April 7, 2010
by Nosemonkey
39 Comments
Just a quick note for future reference, as most people who blame the EU for “uncontrollable” immigration (*ahem* UKIP *ahem*) tend not to know what they’re talking about – but also tend not to believe anything you say unless it’s … Continue reading
April 3, 2010
by Nosemonkey
12 Comments
If you want to understand Britain’s rather odd relationship with the EU, you could do far worse than read this really rather good overview in this week’s Economist, especially considering its focus on the Conservative party – likely to form … Continue reading
November 27, 2009
by Nosemonkey
17 Comments
UKIP, love them or hate them, have been fairly consistent in one thing over the years – arguing against the EU because it is run by unelected bureaucrats. Just one of their arguments, perhaps – but the democratic deficit claim … Continue reading
November 4, 2009
by Nosemonkey
54 Comments
So runs the argument of increasingly prominent anti-EU Tory, Daniel Hannan MEP – still advocating a UK referendum despite the final ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. This is, of course, very true. Since the 1975 referendum on EEC membership, the … Continue reading
November 2, 2009
by Nosemonkey
5 Comments
A guest post from that rare beast, an openly pro-EU Tory – in this case Thomas Byrne of the blog Byrne Tofferings, who is keen to sound out the thoughts of a more international audience to his suggestion for the … Continue reading
October 25, 2009
by Nosemonkey
19 Comments
The proposed President of the European Council is very far from being “President of Europe” – either in terms of profile or power. Whoever lands the job (and it’s highly unlikely to be Tony Blair) will have practically zero influence … Continue reading
August 22, 2009
by Nosemonkey
1 Comment
Following my recent posts on national vs European identity and regionalism and the EU (as part of a vague attempt to get an idea of the nature and importance of geographical/cultural identity), this may be of interest – Why the … Continue reading
August 17, 2009
by Nosemonkey
44 Comments
In the comments to my National identity vs European identity post, where I’ve been arguing that it’s perfectly possibly to have a sense of belonging to multiple different groups, and thus to have multiple different identities, commenter WG notes: I … Continue reading
August 14, 2009
by Nosemonkey
20 Comments
There’s a big row going on about President Obama’s proposed healthcare reforms in the US at the moment. It’s US politics, so holds little interest for me. But then the Republicans – taking hyperbole and wilful disinformation to whole new … Continue reading
July 7, 2009
by Nosemonkey
4 Comments
If you haven’t, read the liveblog from the day, have a look at the one year on post, much of which still stands (though, thankfully, this country seems to be rather less hysterical about terrorism these days), and flick through … Continue reading
July 2, 2009
by Nosemonkey
13 Comments
The old eurosceptic Independence/Democracy group in the European Parliament was kept more or less respectable largely thanks to the influence of its former joint leader Jens-Peter Bonde, who stemmed from the relatively moderate lefty side of euroscepticism. Now, however, Bonde … Continue reading
June 25, 2009
by Nosemonkey
3 Comments
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
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
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