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Continue reading →: EU 2 #VoteLeave
Time and again journalists interviewing members of the Leave campaign ask “what will Britain look like after Brexit?” If not satisfied with the answer (and as a matter of principle they are never satisfied) they say “How can you ask people to vote for something when they don’t know what…
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Continue reading →: Let’s talk about EU baby
I'm saddened by the standard of the EU referendum debate. I have never revered Godwin's Law but would happily agree that the next side to mention Herr Hitler loses. I wish we could talk to each other as adults about this serious issue. Politicians may think it safer to underestimate…
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Continue reading →: Don’t blame the millennials, blame their teachers
Trigger warning: This post is full of generational generalisations. I don't share the general pessimism of my age group about the millennial generation. The Misses Paine are millenials. They are serious intellectuals, hard-working women who want to make a contribution to the world they live in and generally fine human beings. So…
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Continue reading →: Political geometry
I know from the blogs I have been following during my purdah that the liberty-minded continue to despair and with good cause. Our government still knows no boundaries to its power and has no hesitation about interfering in the minutiae of our private lives. But there are some good omens, in my view. Bill Clinton,…
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Continue reading →: Second thoughts
I gave up political blogging for selfish reasons. I felt I had said my piece, that's true. I was afraid of repeating myself, that's also true. But I found it stressful, was dispirited and was seeking to avoid personal conflict with those around me (i.e. most people in my circle) who…
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Continue reading →: The abbey road home
The Navigator is a Roman Catholic. The "famous on TripAdvisor" breakfast at our B&B this morning was therefore not for him as he doesn't eat before Mass. I ate alone before we took to the road to head for the Abbaye St. Paul, Wisques. We had an open-topped motorised saunter in…
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Continue reading →: From Frankfurt to Poperinge via Ghent and “Wipers”
We skipped breakfast at our mediocre hotel on Saturday morning; reasoning that €18 each would buy a better frühstück en route. I drove Speranza out of Frankfurt onto the autobahn and we found a suitable place within 20km. We breakfasted Teutonically on rösti, eggs, sausage, bacon and coffee. Then the…
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Continue reading →: Love is the drug
So this mad idea reached fruition. After a few beers and a schnitzel, the Navigator (for it is he) and I went to the Old Opera House and saw Bryan Ferry perform. The support act was a young lady from Berlin; musically-educated in London. Her name, implausibly, is Femme Schmidt…
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Continue reading →: On the autobahn
I had just one day at home after my Scotland trip before hitting the road again for my next adventure. I was on my balcony in a jolly mood with a friend after we had shared a bottle or six of good wine one evening a few weeks ago. He…
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Continue reading →: Our final day of shooting
Saturday was our last day together as a group. We have been through a lot this week and have bonded remarkably well. Photographers are not natural herd animals but we have helped each other a lot more than I have experienced at other such events. At one very educational dinner…
THE LAST DITCH
Your blogger
Tom is a retired international lawyer. He was a partner in a City of London law firm and spent almost twenty years abroad serving clients from all over the world.
Returning to London on retirement in 2011, he was dismayed to discover how much liberty had been lost in the UK while he was away.
He’s a classical liberal (libertarian, if you must) who, like his illustrious namesake, considers that
“…government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one.”
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Almost. I think Archbishop Sarah is a Christian. I just think she’s at a loss to know how to reach…
It’s almost as if they are not actually Christian but simply a person being advised by woke PR people in…
She may be gone but you have all those wonderful memories :-)
I miss the more traditional Anglican services that I remember from my younger years. I haven’t regularly attended church services…
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First post (in case you want to read it from the beginning)
The Last Ditch by Tom Paine 
I’m sure there are a few fire and brimstone types they could have had instead of a woke woman. Putting…