Certain events over the last few years have left me feeling decidedly uneasy about the likely shape of geopolitics in the next few decades. Much of it centres around the increasingly brazen actions by Russia, which largely seem to be influenced by the availability of natural mineral resource. I suppose it all started with the Ukrainian […]
Mark Mardell’s most recent weblog entry superbly explains the recent tensions between Poland and Germany that so marked the last EU treaty gathering: Poland had won concessions in the voting system, but made overt reference to the suffering they experienced during the second world war. The post itself is a fascinating read, and does an excellent […]
Radio 4’s Today programme featured a fascinating snippet from the national archives of 1956, when the then French Prime Minister Guy Mollet proposed Britain and France form a Union. When that was rebuffed, there was further talk about France joining the commonwealth (taking the Queen as its head of state along the way). Of course the […]
The Repeal vote has opened with a truly disappointing shortlist that is sure to appeal to middle-England, but is sadly reactionary and horribly predictable in it’s contents. Listening yesterday to the (disappointing) panel wafting it’s way through the nominations, and brushing aside the opportunity to push the debate in interesting directions, I soon lost hope […]
I’ve been following the slagging match debate between Britain and France regarding the British Rebate, the EU budget and reform of the CAP over the last few weeks with increasing despair. For once, I actually agree with Blair et al. that the EU budget is taking the piss with its 46% spent on farmers, when they […]
