Back in April when he was first elected, I wondered how Keir Starmer – an essentially normal politician – would manage as leader of the UK Labour Party in extraordinary political times. Now we are starting to find out, and the picture is a mixed one. At one level all […]
For months this blog has been beset by a problem. Every time I upload an image I would receive the error: Post-processing of the image failed. If this is a photo or a large image, please scale it down to 2500 pixels and upload it again. Scaling it down, or […]
I might have been happily blogging away here for the last fifteen years, and in the meantime racking up enough words to publish a few books, but I have never had the confidence or the sticking power to actually write a book myself. Now at least I have managed the […]
This tweet and news story from The Netherlands caught my eye this morning – “Dutch Railways will make trains to Berlin and Brussels much faster: “We want to seduce air passengers”” the title says. Whether prioritising that route – to get people off planes – even makes sense is open […]
I think this story in this morning’s Guardian (front page in the printed edition as well – but with a different title – more about that below) about Brexit is overblown. I tweeted as much late last night, but got a load of critique back this morning, so let’s take […]
For the past 14 years, jonworth.eu has been my online identity. It’s the URL of this blog, the hub for all I do online. Even as blogging in the traditional sense has diminished, my blog has still accompanied me through all the best and worst of my work and personal […]
So the UK Government is at it again. Sunak has announced a “world-leading £1.57 billion rescue package to help cultural, arts and heritage institutions” The show must go on. We’re introducing a world-leading £1.57 billion rescue package to help cultural, arts and heritage institutions weather the impact of coronavirus. pic.twitter.com/J3KXUOxJEE […]
When I moved to Berlin in 2013 I needed to find a flat. I used a blog entry to help with my search, and wrote up my search experiences in the blog post “How To Find a Flat In Berlin” in January 2014. That post became one of the most […]
Even the original timetable for Brexit was ridiculously tight – out by the end of March 2019, and then the future relationship to be concluded 21 months later, by the end of December 2020. Remember that trade negotiations with third countries generally take more than 5 years, sometimes as much […]
I read this tweet earlier: Hearing rumours that Dominic Cummings will get a knighthood in the Queen's Birthday Honours List. — Christopher Snowdon (@cjsnowdon) June 5, 2020 It had a hundred odd retweets then, and more than a thousand now at the time of writing. It has to be a […]
On BBC Breakfast this morning, recounted by The Guardian here, Robert Jenrick (Minister for Housing, Communities and Local Government) said the following: [Dominic Cummings] has given his explanation to the prime minister, who listened and concluded that he’d acted reasonably and legally. The prime minister then asked him to give […]
Yesterday was a public holiday in Berlin and I took a little cycle trip along the Teltowcanal all the way to the small town Kleinmachnow, sandwiched between Zehlendorf and Potsdam, south west of Berlin. The canal itself was partly the border between East and West Germany, and East and West […]
This review of “Boris Johnson: The Gambler” by @andrewrawnsley made me howl and laugh in equal measure this morning. Do have a read. And based on the review, probably don’t buy it! https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/oct/18/boris-johnson-the-gambler-review-no-blame-no-shame?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
This is an interesting battle in UK politics just now
If you devolve power, sometimes the people with that power and voice disagree with the centre
Johnson to do to Burnham what Thatcher did to Livingstone?
Andy Burnham: “The problem now is, to a large degree, the Chancellor”. Must-read interview by @PronouncedAlva on Burnham's struggle with the government. https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/devolution/2020/10/andy-burnham-problem-now-large-degree-chancellor
