Outline for longer text

 There may be a longer version of this blog as a text. Recently it has been mostly tweets. It started as a regular blog but this faded away as more tweeting seemed better. Then I started collecting clips on YouTube. there was a shift from newspapers to telly , partly about declining print circulation.

I think something happened in November this year. Partly questions about PM credibility , partly issues around Brexit became more obvious. So there may be a structure for reworking the text and checking out sources again. I have a large pile of newspapers.

Around November. Something happened.

The claims made of Brexit. Back to 2016 but also some loops on how the story has changed.

What was negotiated .  Based on Chris Grey book and blog. There is a reality to what can be arranged with the EU. Chris Grey blog is excellent around reality but there is a need for more about the illusions also.

Current situation as a problem. How to get out of this mess? Back to 1950s as similar for UK to being outside Europe then. Conservatives look back to MacMillan. Labour to Wilson. Corbyn tried to work on Brexit policy with a populist angle - worker rights, consumer standards. Something like this will be needed for wide support.

the YouTube playlist is HERE 

Brexit could be the next phase in the war on lies

 I am trying to put this in journalism mode, open questions, less opinion. Or at least opinions well supported by evidence. This post a few notes, then the next one an outline for something at extended length.

From recent tweets there was a Daily Express story online base on Bank of England stats / diagram. UK proportion of exports to total output has been falling relative to EU since 2016. Interesting the Daily Express would notice this but it seems not to have made it into print. Do they just try for an online audience informed by other sources? Anyway I will stop buying newspapers just to show what is not in them.

The Observer has a reliable opinion from William Keegan. ( @williamkeegan on Twitter. Tweets mostly links to columns or plugs for photos from Victor Keegan. Very good photos but could he tweet about Brexit more often? ) Yes it is strange for Commission on UK-EU Relations to rule out UK returning to EU. Will Hutton ( @williamnhutton on Twitter, now fairly active ) is supporting the LibDems in Shropshire but not much recently on #Brexit. Only mentioned as a reason to be cautious. "despite the bookmakers odds North Shropshire is pro-Brexit and a Tory citadel.....vestigial semi-feudalism and social deference...system of lord lieutenants, an office established by Henry VIII as the monarchs representative in every county lives on. 

Meanwhile Tim Shipman ( @ShippersUnbound on Twitter , plugs his own books ) writes  (Sunday Times page 9 )

MPs just want an end to the soap opera and Downing Street operating as a medieval court rather than a government. "We need and end to the Tudor ***** " said the former cabinet minister.

The PM has got Henry VIII powers, Maybe this is the problem for England with the EU structures, just too modern not enough tradition.

Anyway I also notice in the papers not much about fishing or talks with France. Chris Grey ( @chrisgreybrexit on Twitter ) in a blog post on Friday pointed out the possible change in tone from UK negotiators and also the damage to the UK economy. He also covers how this has not been reported by UK media. This is very odd. The reality of Brexit and UK economy has to be a story. Media outside UK are prepared to mention it. Bloomberg, MSNBC and CNN are allowed in the UK. 

If the PM is associated with misinformation in UK newspapers over the next few weeks will there be mention of #Brexit ? To be continued. 

Brexit confidence may be slipping

 I stopped doing this blog for a while as tweets were enough. @will789gb . Also it seemed UK opinion , led by newspapers, was unable to escape the hold of PM oompph. But recently things seem to be changing. The Brexit project has always worked better as populist campaign than a serious policy. Now the issues around reality are getting harder to ignore. Attempts to push a harder line on claims seem to hit too much trouble. So the threat to tear up a treaty over Northern Ireland is drifting on. PM tweet diplomacy could be criticised but so far this weekend newspapers mostly ignore it. In year gone by since 2016 the newspapers would be backing BOJO but there has not been much of this. Some in the Sun but not on front pages.

The Sunday Times page18 reports on the Home Secretary.  "Others accused Patel of making inflammatory public statements that made it more difficult to get the French government to help."  So could it be that briefing from #No10Sources is not about continuing to mix it with Macron but to shift attention away from the PM? 

things may change, soon there may be an aspect of Brexit that newspapers can get behind in the classic manner. But I think this could be the start of a new phase.

This lunchtime there was a Radio 4 interview with Sir Ivan Rogers. i will be looking out for possible reports on this during next week.

#MarrMiliband Moving to Television / Social Media, newspapers in background

 Somehow the scope of this blog has moved away from print. It still relates back to newspapers but the issues appear through television and social media. This has changed since 2016. Later I will try to work out when this was. Probably different timescale for different people.

Yesterday I watched Ed Miliband on Marr show. It struck me the same issues arise as with Corbyn during the 2016 referendum. Topics such as worker rights and environment standards are not allowed or reported. Am I being alarmist? Going back to 2016 newspapers would be one way to show some evidence but it seems now the reporting can start anywhere and then move about. Ed Miliband had a solid critique on the current Johnson policy and suggested that there could be a continuing conversation with the EU about worker rights and environment standards. I was surprised how Marr shut down this topic first time and then countered by claiming as fact that there is no discussion or possibility around UK diverging from UK standards.

I did two clip videos to show how  in my view the #BBC / Marr had shut down the topic of worker rights / environment standards 

and also the claim as fact about possible changes.

Also the complete interview

Since then there have been several comments, mostly critical of Miliband but not getting into detail on what he said.

My memory of the referendum was that Corbyn mentioned worker rights and environment standards often. He was not well reported. He did not really control Labour at that time. Other voices supported Cameron emphasis on the economic risks. Media reported this, for example Lord Darling shared platform with Osborne. In my opinion the Corbyn arguments for supporting EU were more persuasive for Labour supporters.

Now today I have watched Politics Live. Alastair Campbell  mentioned the book - Sovereign Individual - as an explanation for Brexit. Also thee was discussion of how UK might diverge. I just do not accept what Marr claimed about facts. EU standards are an issue and have been for a long time. Newspapers and BBC have chosen not to report this or what Labour MPs have to say. The issue is not Corbyn as such, same treatment of Miliband.

There is a report in print Telegraph of Miliband interview. No mention of worker rights or environment standards. Nothing in Guardian I can find. 

 

Trump / Brexit is there a "turn" going on ? #TrumpBrexit

 Encouraged by a tweet from Phil Jones ( @Phil_Jones01 ) who suggests the end of Trump could be the beginning of the end for Brexit and the Brexiteers. Much still to happen here, but a few signs in the papers.

Sunday Times says "panicking No10 dumps Trump and woos Biden" . Planet Fox is not exactly the same i every story. Guess Fox will continue with Trump interviews whatever happens. But is the story about #No10Sources possibly true. Time will tell and quite soon.

Some of the shift is around the newspapers that supported #LiarJohnson on Brexit now attacking him for restrictions on trade during lockdown. Unclear where this will go. Observer points out divergence between Mail and Express on support for lockdown. My guess is that Express closer to UK opinion but Mail aware that newspaper sales are challenged. Reach still has a plan to move online.

Sunday Express though has exclusive interview with Nigel Farage who suggests that Trump is exactly who Britain needs. So some newspapers will stick with #TrumpBrexit indefinitely.

Sunday Times has a comment from Josh Glancy to debunk the Carole Cadwalladr "story" that Cambridge Analytica connects Trump and Brexit. The copy includes mention of Facebook , Steve Bannon, billionaire Mercer, but now apparently the story is shown not to be true in ICO report. Observer editorial very different. Now getting complicated so will come back to this.

The evidence for newspapers linking Trump and Brexit and supporting the ideas around both is much more clear. If there is a change in Washington there may be fresh evidence in legal cases. Also USA journalists seem more direct about dishonesty than some UK media. time will tell, maybe next year.

 

Reporting Trump - CNN / BBC /Sky

 There will be more in this blog. But newspapers now have less influence from print circulation, more because broadcast media, especially BBC, repeat the opinions and choice of news.

So looking also a TV reporting on Trump. This will be current for next few months. And it may relate to past events such as how Brexit was reported.

When I cannot sleep I sometimes check CNN -  Don Lemon. Different style to UK, very direct on misinformation. ( Could be the same for Brexit, but this will also come from reports outside UK ).

I have found one clip from last night ( earlier UK this morning )

also uploaded BBC and Sky

Sky is offering some critique of Trump, BBC very close to just repeating what he has to say. Suggest you find other examples. This may seem a bit news crazy but it may offer clues on what happened. Don Lemon claims CNN is for people "who still believe in reality" , meaning I think some version of facts that can be reported. Since Brexit in UK very often reporting is just a list of options.

Farage Conspiracy Theory update 1

I have done some search on Farage Soros Tulsa etc but not found much. It seems to me that both the visit to Tulsa and the remarks about Soros might fit with a story of wide interest. I have done some tweets with screen grabs so here are some of them in a group as easier to find.