and not the rest of us. …
What now for Labour?
From Composite 1, #lab16
…. believes that unless the final settlement proves to be acceptable then the option of retaining EU membership should be retained. The final settlement should therefore be subject to approval, through Parliament and potentially through a general election, or a referendum.
This is Labour’s Conference Policy .. frankly I’d take any means of remaining now that we know the only terms available are unacceptable but I believe a lot of people would be very unhappy if Parliament instructed the Government to Revoke the A50 notice without a popular vote despite the fact that this Parliament’s mandate is more recent than the Referendum. …
Tonight in Westminster
And no-deal has gone! …