Update: April 2023

                                                 

    I've been off the blogging scene for a while as I've been having chemotherapy but that's finished now, thank goodness.  

I did not retreat from The Times, Below the Line however, in fact that has been prolific, there seem to be so many things to get annoyed about, I'm talking politics of course and mainly Bloody Brexit.  

      

I have republished some older posts from artycelia.com but left in place all the Brexit (Brexiety) posts. We are nearing the 25th anniversary of The Good Friday Agreement, and I think it's important that we remember our (not mine obviously!) decision to leave the European Union and the precarious position it has left us in.

Despite politicians telling us that they 'got Brexit done,' they obviously did not. It seems to me that the politicians, especially Boris Johnson, had no clue what Brexit meant.

We find ourselves in an uncomfortable place here in Blighty. We have a severe cost of living crisis, the NHS (for which I will forever be truly thankful) is in crisis, there are strikes to rival the 1970's, we have shortages of skilled workers, businesses are struggling with red tape, musicians are unable to make music, the miserable list goes on.

Brexit was and is an emotional issue, like a marriage in a way, our relationship within the EU was far from perfect but we muddled along, we had good times, economically as well as politically, it was good to be part of something, it was exciting to see our children and grandchildren being part of it, enjoying studying abroad, living their lives, enjoying the culture, art, fashion, food and wine.

Ok, so we can still enjoy the culture, but we've divorced ourselves from the larger family, we are the third wheel.

It would be silly to say that the relationship was perfect, it wasn't. The 'marriage' changed a lot over the years, in 2004 the 'family' of fifteen countries was gradually joined by another thirteen, some of them likened to the 'poor' relations. In 2007-8 the fiscal crisis threatened an influx of distant family members, some of whom wanted to come for lunch while others wanted to move in.  As an island, immigration sometimes gets confused with invasion and this feels threatening to some people, some of us obviously wanted to pull up the drawbridge, while some others put the kettle on.

Anyway, we have left, we decided to leave in 2016, it's now 2023, there is a lot of unfinished business.

If, however, polls are to be believed, most people in Britain now believe that ending the marriage was a big mistake and we should have tried harder to honour our vows, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health. 

Instead, we did a runner.

The Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement was a remarkable achievement.

Brexit not so much.