One week ago...
David Cameron was still the UK Prime Minister.
Theresa May was still the Home Secretary and one of two contestants in the Conservative leadership race.
Boris Johnson had disappeared into oblivion.
Five days ago...
David Cameron shared a few jokes with his colleagues at his last Prime Minister's Questions before moving out of Downing Street with his family.
Theresa May paid a visit to the Queen and became the new Prime Minister.
Boris Johnson popped into number 10 and was made Foreign Secretary.
The reaction to the news of Boris Johnson's appointment was shock, disbelief, bemusement, amusement and apprehension. The sign on the railings outside Boris' home in London "SORRY WORLD" summarises all of these feelings.
On his first day as Foreign Secretary, Boris was challenged with the difficult task of locating his car, while trying to avoid questions from journalists.
While the world focussed on the alarming news of the promotion of the former Mayor of London to the third-most powerful position in UK politics after Prime Minister and Chancellor, Theresa May made other controversial decisions.
David Davis was made Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union.
Liam Fox (who resigned in 2011 from David Cameron's government after he "mistakenly allowed the distinction between my personal interest and my government activities to become blurred") was made Secretary of State for International Trade.
The Department of Energy and Climate Change was abolished.
What about Brexit?
Although Theresa May was officially on the Remain side, she insists that "Brexit means Brexit"
and that there will be no second referendum on the EU. She has also said she will
not trigger Article 50 until the UK's negotiating position has been defined.
Meanwhile, David Davis, the minister in charge of Brexit, has recently said that the UK can formally trigger its departure from the EU by 2017.
What about Scotland?
Scotland wants to remain in the EU.
Nicola Sturgeon, leader of the Scottish National Party, says a second referendum on Scottish independence from the UK is being considered.
Theresa May is against this idea.
The mess continues...
There is a petition to have the pudding Eton Mess renamed as Brexit!
Eton Mess is a traditional British dessert made with strawberries, pieces of meringue and cream.
Eton is an exclusive school for boys in England. It's called a public school, but it's actually private and very expensive. Both David Cameron and Boris Johnson were educated at Eton.
For those of us watching the Brexit saga unfold, one thing has become clear: the main Brexit campaigners are not only clueless. They are irresponsible. Instead of trying to solve the problems they created, all they do is abandon ship and thus continue to behave irresponsibly.
1) Calling the referendum was in itself irresponsible.
2) The campaign leading to the referendum was irresponsible and based on lies, scaremongering and racist claims.
3) Once the politicians realised that the damage was done (and more damage will be done once/if article 50 is triggered), they made the very irresponsible decision to quit.
Shortly after the final results became known, David Cameron resigned as PM and Tory leader. Then Boris Johnson announced that he would not take part in the Tory leadership race and thus would not become the new PM. This was followed by another shocking announcement, this time by Nigel Farage himself, of his resignation as UKIP (UK Independence Party) leader. Mr Farage said he wanted his life back, while the Remain voters want the EU back. I will not repeat the tweet by British singer Charlotte Church because it is rather rude, but you can look it up yourselves.
I was wrong in my last post, however. Nigel Farage did not speak for the last time in the European Parliament. He still intends to "comment from time to time". Although he no longer wants to lead UKIP, Mr Farage will remain an MEP, or Member of the European Parliament, and of course keep his salary until the UK officially leaves the EU.
Still, you never know, Nigel Farage may change his mind. He'd already announced his resignation in May 2015, only to backtrack a few days
later.
The three quitters have quite rightly been described as "rats fleeing a sinking ship" by a former Belgian Prime Minister.
Meanwhile, thousands of people marched through London last weekend to protest against the referendum decision to leave the EU. With the majority of young people in Britain extremely disappointed, if not devastated, by the results of the referendum, some EU countries are considering offering dual nationality to young British citizens living in Germany, Italy or France. However, that does not solve the problem for those remaining in Britain or those who are still too young to leave. Not to mention the EU nationals currently living, studying and/or working in the UK.
This week, a motion in the House of
Commons calling on the government to guarantee the rights of EU
nationals living in the UK was passed, but it it is not binding. The UK government claims it would be a mistake to give guarantees to EU nationals in
the UK without similar concessions for UK nationals living elsewhere in
the EU.
And just in case you were wondering whether things might be improving in the business world, the Pound sterling this week fell to a new 31-year low against the dollar.
Amongst all the uncertainty of recent weeks, clarity is emerging as to who will be the next British Prime Minister. It will be a woman and will either be Theresa May or Andrea Leadsom.
Please join me again soon in "To Brexit or not to Brexit - that is the question".
