Political leaders in the EU are incapable of leading us out of the current multiple crises we face. I think that’s generally understood. But what we’ve been incapable of explaining is why is leadership in such a bad way? Where is our Adenauer, Kohl or Delors when we need them?
It sounded a bit far-fetched – that the UK wants to set higher standards for its banks than the EU would allow. But these are Cameron’s words in his statement on Monday [from Hansard here]: To those who say that we were trying to go soft on the banks, nothing […]
Take a deep breath. Step aside from your preconceptions about the UK and the EU, and your views on David Cameron, Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sakozy. I’m trying to do that when writing this blog entry. Follow the steps of the simplified conversation below, and please comment if I am […]
There’s too much still to digest in the fall-out from yesterday’s summit for me to write a full blog entry on it all, but there is one technical point on which David Cameron is wrong. As if he didn’t already look petulant enough, Cameron stated that he would make sure […]
Anyone would think – from reading the stories today on The Guardian’s website – that the UK is shaping up for some major fight with the European Union over treaty reform prior to this week’s summit. There are two problems with this. First, the agreement might not be for treaty […]
I suppose if you run Liberal Conspiracy you’re grateful for pieces from MPs and have to accept them. Today – via this tweet from Sunny Hundal – I read “We need to re-assess our approach to Europe” by Helen Goodman MP. This follows on from Douglas Alexander’s effort to re-assess […]
It has just been announced that Diana Wallis is putting her name forward as a candidate for President of the European Parliament. She’s a long-standing Vice President of the Parliament, and is a British Liberal Democrat (who form part of the centrist ALDE Group). News about her candidacy here from […]
Sometimes connections made over the years lead to unexpected and surprising results. Thanks to folks I know in Brussels, on 8th December I will be addressing a seminar in Paris entitled ’40 under 40′, organised by Europanova. Just among the attendees at the event will be politicians such as Franziska […]
“Poul Nyrup Rasmussen has today announced he is standing down as President of the PES. Over a period that has been one of relative decline for the left across Europe, Poul has been a voice of determination and reason; I’m sad to see him go, especially as he’s miles better […]
I do not follow Spanish politics closely, so I have been more of a consumer of news about it rather than a commentator in the past few days since Sunday’s election. A few dynamics strike me as important though. First, the role the Indignados played, as summed up in CiF […]
Poul Nyrup Rasmussen has today announced he is standing down as President of the PES. Over a period that has been one of relative decline for the left across Europe, Poul has been a voice of determination and reason; I’m sad to see him go, especially as he’s miles better […]
“When I joined the Labour Party as a wide-eyed 16-year old I’m pretty sure it was not with the aim of just being pragmatic. It was because governments of Thatcher and Major had made a mess of the town where I had grown up and there was a pressing urgency […]
