Chris Grey

The 'German car manufacturers will ensure UK gets a great deal' thing is still alive and kicking 10 years on ...

I had this over & over again when I complained to BBC during the referendum campaign about a specific issue (coverage of Obama's 'back of queue' comment): endless replies responding to different points/ ignoring, missing or refusing to address my precise complaint. Exhausting & dispiriting.

Schroedinger's war - it's very complete and just the beginning??🤡

It would be funny if the repercussions of his actions weren't so serious.

Which is perhaps why Reform's line on the war seems to be changing, judging by Jenrick's DT piece: www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03...

This was the point Starmer implied in his answer to Badenoch on this at last PMQs. My sense is that she & others have the idea (if so, an especially strange one for a Conservative) that NS oil is 'ours' and that, as such, UK consumers have first dibs on it at a price capped by the government.

"There's a genocide happening in this island because it is being taken over by dffiferent people that are not indigenous to this land"

"I would love to know where you are planning to go when they really turn on us. Because it has happened before + will happen again"

Thomas Corbett-Dillon, GB News

Good to see Farage robustly challenged. Telling to see the feebleness of his responses.

Is this the usual thing where Trump looks at the stock and bond markets and pulls back?

Agree. It sounds like a Trumpian golf boast

Nothing says 'man of the people' quite like oysters and champagne cocktails at Gow's in the 1980s, followed by some old chap at the golf course offering you a job in the City.

Very interesting how out of line the r/w media are on this, given their pretensions to know their readers. I was struck by responses to a very gung-ho piece in the Mail over the weekend where, at a rough guess, 75% or so of them were very resistant to the article's line.

It is. It really is.

Bitcoin. Farage. Kwarteng.

What could possibly go wrong?

Oh: www.forbes.com/sites/digita...

The impact of Brexit on immigration to the UK - UK in a changing Europe Jonathan Portes and John Springford share their new analysis that estimates how the number of foreign-born workers would have evolved had the UK remained in the EU.

Ending free movement "led to a modest rise in the number of foreign born workers in the UK, but a dramatic shift in their countries of origin."

💥 New analysis from @jdportes.bsky.social & @johnspringford.bsky.social on the impact of Brexit on immigration to the UK

🔗 ukandeu.ac.uk/the-impact-o...

Congratulations, Sam

This is good on the dangerous absurdity of some of the responses to the war. It's worth noting that 'betrayal', 'humiliation' and 'weakness' are exactly the same terms used week-in, week-out to describe how Brexit was undertaken. This is the embedded political psychology of the British right.

Farage misses out on Trump meeting as their relationship cools British populist politician aimed to reinforce his view about the UK’s Chagos Islands deal in conversation with US president

One small glimmer of light in the darkness: Farage's relationship with Trump has cooled, causing him a wasted journey to Mar-a-lago.

www.ft.com/content/9391...

Most helpful post of a mad night.

CANZUK economic block could stop Britain becoming a vassal state A new £6.4trillion alliance between the UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand could help the country protect itself from domination by increasingly belligerent superpowers.

Why did nobody report to me the surely game-changer of the Conservatives coming out for CANZUK, which might make, ooh, about 0.001% GDP difference given we already have trade deals with each of them... www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/market...

In case you missed it

There is almost no difference between the UK and French positions on Iran. But Macron's approach has been broadly accepted by French media and the opposition - except for the extreme left. The parallel with the UK is interesting.

In case you missed it

For GB News’s funders, £130 million is a small price to pay for vast influence The channel of “reactionary rage bait” has just released its latest accounts, which are yet another demonstration that there’s no shortage of funds on the right of British politics, argues Sam Bright

My debut piece for @thenerve.news - about how Paul Marshall and the Legatum Group are reshaping the norms of political influence 👇🏻

This almost reads like a spoof, right from the opening account of Nigel's adoration of the medals. I especially liked:

“Looking back, there were subtle signs the vote mightn’t go my way … one middle-aged cat lady on her door step [shouted] ‘You’re a total wanker!’”

Subtle indeed.

Image of the start of the latest blog post

Real war and culture war. New post on my Brexit & Brexitism Blog analyzing the Brexit imprint of domestic responses to the Iran crisis, the hypocrisy & sectarianism of Reform's response to the by-election and the questions it poses for Labour: chrisgreybrexitblog.blogspot.com/2026/03/real...

First anniversary of a really outstanding public service. Do follow this newsletter and @monkemma.bsky.social, if you don't already do so, for reliable, painstakingly researched rebuttals/ debunks of false/ misleading news stories.

This is excellent - the best thing I've seen on the supposed "sectarianism" of the Gorton & Denton by-election. (Unfortunately not posted until after I wrote my own blog touching briefly on a few of the issues, or I would have referred to it there.)

Image of the start of the latest blog post

Real war and culture war. New post on my Brexit & Brexitism Blog analyzing the Brexit imprint of domestic responses to the Iran crisis, the hypocrisy & sectarianism of Reform's response to the by-election and the questions it poses for Labour: chrisgreybrexitblog.blogspot.com/2026/03/real...

Interesting that he uses this expression 'not going after arrows, going after archers' - exactly the unusual (?) term used by Badenoch at PMQs. As with Trump's repetition of her linkage of Starmer's policy with the G&D by-election there seems to be two-way traffic in sticks with which to beat the UK

What's also interesting is that whilst the YG surveys show respondents tend to think Starmer is handling the conflict badly, they seem to support his approach, perhaps because his unpopularity is so entrenched it colours responses when Qs are linked to him rather than to policies.