Brexit for slow learners. In the words of Theresa May: Brexit means Brexit. Now, it is the turn of the EU to say to the UK: Brexit means Brexit. You made your choice. Live with it. www.ft.com/content/0808...

Encroaching Christian Nationalism in the US. Coming close to saying that if you are not a Christian, you are not a true American.

Einstein said that doing the same thing over and over in the hope of expecting a different result is insanity. Labour repeating over and over that it is going to "reset" economic relations with the EU is likewise insane. Nothing of substance will come of it. www.ft.com/content/b3d3...

Presumably, what this means is that if you have expressed an unfavourable opinion on Trump, you will be refused entry. www.ft.com/content/683b...

Who would want to travel to the US if this is what you have to do? They want you to walk socially naked through frontier control. Who needs this indignity? Will this apply to every soccer player in next year's World Cup? These are the policies of Donald "FIFA Peace Prize" Trump.

I admire Stella Creasy. She has stood up for the pro-European principles she believes in. But let's be honest. This is a pretty tame piece. What is needed is a political leader from the mainstream who stands up and says: The UK's place is in the EU. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

For my last Sunday Scribblings of 2025, back to one of my recurring themes, the future relationship between the UK and the EU. It is not going anywhere, anytime soon. hayest.substack.com/p/sunday-scr...

On this logic, the US should be abolished so the individual states can better represent their people.

What this shows is that Reform is now the party of choice of rich business people. Their biggest donor does not even live in the UK. www.ft.com/content/db73...

This is hypocrisy on the part of the Irish broadcaster RTE, as everyone in Ireland has access to the BBC, and if they want to watch the contest, they will simply switch to the BBC. You can take such "moral" stands when you know people will not be put out. www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...

I did not get the Nobel Peace Prize, so instead I will award myself a building. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/03/u...

After last week’s piece on my birthday, back to the mundane in this week’s Scribblings, in which I discuss the shadow of a thing that is European social dialogue. hayest.substack.com/p/sunday-scr...

No doubt, Trump will order special forces to go into Brazil to spring him loose.

When you are in a hole, stop digging. But the Labour leadership insist on continuing to dig to appease mythical red wall social conservatives. I like William Keegan, but he forgets one thing. The EU is in no rush to have the UK back. Not anytime soon. observer.co.uk/news/busines...

It is not every day that you hit seventy-five. But today I do. Some thoughts on reaching that milestone. Thanks to all who have already wished me well. hayest.substack.com/p/sunday-scr...

I despair to see the Labour Party die before my eyes. I am Irish, but am of the European social democratic family. I have always felt a close bond with UK Labour. Now, it is diving down reactionary racist rabbit holes, betraying ts basic values of social solidarity. If this is Labour, let it die.

On my way back from an Ibec pay transparency conference in my hometown, Dublin, some stuff about remote working caught my eye and prompted this week’s Scribblings. hayest.substack.com/p/sunday-scr...

I am shocked, shocked, I tell you, that a musume spent too much money on art when it could have spent all that money on security measures. What is the world coming to when a museum spends its money on art? www.ft.com/content/15f3...

I think this is what you call Brexit - the consequences of the UK being outside the EU. When you make choices, then choices have consequences. Everyone looks to their own interests. www.ft.com/content/03ef...

The second part of this week’s “double-dip”, thoughts from Auret van Heerden on the issue of forced labour in global supply chains. Something those with responsibilities for human resource management need to be conscious of and take seriously. hayest.substack.com/p/sunday-scr...

A double-dip this week. Today, a piece on negotiations resulting from a piece in the FT on talks between the EU and the UK. Tomorrow, a guest column on the risk of modern slavery in global supply chains. hayest.substack.com/p/sunday-scr...

The prosecution thought he was toast.

Why would anyone be surprised by this? The UK trying to extract benefits from the EU from the outside, and the EU saying that is not going to happen. You have to pay to play. www.ft.com/content/8963...

Like it or not, if you just have 9,500 members out pf a workforce of 200,000, a strike is not going to be effective.

Looks more like a "bribe prize" to me. www.ft.com/content/b7f6...

Trade unions have been important institutions over the past century and a half. But are they now in terminal decline in Western market economies? Some thoughts on this in this week’s Scribblings. hayest.substack.com/p/sunday-scr...

Imagine you are a business out there in the market place. Because of a decision previous management took, your sales are down 17%. What do you do to boost sales? Of course, you cut your sales force. Simples. Can this gov get anything right? www.ft.com/content/8f4d...

This week, some thoughts on what I call “Bubbledom”. hayest.substack.com/p/sunday-scr...

Looks like a president for a few of the people. Political leaders have some questions to answer. www.irishtimes.com/politics/202...

After the elections in 2026, will England be on its own? How long will the UK hold together? I have no idea what the right or wrong thing to do is, but it looks increasingly like the status quo cannot hold. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Well, if that is the case, do the logical thing and seek to reverse Brexit. Or does Labour lack the political courage to do what it now knows it should do? www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...

Something a little different this week, the launch of a little book on collective workplace bargaining. hayest.substack.com/p/sunday-scr...

This week in Scribblings, some “Home Thoughts from Sitges”. hayest.substack.com/p/sunday-scr...

I am gutted, gutted I tell you, that Trump did not get the Nobel. Gutted. I was forced to order a second bottle of wine at lunch to wash away the anguish. There is always next year. But he may no longer be with us by then. We can but hope. But he could get that Russian prize, the Lenin thing.

Of course, this does not include judges with right-of-center sympathies because that is the natural order of things. What he means is judges whose views do not coincide with his. Only "Big Brother Bob" gets to decide what is correct.

I read this with interest, as an Irish person who lives in France and has no vote in the presidential election. The question occurred to me. Why does Ireland actually need a president? Would the political system be any worse if the office did not exist? www.irishtimes.com/politics/202...

Does the UK have a Culture Secretary, with responsibility for this stuff, who might take an interest in how media regulation works? If there is such a person, does anyone know what she/he does all day?

Is this situation not a consequence of Brexit, of the UK leaving the EU? Did not Brexiters complain that the EU was a "protectionist racket"? Do they now complain that the US is also such a "racket"? Difficult to be on the outside of such "rackets". www.theguardian.com/business/202...

I'm Irish, but I have lived outside Ireland, in France, for over 25 years. I follow Irish politics. But here is something I have never understood. Why does Ireland appear to need two finance ministers? Is the job so complicated that one person cannot do it? www.irishtimes.com/business/202...

France is rapidly running out of political road. It is paying the price for Macron's impulsive calling of parliamentary elections after the European Parliament elections last year. New elections now upcoming? www.ft.com/content/d2d7...

I think it was Einstein who said that insanity was trying the same thing over and over and expecting a different result ... same government, same policies, different PM. Not that they are necessarily wrong. It is that they cannot be delivered on. French politics are stuck in a crazy place.

Just one problem with this. There is unlikely to ever be another Tory government.

This week in Sunday Scribblings, I return to Brexit, or rather, I offer some thoughts on the issue of the UK and Europe, because Brexit is done and will not soon be undone. hayest.substack.com/p/sunday-scr...

I am in agreement with Michael McDowell in his principled refusal to nominate Steen. Why would you nominate someone to stand for public office when you disagree with their politics? It is not the job of a politician to help those to whom they are opposed. www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2025...

I agree with every word here. www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2025...

Nothing more than Mafia shakedown money. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

No doubt, if the US had won, Trump would have turned up and claimed to have been the team captain. They didn't, and he didn't. Well done to Europe. www.irishtimes.com/sport/golf/2...

This week, I was in both London and Dublin for labour relations meetings. Some thoughts after my visit to the two cities. hayest.substack.com/p/sunday-scr...

A great example of "Dane Geld". Pay the Dane the gold, and he will be back for more. Pay him once, and you will never get rid of the Dane.

It's My Party and I'll sue if I want to, I'll sue if I want to, sue if I want to You'd sue too if it happened to you. With apologies to Lesley Gore.