BY JAMIE FOSTER It is hard to say at this stage if we are headed for a ‘no deal’ Brexit. The EU’s negotiating position is that the talks must be dealt with in two halves. Firstly the ‘divorce issues’ must be negotiated. These are Britain’s financial commitments, the rights of EU and UK citizens after Brexit and the issue of the Irish border. Only when … Continue reading Grounded Planes?
BY JAMIE FOSTER On 3 September Lord Adonis tweeted something truly shocking. He said he was writing to Lord Hall, the Director General of the BBC, to ask that Andrew Neil be fired from the BBC because of his pro Brexit stance. To anyone who takes political reporting seriously Andrew Neil is in a class of his own. He asks the tough questions in a … Continue reading Neil Before Adonis
BY JAMIE FOSTER Labour has decided that it is the party of soft Brexit following an article by Keir Starmer in the Observer. Starmer stated that Labour would continue to abide by free movement rules, accept the ECJ as the arbiter of trade disputes and continue to pay into the EU budget for a transitional period. He even opined that the UK could remain part … Continue reading Labour’s Gone Soft
BY JAMIE FOSTER Credit where credit is due, James O’Brien has finally said something that is worthy of praise. On his LBC show he came out against Corbyn’s epic hypocrisy in failing to condemn the actions of the government of Venezuela despite tweeting that if one remains neutral in the face of oppression one comes out on the side of the oppressor. O’Brien is a … Continue reading Credit Where Credit Is Due
BY JAMIE FOSTER On slow news days in August we have come to rely on Ken Livingstone to say something publicly to get tongues wagging. Interviewed last week by Julia Hartley-Brewer on Talk Radio he didn’t let us down. Asked about the current Venezuelan crisis he came up with two reasons for Venezuela’s problems. Firstly, he claimed that they had failed to follow his economic … Continue reading Livingstone’s Venezuela
BY JAMIE FOSTER On 31 July, the French Embassy in the UK decided to tweet about Passchendaele. The decision itself was unsurprising enough, the tweet, however, bordered on trolling. The French Embassy tweeted that Passchendaele provided an opportunity to cherish peace, solidarity and unity brought about by the EU: This seems a tad churlish from a nation that is usually so good at remembering the … Continue reading Oh Là Là
BY JAMIE FOSTER 1 in 10 criminal prosecutions in the UK are for non-payment of the BBC licence fee. This is a staggering figure that accounts for 180,000 prosecutions involving disproportionately large numbers of women. Single mothers on welfare who must stretch their income to care for their children are particular targets of what can only be described as a regressive tax. This is a … Continue reading The Corrupt Mess of the BBC License Fee
BY JAMIE FOSTER Everyone, it would appear, needs an enemy to define themselves by. Sadiq Khan, as Mayor of London, needs an enemy befitting his dignity as leader of one of the world’s most important cities. He can’t really pick a fight with the leader of Aberystwyth Town Council. Khan would appear a bully, willing to trade blows beneath his weight class. He also can’t … Continue reading The Wrath of Khan
CSM EDITORIAL Good news from Devon where Jamie Foster shall return to Country Squire Magazine next week in the first of a series of magazine podcasts, called Red Trousers. These podcasts will each cover three topics chosen by readers. Jamie will then divulge his wit and wisdom on the chosen topics in a podcast which will be available for You the Readers to access for … Continue reading Jamie Foster Returns in Red Trousers
BY DOM WIGHTMAN Jamie Foster is a much-loved gentleman. A friend of thousands on Twitter, an author and wit, a country solicitor, a founder writer for this magazine, a family man and the first person who comes into one’s head when you hear mentioned those two words, red and trousers. The same Jamie Foster who, after the Country Squire Magazine Christmas Party this year, recited … Continue reading Mr F is Temporarily Unwell
BY JAMIE FOSTER The Supreme Court has issued its judgment – 8-3 – in favour of MPs being given the opportunity to vote on triggering Art 50. While I have the greatest respect for our independent judiciary, and while I have yet to read the judgment, it fascinates me to imagine that it could in anyway put the genie back in the bottle. As many of … Continue reading The Judgment – Time to Crow or Wait for Doves?
BY JAMIE FOSTER Many friends have given me extraordinary advice in my life. None more so as individuals than all of them collectively (although special mention and thanks must go to G and K; and C and L). My special skill to date has been ignoring it. Something has changed; the boy-man has evolved a tiny, incremental and hardly noticeable amount. Instead of apologising and … Continue reading Post Christmas Greens and Blues
BY JAMIE FOSTER I must apologise to the loyal readership of Country Squire Magazine for my recent inclement humour and brief period of absence. I came recently and unexpectedly upon a grief that I had not anticipated reacquainting myself with; and a sudden loneliness that I shall not trouble you to bear. Suffice it to say I am indebted to my friends for their indulgence. … Continue reading A Midwinter Moment
BY JAMIE FOSTER Today the Supreme Court begins its hearing of the Brexit Challenge originally brought in the High Court by Gina Miller, a fund manager whose wealth has allowed her to ensure that the Courts review the lawfulness of the Government using prerogative powers to trigger Art 50. The Media has portrayed this case as a battle between unelected judges and the voting public. … Continue reading The Hearing
BY JAMIE FOSTER I do not recommend fevers. They tend to blind one to the beauty of health. I furthermore do not recommend believing that anything will cause a fever to pass before the appointed hour. There are certainly substances known to man that may delay the inevitable but those who believe with certainty that it is a matter of human preference are, in my … Continue reading Richmond Remembered
BY JAMIE FOSTER Today I heard the news that the Commons had rejected the SNP’s kind offer to hold yet another inquiry into whether Tony Blair misled parliament in the run up to the war in Iraq. I congratulate the Commons on rejecting this idea. To get to the bottom of that question with any degree of accuracy would require us to bankrupt the country. … Continue reading The Trial of Anthony Blair
BY JAMIE FOSTER I must be straight with you, Dear Reader. I’ve been receiving a little behind the scenes coaching from a proper chronicler of man’s humanity, who has pointed out to me, in no uncertain terms, that my current lyricism, brought on as it has been by the Winter-flu, is at the cost of my journalism, and not a reflection of my true self. … Continue reading Countryside Conceptions
BY JAMIE FOSTER A lot has happened in the last 24 hours. I have travelled a journey through a strange and magical land where animals share their silent beauty generously. I have cried inside with empathy for a lost self who has been reborn. I stomped my boots to the mellifluous toll of the church bells hoping to drum up business for the Lord. Beautiful … Continue reading The Call of Seaton Beach
BY JAMIE FOSTER We have reached a moment in history where it remains a mystery whether going to extremes is a voluntary action or an inevitable, equal and opposite reaction. It would appear clear that when the waves are crashing under our feet the best we can do is have faith in the Captain and the Boson. If one can’t tell one’s sparrows from one’s … Continue reading 50 Articles of Faith
BY JAMIE FOSTER There was always a danger when our highest court was called Supreme a time would come when we would have to discover whether a court can be both supreme and independent. A group of parliamentarians is currently lobbying the government to put off that moment and not to appeal a high court’s view, presumably in case a higher court takes a decision … Continue reading Laughter & Forgetting
