For years now Twitter has been my main professional social network. It is (or has been?) the way to keep in touch with what is going on in politics, and to seek to influence it in some way. I have also written a lot about it – all gathered here. […]
Recent Posts
What May’s resignation means for the Brexit process
So May has gone. Or at least said when she will go. Her statement today that she will stand aside on 7th June, together with the announcement by Brandon Lewis and others about the timetable for the leadership election that will conclude by mid July, gives us the framework. Into […]
Britain’s democratic blind spot
Just over a year ago I was speaking on a panel about Brexit at King’s College London with Richard Graham, Tory MP for Gloucester. “The democratic tradition” Graham said in sickly smooth tone 23 minutes in, “is much deeper in the UK than anywhere else in the European Union.” He […]
Brexit, the final countdown – my Brexit tour!
So with less than a month to go until Brexit (or it being delayed or cancelled), I am setting off around Europe, talking to different groups about the UK’s exit from the EU, and what we can expect between now and 29.3.2019. Details of all the events are below and […]
The problem of the constituency link and parochialism in UK politics
Back a decade ago when I was building websites for politicians as a job, one of my clients wrote the following: I was born in a council house in Kendray, a district of Barnsley, on the 9th April 1955. Apart from my time at university I have always lived in […]
Brexit – what we know now, and how to still stop it
42 days to go to Brexit. Just over 1000 hours. And we still do not know what is going to happen in the Brexit saga. Yet as the clock ticks, some things become clearer. My Brexit diagrams have fewer branches. There are fewer possible outcomes. An early general election (or […]
4 years of simulation games about the EU – some reflections
It has been a while since I last wrote about teaching about the EU through simulation games. Now, in light of further experience, it is high time to return to this topic. I’ve now run 4 negotiation simulations at the College of Europe in Bruges (together with my colleagues Pierpaolo […]
Why are populists better at digital communication than the “mainstream”?
I gave a speech this week to PES members of the Committee of the Regions about digital communication in the run up to the European Parliament elections. The Q&A with the members was especially interesting, and one question – from a mayor from Greece – prompted me to write this […]
After the Brady Amendment, where next for Brexit? Even now, there is no majority for a Brexit Deal anywhere in sight
The House of Commons adopted two Amendments to its Brexit motion on Tuesday this week – the Brady Amendment to replace the Northern Ireland Backstop with “alternative arrangements”, and the Spelman/Dromey Amendment against a No Deal Brexit but lacking a mechanism to achieve that. The Cooper/Boles Amendment that would have […]
Labour should back a People’s Vote, but need not explicitly back Remain
Back in December I wrote that trying to break UK party politics was not the way out of Britain’s Brexit conundrum. The events of this past 7 days underline this even more. Back in December, 117 Tory MPs voted to No Confidence May as Tory leader. 118 voted against her […]
Brexit – where now? The flow diagrams
Looking for new diagrams? There is a whole new series from May 2019 onwards here! Diagrams as featured by The New York Times! I have tried to make sense of Brexit through a series of flow diagrams that have evolved as Brexit decisions have been taken. This blog post gathers […]
Which way does May go? What she decides to do when her deal fails will have a significant impact on Brexit
Cowed and weakened after the events of the past few months, Theresa May will nevertheless stagger into the New Year as Prime Minister of the UK. And what she does between now and 17th (or possibly 21st) January will shape the path of Brexit – whether we like it or […]
Repeat: Johnson wants to deliver Brexit at any cost. DUP do not. This is the fundamental divide which could yet bring the edifice crashing down. https://t.co/1bVHxCGTr7
*If* solution is a customs border in Irish Sea (something Theresa May said no PM could accept), that’s going to make arithmetic UK side v hard
Lose the DUP (almost certain) and Johnson is going to need about 20 Labour MPs. And every single Tory (inc ERG).
Not going to work
Having spent time in 🇦🇱 & 🇲🇰 it really saddens me to see what’s happening to these countries’ accession efforts
There’s no sensible reason to not *start* talks with both!
I talked to @rte (Ireland’s national broadcaster) about the EU’s failure to respond positively to Albanian and North Macedonian aspirations to open membership negotiations.
France, in particular, is behaving appallingly.
https://t.co/J3efXPRlY9
