Profile avatar
tomhayes.bsky.social
Irish, lives in France, labour relations consultant, writes about Brexit, the world of work, and EU issues.
551 posts 4,271 followers 497 following
Regular Contributor
Active Commenter
Posts 23 Comments 27

I'm a ManU fan - since 1958. Good times and bad. Yesterday, we got the benefit of a VAR penalty decision. But I have come to the conclusion that VAR is ruining the game. Do we want a referee sitting down and having a cup of tea and watching a repeat to make a decision? I exaggerate, but not by much.

submitted 6 hours ago • 1 comment

I have long been an admirer of the writings of Will Hutton. But for my money, there is a touch of "with one bound our hero was free" about this piece. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

submitted 10 hours ago • 1 comment

Sunday Scribblings. Following on last week’s notes on the DEI rollback, some further thoughts on this issue, which focuses on the growing divide between the EU and the US. hayest.substack.com/p/sunday-scr...

submitted 12 hours ago • 0 comments

Is not the truth of the matter that Badenoch is just a politician of hidden shallows? www.politics.co.uk/week-in-revi...

submitted 1 day ago • 1 comment

I genuinely believe that Trump thinks that foreign governments pay the tariffs, not US consumers. His advisors must know better but who is going to tell the king that he is naked?

submitted 2 days ago • 1 comment

i think this would read better if it said: "A UK private citizen, Liz Truss, told a globalist meeting of far-right organisations" ... www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

submitted 3 days ago • 2 comments

Reminds me of the scene in the Godfather 1 where the Mafia bosses get together to negotiate a "peace deal" and discuss how to manage the drugs trade. Capishe.

submitted 4 days ago • 0 comments

A good piece here by @davidheniguk.bsky.social on what global trade rules have delivered. He refers to the US as having gone "rogue". What if this is a permanent state of affairs? What if "America First" becomes embedded as US policy? Would China then dominate? borderlex.net/2025/02/17/p...

submitted 5 days ago • 0 comments

So, tell me I'm wrong about this. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

submitted 6 days ago • 0 comments

This is something I have raised before but which now becomes even more critical after last week's comments by US officials in both Berlina and Munich. How long before the EU/US personal data transfer agreement collapses? Especially if the US is increasingly seen as hostile to European interests.

submitted 6 days ago • 0 comments

In Scribblings this Sunday, I write about the complexities of the DEI issue and put my own stake in the ground that inclusion is always better than exclusion. open.substack.com/pub/hayest/p...

submitted 7 days ago • 1 comment

It is always best to believe that politicians will do what they say they will do. Shock and awe in US business circles that Trump is following through and pushing policies that will disrupt the US economy and fuel inflation. Who could have guessed? www.ft.com/content/a7c9...

submitted 8 days ago • 0 comments

Again, the great @mrjohncrace.bsky.social nails it. Anyone with half a brain could tell from the get-go that Badenoch would crash and burn. Convinced by the certainty of her own prejudices, putting in the hard yards was unnecessary. Call it the "Kemi mind virus" www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

submitted 10 days ago • 0 comments

How's that EU reset going? Does the UK gov think this weaving and dodging will go unnoticed? www.ft.com/content/1004...

submitted 11 days ago • 4 comments

The words of the Dylan song come to mind: How does it feel, how does it feel? To be without a home Like a complete unknown, like a rolling stone www.ft.com/content/5cb4...

submitted 12 days ago • 1 comment

Great column by the great John Crace. Always worth remembering that Starmer's chief-of-staff, Morgan McSweeney, is himself an immigrant, albeit from Ireland, but an immigrant nonetheless. I know, I know. Define "illegal". Not as easy as it seems. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

submitted 12 days ago • 1 comment

From the Washington Post: "Trump says Palestinians would not have the right to return to Gaza under his proposal to take over the enclave ...the United Nations and legal experts say it probably violates international law". What court would find the US guilty? Who is going to enforce the judgement?

submitted 13 days ago • 2 comments

Remind you of Brexit, anyone? You don't get what you voted for. In fact, you get stiffed instead. www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/...

submitted 13 days ago • 0 comments

When you read this, you have to ask the question, how long will it be before the EU/US data transfer agreement is suspended? What European citizen wants their personal data going to the US where it can be seized by Musk and his minions? www.ft.com/content/f89a...

submitted 13 days ago • 1 comment

I agree entirely. Completely cakeist, despite the comments from good friend David, the eternal optimist. Did any of the authors of this report talk to anyone of significance in the EU about their proposals? This report does not have a political bone in its body.

submitted 14 days ago • 2 comments

My takeaway from this is that Labour is nothing more than an electoral machine with little or no real policy vision. There is an old management adage: if you want to change the policy, change the people. Maybe McSweeney is not the person to be chief-of-staff. His focus is wrong.

submitted 14 days ago • 3 comments

I need to read the report but from the Times coverage it seems to be based on a "mutual recognition" deal. If that is the case, there will be no deal on that basis. Is this another one of those British reports where the researchers did not bother to talk to anyone in the EU? Just asking for now.

submitted 14 days ago • 0 comments

The Deal‘s the Thing”, this week’s Sunday Scribbling, hangs some thoughts about negotiations on a recent “deal” in Irish politics, done to enable the formation of a new government. hayest.substack.com/p/sunday-scr...

submitted 14 days ago • 1 comment