Catalonia was back in the news this week, the Madrid government has triggered Article 155 to remove autonomy from he region and just like when the UK triggered Article 50, the EU doesn’t like this one much either. It would be true to say that Brussels has the same regard for these articles as Polly Toynbee does for Quentin Letts’ articles. Nonetheless, the powers that be are trying their hardest to make sure if there was any chance of reconciling with the Catalan separatists then it’s up there with Harvey Weinstein’s chances of being trusted to organise a film reboot Charlie’s Angels.

Years ago the EU sat on the sidelines and did nothing while the balkans descended into a bloodbath. Belgium itself has always been close to fragmenting into Flanders and Wallonia and yet Brussels has shown the sort of objectivity and maturity to nationalist movements that makes a student council meeting look like the illuminati. Madrid could have offered an olive branch to Barcelona, figuratively and literally: they love olives in the Mediterranean after all. Except they just decided to transfer thousands of banking jobs out of the region. Now the separatists are encouraging Catalans to respond by emptying their bank accounts and starting a run on the banks, like a sunny version of what the UK saw with Northern Wreck, I mean with Northern Rock. Let’s just hope that Madrid doesn’t go nuclear and escalate things by getting Gordon Brown to fly in and help out, then we’ll be in serious trouble.

Anyway, see you next week; but one thing to look out for by then is this coming Thursday, the 26th, when all the remaining Watergate and Kennedy Assassination files which are set to be declassified. Let’s just hope that ‘events’ don’t happen and that President Mike Pence doesn’t use his first act in office to add another 25 years to the waiting time.