The next Commission

I was looking at a piece of project work, considering the next Commission of EU . It seems that either part of VdL’s manifesto for the 24/29 programme or her letters to Commissioner designates contains the sentence as follows, “We will build on the Conference on the Future of Europe to instil a true and…

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Tony Benn and his legacy

The Commonwealth of Britain bill [ wikipedia | parliament ] was raised at the Chartist Conference yesterday and oddly I was notified tody of a conference on his legacy for next year. I mentioned him and his decline into parliamentary cretinism in my review of Simon Hannah’s book. The wikipedia page lists the reforms, which…

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Infringements of the Withdrawal Agreement

This is a notes page. I think the EU has instigated six infringement processes against the UK. Several, maybe the majority of these relate to the “Internal Market Bill”, and maybe the “Windsor Framework”. From memory I believe the Commission is also in dispute with HMG over the treatment of EU citizen’s resident in the…

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Another split in the European Left?

Euronews reports a split in the European left group in the new European Parliament, this is followed up by some further reporting. I have not yet finished my reading, but this does not seem particularly strategic or even political. The left beyond the Social Democrats was pretty spit anyway between an independent presence, the European…

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European Conservatives and Reformists

I had some interest in the ECR after the European Parliament elections, as they became the third largest party, and so made this page. The group was jointly founded by the British Tories as they build their off-ramp to Brexit and left the EPP. The parliamentary group is constructed for each parliament; in the 10th…

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Meadway on Graeber

James Meadway brought David Graeber’s work to my attention in a long article which I have annotated on diigo. The article pointed me at some further reading, most interestingly for me, he posits that the Silicon revolution changes the way power is exercised and at the end references Kate Pistor’s advocacy of Data Trusts. Here…

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The 2024 Riots

On the racist rioting, I wrote a blog article, but didn’t use all the things I found and so here they are. My notes and links …

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Housing Policy 2024

A note on Housing policy and the opportunities under a Labour Government. I assume they want more affordable houses both to allow people a better home and create demand and income. …

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The King’s Speech

The first monarch’s speech to Parliament written by a Labour Government in many years. It is reviewed by the Guardian, who welcome it as radical but not revolutionary departure from their predecessors empowering the state to make life better for people. They conclude by saying, The conditions of frustration that have fuelled far-right insurgencies in…

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