Here we go again. Today Steven Hill has laid out his institutional vision for the European Union on Social Europe journal. His plan – with a bicameral European Parliament – is not too distant from ideas raised by Denis MacShane
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Category: EU Politics
Is Open Europe simply becoming too sensible for the Tory Party?
Christopher Howarth of Open Europe has written an eminently sensible* piece for Conservative Home about how David Cameron needs to get his EU policy sorted out. Howarth’s case is that Cameron should appoint a Europe Secretary – one minister in
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Left Foot Forward | Will primaries address the EU’s ‘democratic deficit’?
“The issue of primaries has been doing the rounds in British politics for a couple of years now. Progress has been the principal backer of the idea on the left, organising an event about the issue at Labour Party Conference.
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LabourList | Strasbourg: One step forward and two steps back
“The good news: President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz seems to have confirmed his commitment to a single seat for the European Parliament in a Swedish radio interview (very short summary from EUObserver here ). Problem: he wants the
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Martin Schulz: one step forward and one step back on Strasbourg
The good news: President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz seems to have confirmed his commitment to a single seat for the European Parliament in a Swedish radio interview (very short summary from EUObserver here). Problem: he wants the seat
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Answering how an independent Scotland would work in the EU is much more mundane than anyone seems to want to admit
Whether (and indeed how) Scotland would remain in the EU if it became an independent state has been an issue that has risen up the political agenda over the past few months. Theresa May has weighed into the debate today,
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Wizzair delays
Yesterday I was due to fly from Warsaw Chopin to London Luton with Wizzair at 1230. The plane eventually took off just before 2330. The original plane had technical problems and could not fly. Almost 11 hours of delay. So
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Charlemagne column in The Economist is the next to have a go at the EP – a few partial replies
It seems the European Parliament can do no right just at the moment. Following hot on the heels of Jack Straw calling for the European Parliament to be abolished, the Charlemagne column in The Economist has weighed into the debate
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Eurostar security absurdity, part II
All was going so well. Eurostar 9156 departed on time from St Pancras at 1904, and arrived at around 2057 (local time, as scheduled) at Calais Frethun. Then nothing. No departure. Silence. Then the announcement that “for service reasons” we
Continue reading LabourList | Labour online comms: needing to do more than wringing the last little drop of activity from our members
“Obama taught us one major thing in how to use the net for politics: done the right way, online activism can be a great way to engage and motivate people who are already – largely – on your side. The
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Security paranoia on a journey from Brussels to London (Eurostar)
I’ve just arrived home, having taken Eurostar 9133, the 1256 departure from Brussels Midi to London St Pancras. The security paranoia on the route is now so absurd it’s worth a blog entry. The first check at Gare du Midi
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Time for a better separation of powers in the UK?
There’s a depressing piece at Conservative Home by Tim Montgomery summarising results of a YouGov survey about the British population’s thoughts about their politicians and political system. One of the interesting findings is this: 38% agree that Britain would be
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