BNE Blog

Analysis – What the coalition means for Europe

By Phillip Souta

Phillip Souta

The new Europe Minster is David Lidington.  He is from the moderate section of the Conservative party, and takes a job that was originally tipped to go to Mark Francois, holder of the shadow position before the election and member of the more Eurosceptic wing of the party.  This realignment towards the mainstream is further evidence of the fact that Cameron is not an ideologue.  When he says that he will govern in the interests of stability, it sounds less and less like a cliché and more like his overriding political objective. Read full article »

May 14th, 2010 | Posted in UK Politics | No Comments »

David Lidington – New Europe Minister

By Phillip Souta

Paul O’Hagan

The dust is beginning to settle after one of the most exciting and eventful elections in living memory.   Britons are now discovering, in this new age of coalition co-operation, the new faces of their government.

Of the many issues facing this new Conservative/Liberal Democrat government, none could be as divisive as Britain’s relationship with the rest of Europe.  During the election campaign, it seemed that the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats could not have been further apart on the political spectrum when questions were asked on the subject. Read full article »

May 14th, 2010 | Posted in UK Politics | No Comments »

Are we a country of pro-Europeans?

By Phillip Souta

Phillip Souta

As the UK goes to the polls today, we can reflect on a landscape that has shifted considerably over the course of the campaign.  The game-changing nature of the debates has been well documented in a seemingly endless stream of “things will never be the same again” commentary, and the media has been taken aback by the prominence of “issues”.  On the other side of Europe, Greece is going through its own, very different, catharsis.

The ties that bind what is happening in Greece and Britain also bind the rest of the European Union.  It’s our economy, and it dominates everything.  The UK budget deficit looks to hit 12% in 2010, larger than that of Greece, which is set to weigh in at a slightly less disastrous 9.3%. Read full article »

May 6th, 2010 | Posted in UK Politics | No Comments »

Europe matters in this election

By admin

© UK Parliament

Roland Rudd

The issue of Europe matters too much to be left behind during this general election campaign.

Voters on May 6th will be united in a desire to see the state of the country improve.  Decisions that will have a great effect on the future of our economy will be taken with our partners in the European Union.

Discussion on how the UK should position itself in these debates, however, has been woefully inadequate.

The debate about the EU in the UK has long been framed by the pro vs. anti European (or “sceptic” as some prefer) division.  This has the advantage of being easy to understand, but unless the question is one of whether we should get out of the EU, it is irrelevant, and we need to move beyond them. Read full article »

April 30th, 2010 | Posted in UK Politics | No Comments »

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