Lottsathoughts

The stench of mire in our political chaos is growing. The omnishambles that is Brexit, is beginning to make one of the oldest modern democracies in the world look very silly indeed. We've known for some time that there is something rotten in the Kingdom of Fleet Street and in 2017 we sank to fortieth in the World Press Freedom Index. Fortieth. There's been a great deal of talk in the last 12 months about pride in our country, and yet we are obediently living in a nation where by freedom of the press measurement, we are barely in the top 25% of the world. https://rsf.org/en/ranking What surprise then that our dodgey and agenda-driven press has led us into a cul-de-sac? How did this happen? False dichotomies. We love them. Our whole political and media-system is predicated on them. First Past The Post sets the scene and all else follows. Don't like Theresa May? You'd better vote Labour then. Offended by Mr Corbyn's dress sense? Better throw your weig...

Britain is a mess. We need a national-scale self-help book – something along the lines of the classic “Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway”. Fear is everywhere in the UK and it's playing havoc with our political discourse. There are of course two categories: credible, rational fears and misplaced fears of the bogeyman. The former should be respected and a big part of our political leadership should be dedicated to listening to the genuine fears of all members of our society (including non-voters such as youngsters and non-UK citizens), and working out how to address them. But misplaced fear should be called out and faced down. And even genuine fears need not be insurmountable. This is what is meant by the word courage. There is a rather widespread misunderstanding of the word that suggests courage means an absence of fear. As a singer, I have conversations almost daily along the lines of “you're lucky, you don't suffer from nerves”. Wrong. Every single time I go on st...

Like so many in the UK today, I am reflecting on the horror of the fire at Grenfell Tower yesterday. The pictures of the inferno will stay with me for the rest of my life. I cannot begin to imagine the devastating effect on those who saw or experienced the horror first hand. I am in no position to add to the speculation around the contributing factors. But I have observed a theme in the questions of others - questions surrounding the adequacy and enforcement of regulatory frameworks, particularly with regard to building regulations and fire-safety provisions. This observation reminds me that regulations and laws are on the whole a good thing, and that ideological desires to reduce red-tape are often misguided. And this brings me right back to Brexit. Because in December 2016, the Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg, evangelising for Brexit, said that regulations that were “good enough for India” could be good enough for the UK – arguing that the UK could go “a very long way” ...

Enough already. Politicians of Britain – all of you need to wake up and smell the coffee. We have been patient. A year of lies, posturing, arguing, denial, game-playing – we've watched it all through the kindergarten window. But now, it is time to stop. The head-teacher needs to march into the room and thunder SILENCE at you all. Nothing matters while Brexit is on the table. Nothing. Because Brexit puts in jeopardy our economy, our health service, our peace. The ramifications are so far-reaching that there is barely an iota of our daily lives that might not grind to a halt in 22 months' time. It is frankly absurd to pretend otherwise. And whilst the EU is ready with a plan, a team and a timetable we have wasted an entire year of preparation time through game-playing. We have started the clock ticking when we don't even have a team, let alone a plan. It is time for everyone to admit that the referendum was won on lies. And whether you think that is morally accepta...

Well that went well didn't it? An unecessary election, called for dishonourable reasons, has delivered a new problem. Westminster has turned into political whack-a-mole; no sooner do we see off one bonkers idea, another appears. Like planets aligning for the briefest of moments, in June 2016 a number of different players and agendas overlapped briefly to create havoc in our country. David Cameron's breathtaking arrogance in calling a referendum whilst failing to apply proper safeguards. Nigel Farage's personal obsession with destroying the EU. Boris Johnson's journalistic-mendacity in service of his own amusement and self-advancement. Michael Gove's naked ambition. Aaron Banks's greed and quest for power. Theresa May's opportunistic power-grab. Disingenuous and poisonous tabloid campaigns to protect their own interests A rise in nationalism and populist-extremism Alleged interference from Russian bot...

So Donald Trump has finally done what he threatened to do - he has pulled the US out of the Paris Climate Agreement. We can probably all agree that this is irresponsible, short-sighted and typical behaviour of the ignorant bully we know him to be.  But will it play out as badly as we fear? I suspect not - or at least not in the way we assume. I think the global fight will be strengthened and America's position will revert to the "right" side of this issue before too long. But I do have concerns about the UK arising from this. One of the striking things to come out of this is an immense upswell in unity by much of the rest of the world. Much as Trump himself may have missed this crucial fact, the United States is not the whole world.  What others think, matters. We know that 197 countries signed the agreement and that 147 have so far ratified it. In fact, only two countries held aloof from it: Nicaragua because they felt it was not ambitious enough, and Syria, who one ...