Vaccination success may be a shot in the arm for Britain in another key way
by Rashmee
Posted on February 22, 2021
/ BLIMEY BLIGHTY Simon Kuper wrote an important piece in the Financial Times (paywall) the other day about the pandemic-induced chance for success thrown up for Brexit Britain. I hope Boris Johnson and his advisers read it. “What national strengths does Britain’s vaccine success reveal?” he asked, “Is there a model here for Brexit Britain?” … Continue reading “Vaccination success may be a shot in the arm for Britain in another key way”
Read MoreLow spirits aren’t good for business, British or any other
by Rashmee
Posted on February 8, 2021
/ BLIMEY BLIGHTY A Brexit update doesn’t mean it’s business as usual. Au contraire. This week, European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic will visit the British capital to have a good long chat with Boris Johnson’s Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove. The topic will be: post-Brexit friction in Northern Ireland. Good luck with that. Arelene Foster, … Continue reading “Low spirits aren’t good for business, British or any other”
Read MoreBrexit really has meant Brexit: ‘Let them eat cake’
by Rashmee
Posted on February 1, 2021
/ BREXIT BRITAIN In the month since Brexit properly began, consider all the things that have happened. The European Union (EU) and UK have begun their future relationship with a row over diplomatic protocol. Britain is refusing to grant full diplomatic privileges to the EU’s envoy in London, something more than 140 other countries have … Continue reading “Brexit really has meant Brexit: ‘Let them eat cake’”
Read MoreIt’s worth reading why the half-Indian Marina Wheeler, Boris’s ex-wife, worries about Modi’s ‘New India’
by Rashmee
Posted on November 20, 2020
Marina Wheeler, barrister, former wife of Britain’s prime minister and the mother of four of Boris Johnson’s children, began a recent opinion piece with a reference to her Sikh mother. Dip Singh was displaced from Pakistan in 1947, Ms Wheeler noted. While writing a book about her mother’s forced journey to India, “the fathers of … Continue reading “It’s worth reading why the half-Indian Marina Wheeler, Boris’s ex-wife, worries about Modi’s ‘New India’”
Read MoreCorona karaoke and off-shoring refugees. Just another day in England
by Rashmee
Posted on September 30, 2020
As far as coronavirus goes, here are the rules in England, succinctly delivered by @DoughtyStreet human rights barrister Alex Wagner, @AdamWagner1: In the south six people are free to sing but in the north only one person is allowed to sing indoors, although six can sing outside. Here’s Mr Wagner’s beautifully expressed tweet: https://twitter.com/AdamWagner1/status/1311083297313902592?utm_source=POLITICO.EU&utm_campaign=e019b26700-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_09_30_06_10&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_10959edeb5-e019b26700-190565551 Mr … Continue reading “Corona karaoke and off-shoring refugees. Just another day in England”
Read MoreBack to school vs back to gym: England’s interrupted rhythms of life
by Rashmee
Posted on August 27, 2020
Those making their way back to the gym for the first time since March 11, when the WHO declared a pandemic, may probably feel more sanguine than parents looking to soon despatch their children to school in England. Gyms, by all account, have done a pretty good job of making themselves Covid-19 safe. They’ve introduced … Continue reading “Back to school vs back to gym: England’s interrupted rhythms of life”
Read MoreBritain’s new quarantine rules may be the usual Boris bish-bash-bosh symbolic action
by Rashmee
Posted on August 14, 2020
Let me tell you a story in the context of new quarantine measures imposed by the UK on British holidaymakers in France, the Netherlands, Monaco, Malta, Turks and Caicos and Aruba. A British Indian friend in Delhi managed to get back to the UK in June on one of the special flights. It was a … Continue reading “Britain’s new quarantine rules may be the usual Boris bish-bash-bosh symbolic action”
Read MoreReading George Orwell can help us understand Boris Johnson
by Rashmee
Posted on June 16, 2020 / The Focus
In 1946, a year before the British were forced to grant India its independence, George Orwell bemoaned the decline of the English language. In an essay titled ‘ Politics and the English language ‘, Orwell called out the “sheer humbug” that passed for political speech and writing, the “pretentious, Latinized style” and deliberate use of … Continue reading “Reading George Orwell can help us understand Boris Johnson”
Read MoreO brave new world. It’s the week it opens the door and gingerly peers out
by Rashmee
Posted on May 10, 2020
This is the week the world tries to recover its nerve even though we remain months away from a vaccine for Covid-19 and still have no cure. As 15-year-old Miranda said in Act V of The Tempest: “How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world That has such people in’t!” Indeed, rather a brave attempt … Continue reading “O brave new world. It’s the week it opens the door and gingerly peers out”
Read More‘From near-death to paternity’? Surely the sequence must’ve been different for Boris Johnson?
by Rashmee
Posted on April 30, 2020
In the span of just a few weeks, British prime minister Boris Johnson has used the National Health Service in two very different ways – to treat a life-threatening illness and to safely bring new life into the world. “From near-death to paternity” is how the Daily Mail put it. That’s about right, in substance … Continue reading “‘From near-death to paternity’? Surely the sequence must’ve been different for Boris Johnson?”
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Rashmee has lived and worked in several countries in the past decade, including Afghanistan, India, Haiti, Tunisia, the UAE, US and UK