After the initial shock of the Tory victory in May, and the dawning realisation that the UK’s in-or-out of the EU referendum will indeed happen, a sort of calm consensus among pro-EU contacts of mine in the UK formed in the early summer. Of course Cameron wants the UK to […]
Brexit
Cameron’s “proper choice” in the EU referendum ought to mean there’s a third option on the ballot paper
So Cameron is in Riga, trying to charm fellow EU leaders that British exceptionalism a reformed EU is possible. News about it here. But one phrase particularly struck me from Cameron’s words – we’re going to give the people a “proper choice” he says. The choice Cameron proposes is his […]
What Labour’s leadership hopefuls ought to say about the EU
So the Labour Party has another leadership election. Unlike in 2010, when I was still a Labour Party member and heavily involved in the process*, this time I have no vote (having quit Labour to join the German Grüne as I now live in Berlin). However that doesn’t mean I […]
What precisely is this EU “red tape” that JCB speaks of?
The construction vehicles pictured above are a JCB 3CX (on the left), manufactured in Rocester, UK, and two Volvo Construction Equipment machines (on the right), a L120F and L120E, both manufactured in Arvika, Sweden. My point of course – in light of comments yesterday by Chief Executive of JCB, Graeme […]
What happens if David Cameron switches to the No side in the EU referendum?
(note: this is a counterfactual – just in case you’re reading it after October 2015!) It is Wednesday 21st November 2015, and David Cameron has called a press conference at Downing Street. With his face going rather puce, the anger showing in the edge to his voice, he delivers the […]
Why I am not going back to the UK to campaign in the EU referendum
David Cameron’s victory in the UK election presents me with a personal problem: he promises to hold an in-or-out of the EU referendum. If the UK leaves the EU I have a major headache – I live in Germany and I need freedom of movement within the EU more than […]
Parameters for the UK’s in-or-out EU referendum
The prospect of the UK holding an in-or-out of the EU referendum fills me with dread, but debate of the merits of holding this vote, and how each side might frame its messages are topics for blog entries in future. What voting no would mean is outlined in this blog […]
As a whole the EU is not a source of frustration, but its politicians or policies might be
A tweet by Gergely Polner, sometime comms guy for the European Parliament in London, and now working in the private sector, tweeted this earlier today that caught my eye: "One has to acknowledge that EU has been a source of frustration even for those most favourably disposed towards it" http://t.co/7OwqPCbPdw […]
Sorry British Bankers’ Association – British influence in the EU has already fallen off a cliff, and it’s not to do with staff
Gergely Polner (@eurocrat on Twitter) normally knows his stuff about the EU. Sometime spokesperson for the Hungarian Presidency of the EU (still the best social media outreach by Presidency), then head of public affairs for the European Parliament in the UK, and now head of EU affairs for the British Bankers’ […]
EU enlargement, the UK and immigration – a recap, and a call to move on
Nick Clegg has today joined the race among UK political parties to sound tough on immigration to the UK from the EU, and Mark Leonard (someone who ought to know better) has written a piece for the Fabian Society advocating that Labour ought to be tough too. Let’s just quickly […]
openDemocracy | It’s time to get the “national interest” out of the UK’s European debate
““Our national interest lies in staying in the European Union” says Ed Miliband. Nick Clegg does the same, stating “Liberal Democrats, it falls for us to stand up for the national interest, we will be the party of ‘In’.” Even Cameron states “Leaving the EU is not in our national […]
Britain, perhaps it’s time to hold a referendum and to leave the EU
I’m going to start this blog entry with the assertion of my basic views, for these remain unchanged. For it is the circumstances that have altered, as I will explain. Now, as before, I am strongly of the view that the UK should remain a Member State of the European […]