Jon Worth's Euroblog

07.12.2006 EU Politics

First impressions of the Congress: materials, wine and smoking

I’m now sat writing from the Alfandega conference centre – a sprawling old building beside the Douro river. Clearly plenty of cash has been spent on this Congress – huge banners and signs are to be found at every corner.

07.12.2006 EU Politics

I wish it wouldnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t rain down

It’s 9.30 on the first day of the congress. Only I’m not there yet. I’m sat in cafe beside the River Douro, escaping the driving rain. However the cafe has a whole Phil Collins CD playing, and the track that’s

06.12.2006 Technology

Blogging: real citizen journalism

Part of my task as a blogger at the PES Congress is to demystify what is going on there for those that are unable to be present on the spot. Yet itÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s also worth spending a moment to demystify the

05.12.2006 EU Politics

John Reid, Monty Python, and the European Constitution

“The constitutional treaty is no more Ã¢â‚¬â€œ it is a diseased dead parrot.” So said Home Secretary John Reid after the 4th December JHA Council in Brussels (article from EUObserver). Now, I’m not the greatest fan on John Reid –

04.12.2006 EU Politics

Delving into Pär Nuder’s visions of political leadership

I went along to a round table discussion this evening, organised by Policy Network and CER. Former Swedish Finance Minister Pär Nuder and UK Minister for the Third Sector Ed Miliband were speaking. The debate was interesting enough, but more

03.12.2006 EU Politics

Blogging the PES Congress in Porto

I have the great privilege of having been chosen as one of the PES Activists to write a blog on the Party of European Socialists Website about the PES Congress taking place 7-8 December in Porto. The blog can be

03.12.2006 UK Politics

How hard is it to pay Council Tax in Southwark? – the story goes on

I’m an honest person. I pay my taxes. Well, I do when I can. Or when I’m asked. It however seems that Southwark Borough Council does not really want any money from me. As soon as I moved to Villa

29.11.2006 UK Politics

OUSU dumbing down

I happened to be looking for something related to my time at Oxford and wondered how Oxford University Student Union is getting on. I used to serve on the Exec there, and also was the OUSU Webmanager for a year

28.11.2006 Observations

Living life with professional passion

I’m really struggling on the blogging front at the moment. I have so much work to do – both in the office and in my ‘free’ time – that it’s extremely hard to get my thoughts in order to write

24.11.2006 Technology

Crashes, coffee, and a mind like a sieve

Hell, what a week. First of all, after the masses of work invested to get the Speak Up Europe website online by yesterday morning, the server it’s running on then was not accessible for the entire evening due to a

23.11.2006 Technology

So much work it’s mad

My sincere apologies for the long periods of silence on the blog. I have been working stupidly hard over the last couple of weeks, developing a number of different websites. The first of these – Speak Up Europe – is

17.11.2006 EU Politics

Get ready for a Royal good fight

Excellent news – Segolene Royal has won the vote in the French Socialist Party to become their candidate for the Presidential elections in the spring of 2007. Stories from EUObserver and BBC. She won a resounding 60.62% of the vote