Current Affairs

The borders are coming up all over Europe, secession is constantly on the agenda, and a line separate Southern Europe from northern Europe. It sounds like European current affairs, but these are central themes of Dave Hutchinson’s science fiction novel “Autumn in Europe” (2014). In January, my colleague Laura Horn, who is interested in the […]

Only three months ago, I asked myself in these columns how a politically aware French citizen could you not be jealous of Spain and the renewal of its democracy that it is currently undergoing. Sure, the Spanish learning process is difficult: instead of living with the oh, so convenient binary system and its comfortable pseudo-stability, […]

If you’re young with a University degree and live in London, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, you’re more likely to vote for Britain to remain in the EU. But if you’re older, with only a secondary education, and live in provincial England, you’re more likely to vote for Britain to leave the EU. That, in […]

Rival groups are bitterly battling each other to gain the official nomination to run the EU referendum Brexit campaign. Three campaigns with different visions of Britain after Brexit have applied to the Electoral Commission to be designated as the official ‘Leave’ group. Only one group from ‘Leave’ and one from ‘Remain’ can be awarded the […]

All day long on Friday, the entire spectrum of German media paid tributes to Hans-Dietrich Genscher. They were joined in the evening by the Chancellor, who ‘bowed in deep respect for the lifetime’s work’ of the former foreign minister. All of them referred to the key scene of 30 September 1989, when Genscher appeared on […]

  There’s not much that’s clear so far in the referendum, but one thing that looks pretty certain is that the campaign has yet to catch the public’s interest fully. Indeed, it might not be pushing things too far to say that most people don’t really care. The reasons for this are many and various. […]

Writing exclusively for the Daily Telegraph, London Mayor Boris Johnson said that if Britain left the EU, “we would have to recognise that most of our problems are not caused by Bwussels [sic]”.  Mr Johnson made his remarks after Michael Gove and Philip Hammond became the first two Cabinet ministers openly to support leaving the […]

When the European Council finally drew to a close on February 19, 2016, the deal to help secure the UK’s continued membership in the European Union (called the ‘Anti-Brexit’ deal in continental newspapers) was finally agreed. After years of discussions and months of negotiations, there was a deal, publically available. This document provides insight into […]

Business minister, Anna Soubry, the most enthusiastic pro-EU member of the government’s cabinet, has sent a letter to UKIP leader, Nigel Farage, with three vital questions. She posed the questions after Mr Farage made clear that he didn’t want Britain to remain in the Single Market of Europe if the referendum resulted in a ‘leave’ […]

The mayor of one of the world’s most pro EU capital cities has announced that he wants Britain to leave the European Union. Boris Johnson, MP and London’s Mayor, made his announcement after apparently agonising over the decision for hours and following the pleas of Prime Minister, David Cameron, for him not to abandon the […]