26 October 2017 Could Brexit Save Twinning? A new raison d’etre. By Lynda Goetz Portsall is a picturesque Brittany village. If the name means anything to you at all it may be because it was just off the coast here that the Amoco Cadiz went down in March 1978 spilling 220,000 tonnes of oil which… Continue reading Issue 126: 2017 10 26: Could Brexit Save Twinning? (Lynda Goetz)
Tag: Europe
Issue 98: 2017 03 30: Full Circle (Robert Kilconner)
30 March 2017 Full Circle Should the EU go for a fighting retreat? By Robert Kilconner Just occasionally absentmindedness can be a good thing, particularly if the result is that you forget to go to the bookshop. “No thriller this week” you think glumly. None of those Booker shortlisters will be gracing your bedside table. … Continue reading Issue 98: 2017 03 30: Full Circle (Robert Kilconner)
Issue 94: 2017 03 02: Political Teflon (John Watson)
02 March 2017 Political Teflon The contribution Mr Blair ought to make. By John Watson A week is a long time in politics and, from the commentator’s point of view, things quickly move on. In this column, a week ago, I was talking about Mrs May’s good luck, instancing both her ascent to the leadership… Continue reading Issue 94: 2017 03 02: Political Teflon (John Watson)
Issue 51: 2016 04 28: Academies – A Step Too Far (John Watson)
28 April 2016 Academies – A Step Too Far The row about whether all schools should have to adopt academy status is an unwelcome distraction. By John Watson You would have thought that the European referendum was sufficiently exciting. A Cabinet split into two factions, a decision which will determine Britain’s place in the world… Continue reading Issue 51: 2016 04 28: Academies – A Step Too Far (John Watson)
Issue 49: 2016 04 14: The Best of Both Worlds? (Richard Pooley)
14 April 2016 The Best of Both Worlds? Why the French think we’d be mad to leave the EU. by Richard Pooley I spent some of my time in the early 1980s teaching English to foreign businesspeople in London. Nearly all of them were German, Swiss, Italian, Spanish, French or Japanese. One of the things… Continue reading Issue 49: 2016 04 14: The Best of Both Worlds? (Richard Pooley)
Issue 47: 2016 03 31: Betting Against Brexit (John Watson)
31 March 2016 Betting Against Brexit The UK should remain in the EU. By John Watson “Ultimate authority”; “Our priorities”; “Take back control”. The heady words glitter on the “Vote Leave” pamphlet which dropped through my letterbox. No more European Court of Justice imposing EU law. No more European Court of Human Rights. Let’s… Continue reading Issue 47: 2016 03 31: Betting Against Brexit (John Watson)
Issue 21:2015 09 24: The Only Lesson of History…
24 September 2015 The Only Lesson of History… …is that we learn nothing from history. by J R Thomas In 1919, Woodrow Wilson, Georges Clemenceau, Vittorio Orlando and David Lloyd George, the leaders of the victorious powers in the War to End All Wars, sat down together to sort out Europe. It was a job… Continue reading Issue 21:2015 09 24: The Only Lesson of History…
Issue 12: 2015 07 23 Viva La Siesta! Viva la Diferencia!
23 July 2015 Viva La Siesta! Viva La Diferencia! by Neil Tidmarsh Three cheers to Spain this week, for offering us weary Europeans a little respite from the gloom and doom of Greece’s never-ending Euro disaster. And let’s face it, a little goes a long way these days. From Ador, near Valencia, comes the news… Continue reading Issue 12: 2015 07 23 Viva La Siesta! Viva la Diferencia!
Issue 10: 2015 07 09: Mr Tsipras’s Tactics
09 July 2015 Mr Tsipras’s Tactics by John Watson Old hands at litigation will tell you that if you are stuck for a strategy you can do worse than to imagine yourself in the other side’s position, work out what it is that they would like you to do least and then do it. It… Continue reading Issue 10: 2015 07 09: Mr Tsipras’s Tactics
Issue 8: 2015 06 25: The Threat From Outside the Bubble
25 June 2015 The threat from outside the Bubble by John Watson In my next life I think I would like to work at the EU Commission. That is not because I love Brussels, although to be fair the chocolate there is excellent. Nor is it the stimulating company; I am sure there are lots… Continue reading Issue 8: 2015 06 25: The Threat From Outside the Bubble