The reality of Brexit and politics

I’m not the only person watching the countdown to Brexit very closely.  On the other side of the Channel, Annette Dittert, the ARD‘s correspondent in London and author of “London Calling: Als Deutsche auf der Brexit-Insel” is providing regular updates on her Facebook page as well as making frequent appearances on the evening news.

This morning she released a video containing three very interesting interviews.  The first of which left me shaking my head in despair.  Staff and customers in a London café complain that the UK should have been out of the EU by now and is not leaving quick enough, and they are somehow under the impression that “they need us more than we need them”, rejecting the possibility of “no deal” leaving the country poorer and without trade deals.

A London Underground train on the Northern Line in May 2007

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A month to go until Brexit

With a month left to go until the United Kingdom is supposed to be leaving the European Union, I’m watching the deadline approach and wondering what will really happen.

However much I have written and discussed the topic elsewhere on the web, I’ve been quiet here since I exchanged my driving license and gained German citizenship.  In some ways, that status at the end of 2016 meant security, as I knew I could remain in Germany whatever the outcome of the leaving deal (or lack of one) turned out to be.  I have followed other British residents in Germany through the process, and have often answered questions about it.  And I have seen others left with the uncertainty of not knowing what is going to happen, and not being able to do so much about it as they do not meet the minimum requirements to apply for citizenship.

A view of the English Channel taken from Dover Castle in April 2014

As the deadline draws closer, I read ever more articles in the UK press about what could be the case after March 29th, or in the event of “no deal” what almost certainly will be the case. [Read more…]

Frankfurt to be evacuated on Sunday

A large part of Frankfurt am Main is being evacuated after the discovery of a World War II bomb on a building site in the Wismarer Straße.

The bomb is a British HC-4000 air mine, also known as a “blockbuster” or “cookie”, and weighs 1.8 metric tonnes.  It contains 1.4 tonnes of explosives, is 2m long and has a diameter of 76cm, although apparently part of it is missing.

It is one of the largest unexploded bombs ever found in Germany, and as such making it safe is going to cause possibly the largest post-war evacuation the country has ever seen with at least 60,000 people having to leave their homes.

Frankfurt am Main looking North West

On Sunday, 3rd September, 2017 anyone living within a 1.5km radius of the bomb will be required to leave their homes. [Read more…]

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