New piece by me

When did “disrespect” for law enforcement become a crime worthy of summary execution in the street? Clearly it must have started after Jan 6th, 2021. So…when?

Ongoing, but on the evidence of the first few dozen posts, a super deep dive using the EU reset as an example of why Starmer is struggling - no clear purpose, no narrative

My latest.

Enemies within and without. New post on my Brexit & Brexitism Blog includes a look at Erasmus, the Mail's anti-emigrant campaign, the great hate at home and the threat from Trump abroad, and the government's response: chrisgreybrexitblog.blogspot.com/2026/01/enem...

An upsetting question I have this morning is whether the transparent absurdity of the White House's denials that ICE agents are quite simply killing people in plain sight is something else they learned from Putin after, e.g., the Salisbury poisoning or another oligarch falling out of a window.

Excellent analysis of yesterday’s shooting including ICE refusing to let a doctor check the victim and the ICE agent who shot leaving the scene of the killing soon afterwards. This killing will live in infamy.

Almost everything Reform UK really thinks is diametrically opposite to the views of the UK electorate - on vaccines, Russia, Trump, climate change, green energy, race and nation, trade with the EU, whatever. If they're elected on an immigration scare alone the buyers' remorse will be so, so fierce.

We are Christopher Isherwood, watching the scenes in the Berlin street below from our apartment window above.

If the UK government had a Culture Secretary, that person would be in a position to take a view about whether child porn on demand was a good thing, or a bad thing. thecritic.co.uk/brin...

I have a general rule that any presentation based on words starting with the same letter is bollocks. I once asked a famous CEO who gave a presentation on the "10 Cs of business" what the chances were of the ten most important things all starting with a C. He wasn't pleased.

I'm afraid there *is* an obvious answer: it can't.

A gangster state at home, a rogue state abroad: and entirely because Congress and the Supreme Court have abdicated their proper constitutional roles.

Marco Rubio is reportedly saying Maduro will stand trial in US courts. Which means it’s now the US administration’s position that US courts can hold foreign presidents, but not the US president, accountable for crimes.

Britain is missing out on up to £100m for every week that a landmark deal with the European Union is not in place, according to new research that has prompted calls for Keir Starmer to urgently break the Brexit economic “doom loop” www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...

Begum may be 'distasteful', but it is pretty clear she was a victim of grooming and trafficking. The decision to make her defacto stateless is also clearly incompatibile with the principles of international law. Labour doubling down doesn't change that it is bad. 1/2 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

I'm certainly not defending the Abd el-Fattah tweets but I really can't stomach the outrage about them from those who also insisted that Lucy Connelly was a heroic martyr for free speech and were equally outraged by her punishment.

Shamima Begum was the beginning of something in so many ways, one of which was 'the last government's inability to just do its job properly (in this case by passing legislation that would have allowed it to prosecute her here at home) and instead going 'no option but to undermine all our rights'.

The revocation of citizenship is a fundamental and brutal discretionary power of the state. One of the more depressing themes in recent judgments is how the courts nod-along and shrug when faced with this brute exercise of fundamental power, rather than subjecting this power to anxious scrutiny.

The EU referendum, 10 years on: @patrickmaguire.bsky.social www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...

Sad and predictable but also interesting and revealing to see the angry reaction from the populist right to the King's Speech. They're reading it as a call for tolerance of diversity, approval for multi-faith, multi-cultural UK, and supportive of Ukraine. Which I think it was & intentionally so. 1/3

U-turn on inheritance tax for farmers, just another in the long list of u-turns Labour have seen fit to embark on since the 2024 GE. But their Brexit red lines? Those remain nice and solid for some mysterious reason. Anyone would think they don't want a second term.

But what does Barry from Kettering, former supporter of the BNP, and current Reform UK voter, think? He’s the only one that matters.

The bit that gets missed in the scandal around Farage's schooldays is that his school made him a prefect - despite warnings from staff about his conduct. It's a recurring theme for Trump, Johnson, Farage & co. We can't be surprised at the way they behave, when their behavior is constantly rewarded.

Agree with all of this, other than "the right will go 'pro-natalist" - I think what will happen is that much of the right will shift from 'blaming our ills on immigration' to 'blaming our ills on ethnic diversity', which is already happening to an extent.

“Leave support is falling. That’s an opportunity the PM should seize before pro-Europe challengers for the Labour leadership do” Sound advice from Tom Baldwin www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

The 'betrayal of Brexit' response to rejoining Erasmus is obviously predictable, and stupid (Brexit = leaving EU). But what's more striking is how *dated* it seems, like someone still waving a 'Thatcher out' placard.

Proof that Farage is a liar www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

A good piece which adds to my sense that the political cost of dramatically reducing immigration and even reaching net emigration, is likely to be far greater for the government in terms of the impact on the economy, taxation and public services than the alternative

Dedicated to all those who say Ted tried to fool the British people by saying it was merely a Common Market.

Excellent piece Among the many gems: "for all that there has been some improvement in the tone of the UK-EU relationship under Labour, the domestic narrative remains one of suspicious, sullen instrumentalism."

Sobering but acute analysis.

I can’t help thinking that when, in future, people ask what UK political leaders said as it became undeniable that US saw European liberal democracy as its no1 strategic foe, Starmer and others will regret that the answer is “not much, shuffled awkwardly, looked at their feet”.

New Home Office impact assessment finds that cutting skilled and social care visas will cost the UK up to £10 billion with a central estimate of -£5.4 billion. It would be good if this got even a fraction of the coverage devoted to the endless debate about boats, flags and Turkish barber shops

This is the best analysis I’ve read about Trump’s alignment with Putin, and the future for Ukraine and Europe And it accords with my optimism. On the ground, Ukraine and Europe can resist the globalist oligarchs arthursnell.substack.com/p/americas-w...

Plane from London to Rome connected with an American flight today. So there were lots of US citizens on board looking forward to enjoying the delights of Europe. Felt like asking them... do you have any idea what the president of your country is trying to do to us? The damage he has in mind?

A propos: www.independent.co.uk/bulletin/new...

The Trump National Security Strategy is bonkers in many ways but this objective stood out: "Cultivating resistance to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations" Making their strategy of supporting radical right and extremist parties explicit.

European reaction to the new American national strategy document

Accurate.

I think that Labour resetting (more) towards the EU is very likely but I think the chances of Labour screwing that up are extremely likely.

Column. British politicians do a lot claiming to face the world as it is, while their actions speak of yearning for the world as it was. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Today the news will be about the government's proposals for juries. Please read this thread so as to be informed about the actual practical problems in the criminal justice system - problems which will not be solved by this misconceived and illiberal tinkering.

What a Public Inquiry Into Russian Influence in British Politics Must Also Investigate: Boris Johnson and Alexander Lebedev If you think the Nathan Gill conviction is bad, wait to you hear about another Leave campaigner and his connections to Putin's inner circle open.substack.com/pub/pdjukes/...

Why is Glasman in Labour, not Reform? Because these are the sort of ideas Farage's lot would come out with on a bad day.

Brexit reminders. New post on my Brexit & Brexitism Blog. Brexit may not be in the headlines, but many current news stories carry reminders of it, including the Hallett Inquiry report, the Gill scandal, the Budget & the latest net migration figures: chrisgreybrexitblog.blogspot.com/2025/11/brex...

Kinnock voice - "I’ll tell you what happens with impossible promises. You start with far-fetched resolutions....and you end up in the grotesque chaos of a Labour government, a *Labour* government, rejecting visas for homeless 8 yr olds trying to joing their parents"

Funny to think a year ago, most Tory MPs thought Starmer had a clever but cynical plan to bank the changes Sunak made on immigration and declare victory, rather than to keep holing himself under the waterline.

Today's migration stats illustrate the migration doom loop in action... (from my presentation at the IMF last week)