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The newsagent round the corner is quite a nice guy. He'd probably do ok. As for the politicians, forget them. Party politics always trumps consensus. Ultimately May was wrong to allow the inclusion of the backstop. From the minute it was mooted, it was clearly an affront to our sovereignty as I pointed out in a letter to the FT at the time. I applauded the DUP then, and still think they are right to stand their ground. If the backstop wasn't there I think it would have been passed in the Commons on a free vote, whether I agree with the document or not. Meanwhile, the two Corbyns must be having a right old ding-dong. For one side of him the 29th March can't come quickly enough, whilst his other side panders to his party clinging to an illusion that the EU will somehow give him much better terms whilst still leaving the EU. As for the Lib Dems, they only seem to feel confident when closely collaborating with their ideological masters and as always support all things with Euro in the title. Eurotrash could be due for a rerun if they get to be in charge of programming. Hooray.

Leaving aside the question of Brexit for the moment, I think May is a very unconvincing Prime Minister. She campaigned so badly in the last election and managed to lose her majority against a much troubled Labour Party. Then she spent days talking about "strength and stability" with a straight face even though she messed up big time. She appeared less than sincere then. If I remember correctly, it took her more than a week after the election before she had the courage to apologise to the Tory MPs that have lost their sits. Her government was found in contempt of Parliament. She said the vote will definitely go ahead just yesterday and has decided to cancel it today after leaking her decision to the press first. She said the deal was non negotiable yesterday but is saying that she will renegotiable with Brussels today. How can she expect people to trust her? I really think it is better off if she had folded two years ago. What are the alternatives? I dread to think.

I've arranged to visit the National Archives at Kew to view twelve annual reports, numbers 103 for the period 1972-04-01 - 1973-03-31 through to number 114 for the period 1983-04-01 - 1984-03-31, this coming Thursday. I am allowed to take a camera to photograph pages. I'm not sure what I'm going to discover. My main purpose is to determine actual production numbers of coins produced and in particular those for proof and BU sets, and VickySilver, will also be looking for coins produced for overseas governments. I chose those numbers for my initial visit because they overlap with data published in Coin Monthly and Coins and Medals in the early seventies, thought I fear they may not be definitive. I have a feeling that there are other reports from the mint giving more detailed information as both magazines published other mid term figures that were more specific. I find that the National Archives web site is not the easiest to navigate, and zero in on what you are looking for. I will report back.

https://www.royalmint.com/our-coins/events/trial-of-the-pyx/?utm_source=hootsuite&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=trial%20of%20the%20pyx get your orders in,

What I'd love to know is what Corbyn would do any different if there were an election and he got into No 10. The problem would still be there, and as he himself has already acknowledged this afternoon, the deal on offer is non negotiable as far as the EU are concerned. The government might change, but Brexit would not have gone away. Quite frankly, I'd take the deal, and I also stand and applaud May for the resilient and determined manner she has stood up to the non stop brickbats from around her - both sides - which quite honestly very few of those who are chucking them would be able to take if it was them. She's shown exceptional character in my opinion. Most would have folded and resigned by now.

When I spoke of regional grants to the poorest areas, I wasn't speaking of member states, but regions within those states - Britain gets its fair share of handouts from the EU. Greece's troubles were precipitated by the worldwide crash in 2008.

Picked this one up at a local auction - arrived today. I couldn't resist such a good portrait on a James I Sixpence S2670 mm Lis I believe.