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...
“On the day before Labour Party Conference, Ed Miliband announced a policy that Labour would restrict student fees to £6000 rather than the Tories’ £9000 level. Everyone shrugged. Here was a short term, tactical announcement that made no effort to get to the heart of the problem about financing of...
“Another week, and another remarkable series of events in the Eurozone. Lucas Papademos was sworn in Friday as Prime Minister of Greece, prompting a market surge. The day after, Berlusconi resigned as Italian PM, with former European Commissioner Mario Monti a probable successor. When stock markets open on Monday morning,...
“In yesterday’s Observer Ed Miliband wrote a piece entitled “business, finance and politics are out of touch with people”, talking of how the protests at St Paul’s have highlighted the growing gulf between the values of ordinary people and those of The City. The problem for Ed, and indeed any...
“The government talks about repatriation of EU powers. What does this actually mean, and could it work? The only solution the government seems to be able to offer to its braying backbenchers in light of last week’s debate on an EU referendum is to propose to repatriate powers to the...
“It’s in Britain’s national interest to be in the EU” – it pains me how often we hear that phrase (or words that that effect) in speeches made by UK politicians about the EU. Yet we very seldom question its use. The need to start to question it, for me...
It doesn’t come easily to me to ask so bluntly, but I need your vote – I’m standing for the Executive of the Labour Movement for Europe. I’ve been writing about UK-EU relations on this blog for 6 years, have been working in EU affairs for 10 years, and have...
When he’s not getting turfed out of Dale Farm, Labour MEP Richard Howitt seems to also be the most active of Labour’s MEPs in the European Parliament, at least thanks to one measure discovered using open data from Ron Patz. The image below shows MEPs according to how many Intergroups in...