Helen Martin: This little piggy wants a Brexit rethink

ISN'T it ironic, not to mention suspicious, that while Brexit is in a mess, rumours of future food (and even medicine) shortages abound, negotiations with the EU appear to be hitting a brick wall, the UK government's stance is shambolic and a no deal seems to be on the cards, Donald Trump and European Commission President Juncker are getting along like a house on fire?

President Donald Trump and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker have reached an agreement. Picture: AP

A strong trading relationship between them, based on no barriers and zero tariffs for several US imports, hailed as “a big day for free and fair trade”, was celebrated last week.

Where does that leave the “piggy-in-the-middle” UK excluded from all those deals flying overhead and out of reach? Isn’t it leading to the conclusion that there are only two potential ways forward . . . abandon Brexit altogether, or take a chance on ditching Theresa May and renegotiating everything from scratch?

Commonwealth can come to our aid once again

ONE of the negatives of the EU was free movement of people, advantageous on one hand but also cruelly cutting off our special relationship with the Commonwealth when it came to migration

If Brexit does go ahead we will continue to suffer the drastic reduction of teacher applicants from the EU, but why not switch back to recruiting from the Commonwealth?

From the 50s onwards, they came here to boost our labour force and our NHS. We were dependant on them and employment was at least some form of reconciliation after a history of the British empire’s exploitation and domination.

The result after we became wedded to the EU’s free movement was to reverse that again. The UK isn’t politically expert in following that best-selling 1936 book, How To Win Friends And Influence People.

Is jungle fever catching again?

IN a compact city such as Edinburgh, new housing developments often give rise to objections and uproar. It’s intriguing to guess where almost 47,000 homes will be built here over the next 12 years. Let’s hope it doesn’t lead to tower block “jungles”.