“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.
Continue reading
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
Continue reading
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
Continue reading
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,
Continue reading
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
Continue reading
As National School of Government closes its doors, so a small but important part of UK government dies
On Wednesday this week I was a speaker on the course Parliament, Government and the Civil Service (PGCS) run by my former employers National School of Government. The course chair this week – Paul Grant – is the same person
Continue reading
Video | re:publica 2012 – European Political Bloggers: Creating a Public Sphere
Do we have transparency in European politics? Can every citizen have an active influence on the EU decision-making process? How is broad political awareness reflected in the media? These are some of the key questions of the rE:Unite track at
Continue reading
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
Continue reading
The hard working family (that framing nugget on budget day)
It’s budget day in the UK today. Others are far more qualified than I am to discuss the ins and outs of what George Osborne announced. I will instead – with prompting earlier on Twitter from Liz Disley – look at
Continue reading
Political versus administrative communications on Twitter: the Boris Johnson case
Yesterday current Mayor of London Boris Johnson renamed the Twitter account from @MayorofLondon to @BorisJohnson and kept more than 200000 followers. The URL listed with Twitter is now the website of Boris’s re-election site and not the GLA site as
Continue reading
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
Continue reading