This week in Scribblings, some thoughts on my moral and political uncertainties.
hayest.substack.com/p/scribbling...
08.03.2026 05:41
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This week in Scribblings, some thoughts on my moral and political uncertainties.
hayest.substack.com/p/scribbling...
Art of the Steal, is a more accurate description.
Democracy should fund democracy, not private individuals, companies, or trade unions. Time for the UK to consider moving to state funding for political parties? observer.co.uk/news/politic...
Well said. The pathway of decency, rather than constant cruelty.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
If I remember correctly, Sunderland voted for Brexit. What did these voters think was going to happen? They voted to cut their own throats. www.ft.com/content/ac75...
It seems to me, as someone who has followed and written about Brexit from the outset, that Labour's objective is to be "in and out " at the same time. To have all the benefits and none of of obligations. As long as Labour persists with its "red lines" nothing much is going to happen.
"Take back control" was the purpose of Brexit, according to its promoters. Now, you cannot even be certain that the burger you are eating is safe. But, hey, sovereignty and all that is worth a few dodgy consignments of meat. www.ft.com/content/77b3...
As long as the Lab gov keeps its redlines of: No to EU membership, no to the Single Market, no to the Customs Union, and no to Freedom of Movement, then all that will be available are crumbs. The EU will not agree to the UK being "in and out" at the same time. Rightly so.
www.ft.com/content/6db9...
Thanks. I hope all is well with you.
Just putting this out there again: hayest.substack.com/p/scribbling...
I offer some thoughts on UK Labour in this week’s Scribbling in the wake of the Manchester by-election, a seat which Labour had held for 100 years and in which it came third in the by-election. All change, change utterly, a new political beauty is born.
hayest.substack.com/p/scribbling...
There is an old management adage: If you want to change the policies, change the people. And Labour's policies have to change. While trying to appease the right, they are haemorrhaging votes to the left. If you want to change the policies, change the people. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Yes, I was, and rightly so. But when facts change, I change my mind.
If your political base is soft, pro-European centre-left, and you push Eurosceptic and hard-right cultural policies, what the fuck do you think is going to happen? Only those with their heads up their political arses would think otherwise. www.ft.com/content/aa7a...
Just a touch of understatement on my part. Talk about not being able to read the room.
Isn't this a bit rich? I think it was Britain and Brexit who put up the barriers, and Labour, with its "red lines" of no to the EU, the Single Market, the Customs Union, and FOM, is keeping the barriers in place. What was that about moats and beams in eyes?
www.ft.com/content/05e0...
Of course, what Patel did not know is that Trump was the captain of the team and masterminded the win. His gold medal will go with his FIFA peace prize. Next up, Trump plans to lead the USA to victory in the World Cup.
In this week’s Scribblings, I revisit the issue of Working From Home, “inspired” by the opposition of the Victoria Police Association in Australia to a proposed law giving workers the right to work from home two days a week.
hayest.substack.com/p/scribbling...
I see that trump now thinks he is a greater expert on the US Constitution than the Supreme Court. But then again, he is the greatest expert in the world on everything.
Does this not also show that Trump and his economic lapdogs' claim that it was foreign companies and governments that would pay the tariffs is the nonsense that it was? The tariffs were always a tax paid by US consumers. www.ft.com/content/07a2...
I presume if the Labour government can scrap a manifesto commitment on the minimum wage for young people, it can scrap a manifesto commitment on not rejoining the EU, the Single Market or the Customs Union. news.sky.com/story/plans-...
This week, back to the UK and Europe.
hayest.substack.com/p/scribbling...
I understand where you are coming from, but I just do not think things will work out that way. I do not want to live in a world with an elite group of trillinaires hogging all the wealth while the rest of us "follow our dreams" on a minimalist UBI. If the work is important, it should not be unpaid.
Some comments on the centrality of work to our lives and how UBI is no answer.
hayest.substack.com/p/scribbling...
It is only when the reality of Brexit hits you personally through long queues at borders that the message comes home. You wanted borders? You got borders.
As if Trump and Maga were widely popular in Europe. I am not sure this is the brilliant move they may think it is.
@nytimes.com I do not know if this article is behind a paywall, as I have a subscription and can read it, but it should be free to read for all. This is an important statement of progressive principles when it comes to immigration. Let it go free.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/o...
This is a political statement from a man of the Left that I can relate to. It is written in the ink of humanity and common decency. This is the way forward. Not the hatred of others and the closing of borders offered by the Right. I stand with Sánchez.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/o...
Surprisingly, if the UK were still a member of the EU, this problem would not arise. Who could have guessed that the EU would want to look after its own in an increasingly fragmenting world?
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Is this not just a new variant of the old approach? We want to be in, but with all these opt-outs? www.ft.com/content/b14f...