Readers’ whose brains glaze over when trying to work out the acronymic difference between the European Union, the European Economic Area (EEA) and the European Free Trade Area (EFTA) may find this piece over at the Adam Smith Institute helpful (h/t Roland Smith). It looks at the Big Picture (emphasis […]
Here is a good piece by Tony E about that grim Newsnight programme on Monday: Charles Crawford is a former diplomat, noted for his work in the Eastern Bloc both before and after the fall of Soviet Union. He knows a thing or two about negotiations, was a senior figure […]
Last night I had a somewhat desultory appearance on BBC Newsnight as part of a discussion on UK/EU and what a post-Brexit UK might look like. They asked me for a short blog contribution for their site. Here’s what they published. Here’s what I sent them: How might a post-Leave […]
So, my foray to Cambridge for that Cambridge Union UK/EU debate ended (as I expected) in a huge win for the Remain tendency, ably led by Lord Ashdown. He concluded the debate for the Remain side with a rousing speech that seamlessly combined sound points (“The only world leader who will […]
So. Off to Cambridge tomorrow, to take part in a Cambridge Union debate: This House Believes The UK is better off in the EU This one raises interesting public speaking challenges. It’s a high-powered debate, not a conference presentation or lecture or TV interview. There has to be a goodly […]
A reader asks very pertinent Brexit questions: Is the referendum we are having on 23rd June our only chance to leave the EU? In other words, if we voted to stay in this time, would we ever be able to, or have another opportunity to leave again? There seems to […]
Would the UK lose or gain in ‘security’ terms if it was not part of the European Union? Yes! says my old boss Pauline Neville-Jones, with a rather graceless swipe at former MI6 Chief Richard Dearlove: I do not join those who argue that were the UK to leave the […]
Back in 2009 I wrote two hefty pieces here about ICTY and its role in bringing to justice Balkans war crimes suspects. This one, on the occasion of the viewing of a film Storm: I said that in this sense the film had done a good job, bringing out a […]
My latest for the Telegraph: if V Putin would enjoy #Brexit, does that mean that it’s a bad idea? The end of the Cold War was the moment of moments for radically restructuring Europe’s economic and strategic architecture. Europe’s then leaders blew the opportunity, choosing instead to stick with their […]
Here’s a link to the original documents comprising the UK/EU ‘settlement’ that are the basis for PM David Cameron now campaigning for a Yes vote. So, question. Is the settlement ‘legally binding’? Yes! says Mr Cameron. No! says the Brexit tendency. A highly simplified analysis of this question is given by the BBC: The Vienna Convention on the Law of […]
