Conservative Home have run an unusually fatuous article by one Max Wind-Cowie of Demos, where he works on the Progressive Conservatism Project. He even has the hair to match. M W-C suggests that UK diplomacy is ailing because we do not apply the American method of appointing friends of senior […]
My talk at TEDxKrakow contained one throw-away observation which raised warm applause from the massed Polish audience. I said that I had studied various languages. Polish is the only one which teaches you the verb ‘to complain’ – narzekać – as one of the VERY FIRST VERBS YOU LEARN. This subsequently led to […]
More haggling over the 2011 EU Budget. Key point to remember. If there is no agreement in December, the EU 2011 budget stays at the level of the 2010 budget. Hurrah? Yes and no. Since money has been committed to various EU schemes during this 2005/13 Financial Perspective period, some […]
Sorry to be a bit quiet here folks. I am working on a major piece explaining the EU Budget and where the UK has leverage (or not). A dirty job, but someone has to do it.
Here is the link to the video of my TEDx presentation in Krakow on the Physics of Diplomacy. Pretty gruesome watching yourself in action. But I have done so in the name of Science. Some interesting public speaking points emerge. First, I don’t want to cross swords with Max Atkinson […]
Ages ago I gave an interview to the Krakow Post which has suddenly popped out into the open: KP: Which states are Poland’s natural allies in the European Union and which will are its rivals? CC: I tend to fear that on EU issues, Poland and the UK will end […]
I have just been sent a nice letter from Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne inviting me to be a witness before the new All-Party Parliamentary Group on Foreign Affairs when it launches its first inquiry into UK foreign policy. Any ideas on what I should say? (And no, NC, I am […]
Over in the USA the Republicans – boosted by Tea Party energy – look set to win big tomorrow in the latest rounds of US elections. Pundits pore away over why President Obama’s erstwhile omnipotent appeal has waned. Is he too aloof, too clever, too Left, too moderate? Has he […]
More confused or at least confusing analysis of the EU Budget in the Daily Telegraph: The Prime Minister last week promised to fight plans to increase the European Commission’s budget by 5.9 per cent and said its 2011 budget should be frozen or cut. Last night, however, British sources conceded […]
Remember all those Eurozone anxieties? They still bubble away. Ambrose Evans Pritchard: Most investors seem to agree that the EU-IMF plan is unworkable, merely buying time for German and French banks to shift Greek liabilities on to EU taxpayers. A Barclays survey found that 82pc of clients expect the eurozone […]
