December 3, 2007
by Nosemonkey
1 Comment
I mean, seriously. According to pretty much every opinion poll throughout his time in office, Putin has scored a 60-90% approval rating. He’s insanely popular in Russia, while the opposition – given considerable airtime in the West largely due to … Continue reading
October 20, 2007
by Nosemonkey
28 Comments
So, the deal’s been done – and it would be rather amiss of a blog focussing on European politics not to have another quick look, even though we’ve all known this was pretty much inevitable for months now. The only … Continue reading
September 24, 2007
by Nosemonkey
11 Comments
The graphic above appears on the Sun’s website today as part of their “Oi, Gordon – give us a referendum on the EU reform treaty or else” campaign. That it’s full of distortions is unsurprising, but some of these key … Continue reading
September 13, 2007
by Nosemonkey
3 Comments
So, is new Russian Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov going to be the next President? After all, Boris Yeltsin appointed Vladimir Putin as Prime Minister (out of nowhere) shortly before the 2000 presidential election in which Putin took power. Is Vlad … Continue reading
September 7, 2007
by Nosemonkey
14 Comments
Everyone in the UK knows that of the national daily papers, it’s really only the barely-read (and increasingly unreadable) Guardian (c.311,000 sales per issue) and Independent (c.190,000 sales per issue) who are in favour of the European Union. The Times … Continue reading
August 31, 2007
by Nosemonkey
9 Comments
A fun little article on Europe in 2057, combined with Foreign Secretary David Miliband’s reiteration of the UK government’s position on a referendum over the new EU treaty, has got me pondering once again. (Warning – it’ll be a long … Continue reading
August 8, 2007
by Nosemonkey
4 Comments
So, I’ve been slowly chugging through the tediousness that is the EU’s draft Reform Treaty. Packed with boredom and predictability, with no real surprises and very few really important changes to the way the EU currently works, it’s one of … Continue reading
July 19, 2007
by Nosemonkey
11 Comments
Well, now that the EU has lent its collective support to the UK’s efforts, and with Gordon Brown heading off to meet Nicholas Sarkozy tomorrow (where the Russia dispute will almost certainly be raised), it’s no doubt past time to … Continue reading
June 18, 2007
by Nosemonkey
5 Comments
So, according to a poll for the Financial Times, a decent majority of Europeans want the chance to vote on whatever treaty / constitution eventually emerges for the future of Europe. We’ve now got everyone from the full-on eurosceptic UKIP … Continue reading
June 11, 2007
by Nosemonkey
2 Comments
Since the initial expansion to 25 member states back in 2004, the future of the EU has been wildly uncertain. The constitution was supposed to sort everything out but, as we all know, that little project has failed dismally. For … Continue reading
June 6, 2007
by Nosemonkey
5 Comments
In lieu of inspiration I’ve been reading a few precursors to bloggers to try and get the creative juices flowing. As such, pertinent find from Dr Johnson’s Rambler (No.3, June 5th 1750): It is… quickly discoverable, that consultation and compliance … Continue reading
May 23, 2007
by Nosemonkey
Comments Off on The UK’s current EU policy: nonexistent
A revealing interview with Geoff Hoon in Le Figaro (in English) has confirmed something I’ve suspected for quite a while now – the UK simply does not have an EU policy. Hoon, following his poor showing with the Defence portfolio … Continue reading
May 14, 2007
by Nosemonkey
6 Comments
You see, the thing about the EU is that it’s first and foremost supposed to promote and facilitate free trade. Of course, as not every country in the world is a member of the EU, what it’s ended up being … Continue reading
May 9, 2007
by Nosemonkey
10 Comments
Well THERE’s a surprise – the European Commission has announced that the Imperial system of weights and measures can continue to be used indefinitely. This was always going to be the outcome – though it would have been nicer if … Continue reading