Including some genuinely fascinating interpretations of the nature of the EU Continue reading
June 30, 2009
by Nosemonkey
44 Comments
Category Archives: Politics
June 25, 2009
by Nosemonkey
3 Comments
Increasing disquiet surrounds new centre-right EP group
After yesterday’s confusion – with one MEP leaving and another joining, exposing this new British Conservatives-led group as a fairly fragile alliance – now we again have renewed concerns being voiced: This time from among the British Conservatives themselves. Many … Continue reading
June 24, 2009
by Nosemonkey
5 Comments
The Conservatives’ new European Parliament Group: On the brink of collapse already?
Only a couple of days after its formation, and already David Cameron’s new European Parliament political grouping (the brilliantly-named Conservatives and Reformists) have lost a member. Considering that you need MEPs from seven member states to form an EP group, … Continue reading
June 22, 2009
by Nosemonkey
5 Comments
New centre-right political group
David Cameron’s Conservatives have done it – just… Splitting from the EPP was always a gamble – but with the near-certain collapse of the Independence/Democracy group (headed up by UKIP leader Nigel Farage) after a poor election showing from some … Continue reading
June 22, 2009
by Nosemonkey
5 Comments
The Speaker elections: Some perspective
The MP expenses scandal has rocked Westminster for over a month now (with more revelations *still* emerging). Many MPs have found their careers cut short – among them Speaker Michael Martin (a man who never should have got the job … Continue reading
June 19, 2009
by Nosemonkey
6 Comments
“Becoming EU-sceptic”
Prolific Euroblogger Julien Frisch – “a convinced European citizen and glad to be a citizen of the European Union” – is approaching his first anniversary of blogging. During that time, his coveraged has been both eclectic and entertaining, informative and … Continue reading
June 18, 2009
by Nosemonkey
6 Comments
Why is there a misconception that the EU has done the UK no good?
Following our ongoing discussions about the EU’s economic costs/benefits (as part of this apparent series – 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 – trying to cut through the spin about the EU and get to the facts), from a letter in … Continue reading
June 17, 2009
by Nosemonkey
12 Comments
The dishonesty of the EU debate
The artificial binary confrontation between pro- and anti-EU opinion is preventing sensible discussion of the EU and its problems Continue reading
June 14, 2009
by Nosemonkey
19 Comments
What are the economic costs of the EU?
You can work out the likely impact of a law liberalising the market for product category x on related industries a, b, c, (etc.) and even make an educated guess about the overall impact that this law may have on … Continue reading
June 13, 2009
by Nosemonkey
3 Comments
The Daily Show does the European elections
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c Indecision 2009 – Everywhere but Here Edition thedailyshow.com Jon Stewart’s take on the European Parliament is, it must be said, pretty much spot on…
June 11, 2009
by Nosemonkey
1 Comment
David Cameron, eurosceptics and the EU
A European elections follow-up from me, over at the Guardian.
June 8, 2009
by Nosemonkey
2 Comments
UK EU election results: By the numbers
In terms of change in share of the vote (which dropped in turnout from 45% to 43%), taking the major parties: Conservatives +1% Labour -6.9% UKIP +0.5% Lib Dems -1.2% Greens +2.4% BNP +1.3% SNP +0.7% Plaid Cymru -0.1% English … Continue reading
June 8, 2009
by Nosemonkey
11 Comments
The European elections and the anti-EU case
If so many people in Britain (80% was the usual figure quoted) wanted a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, how come only 43% bothered voting? If the anti-EU cause is so overwhelmingly popular, how come only around half of those … Continue reading
June 7, 2009
by Nosemonkey
2 Comments
Twittering the European elections results
I’m on Twitter at the moment, blathering away more or less incoherently with a bunch of other Eurobloggers (@JonWorth, @JulienFrisch, @kosmopolit, @citizeneurope, @EuropeanCitizen and a bunch of others) as the results and rumours come in. Follow along via the hashtags … Continue reading