Brexit delayed or betrayed? The outcome of the House of Commons overturning the EU Referendum result.

It now seems that Brexit will be delayed, even Jacob Rees-Mogg the MP for North East Somerset and leading light of the European Research Group seems to expect a short delay after March 29.  However, some reports suggest that Brexit could be put on hold until 2021, or even later.  In such circumstances it is worth reading the article by Gerald Warner which appeared in Reaction Life on February 27 entitled “Westminster’s message to Britain.  Democracy doesn’t live here anymore.”

Below is the first paragraph of the article, the rest can be read behind a paywall.  Here is a link.

https://reaction.life/westminsters-message-britain-democracy-doesnt-live-anymore/

"After innumerable false deadlines and anti-climaxes, we are finally close to the tipping point.   Sometime within the next month it seems likely the historic compact between governors and governed that have rendered the British constitution a template for parliamentary democracy will be shattered. That fracturing of our imperfect but workable system of governance by consent will truly be a watershed in history – and a deeply ominous one."

The British political landscape fractures as Brexit approaches, what will fill the voids?

If the cracks now appearing in the unity of the two main British political parties turn into a chasm I wonder what will rush in to fill the void.  Now that moderate and Jewish MPs are abandoning the Labour party as it steers a course to the extreme left  under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell will others  amongst the more moderate  Labour MPs jump ship and join Chukka Umunna’s crew in “The Independent Group”?

Will the free marketers in the Conservative Party drag it to the right and allow unrestrained capitalism to run riot for the benefit of the rich and powerful at the expense of the less well off?

With the Greens and Liberal Democrats, according to the opinion polls, apparently unable to make progress there are several parties, some new and several long-established, which could step into the spaces created by Labour and Conservative fractious in-fighting.

The pro-Brexit SDP could revive with the assistance of politicians like prominent former UKIP member Patrick O’Flynn.  UKIP itself could make a comeback with Gerard Batten and possibly Tommy Robinson at the helm.  Anne Marie Waters and her For Britain Movement with its pro-Brexit and patriotic working-class stance could burst upon the scene.  Robin Tilbrook’s English Democrats could be of appeal to those supporting English nationhood and a parliament for England.

Meanwhile, the fissures in the British political landscape develop as Brexit approaches, but will the British Political Establishment connive to rescind the referendum result?  If it does, Nigel Farage and his Brexit Party are waiting in the wings to avenge such duplicity!

MP's ducking and weaving over Brexit. Are they liars or idiots?

Isn't it fascinating to watch the vast majority of the British Political Establishment duck and dive and dodge and weave as they attempt to avoid referendum results and manifesto pledges in their efforts to keep this country in the EU.   

Their antics have led some to wonder if MPs are liars or idiots if this letter I came across in The Week (February 9) is anything to go by.  The letter was first published in The Daily Telegraph.

MPs: liars or idiots?

To The Daily Telegraph.

We are told there is no majority in Parliament for a no-deal Brexit.

Presumably MPs, who voted by 498 to 114 in favour of invoking Article 50 with a default position of leaving the EU on 29 March 2019, with or without a deal, were either lying to us or too stupid to understand what they were voting for?

Oliver Davies, Richmond, Greater London. 

Marshal of the Royal Air Force Hugh Montague Trenchard, 1st Viscount Trenchard. Commemorated in London and Taunton.

Hugh Montague Trenchard was born in Taunton, Somerset in 1873.  This month saw the anniversary of his birth on February 3 and that of his death on February 10.  

A poor and unenthusiastic student, he eventually joined the Army in 1893 after having failed the entrance papers for the Royal Navy.

Served in the Boer War in 1900.  He was critically wounded and lost a lung.  Eventually he recovered from his wounds and returned to South Africa in 1901.  His talents came to the attention of Kitchener and other senior officers.

Trenchard learnt to fly before the outbreak of World War I.  He commanded flying units on the Western Front and rose to command the Royal Flying Corps in France.  Trenchard strongly supported constant offensive tactics although they led to very high aircrew casualties.

In 1918 Trenchard was appointed Chief of the Air Staff and so became the first head of the RAF, a new service resulting from the merger of the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service.  He spent the next 10 years building the solid foundations and institutions required to form a powerful future air force.

Between 1931 and 1935 he was a reforming Commissioner of Metropolitan Police, but after he left office his more controversial plans were dropped.

He spoke powerfully on air matters before and during WWII and was a strong and enthusiastic advocate of strategic bombing.

Known as “The Father of the Royal Air Force” Trenchard died in 1956.  He is commemorated by a statue in Embankment Garden outside the Ministry of Defence in London and a plaque marks his birthplace in Taunton.  He is also commemorated on Trenchard Way in Taunton.

Orchestrating a no-deal Brexit. Evacuate the Royal Family! Resurrect the Home Guard?

Political commentator and broadcaster Iain Dale was the first person I came across to use the term Brexit Derangement Syndrome for those afflicted by the urge to promulgate apocalyptic or just plain ridiculous warnings of the consequences of Brexit.  Mr Dale has used the term when referring to individuals such as Andrew Adonis, Alastair Campbell, Sarah Wollaston, Anna Soubry and Nick Boles.

Now it appears parts of Downing Street and Whitehall have also been affected by BDS.

In the event of a no-deal Brexit the government is apparently considering introducing martial law and a curfew.   It seems there is also a contingency plan to evacuate the Royal Family from London in similar fashion to proposals made in 1940 when a German invasion was thought to be imminent.  What next I wonder?  The resurrection of the Home Guard! 

Compared to the present shambolic antics in Parliament, Downing Street and Whitehall dear old Neville Chamberlain’s much maligned administration appears bold, decisive and adept at masterly negotiation, and - don't forget - it did in fact order all those Spitfires and Hurricanes which won the Battle of Britain!

The Somerset Village Book. Almost 200 villages described in this chronicle from the Somerset Federation of Women's Institutes.

When visiting my local public library recently I came across a charming little book compiled by the Somerset Federation of Women’s Institutes entitled The Somerset Village Book (Countryside Books, 1988).  It gives a brief, but fascinating record of the history, people and events relating to almost 200 of Somerset’s villages.

One example of the book’s engrossing morsels of historical information is found in the entry for the village of Charlton Mackrell which is situated 3 miles east of Somerton in South Somerset.   A connection to the US Presidency is revealed!

We learn that one Henry Adams was married in Charlton Mackrell’s village church in 1609 and in 1638, at the age of 55, he and his family crossed the Atlantic to America.  The entry informs us that: “Henry Adams’ great grandson was John Adams who steered through the United States Congress the Declaration of Independence in 1776.  He became the 2nd President of the USA and his son John Quincy Adams was the 6th President.” 

The Church of St. Mary the Virgin in the village of Charlton Mackrell, Somerset.

Apparently when the book was published in 1988 there were still descendants of the Adams family living in the nearby village of Charlton Adam.

It is ironic that Lord North, the British Prime Minister who “lost America”, also lived in South Somerset at Dillington House near Ilminster.

I found The Somerset Village Book such an illuminating read that I have obtained a copy for my own library.