Reinvigorating European Elections: The Implications of Electing the European Commission (Royal Institute of International Affairs)
David Lindsay (Free subscription) | yesterday
Tony Blair was no enthusiast for Proportional Representation. He gave it to new bodies to indicate that he didn't think they mattered. But his introduction of the party list system for Strasbourg, while certainly having that motivation, also had another. The old European Parliamentary Labour Party had been a rich seam of dissent over many long years. Almost all of it was duly purged. To that end, the...
David Lindsay (Free subscription) | 06/11/2009
It simply has not happened. Ken Clarke, repeatedly promoted by Margaret Thatcher of the Single European Act, is in the Shadow Cabinet, having first been a Minister before George Osborne was born. Michael Heseltine is the power behind David Cameron. But Dan Hannan, usually held up as the Great White Hope, is not a member of either House of Parliament, and really cannot expect (or wish) to receive the...
eChurchWebsites Blog (Free subscription) | 06/11/2009
Catholic Herald Britain’s “two-party system” is ebbing away and a space is opening up for a new Christian Democratic political party to take its place in the spectrum of electoral options. Although the scandal over election expenses hastened the process in June’s European elections, dissatisfaction with the current parties has been reflected in patterns of voting [...]
Graham Pointer's Blog (Free subscription) | 05/11/2009
David Cameron, the Leader of the Opposition, has announced that the Conservatives would not hold a referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon. And, to be fair, this is the pragmatic route. It is done and dusted- as he notes, it now becomes part of the law of Europe, and the changes it introduces will not simply vanish because we have a referendum. His comparison is with a referendum to stop the Sun rising....
Rupert's Read (Free subscription) | 05/11/2009
Reacting to former UK Independence Party Eastern Region MEP Tom Wise's guilty plea today at his trial for false accounting and money laundering, Dr Rupert Read, Councillor for Norwich and former European election lead candidate, said: "If only Tom Wise had had the basic decency to admit that he is an expenses fraudster a few months back, I surely would have been elected Green MEP for Eastern England...
UKIP (Free subscription) | 05/11/2009
UKIP Chairman Paul Nuttall announced today that he will be stepping down from the helm after the new Party Leader is elected. Mr Nuttall said he would stay on until the new Leader had, as per Party rules, appointed a chairman of his or her choice. At 32, Mr Nuttall is the youngest-ever UKIP Party Chairman and has tackled the often difficult role with aplomb. He spearheaded this year's Annual Conference...
The Very Fluffy Diary of Millennium Dome, Elephant (Free subscription) | 05/11/2009
Tuesday: The Conservatories have made a GREAT DEAL of political capital out of their FALSE claim that the other parties promised a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty and then reneged. Let's be quite clear: in 2005, NOBODY promised a vote on the Lisbon Treaty, because in 2005 the Lisbon Treaty DID NOT EXIST! But in 2007, Mr Balloon gave you a " cast-iron guarantee ". Mr Balloon is the ONLY one...
The Daily (Maybe) (Free subscription) | 05/11/2009
I went to an extremely interesting Socialist Resistance meeting last night on the rise of the far right ( write up ). One of the reasons I like this bunch is that the standard of political discussion is extremely high and they have the knack of being able to openly disagree with each other without turning every issue into a crossing of the Rubicon. There are a number of crucial debates taking place...
Anthony Painter (Free subscription) | 05/11/2009
I was asked to respond to OpenLeft's Which way's left? conversation on whether the left should disperse power . It seems to me that the answer is a qualified yes as this piece argues . However, I decided to float a new idea for House of Lords reform that could enshrine a better separation of powers between the Government and Parliament. It has the following elements: - Members elected on an AV+ basis...
Paperholic (Free subscription) | 05/11/2009
To finish a ( complicated ) story we had started here: European Elections 2009: Swedish Pirate Party will have 2 seats (Paperholic, June 8)… With the Lisbon Treaty being signed by all European Union member states, the Pirate Party has gained another seat in the European Parliament , writes Ernesto from TorrentFreak (November 4), and we are pleased to publish the picture of Amelia Andersdotter...
Christianity-is-not-leftwing (Free subscription) | 05/11/2009
UKIP has consistently warned us how the tories would renege on the promises they freely made to con votes in the EU elections. The tories lied. My vote will never again go to them. Labour and Lib Dems have sold out. The BNP is an abomination. It looks like I am now a UKIP voter for life! (Spiv Cameron even looks shifty.)
Booker Rising (Free subscription) | 04/11/2009
Things are getting interesting in France in regards to Rama Yade, the outspoken French Secretary of State and former human rights minister who is France's most popular politician. A move by the French government to scrap a tax break which benefits top football and rugby players has angered clubs and caused a huge row between Secretary Yade and her fellow center-right cabinet colleagues . Ms. Yade was...
Jailhouselawyer's Blog (Free subscription) | 04/11/2009
Previous incompatibility finding is sufficient Queen’s Bench Division Published November 3, 2009 Regina (Chester) v Secretary of State for Justice and Another Before Mr Justice Burton Judgment October 28, 2009 An English court would not make a declaration that existing national legislation was incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights where there was a ruling by a Scottish court...
Louise Baldock (Free subscription) | 03/11/2009
I had a flying visit into Brighton, I didn't have the funds nor the holiday entitlement to stay all week so I went for a long weekend instead. I went down with Kevin on the train and we were very pleased with our lovely B&B in the village - called The Kelvin Guest House (I recommend it, very highly). We met up with the early arrived Merseyside contingency and had a drink and a meal on the Friday...
Alter Ego (Free subscription) | 03/11/2009
During the European Elections of 1999 we had enormous trouble getting our completed, addressed election addresses back from the printers in Essex. But myself, and another Liberal Democrat activist, took a very large van down south, overnight, to collect the half a million addressed leaflets,and take them back to the Manchester sorting office. A very helpful man from [...]
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