Blood & Treasure – the great crusade: fat cows and the dilettante economy: “Linking the CAP to African poverty has more to do with gaining the moral high ground in the EU�s endless rounds of backbiting than it does with … Continue reading →

Observer blog – Europe, the plan: “measures to bring EU institutions closer to the people they are supposed to represent”

The French and Dutch rejections of the constitutional treaty and the spat over the CAP and British rebate cannot be separated. Both are � at least in theory � to do with the future of the EU post-enlargement. Both should … Continue reading →

The New Republic (reg. or BugMeNot req.) – Updates From the World’s Tyrannical Outposts: “we should be paying more attention to despotic lands. But who, in truth, has the time? … We’re pleased to present our readers with a summary … Continue reading →

The Times – Blair puts boot in over rebate by marching to moral high ground and Forget the gloating, everyone needs to look to the future and Lords have set out map to keep EU on the road

The Guardian – ‘Sharp disagreement’ at Blair-Chirac talks Blair: “If people want a reconsideration of the rebate, they’ve got to reconsider the reasons for rebate”

Fair Vote Watch – The emerging European demos and Spiked – From Europe to America: the populist moment has arrived

Courtesy of Mr Justin “Chicken Yoghurt” McKeating (not just for the idea, but also the code, and then a fair while of fiddling with my shoddily-arranged template), a brand-spanking-new feature – fancy little boxout things like this in which I’ll … Continue reading →

A breeze sweeps in off the plains, kicking up little eddies of dust in the rutted main street of the ramshackle township. The weather-beaten faces of grizzled onlookers gaze towards the saloon doors. They smash open, and a bespurred foot … Continue reading →

The more I try and work out how the EU budget could be made “fair”, the more confused I get. I’m going to keep working on it, but at the moment every time I find some new information or a … Continue reading →

This is fun. Does Chirac’s cheek know no bounds? Blair’s claims that without the rebate Britain would be paying 15 times more than France to the EU (rather than just 2.5 times) are actually pretty much accurate. Yet Chirac still … Continue reading →

The comments section of my latest post at The Sharpener (on the British rebate) have been interesting, and the Common Agricultural Policy has once again reared its ugly head. It’s rubbish, and on that everyone – except, perhaps, the French … Continue reading →

Epolitix.com are getting in on the blogging bug and trying, like Bloggerheads’ Tim Ireland, to get politicians interested. As of yet they’ve got tit all there and what there is is in rather an odd format, but their mission-statement seems … Continue reading →

I did put this up here to start with, but decided it was better off at The Sharpener for some reason I’ve now forgotten – so go read it there. Go on.