Continuing from my previous post. It follows that the EU is a stupendously good idea, right? Peace, love, understanding – all neatly codified via mutual treaty networks for the benefit of EU member states’ citizens. In fact it’s such a fine idea that other regions of the world are planning […]
My former FCO colleague the legendary Alyson Bailes alas has died, at the age of 67. Here is her Guardian obituary quoting Sir Kim Darroch: Her flair for languages was remarkable. She spoke and read French, Hungarian, German, Mandarin Chinese, Norwegian, Finnish and Swedish at what she herself described as […]
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 […]
How is Poland doing these days under new management? Not so well according to Bloomberg: Polish Stocks Count $50 Billion Cost One Year After Duda Win Twelve months on from Andrzej Duda’s surprise initial victory in Poland’s presidential elections, stock investors are fleeing the country. And there’s little sign they 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 […]
What do younger British people actually know about the European Union? Three younger Crawfs have been making their way through the posh end of the UK education system. Two have finished University and (praise the Lord) are working. Crawf Minima is hurtling towards GCSEs. I have conducted detailed research into […]
Back in the day when this blog generated new material like a whirling dervish on heat, I contributed to the BritBlog Roundup – a self-appointed group of bloggers who took it upon themselves to assemble more or less thematic round-ups from the blogosphere as a contribution to the common weal. […]
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 […]
The news crashes in of the latest terrorist attacks in Europe, this time in Brussels. Earlier this morning I read this piece by George Friedman about ‘illiberal democracy’ in Poland and Hungary: The point is that liberal democracy as a principle of government has a vast array of possible configurations. […]
