This week, back to the UK and Europe. hayest.substack.com/p/scribbling...

Some comments on the centrality of work to our lives and how UBI is no answer. hayest.substack.com/p/scribbling...

As if Trump and Maga were widely popular in Europe. I am not sure this is the brilliant move they may think it is.

@nytimes.com I do not know if this article is behind a paywall, as I have a subscription and can read it, but it should be free to read for all. This is an important statement of progressive principles when it comes to immigration. Let it go free. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/o...

This is a political statement from a man of the Left that I can relate to. It is written in the ink of humanity and common decency. This is the way forward. Not the hatred of others and the closing of borders offered by the Right. I stand with Sánchez. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/o...

Surprisingly, if the UK were still a member of the EU, this problem would not arise. Who could have guessed that the EU would want to look after its own in an increasingly fragmenting world? www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Is this not just a new variant of the old approach? We want to be in, but with all these opt-outs? www.ft.com/content/b14f...

All I can say is this. What the f**k is a 19-year-old doing leading a council? He can hardly know his arse from his elbow. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

What utter bollix. The only good Brexit is no Brexit. The sooner the Labour government admits that, the better. www.ft.com/content/3be7...

I see lots of stuff like across the newspapers. One thing I have not seen is a detailed account of how Epstein got his money. Where did it come from? Who was bankrolling him or doing business with him? observer.co.uk/news/interna...

This week, some thoughts about working life. hayest.substack.com/p/scribbling...

Britain has had a proper Brexit. It is no longer a member of the EU. That's what Brexit meant. Leaving the EU. What the Express really means by a "Proper Brexit" is a suite of right-wing policies that would further impoverish the country and isolate it even further from its neighbours.

What is there to say? I can but agree with this. When you are adrift in a sea of political sin, and you have no moral compass, you will always be off-course because you have no course. @alanbeattie.bsky.social www.ft.com/content/1683...

They will suggest anything, anything, to boost economic growth, except for the one thing guaranteed to do so: rejoin the EU. Oh, and by the way, what Kyle suggests is for the birds. www.ft.com/content/e401...

After the week that was at Davos, some thoughts on negotiations. Key takeaway. Best never to reward bad behaviour. hayest.substack.com/p/scribbling...

The War of Jenkins' Ear was fought between Great Britain and Spain from 1739 to 1748, after Jenkins showed his allegedly severed ear to Parliament. It would now appear we are about to have the Invasion of the Denied Nobel because Trump is piqued that he was not awarded the Peace Prize.

Some thoughts on the emerging standoff between President Trump and European countries over Greenland. hayest.substack.com/p/scribbling...

I'll post a new Scribblings tomorrow, but in light of what is happening over Greenland, I thought I would repost last Sunday's Scribblings. When I wrote it I never thought that what I feared was going to happen would happen within just a week. hayest.substack.com/p/scribblings

Trump threatens to tax Americans with more tariffs on imports if other countries do not support his Greenland lunacy. But then again, he still thinks it is exporting countries that pay his beloved tariffs. www.rte.ie/news/world/2...

She gave me her Nobel Peace Prize because she knew she did not deserve it, but that I did. I have stopped 279 wars. What! Another one? Where? In the other quadrant of Orion. I have brought peace on Earth. You rude and horrible person. Do not ask me about Ukraine. Putski, as I call him, is great.

Back after my Christmas break in New Zealand. Some New Year thoughts about the future for us Europeans. hayest.substack.com/p/scribblings

Going into a pawn shop and finding that someone had hocked their Nobel Prize and deciding to buy it is not the same thing as being awarded a Nobel Peace Prize. It is just a piece of tat you bought. It brings no honor. Just a shiny bauble.

This is why the EU will never cut a big, new deal with the UK. The UK position is "we want what's yours, but what is mine is my own". It is hokey cokey negotiations - we want the right leg in but the left leg out. No deal on this basis. www.ft.com/content/8d9a...

The key comment is in the last para of this article. The EU will not want to do business with a politically unstable UK. www.ft.com/content/8d9a...

It would appear that Trump has now appointed himself as chair and sole member of the compensation committees in defense contract companies. Just imagine the outcry if a Democratic president had issued such an edict. Indeed, we live in strange times.

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...