When I started writing this post, it was to be a compilation of random thoughts and photos from the last couple of weeks. Then I realised that actually there are a couple of ideas that can be drawn together and I can save the other ideas for another post. After all, I frequently complain that I don’t know what to write about, so it seems obtuse not to eke out some perfectly good photos and thoughts over several posts if possible.
So… “blue sky ahead”? Well, that was certainly the view when I went for a walk early on Christmas Eve.
And that of course was the day when we heard that a post-Brexit trade deal had finally been agreed.
It wasn’t until the next day that we began to get a few more details, which is when I read that the “1,246-page document, which includes about 800 pages of annexes and footnotes” had been described by Labour as a “thin agreement”. I guess size is relative.
When this photo of Boris Johnson brandishing the trade deal document appeared on the BBC website yesterday, I’m afraid that it reminded me of photos of Neville Chamberlain brandishing the Munich Agreement in September 1938 and promising “peace for our time”.
We all know just how wrong he was and it doesn’t take much imagination to see Johnson and hear Chamberlain’s speech echoing down the years, albeit with minor adjustments:
“My good friends, the British Prime Minister has returned from Europe bringing peace with honour… We thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Go home and get a nice quiet sleep.”
Although I’m not at all sure that reading this “thin agreement” would reassure me about the future, I do think it is good to know that we aren’t simply dropping out of Europe with no deal.
Given the bright early morning sunshine on the 24th and the wonderful rich colour it gave to the bricks of the local nursery school, I paused to snap this photo. I don’t know whether it’s bas-relief, altorilievo or just plain and simple relief, but it does seem to be an appropriate picture to end this post with.
don't confuse the narrator 