This week, Switzerland refused requests from European countries to re-export European agricultural products to Russia. In the latest development of the escalating battle between Russia and the EU, Switzerland refused to help the EU on legal grounds, saying it could not certify food exports for hygiene if the products were processed outside its borders. The EU’s… [Read More]
Engaging young people with politics is among the most pressing issues facing political parties. With each new generation come fewer activists to replenish already-dwindling local support. Despite gearing up for a general election campaign Labour have to make do with 193,000 members, the Conservatives, 150,000, and the Liberal Democrats, just 49,000 to cover 650 seats.… [Read More]
Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan won the country’s first ever direct presidential elections this week with 52% of the vote. The victory makes him one of Turkey’s most successful leaders in recent history; he has won three general elections so far, and could potentially serve another 10 years as the country’s president. Erdogan is certainly… [Read More]
This is a guest post by Oliver Williams, a freelance writer based in London. He has written for Conservative Home, among others. He can be contacted at: oliverw86@outlook.com Commenting on a National Security Council defence review, Andrew Mitchell, then the UK’s international development secretary, said that while in the past it had “always been about tanks versus… [Read More]
Trust in the European Union has been in steep decline since the eurocrisis, and the 2014 European Parliament elections saw many MEPs sent to Brussels to represent parties opposed to the federalist agenda – and in some cases to the EU itself. Euroscepticism has gone from being a political position that was treated with contempt… [Read More]
Philip Morris International has threatened to sue Britain for an eye-watering sum over potential losses resulting from our proposed standardised brand-free cigarette packaging laws. The American multinational has a 15.6% share of the international tobacco market, total assets of $38.2bn, and sued Australia on similar grounds along with Imperial Tobacco, Japan Tobacco and British American… [Read More]
Five days ago I posted a piece here about Cameron’s gift of £2m of taxpayers’ money to Eastbourne to help rebuild the pier after the fire. In my comments I warned of “robbing Peter to pay Paul. Whenever one special interest group gets paid off, another loses out, and then starts demanding favours too. This… [Read More]
In the past week or so, the Tories, Labour and the Lib Dems have all set out policies on immigration. After the European elections earlier this year saw the historic triumph of Ukip, whose tough anti-immigration stance helped gained them 24 MEPs, it seems Britain’s major political parties are out to try and neutralise the… [Read More]
After three days’ hype around London Mayor Boris Johnson’s speech at Bloomberg, in which he endorsed an EU report by his head economist Gerard Lyons, the reality is very disappointing. The EU discussion was an amuse-bouche to the main course: Johnson’s intended return to parliament. The report itself should offer new analysis and convincing arguments… [Read More]
Swiss monitors have recorded record numbers of Portuguese entering their country this year, adding to the record 66,200 EEA migrants from 2013. This adds urgency to Switzerland’s desire to renegotiate their EU relationship, and the decision they may face to cut all ties. This February the 8 million Swiss narrowly voted to use quotas to limit… [Read More]