Friday 20 October 2017

Mixed Messages on May' Brussels visit. Roman Rings and Planting Churches.

Four different perspectives of the same diatom Aulacodiscus
Kaleidoscopic news of Theresa's meeting in Brussels as alternative universes appear to overlap. In Germany,

Der Spiegel titled their article 'Nice try' for Mrs May, whilst pointing out that there was in effect no change. Also noteworthy that the two year transition proposed by the Prime Minister in Florence and accepted as given in the UK was still only 'an interesing idea' for Chancellor Merkel. Presenting the 20 billion Euros to be paid by the UK to the EU during the transition period as an offer was seen as bare-faced cheek, as this would have to be paid for the extended membership anyway, rather than being a new offer. The best interpretation was that there was no new material of substance but the atmosphere had been improved.

CNN believed Merkel had given the signal that the EU was ready to talk about trade negotiations, as progress had been made in the Brexit negotiations.

The BBC confirmed that there was a warmer response from the EU leaders, mixed with a wish to send her back with a 'win' that will enable her to strike a deal by December. However, the underlying message was that she had still not done enough to move negotiations to the next stage.

The Guardian reported that French President Emmanuel Macron regard the 'No deal' scenario proposed by hard-line Brexiteers as a bluff in an attempt to influence the negotiations and soften the EU's stance. a hard Brexit had not featured in any discussions amongst the 27. He obviously has absolutely no idea that a significant proportion of Brits actually see no deal as a real option.

The Daily Mail spoke of a plucky Theresa May telling EU leaders bluntly that she would not be pushed much further. Then "Brussels takes just 90 SECONDS to knock back Theresa". But later on, the article did acknowledge that there had been a more conciliatory tone, with Donald Tusk stating that statements of deadlock were exaggerated.

I had to do a search in Fox news to find info relating to the summit, coming up with "Ireland's leader is praising British Prime Minister Theresa May for a constructive attitude on Brexit talks but says "we're a long way" from getting to the next step."

President Trump's tweet on the UK "Just out report: "United Kingdom crime rises 13% annually amid spread of Radical Islamic terror." Not good, we must keep America safe!" Not well received here. Ed Miliband‏ responded in a tweet: "Spreading lies about your own country: sad. Spreading lies about others: sadder. What an absolute moron". (I did try to find relevant comments on Brussels/Brexit).

My day a little less controversial, more filled with interesting conversation at the A14 for breakfast (scrambled egg on toast). Jonathan Roth had brought in his medal and certificate for completing the Cambridge to Norwich charity bike ride. Travelling on minor road's the promised 70 mile journey turned out to be more like 80. Followed with a fascinating conversation with Les Howard on faith, giving back to society and 'planting churches', a phrase I had not come across before.

Fellow volunteer Rodney made the mistake of asking if I could help with photographing one of the new Norris displays. We spent the rest of the day recording an iron age coin, Norman ring with inscription and an ancient British amber chain used to hold/decorate a garment, to name a few. One Roman ring stone actually linked to the earlier conversation at the A14. It had a short text with a ChiRho () sign engraved on it - a sign used by early Roman Christians, and presumably dated after the religion had been adopted by Constantine I in AD 312.

No comments:

Post a Comment