Gavin Esler: YES – it would be a hugely patriotic act
One definition of a patriot is someone who always wants to do the best for their country. By that definition, rejoining the EU would be one of the most patriotic acts any British citizen could contemplate.
Why? Because the supposed “benefits” of leaving the EU have been impossible to find, the results so divisive, and the backlash against leaving the bloc (especially by those too young to vote in 2016) is real and growing. One of the leading advocates for Leave, Jacob Rees-Mogg, was so desperate to find something good to say about the Brexit disaster that he asked readers of the down-market tabloid The Sun if they could identify the benefits for him. We are still waiting.
The false promise of Leave was to spend the fantasy £350 million a week we supposedly sent to the EU on improving “our NHS” instead. Those who work in the National Health Service say it is, in fact, now facing its worst crisis since its foundation in 1948. While Brexit benefits are non-existent, the dreadful effects of Brexit self-harm are everywhere.
By any obvious metric, including damage to the UK’s GDP, trade barriers, loss of jobs in the finance sector, loss of much needed EU workers, and even loss of Britain’s reputation for common sense and fair dealing, Brexit has been the most stunning example of political self-harm since the Suez Crisis in 1956. At least Suez was a temporary political disaster solved by quickly removing British troops from the canal zone and removing the prime minister responsible, Anthony Eden. Unfortunately Brexit is the mess that still envelopes us, although it has hastened the removal of not one but four failed Conservative prime ministers – David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss – none of whom could make it work or get it permanently “done” as promised.
If an election were held today, the Conservatives who made the mess would be all but wiped out. Right now, they run no local councils anywhere in Scotland or Wales and their reputation even among unionists in Northern Ireland is that of an English nationalist party that doesn’t understand much about Ulster.
Rejoining the EU would also be beneficial for our friends in the EU, but it is extremely unlikely at least for now. Labour party leader Keir Starmer views talk of rejoining as a distraction. The swing voters he needs to win a general election may have voted for Brexit and he does not want to alienate them. EU nations may also be wary of the ludicrous ways in which the UK has behaved since the 2016 Brexit vote.
But if the UK fails to rejoin, voters in Scotland and Northern Ireland may vote for Leave in a different way – by voting to Leave the UK itself. Four successive polls show Scottish voters now favour independence. The UK as currently constructed, therefore, may in the 2020s cease to exist. If rejoining the EU is not a live issue in Westminster, it should be – not merely to make the UK richer but also to make it more likely to stay United as a Kingdom.
Sholto Byrnes: NO – here's an even better proposition
Referendums, the British people were told, were meant to settle momentous questions for a generation. Way back in 2004, then British prime minister Tony Blair said it was time to “let the people have the final say” on the EU. “It is time to resolve once and for all whether this country wants to be at the centre and heart of European decision-making or not,” he said. Except when the referendum was held in 2016, there turned out to be nothing “final” or “once and for all” about it for the Remainers. Because the unexpected happened. They lost. And that is why we are all still talking about it.
Lies were told, it was said – and there were indeed untruths and scare tactics on both sides. But when has that ever invalidated a democratic election? Normally we trust the voters to see through the fog of campaign promises. One problem with the EU, however, is that it is institutionally deceitful. Take the EU constitution. It was signed by all member states in 2004, but failed after Dutch and French voters rejected it in referendums in 2005. How did the EU react to this democratic defeat? They simply rearranged the text, as its author former French president Giscard d’Estaing admitted, and snuck it through as the Lisbon Treaty.
The EU is always determined to increase its powers, whatever the voters say. A second referendum in the UK would thus continue another undemocratic EU tradition, which is that if a country gives the “wrong” answer to a question about the EU – as the Irish and the Danes found – they are asked to vote again so they can give the “right” answer. Referendums, it seems, are only the “final say” if they go the EU’s way.
The democratic deficit in the EU – which has three “presidents”, none of whom the ordinary voter has any say in – is a profound danger in an institution whose leading lights want to become a “United States of Europe”. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said so, as has former EU parliament President Martin Schulz. Former Belgian prime minister Guy Verhofstadt even wrote a book under that title.
Do Britons really want to be a part of a United States of Europe? I doubt it, but that is the EU’s true destiny. None of this has changed. What has changed is that for many, Brexit has not appeared to be much of a success. But that has been only one version of Brexit. There are many. The referendum question was: “Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union or leave the European Union?” There is nothing stopping the UK rejoining the single market or the customs union. There is nothing stopping reinstating freedom of movement, even, if the will is there.
If French President Emmanuel Macron’s European Political Community gets off the ground, the UK should join: it represents precisely the two-tier, looser continent-wide body that Eurosceptics hoped for years the EU could become. It didn’t. It never will. That’s why the UK left – and should never rejoin.
Outside, the UK can continue to share the continent’s culture, its history, gastronomy and other glories, and come as close to the EU in terms of trade as is liked, while thankfully being free of its inward-looking tendencies, its rampant Islamophobia, and its scornful attitude to the Global South. But for Britain once again to be “confined and limited” to this “area across the channel", as the great Labour cabinet minister Peter Shore put it in 1975, would "be a contraction and a reduction of all the things with which we have been concerned. It is the world we belong to, and it is mankind of which we are a part".
HIJRA
Starring: Lamar Faden, Khairiah Nathmy, Nawaf Al-Dhufairy
Director: Shahad Ameen
Rating: 3/5
Explainer: Tanween Design Programme
Non-profit arts studio Tashkeel launched this annual initiative with the intention of supporting budding designers in the UAE. This year, three talents were chosen from hundreds of applicants to be a part of the sixth creative development programme. These are architect Abdulla Al Mulla, interior designer Lana El Samman and graphic designer Yara Habib.
The trio have been guided by experts from the industry over the course of nine months, as they developed their own products that merge their unique styles with traditional elements of Emirati design. This includes laboratory sessions, experimental and collaborative practice, investigation of new business models and evaluation.
It is led by British contemporary design project specialist Helen Voce and mentor Kevin Badni, and offers participants access to experts from across the world, including the likes of UK designer Gareth Neal and multidisciplinary designer and entrepreneur, Sheikh Salem Al Qassimi.
The final pieces are being revealed in a worldwide limited-edition release on the first day of Downtown Designs at Dubai Design Week 2019. Tashkeel will be at stand E31 at the exhibition.
Lisa Ball-Lechgar, deputy director of Tashkeel, said: “The diversity and calibre of the applicants this year … is reflective of the dynamic change that the UAE art and design industry is witnessing, with young creators resolute in making their bold design ideas a reality.”
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Tips%20for%20holiday%20homeowners
%3Cp%3EThere%20are%20several%20factors%20for%20landlords%20to%20consider%20when%20preparing%20to%20establish%20a%20holiday%20home%3A%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cul%3E%0A%3Cli%3E%3Cstrong%3ERevenue%20potential%20of%20the%20unit%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20location%2C%20view%20and%20size%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3E%3Cstrong%3EDesign%3A%20furnished%20or%20unfurnished.%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Is%20the%20design%20up%20to%20standard%2C%20while%20being%20catchy%20at%20the%20same%20time%3F%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3E%3Cstrong%3EBusiness%20model%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20will%20it%20be%20managed%20by%20a%20professional%20operator%20or%20directly%20by%20the%20owner%2C%20how%20often%20does%20the%20owner%20wants%20to%20use%20it%20for%20personal%20reasons%3F%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3E%3Cstrong%3EQuality%20of%20the%20operator%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20guest%20reviews%2C%20customer%20experience%20management%2C%20application%20of%20technology%2C%20average%20utilisation%2C%20scope%20of%20services%20rendered%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3C%2Ful%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cem%3ESource%3A%20Adam%20Nowak%2C%20managing%20director%20of%20Ultimate%20Stay%20Vacation%20Homes%20Rental%3C%2Fem%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
AI traffic lights to ease congestion at seven points to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Street
The seven points are:
Shakhbout bin Sultan Street
Dhafeer Street
Hadbat Al Ghubainah Street (outbound)
Salama bint Butti Street
Al Dhafra Street
Rabdan Street
Umm Yifina Street exit (inbound)
War 2
Director: Ayan Mukerji
Stars: Hrithik Roshan, NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana
Rating: 2/5
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
LA LIGA FIXTURES
Thursday (All UAE kick-off times)
Sevilla v Real Betis (midnight)
Friday
Granada v Real Betis (9.30pm)
Valencia v Levante (midnight)
Saturday
Espanyol v Alaves (4pm)
Celta Vigo v Villarreal (7pm)
Leganes v Real Valladolid (9.30pm)
Mallorca v Barcelona (midnight)
Sunday
Atletic Bilbao v Atletico Madrid (4pm)
Real Madrid v Eibar (9.30pm)
Real Sociedad v Osasuna (midnight)
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
The biog
Title: General Practitioner with a speciality in cardiology
Previous jobs: Worked in well-known hospitals Jaslok and Breach Candy in Mumbai, India
Education: Medical degree from the Government Medical College in Nagpur
How it all began: opened his first clinic in Ajman in 1993
Family: a 90-year-old mother, wife and two daughters
Remembers a time when medicines from India were purchased per kilo
Manchester United's summer dealings
In
Victor Lindelof (Benfica) £30.7 million
Romelu Lukaku (Everton) £75 million
Nemanja Matic (Chelsea) £40 million
Out
Zlatan Ibrahimovic Released
Wayne Rooney (Everton) Free transfer
Adnan Januzaj (Real Sociedad) £9.8 million
The specs: 2018 Maserati GranTurismo/GranCabrio
Price, base Dh485,000 (GranTurismo) and Dh575,000 (GranCabrio)
Engine 4.7L V8
Transmission Six-speed automatic
Power 460hp @ 7,000rpm
Torque 520Nm @ 4,750rpm
Fuel economy, combined 14.3L (GranTurismo) and 14.5L (GranCabrio) / 100km
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
EPL's youngest
- Ethan Nwaneri (Arsenal)
15 years, 181 days old
- Max Dowman (Arsenal)
15 years, 235 days old
- Jeremy Monga (Leicester)
15 years, 271 days old
- Harvey Elliott (Fulham)
16 years, 30 days old
- Matthew Briggs (Fulham)
16 years, 68 days old
THE%C2%A0SPECS
%3Cp%3EEngine%3A%204-cylinder%202.5-litre%20%2F%202-litre%20turbo%0D%3Cbr%3EPower%3A%20188hp%20%2F%20248hp%0D%3Cbr%3ETorque%3A%20244Nm%20%2F%20370Nm%0D%3Cbr%3ETransmission%3A%207-speed%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3EOn%20sale%3A%20now%0D%3Cbr%3EPrice%3A%20From%20Dh110%2C000%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
