New Agenda on Sunday. is out! Edition of 4th March 2018

Good morning everyone

The weather which the Express has been predicting/forecasting for some months, finally arrived as "The beast from the East" swept into Kent, Essex, Norfolk,Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, Northumberland and all places North into Scotland, before bumping into "Emma" roughly along the M4 corridor, coming in from the South to hit the West Country , Wales and Ireland with heavy snow, the worse and heaviest it is reported in over thirty years.

Apart from the usual travel chaos on roads and rail, the storms, snow and intense cold, tragically claimed 10 lives over the period of a few days. It is forecast that there will be a gradual thaw but it will remain unsettled. We must hope that we have seen the last of winter for this year. March 1st was, after all, the first day of Spring.

Prime Minister defends "cherry picking"

Prime Minister Theresa May, treat the country and the European Union with yet another speech outlining her plans/vision for our future relationship with remaining 27 EU members. It seems that her words have struck at least a small cord with the warring factions of the conservative party who view her message as "constructive". She remains convinced that it is possible to have a "soft border" between the Republic of Ireland and Gt. Britain (Northern Ireland) whilst at the same time taking the United Kingdom out of the Customs Union and Single Market.

When will this obdurate and intransigent woman grasp the simple reality, which practically every European Leader from Dublin to Brussels has made perfectly clear over the months, that a soft border and leaving the Customs Union and single market are totally incompatible and that she cannot "cherry pick" her way to a Brexit agreement?

As a footnote to this, the DUP are about to receive another £1 billion to ensure their votes stay on side in the Commons. The payment is being made with prior Parliamentary approval.

Image result for wallander (swedish tv series)

Sweden produces some first class television drama. Wallander was a classic example and on Saturday night, Modus completed a second series (I missed the first series) on the disappearance of the American President while on a visit to Sweden. Atmospheric and well acted I am looking forward to the start of another series next Saturday. With a very few notable exceptions, Strike for example, British television drama could learn from Sweden.

Image result for greggs driver distributing cakes

In a week dominated by news of snow, ice, wind and cold, it was refreshing to note the stories which went some way to restoring faith in human nature. The 4 wheel vehicle drivers pulling others out of snow, or gong to local hospitals to ferry patients and nurses to work or emergency appointments. The neighbours lowering food and hot drinks from motorway bridges to drivers and passangers stranded for hours on motorways. Farmers fixinging ploughs to the front of their tractors to clear snow from blocked lanes and roads. The one which really caught my eye amidst hundreds of acts of kindness was the Greggs delivery driver who unloaded cakes, pastries, pies and other "goodies" and from his stranded lorry and distributed them to other marooned drivers. The age of community spirit is not dead.

Have a nice week

Northern Ireland and Brexit. The return of "The Troubles"

Northern Ireland: police attacked in another night of disturbances | Northern Ireland | The Guardian When the "Brexit" debate was still filling our newspapers and our television screens, readers may remember why I had changed my mind since voting to leave at the referendum vote. Apart from the economic arguments, which had become crystal clear after peeling away all the lies and misrepresentations trotted out by Bozo Boris and his "Get Brexit Done" conspirators, there was always the problem of the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Would it be possible to have a border between the European Union and the United Kingdom where people, goods and services could pass freely between the two nations without customs restrictions, tariffs, duties and all the other formalities? Would it be possible to have one part of the United Kingdom treated differently from other parts of the United Kingdom, particularly when Scotland for example had voted overwhe

The Parliamentary Labour Party conspirators are hatching another coup.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/corbyn-labour-leadership-rebel-mps-a7202641.html Labour MPs plan for Corbyn victory and plot how to confront an emboldened leader Even for the "Independent", the number and use of unnamed anonymous "sources" in this article is quite astonishing. However, amongst all the usual speculative delusion, there is one factor which causes concern to anyone who believes in the Labour Party, its principles and in he democratic process of the Labour movement. It is abundantly clear that elements within the Parliamentary Labour Party, are even now, planning another coup in the event that Jeremy Corbyn should emerge as winner in the current ballot. The failed coup of earlier this year, has now descended into a sham leadership election, because the conspirators still fail to accept the democratic decision of the Labour party membership and cling to

Plemont development or return to nature?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-jersey- A date has been set for a public inquiry into plans for Plemont Headland. This exceptional location must be sold to the National trust for Jersey, and returned to nature. Any other outcome involving development of the site, can only demonstrate the extent to which greed and self interest have become endemic in Jersey.

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