Nandeu

Ambition, Distraction, Unification and Division

April 21, 2019

Ambition , Distraction, Unification, and Division (the EU Turtle’s arithmetic) Every so often we try to find good arguments from Remainers to test our Leaver arguments against. Invariably we are disappointed; our opponent’s arguments are weak and too easy to refute, often muddled and sometimes self-contradictory. This week’s Charlemagne column in The Economist (TE) exhibits all three characteristics … More Ambition, Distraction, Unification and Division

October ‘Dead’line

April 20, 2019

EUObserver has reported some interesting details of the process by which the EU agreed to extend the Brexit date to 31 October (https://euobserver.com/eu-election/144641). The special meeting of the European Council took place on 10th April, extending into the early hours of the 11th while they made up their minds. We believe that the extension is … More October ‘Dead’line

Themes-2: A Future for EU?

April 19, 2019

This is another in our series of posts reviewing our comments on major themes regarding the European Union. Each brief comment is followed by a link to the post to which we refer. Unlike the first theme post, this one presents the linked posts in chronological order. A. In June 2015 the presidents of the … More Themes-2: A Future for EU?

Themes-1: Politics

April 18, 2019

This is the first in a series of posts, each of which gathers previous posts into a single theme. We provide a brief summary of each selected post. A. Parliament has not been wholly sovereign since 1973 (when Ted Heath signed us up to join the EU), becoming less so ever since. Nick Boles promised … More Themes-1: Politics

Remaining: Round the Bend

April 14, 2019

The Economist (TE) is reliably anti-Brexit. The newspaper regularly supplements its reporting of the wonders of the EU with snide, disdainful comments against those who voted for Britain to leave the Project. Rarely do we read anything that might give them pause in their one-sided reportage. This week’s edition (13-19 April 2019) has examples of … More Remaining: Round the Bend

It’s the Ideology

April 10, 2019

Is Democracy a Nuisance? In EU member countries, their constitutions oblige governments to put themselves up periodically for re-election, or dismissal. The ‘constitution’ of the EU (i.e. the treaties) does not require this inconvenience. This is a designed feature not an accident. To achieve its goal of a federal state in Europe the EU must … More It’s the Ideology

Remains of the Fray

April 10, 2019

In August 2016, two months after the Referendum and seven months before Parliament agreed by a huge majority to begin the process of withdrawing from the EU, we posted a review of how Brexit was shaping up. It is astonishing how little has changed and how much remains relevant nearly three years on. For this … More Remains of the Fray

Law-abiding or Abiding-law?

April 3, 2019

As another example of what we’re witnessing (see Summertime), Kate Hoey (Labour eurosceptic MP) asked the Speaker of the UK Parliament whether the EU moving the end date of Article 50 overruled Parliament’s Statutory Instrument which fixed 29th March as the leaving date. The EU order takes precedence. We doubt many people in the UK … More Law-abiding or Abiding-law?

Summertime, and the Living Ain’t Easy

April 2, 2019

At the weekend just after un-Brexit Day, when the UK was supposed to leave the EU, the clocks were set forward an hour to British Summertime. It could be one of the last times this happens; soon we may have choose whether to stick with Summertime (BST) or opt for Greenwich Meantime (GMT) if Brussels … More Summertime, and the Living Ain’t Easy

Enough is Enough

March 31, 2019

Future Perfect? Ambrose Evans-Pritchard (AE-P. Daily Telegraph 21/03/2019) has helpfully gathered together critical views on the Brexit negotiations and the proposed Withdrawal Agreement from some German commentators. To show that this blog is not alone in arguing that the future of the EU is, to say the least, uncertain, we copy some of these views … More Enough is Enough

This EU Won't Work

The EU is ill-designed: here's why

Author: Nandeu