Brexit

24.05.2016 Brexit

Ultimately I cannot bring myself to vote for Brexit

Holding a British passport, and at the same time being committed to EU integration and the democratisation of the European Union, has never been easy. The months since the UK general election, David Cameron’s EU ‘deal’, and the subsequent referendum

11.05.2016 Brexit

First it was Berlin, then Hamburg, now Köln – #CGNBritsBrexit

First it was #BERBritsBrexit. Then #HHBritsBrexit. And now we’re organising the next in the series of events about the impact of Brexit on Brits in Germany to Köln on 18th May. Together with local organiser Tobias Flessenkemper, we’ll be discussing:

07.04.2016 Brexit

Why the Remain campaign is going wrong

I’m going to set aside my views about the rights and wrongs of Britain staying in the EU for a moment, and instead focus on the way the Remain campaign is trying to make its case. This is especially relevant

07.04.2016 Brexit

If Britain votes to Remain, how should the EU contain it?

I have made the case for why progressives and federalists outside the UK ought to advocate Brexit (for the sake of the political integration of the rest of the EU), and I have also tried to examine in a bit

29.03.2016 Brexit

Jackie Ashley: don’t bemoan a lack of determination from the Remain campaign. Find advocates instead!

So Jackie Ashley is angry I tell you. Angry! We need to be “brutally honest” that the “remain campaign is failing” she writes. Well, what a sodding surprise. A campaign entitled “Britain Stronger in Europe” was never going to light

24.03.2016 Brexit

Britain remaining in the EU increases Boris Johnson’s chances of being the next PM

Over a beer with some academic friends yesterday, conversation turned to Brexit. Boris Johnson will only become Tory party leader if Britain exits the EU was the consensus among my friends. It’ll be Osborne otherwise. I expressed my doubts yesterday,

21.03.2016 Brexit

In this EU referendum so far, the Tory Party is the problem, not the EU – but no-one is saying that

If you read ex-PM John Major’s Telegraph piece from Saturday about the dangers of Brexit you’d think all is generally well in the fine and pleasant land of England. Our pick and choose with regard to the EU has worked,

06.03.2016 Brexit

The EU referendum will not improve UK-EU relations, so federalists and progressives outside the UK should advocate Brexit

The standard way of looking at the UK’s EU referendum in other capitals around Europe, and indeed within the EU institutions in Brussels, is that – often a bit grudgingly – people feel it would be better for the EU

26.02.2016 Brexit

#BERBritsBrexit – a brief summary

“What do you think Brits in Berlin think about the prospect of Brexit?” Matt Hanley asked me. So we set about trying to find out – by putting on an event on 24th February entitled #BERBritsBrexit (details of the event

26.02.2016 Brexit

#BERBritsBrexit – photo album

25.01.2016 EU Politics

David Cameron, democracy and the European Parliament

At the height of the Eurozone bailout crisis, Alexis Tsipras went to address the European Parliament. Why bother with that? was the cry of sceptical journalists who have never paid attention to the European Parliament. 887000 viewers of Guy Verhofstadt’s

05.12.2015 Brexit

The UK’s EU referendum: speak to me as a person, not as a Brit

With the date for the UK’s EU referendum not yet set, it still feels like the Remain and Leave campaigns are in their early, pre-preparation phases. The logos for the campaigns are above – Britain Stronger In Europe (the official