Recent Posts

EPP Stay
EU Politics

The less loony Euro-Tories fight back

I wrote a little while ago about the efforts of the Bruges Group to force the Tory MEPs to quit the EPP-ED group in the European Parliament – read that detailed post here. I am quite amused today to discover that a blog has been launched to defend the other […]

Jail
UK Politics

Britain’s prisons

From Polly Toynbee’s article from today’s Guardian: How tragically revealing that half of all prisoners are completely illiterate and another 20% have a reading age under eight. Plus prison numbers will hit record levels this week, and the UK has Europe’s longest sentences on average. Hell. And this is after […]

Plan D Campaign
EU Politics

Eurosceptics’ Plan D campaign – too good

It makes me most concerned to have to write something positive about eurosceptics here, but give credit where it’s due: the Independence-Democracy group in the European Parliament, containing luminaries [sic] such as Jens Peter Bonde and Nigel Farage are sending a bus around the EU to talk about EU democracy. […]

This Blog is Anti Torture
UK Politics

Blogging against torture

June is Amnesty International’s anti-torture month, and a group of enterprising bloggers have set up Bloggers Against Torture. All you have to do is link to them (I have here, and also in ‘Links’ in the right column) and write about the issue – in my case this has been […]

Skate
Observations

Summer evening skating

Summer is normally the time I get a bit more active and do some sport – mosting inline skating. But I seem to have been very lazy this year so far, put off by lousy weather and not being in London on many Fridays to join the Friday Night Skate. […]

Dick Marty
EU Politics

Do we believe you Mr Marty?

It’s all over the press in most European countries today: the Council of Europe has released its report about the so called ‘Rendition Flights’ – basically illegal transport of terror suspects. Plenty of countries have been involved with it – even Sweden is among the accused – see this from […]

The Daily Telegraph
Technology

JEF features in a new Euroblog

The Daily Telegraph’s Brussels Correspondent David Rennie. One of his first postings was about the onseat.eu petition, and Rennie writes how JEF member Peter Strempel wrote to him about the petition – quite amusing. Read the post here. While I don’t like the Telegraph’s EU line very much, the blog […]

EU Politics, UK Politics

Labour Movement for Europe – Launch

OK, we’re finally ready to go! The branch of the Labour Movement for Europe in London and the South East are launching this month… The LABOUR MOVEMENT FOR EUROPE LONDON AND SOUTH EAST OF ENGLAND REGIONAL BRANCH invites you to its Launch Event, which will be held on FRIDAY JUNE […]

Traffic Light Berlin
UK Politics

Redwood: the EU traffic light lesson!

It must be a quiet news day in the UK as the new traffic policy ideas from the Conservative Party have hit the press, piloted by none other than that die-hard eurosceptic John Redwood. The bold idea is that drivers should be allowed to turn left at a junction even […]