“At one level I can’t get very worked up about Roger Helmer MEP defecting from the Tories to UKIP today. Helmer has long held views on the EU-phobic right of the Conservative Party, in many ways closer to UKIP, so his defection is not a great surprise. Conservative Home has...
“I don’t know what annoys me more – that a high-level Labour politician can have such misguided ideas, or that the outcome of an event is reported in such a one-sided manner in the press. I am referring to The Guardian’s report on today’s IPPR event on the EU’s democratic...
“If last week was the week of Cameron’s walk out, this week has been the week of recriminations, with newspaper column inches full of talk of Nick Clegg involved in spats with Tories and France. While in some way it is good that EU politics is front page news, I...
“If you are in favour of the UK remaining a Member State of the European Union, this week’s summit was a disaster. If you want Britain to leave the EU there are some reasons to rejoice. It’s that simple. The agreement is that the 17 Member States of the Eurozone,...
“No-one can have expected the fissure in the UK’s relationship with the EU to come so soon, but the stormy discussions at the European Council in Brussels last night confirm a parting of ways that has probably been inevitable. The exact consequences of what happened – when it comes to...
“7000 attendees, more than 500 delegates, dozens of well known German and European politicians, and one notable elderly man in a wheelchair – Helmut Schmidt. Today is the start of the SPD Partietag in Berlin (live news in German here), the German Social Democrats’ equivalent of Labour Party Conference, and...
“This week I was invited to speak at Exeter University Debating Society, opposing the motion “This house believes Britain is better off out of the European Union.” I had agreed to participate before knowing the identity of the two speakers in favour of the motion, only to discover they were...
“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...