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Mrs May delivered her BIG BREXIT  speech in Florence this afternoon. She confirmed that there will be a 'transition period' of up to two years following the March 2019 deadline. The UK will be honouring its payments to the EU throughout this period. Mrs May is seeking a 'bespoke arrangement' with the EU but failed to explain what she actually meant by 'bespoke arrangement.' It's taken 15 months to get this far. As I listened to the speech I became quite agitated and then somewhat flummoxed. Mrs May chose Florence as the destination from where she would deliver her speech. Describing Florence, Mrs May said: 'It was here, more than anywhere else, that the Renaissance began-a period of history that inspired centuries of creativity and critical thought across our continent and which in many ways defined what it meant to be European. A period of history whose example shaped the modern world. A period of history that teaches us that when we come tog...

David Cameron announcing his resignation 24 June 2016. During his resignation speech David Cameron said, "We should be proud of the fact that in these islands we trust the people for these big decisions." His body language told me a different story. My intuition told me that he was absolutely gutted at the decision to leave the EU and was struggling to understand how people could have been so recklessly stupid. As he finished the speech he may well have said," Right, you bunch of t******' now you can get on with it, I'm off." The referendum was a massive political gamble and one that I don't think should have ever been undertaken. What is the point of politicians if such huge decisions are left to the masses of uninformed, angry, disillusioned, fearful, desperate voters who couldn't have been informed enough as to the consequences of such an overwhelmingly life changing decision?  The result of the referendum will have consequences which will ...

                                                           Moulin Rouge Sunflower. The 'silly season' is over.... or has it just returned?  As summer drifts into autumn, the seasons move charmingly forward, through the winter until the first green shoots reappear in the springtime. Will it be a cruel winter, a winter of discontent? Will Britain wake up to the reality of Brexit? What IS the reality of Brexit? Will a politician stand up and tell the truth? Will people stop shrugging their shoulders while moaning, 'Just get on with it.' Will the country remain forever divided? Will the young ever forgive their forebears? Will Britain go backwards? Will we become a far-right nation? Will we still be able to have next day deliveries? Will we still eat our gastronomic delights? Will I be telling my first grandchild that 'Th...

Even the word is harsh - Brexit- it sounds tough on the tongue, an ugly word, brutal in pronunciation. A politically emotional word, one that makes me flinch while others preen. I think of Paris, the Paris of today as well as the Paris of my past, a visit on a school exchange aged fourteen, a romantic trip with my first real boyfriend.  Bomb blasts, carnage, heartbreak, and tragedy encompass European cities as well as our own, but I feel for us and them with a sense of love, a sense of comradeship.  I think of Portugal and my first paintings inspired by the colours of the cliffs, the freezing sea, the wobbly restaurant attached to a rock face. Sardines on the beach and yellow houses. The quiet of the afternoon, the clanging of church bells. I find it hard to believe that we are going to turn our backs on something so wonderful. Our friendship and alliance with Europe have brought us so much. Sumptuous food, oozing garlic, red wine drunk in pavement cafes, rich aromatic co...

Persephone and the Pomegranate Seeds Oil on paper by Celia Turner. September...Autumn...Winter...Spring The trees flush red and drop their leaves, the flowers wither and the crops stop growing. Persephone has travelled to the Underworld and Demeter roams the earth missing her daughter. But Spring will come again, and Persephone will return to her mother. The grasses will become green, the flowers will bloom, the trees will sport blossom, then leaves and then fruit. Demeter and Persephone will walk hand in hand, talking, singing, and laughing and the evening primroses will open just to see them passing by.