artycelia.com

                                                           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 'Things were better in the old days, the days before Bloody Brexit?

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 coffee, gin

In the human functional process, we know and understand the role of the nervous system and the way our senses come into play in our everyday lives. We respond in several ways to external forces of stress and sudden changes in our immediate environment. Some of the stress responses are summed up in the 'fight or flight' reactions, which manifest in physical changes, such as sweating palms, a quickened heartbeat and dilated pupils. The same way our bodies consciously respond to external forces is the same way we respond subconsciously to life changing scenarios. It has long been believed that humans have some level of instinctive or intuitive ability. Logically, we know that the fire will burn because our cognitive spheres have at some point come into contact with the heat of a candle or fire. This makes sense, scientifically, and is an understood process. However, it is much more difficult to logically explain the 'gut' feeling that people sometimes experience r

artycelia   17 hours ago While we are in such disarray it would seem sensible to cancel Brexit. I think the EU would agree. Britain is in turmoil. We need to sort ourselves out. We need a sturdy house before we renovate and we are far from that premise. Exit Brexit. Delete 46 Recommend Reply

Sometimes I come across such a brilliant post in The Times that I really wish I had written it myself. This post is in reply to an article by David Aaronovitch : 'Macron offers us a way out of Brexit mess.' Published online: 27/9/2017. Paper version 28/9/2017 John T   1 day ago The fact that Brits (particularly Brexiters) thought Brexit would break the EU apart shows how out of tune we are with continental Europeans. It's no surprise we can't negotiate with them. We simply don't understand them. The 2 Global wars in which Continental Europe's 2 biggest powers, France and Germany, were the crucible prompted some introspection among them both, and one of the results of that was the EU. The EU was envisaged as their way of preventing any more Verduns or Holocausts. To achieve this, national interests which could easily become nationalist fervour were supplicated to ideals of pan European cooperation. Henceforth France & Germany would coo

artycelia   I am quite dreading the speech in Florence on Friday. I hope Boris is gagged and chained while Mrs May spouts another load of silly meaningless slogans and soundbites. ' We will survive and thrive following our departure from the European Union ' 'We will continue to have a close relationship with our European neighbours.' ' We will be enjoying new trade deals outside of the EU ' 'We are stuffed, can we call the whole thing off?' Boris wriggling out of his chains yelling, 'bus, BUS, what about the BUS? ' Ho hum. I am sure the EU are shaking in their shoes. What an embarrassing mess we have gotten ourselves into.

I watched an interesting 'A Conversation With...'  programme the other day, the guest being Nigel Lawson. (Ex- Chancellor under Margaret Thatcher)) Mr Lawson was explaining that although he backed Brexit and thought it about time we left the European Union he was at pains to explain the crucial points of policy. Policy. Policy. Policy.  He could not re-iterate his point enough.  No decision, he said was a good decision unless the policy behind it, ahead of it and by its side (my words) was well researched, strong and ultimately do-able and in the best interests of Britain. A weak policy should not be given the light of day. In my opinion, there was never ANY policy for Brexit. Although I am a Remainer I believe for the sake of democracy that Brexit is sent back to the drawing board. When (and if) a sound Brexit POLICY is written it can then be discussed in The House and The House of Lords and then ( after amendments and in full) be gi

Brexit died a death as soon as the words 'transition period' were mentioned.  They appear in every article concerning the process of leaving the EU and are pounced upon by our cousins in the EU. (Quite rightly in my opinion as the words make a mockery of the 'leaving process.') You can't 'leave' a little bit and over time. You announce the time of your departure and on that date you leave. The good thing being that once you have left you could perhaps return. Our government's dithering, hesitating ,faltering and fluctuating position over Brexit, what it actually means and when it will take place will be the death of it. 'Transition period' has been eased into the Brexit talks to replace the non-entity that was ' No deal is better than a bad deal.' The Leavers have been well and truly duped. Delete

Britain is in chaos and our politicians are to blame. The problem lies with too many 'career politicians.' We see this so much today and it must alienate a lot of voters who are struggling with every day, real-life issues. There's nothing more annoying than listening to views about the NHS, the rail service, dealing with bureaucracy, the reality of unemployment, social care etc from people who have never experienced these issues. Also, it seems to me that politicians have a mind-set that is fact based, but that's all. They are lacking in intuition, and that all important sixth sense. They simply don't 'understand' people. This was so evident in the EU referendum. People were pleased to be given a voice, but that voice wasn't really to do with our membership of the EU. For a lot of people, it was a protest vote against their personal circumstances. Their lives were hard, they wanted something to blame. And since the referendum t

The Leopards, David Davis, Boris Johnson, Liam fox and Michael Gove, the advocates of Brexit presented us with a situation where Britain would be better off both politically and economically. To adopt or even envisage the compromises necessary for agreement with the rest of the EU would be to recognise that Brexit was sold to the British electorate on a false prospectus. Far from improving the UK's position in the world Brexit can only diminish it. The Brexit choices are: Minimum change from the status quo. Maximum change from the status quo. Half-way house between the two. All of which are inferior to the present state of affairs. The Lions, Philip Hammond, Damien Green and Amber Rudd need to ROAR. Mrs May needs to admit that Britain needs to Exit Brexit , and take herself off into the long grass to lick her wounds.  The Leopards have never been and never will be the kings of the jungle. (Lions and Leopards from Rachel Sylvester: The Times)

As a UK citizen residing within the European Union can I declare a 'State of Emergency' My reasons: A really rather reckless referendum. A lot of porkies. A minority government in disarray. A total confusion on exit strategy. A Prime Minister on her last legs. A total lack of cohesion within the government. A feeling of absolute dread that my country is making the biggest mistake in its entire history. As a nation clinging onto the our membership of the EU are there ANY statutes that the EU can bring forth to change the direction we are going in? Over the edge of the cliff that is. Please Macron, Merkel etc hatch a plan and save us from ourselves. Even if it's a gracious (but long) breathing space while our annoying politicians sort themselves out. Delete

Brexit has turned into Hard Brexit or No Deal Brexit.  What happened to 'the best deal for Britain'? Why is David Davis allowed to decide that we to leave the customs union and the single market? Did every voter in the referendum know the difference between the  customs union and the single market and did they take their studious views as a basis for our future trading relations with Europe? Does it not seem unarguable that if we put between us and the biggest free market in the world new tariffs, new regulatory barriers, new customs procedures, certificates of origin etc we are bound to be weakening the economic position from what it would otherwise have been? Why are we going backwards? Why are we allowing ourselves to be so distracted by Brexit to the exclusion of what needs to be done for the future? The NHS, schools, the workplace, communities, the retired, the young, the old, all are  affected by this backward looking nonsense that is Brexi

'The government agreed today to fund abortions in England for Northern Irish women in an effort to see off a rebellion on a vote on the Queen's Speech.' OK, I'm lost now. So, the problem with the anti-abortion DUP isn't the abortion itself but who pays for it? Surely that's totally hypocritical? Is Mrs May happy to be associated with such a 'deal'? Imagine reading a 'Horrible History Book' in the future about 21st Century Britain: what it stood for at the beginning of June 2016 and what it had become by the end of June 2017. How much lower will we go? (Key words for kids doing exams: Brexit, abortion, votes, bribery, Queen's Speech, morality, shame)

Brexit is like the long awaited cup final. It's quite exciting to see the teams and we all have our favourite side. The whistle blows, we are on the edge of our seats but the players lack passion, the ball goes back and forth and sometimes into the crowd. We take our eye off the ball to check our phone for messages. The game trundles on, no goals,no magnificent saves and no tidy footwork. The game goes on, the crowd have lost interest in the poor performance. Why do these teams deserve to be here,bloody hell, the competition must have been rubbish. The game goes on to extra time, a goal here and a goal there. And then to penalties. And that's where we are with Brexit. Let's hope rain stops play, permanently.

artycelia   'I believe that membership of the European Union was the way in which we got out of the appalling state we were in when we discovered after Suez that we had no role in the world that we were clear about once we had lost our empire, and our economy was becoming a laughing stock because we were falling behind the countries on the continent that had been devastated in the war but appeared to have a better way of proceeding than we did.' Kenneth Clarke February 2. 2017 The Times. And now we must leave. I have no confidence in the government, any that existed has steadily ebbed away drip by drip each day. They are divided, it seems apparent that there is no joined-up thinking, it seems as if there is bitter rivalry among the ranks and that the leader has lost control. How are they to be trusted to negotiate new tariffs, new regulatory barriers, new customs procedures, certificates of origin etc etc. A vote of no confidence is necessary, and th

Here is the application form for 'Settled Status.'  You will be needing a wheelbarrow to transport it to your home. And a lawyer to help you fill it in. And a very large amount of ink. We will probably lose it at some point upon its return to this office. We apologise in advance. Not all applications will be successful. The decision of this office is final. No correspondence will be entered into. Good luck with your application. Delete 17 Recommend

In his comment piece today, Matthew states: Our choice is a hard Brexit-or turning back. artycelia   'To turn back would still be a national humiliation, though' Would it? I don't think anyone should feel humiliated, this isn't a game.  Exactly a year has passed since the referendum and every day we seem to learn a bit more about what we have let ourselves in for, and in my opinion, the more forthcoming the information the worse the situation seems to be. The Remainers, and I am one, would sigh with relief if we could exit Brexit but there would be absolutely no gloating. I think we could all learn valuable lessons from this huge blip in our democratic process.  The EU have far more important matters to deal with and would probably just accept and be thankful for a change of heart in GB. Then we can all just get on with our lives without this silly nonsense holding everybody back, causing bad feeling, confusion,economic uncertainty and

I am extremely unhappy that I am to be stripped of my European citizenship. I have absolutely no faith in the Brexit  process. I feel embarrassed to be a (reluctant)  victim of a warped democratic process. I am angry that HM government is so weak and wobbly. I am very angry that while GB is under siege from terrorists we are turning our backs on our allies. I am disgusted to be living in a country where the richest borough fiddles the books and a towering inferno occurs killing dozens of innocent people. I support the ECHR. (I dread to think what would be going on without it) I have no faith in our PM. I would accept an olive branch from Tusk.  Why is this happening? Does anyone really BELIEVE Brexit is a good idea? And I mean, 'believe' not just a stubborn 'we won, get over it' stupid answer. Donald Tusk said today that he can 'imagine' GB deciding to stay after all and he quotes John Lennon.I do hope he

  artycelia   Everyone has a different view on Brexit: hard, soft, poached, boiled, scrambled or fried. I suggest The Times and The Sunday Times launch a campaign to over-turn the result of the referendum. It is abundantly clear that the politicians cannot agree on what Brexit actually means. How then, could the voters have known what leaving or remaining in the EU actually meant as they popped their cross in that damned box? Madness. Ban Brexit. Delete 69 Recommend Reply Keith Grant   21 hours ago So the talk now is of managed immigration, as all but the wildest Brexiters recognise is needed as the economy will collapse otherwise. Germany has hinted some version of this might be possible. Even Ukip supports it. So why bother with Brexit and risk the huge economic and trade disruption it will bring? Stay in the single market and customs union, especially as the European economy starts to rev up and