Eu referendum

One of the ways that Number 10 likes to signal to Westminster that it is taking a situation seriously is to hold a meeting in Cabinet Office Briefing Room A. Calling COBRA is a sign that this is a Crisis, and that the Government has got it under control, simply by meeting in a rather dull room. If the Crisis is a little more serious than all the issues that have summoned COBRA, such as Ash Dieback and horsemeat, then the most important thing that Number 10 can do is call a press conference with the Prime Minister. David Cameron doesn’t do that many press conferences at all, despite promising in

It is difficult not to be Eurosceptic. The euro is in trouble, Greece has been bankrupted by Angela Merkel’s fiscal rules, and the Schengen agreement on open borders is collapsing as economic migration seems impossible to stop. Genuine refugees are sadly lost in the human tide of misery landing on the shores of Greece and Italy. And the democratic deficit which allows the European Union to be so unaccountable is leading to the rise of extreme nationalist political parties all over Europe. The result – Bulgaria has a lamentable justice system, Poland has introduced illiberal media laws and Hungary’s constitution has been hijacked. The EU is in danger of collapse unless it undertakes serious

The Commons may have rather big legislation to debate at the moment, but the government itself seems to have tuned out until after the referendum is over. There was no Cabinet meeting this morning, and ministers are busy fighting one another at campaign events, rather than bustling about in their departments. Even departmental question sessions have changed from being an opportunity for backbenchers to ask questions about the work of Whitehall and ministers to session where the two camps in the EU referendum work together to get their messages into Hansard. Treasury questions today was a prime example. Yes, there were questions about the Northern Powerhouse and cuts to disability

This is a translation of an article I wrote for the Norwegian daily VG Never since the German attack on Norway in 1940 destroyed Neville Chamberlain’s premiership and brought Winston Churchill to power, has your country been so discussed in Britain. Supporters of Britain staying in the EU warn of Norway’s ‘fax democracy’. The ‘leave’ campaign denounce Norwegian politicians who tell us about the dangers of following the Norwegian example, as liars bought with EU gold. There has been propaganda from both sides, of course, but the sheer lack of substance behind the ‘leave’ campaign is stunning.  The right-wing politicians, who dominate the anti-European cause, want the British to take

Time was when the main argument between the two campaigns in the EU referendum was about who was running the most negative show (not, of course, about the matter in hand). The Remain campaign were talking down Britain, pro-Brexiteers such as Boris Johnson complained, while the In side argued that Leave was trying to frighten people. But with just days to go, the debate has changed, and is now all about who is telling the biggest whoppers. Yesterday Sir John Major launched his extraordinary attack on top Tories campaigning for Brexit, accusing them of speaking ‘absolute hogwash’ and ‘nonsense’ about the European Union, and arguing that ‘as the leader Boris

If the polls this morning are anything to go by, the momentum for Brexit is building: an ITV poll for Good Morning Britain shows 45 per cent of voters planning on voting out, compared to 41 per cent who wanted the UK to remain in the EU. The poll is significant because it shows that in the purdah period in the final run-up to the referendum on June 23rd, the ‘Leave’ campaign’s support is growing. What’s more, a separate poll survey by TNS showed ‘Leave’ on 43 per cent compared to 41 per cent backing ‘Remain’. The figures, based on a survey carried out last week, are also important because