A date for those left standing after the Referendum.

Duncan Brodie

It may be that you are totally exhausted by the Referendum and the continuing fall out from the debate.

However, I know that many are not, and, if not, here is just the event for you!

Articulate's series of business breakfasts continues in July with the opportunity to discuss the likely impact of Brexit on the UK economy and what a new relationship with the EU should look like.  There will be focus on the local economy and what Brexit might mean for your business.


The Guest Speaker will be Duncan Brodie, the Business Editor of the EADT, and the event takes place at the in Yaxley, at the lovely Auberge. on Wednesday 13th July between 8a.m. and 10.30 a.m.

For full details and to book FOLLOW THIS LINK. 

Deadline for bookings is 6th July.

Paulo Bernard says it like it is

The Brenta canal in the lovely Veneto region; it's not just Venice that has canals.

Nick and I recently returned from a  trip to Italy.

We went to Verona and Padua, tourist destinations, but more provincial perhaps than Rome, which was the last place in Italy that we visited a couple of years ago.

We found a country, which , while still wonderful in many ways, was in other ways sadly diminished. This saddens me greatly.  I lived in Italy for almost a year when I left school and have always loved the country and its people.

We complain about our roads, but the pothole count in the Venento was of a completely different order, witness perhaps to the fact that public finances have really hit rock bottom.

The country has lost its fizz and confidence, even the food isn't what it was.

I think the reason why can be found by following this link from Paulo Bernard HERE.  This rather exciteable person is described as 'the most censored Italian economist'. 

I would suggest that you might glean more 'facts' about the European Union, and Britain's relationship with it,  from this clip than you did in the entire EU Referendum Campaign. Italy has not been served well by its membership of the EU, and it shows!

I cannot promise that this will be my last post about the EU, but I will do my best to move on now.

Is Brexit the death of Devolution?

It is possible that the decision to leave the European Community will prove to be the death knell of the Government's current so called 'Devolution' initiative. (I wrote about this a few days ago)

On Thursday the County Council is due to debate and vote on the issue.  However, it is possible that the change of Prime Minister and all that this entails will now significantly alter matters.  The project was very much the initiative of George Osborne, backed by Euro enthusiast Michael Heseltine.  It is probable however that very shortly others will be in the driving seat.

Moreover, many of the proposals are predicated on the assumption that we remain members of the EU.  The regions into which different parts of England are being herded look remarkably like the European Economic Regions dictated by Brussels.  The idea of an elected Mayor is copied from European practice.  The 'combined authorities' are needed in order to be the recipients of EU regional funding.

All this now looks somewhat redundant.  I will be urging my colleagues to think about ditching this fraudulent initiative (if it is not halted in any event) and start to consider how we can devolve real power to the people.

A new dawn breaks

View from the window.  24th June 2016 6.15 a.m.

 

Oh what joy, in the open air

Freely to breathe again!

Up here alone is life!

The dungeon is a grave.

FIRST PRISONER

We shall with all our faith

Trust in the help of God!

Hope whispers softly in my ears!

We shall be free, we shall find peace.

ALL THE OTHERS

Oh Heaven! Salvation! Happiness!

Oh Freedom! Will you be given us?

CHOR DER GEFANGENEN (Prisoners Chorus, Fidelio)

EU Referendum Breakfast in Lavenham

Richard Bacon with Articulate's Jenna Cox

To the Swan Hotel in Lavenham yesterday morning for a ‘Business Breakfast’ meeting organised by Articulate HLC.  The theme was the EU Referendum and the speaker the very erudite and articulate Member of Parliament for South Norfolk, Richard Bacon.

Richard makes no secret of the fact that he is not a great enthusiast for the European 'project', and, although not one of the organisers of the Brexit campaign, he is in favour of voting ‘leave’.  He gave an interesting, wide ranging, talk which rested largely on issues of British culture and tradition.  He argued that our strong democratic roots, and long history as an independent nation state, mean that we will not thrive in an environment where we are ruled from elsewhere.  As a nation we have no reason to fear an independent future and have all it takes to flourish outside the EU. If we remain in the EU we will in the long term be unable to resist the pressure for ‘ever closer union’ and this is not something that will sit happily with the British approach to democracy and way of life.

After his speech Richard was asked questions on all manner of topics, and there is no room here to go into the detail.  However I found his response about the threats of Brexit to farmers particularly interesting.  He conceded that East Anglian grain barons might be worse off financially if their subsidies are removed, and not replaced by the UK Government, but he argued that many are still tempted to vote with their hearts and not with their heads.  For other farmers, and the countryside as a whole, the situation is less clear.   For those interested in the topic he suggested reading a speech made in January 2016 to the Oxford Farming Conference, by Owen Patterson, former Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.  In this Patterson makes a cogent case that UK agriculture would be better off were we to leave the EU.  The speech can be found in full HERE.

Richard mentioned in passing the two recent BBC documentaries presented by Nick Robinson, Europe them or Us which trace the history of the UK’s relationship with the EU.   Nick and I have watched these and found them very enlightening.  The message that comes across clearly is  that over time British leaders of all political persuasions  have repeatedly been prepared to lie and cheat and generally manipulate the political process despite evidence of clear popular opposition,  to maintain their position within the magic circle of self-generated importance, and to keep the European ‘project’ on the road. Even Mrs Thatcher was guilty of this until she saw the light.  Sadly that lying and cheating continues today.

These programmes can both be watched on the BBC i player, and will be available for 19 days from today.  I recommend them.

At the beginning of yesterday’s event a vote revealed that those present were split pretty evenly between ‘inners’ and ‘outers’ with some ‘don’t knows’.  Another vote at the end of the session showed a clear shift towards support for Brexit.  In part of course this was a vote for the elegance and eloquence of Richard’s performance.  However, he made the case for Brexit very convincingly.

EU: to stay or not? A meeting to help you make your choice

Local marketing and Public Relations company Articulate HLC regularly holds open business breakfast meetings across Suffolk.

In April there is an opportunity for business people, and others interested, to meet the forthright and erudite MP for South Norfolk, Richard Bacon.  The theme of the meeting will be the forthcoming EU Referendum, and I have been assured that Richard Bacon will bring ‘reason and clarity’ to the debate.

The breakfast event will be held at the Swan Hotel in Lavenham from 8 a.m. to 10.30 a.m. on Friday 22^nd April. The cost is £15 per ticket, which includes what looks like a really scrummy breakfast!

‘Let your voice be heard. Listen and learn - and not in 'sound-bytes'.’
To book your place, please visit http://www.articulatehlc.co.uk/europe-breakfast.htm

General Information about Articulate can be found HERE.

Eating for Europe

Dinner at the EU, not a simple affair.

Some years ago when I was still working in the City I accompanied one of our US analysts on a visit to a French manufacturing company in Grenoble.  He was a lovely person and very highly regarded in his field.  Not unusually for an American he had to obtain a passport to come to Europe for the trip, having only previously travelled out of the U.S. many years before.

On arrival at the plant we immediately embarked on a long lunch.  After several hours he passed a note to me. The note read:-

‘When does the meeting begin?’

I sent a note back;

‘This is the meeting!’

I was reminded of this experience last Friday when reading the live tweets and blogs coming out of Brussels as David Cameron clawed his way towards his ‘agreement’ with other EU leaders. It really does seem that nothing can happen in Continental Europe unless accompanied by a lot of eating! In fact it is rare for EU leaders to meet in circumstances that do not include lavish gastronomy.

In the course of Friday we were treated to comments about a postponed ‘English Breakfast’, which turned into an ‘English Lunch’ and then an ‘English Tea’.   As the tension rose and agreement proved elusive the 'Dinner hour' was postponed several times.  There was a suspicion that Leaders were being deliberately kept from their fodder. David Grossman commented;   ‘Tusk is keeping EU Leaders bored and hungry until they agree’.

But at last it seemed that there was light at the end of the tunnel for the famished group. Isabel Hardman from the Spectator tweeted ‘Excited huddle taking place.  We may actually get news shortly, and not just about food!’

The next day, as an exhausted and, presumably, well fed Cameron called his Cabinet Meeting,  foodie metaphors were everywhere in the press.  Some of these reflected some scepticism about the true nourishment inherent in the deal.  The Leader in the Telegraph was headed ‘Thin Gruel’, and the elsewhere we read that ‘From the land of chocolate David Cameron was always destined to bring back fudge’.

Caine hits the spot on EU.

It was a great pleasure to hear Michael Caine on Radio 4 this week.  I have been a fan of his ever since watching him way back in the1960’s playing Harry Palmer in The Ipcress File. It seems that his acting career is still going strong with a new film, Youth, in which he is co-starring with Harvey Keitel, coming out at the end of January.

On the radio Caine made some typically PC-lite remarks about the lack of black actors in the Oscar nominations; (‘I think in the end you can’t vote for an actor just because he’s black’). Then, inevitably, he was asked about his views on our membership of the EU. (I think this will be a question for all interviewees for the foreseeable future).

Caine’s response really chimed with me because it closely reflects my own feelings.  He said that leaving the EU was ‘scary’ and he is right because the truth is that either option, in or out, entails a high degree of uncertainty.  However, as he continued to speak (and he seemed to be almost thinking aloud) it became clear that his preference was to leave.

It seems we will soon hear what David Cameron has managed to ‘negotiate’ with the Brussels bureaucracy, and I will make my final decision once details become clear.  However my gut feeling as things stand now is that we would be better off out than in.