UK-EU relations, trade and the political fallout of Britain's exit from the European Union.
Economics
The ideological roots of our Big Tech technocrats, and how tech is facilitating the elimination of the democratic gains that centuries of political struggle have earned Ame ricans Chris Hedges: An outgoing researcher at…
Climate Crisis
Today in the West reform is a slogan, not an activity Cross-posted from Aurelien’s substack “Trying to understand the world” By Guallendra – Own work, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=200809764 Last…
National Politics
Nigel Farage’s Reform party has attracted significant support by those disgruntled with establishment parties in the UK, but its voters have very different views on key economic questions. Zain Asaf has a PhD in…
Europe
External
Britain’s relationship with Israel is entering a new phase as the E1 settlement dispute collides with wider struggles over the Red Sea, Gaza’s energy resources, IMEC, intelligence technology and post-Brexit influence. As…
Europe
External
Unlike the British “Brexit”, with which journalists are so eager to compare this referendum, Iceland’s “Nei” signifies not a vote to leave the EU, but a vote against resuming accession negotiations for full-fledged…
Europe
External
Three years after Brexit, the UK-EU relationship is not converging. Financial services are diverging deliberately, defense integration is off limits, and energy markets face a hard deadline with no resolution. The reset…
Foreign Affairs
The world of pop culture is ablaze with fury, as billionaire plutocrat Robert Kraft successfully pressured Ed Sheeran into dropping Macklemore from his North American tour over the rapper’s pro-Palestine statements. The…
Democracy & Governance
The track record of the far right, when it has wielded power, has been pretty dismal. The UK is still reeling economically from its exit from the European Union, a departure orchestrated by Nigel Farage and his band of…
Economics
Today, Sunday, Sweden is holding a general election, but like most of Europe this once liberal nation has moved very far to the right Michael Roberts is an Economist in the City of London and a prolific blogger…
Austerity
Book Review by Mathew D. Rose With the exception of the Epstein Class and the Professional and Managerial Caste in Britain there is now a broad consensus that neo-liberalism has failed the nation. It has left a legacy of…
Europe
External
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has signalled that London wants to move beyond its cautious post-Brexit approach to the European Union, arguing that Britain must be “bolder” in pursuing closer ties with the bloc. His…
This monthly report is prepared for Sinocism by the excellent Sinification , an invaluable resource for understanding how domestic and international affairs are debated within the Chinese establishment. — Bill --- Note…
National Politics
British politics has never been the same since Brexit. Deepak Tripathi, PhD, is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. He blogs at Reflections…
Column
British politics is in a convulsive state. After 14 years in power, the Conservative Party has lost public support, and the Tony Blair version of the Labor Party is out of gas. Centrist Keir Starmer has just resigned to…
EU politics
Only a popular uprising against globalist leaders in Europe and their proxy in Ukraine, will do A Sustainable Peace in Ukraine: Diplomacy, Neutrality, and the Limits of the Current Order Ian Proud was a member of His…
EU politics
What neither side can admit is that neither Brexit UK nor the EU has achieved any success in the past decade. John Rees is a Visiting Research Fellow at Goldsmiths, University of London, and a co-founder of the Stop the…
Geopolitics
History is terrifyingly contingent, and what seems obvious now was not always obvious then: nor, indeed, was it inevitable Cross-posted from Aurelien’s substack “Trying to understand the world” Joseph Ducreux…
Archive
Newly released documents reveal the inner workings of Labour Together and its role in covertly undermining Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of the Labour party. The documents were disclosed to Corbyn in response to a subject…
EU politics
External
‘June 23, 2016, has gone down as the day Britain departed from the mainstream by voting to leave the European Union. In reality, British politics was a few steps ahead of the curve, as the EU itself has become a vehicle…
World
External
Keir Starmer has resigned as leader of the Labour party, and so in time as the UK’s prime minister. In the end, despite his numerous assurances that he would fight on, after Andy Burnham’s resounding win in the…
Economics
In what sense could it be useful to show that western society is suffering from something analogous to schizophrenia? Cross-posted from Aurelien’s substack “Trying to understand the world” Last week’s essay on the…
EU politics
Trade union strength has weakened in the baby boomer era partly because the supply workers have been abundant – a tighter labour market in the context of population decline could act as a boon to worker organising…
Immigration
Britain’s recent local elections revealed more than a routine midterm backlash. Labour’s heavy losses, the continuing erosion of Conservative support, and the rise of the far-right Reform UK point towards a deeper crisis…
National Politics
Andy Burnham is favourite to win the Makerfield by-election, which could put him on course to be British Prime Minister. But will a Burnham-run Britain actually be any different from a Starmer-run Britain? Tom Blackburn…
Geopolitics
Matt Kennard shows in his new book that the bipartisan War on Terror laid the groundwork for the Trump presidency and the rise of fascism — now, with extremists empowered, we face the consequences. In the United States…
National Politics
Keir Starmer has failed on every front and is on his way out, whether the next Prime Minister can stop Farage getting the top job will depend on whether he or she really changes direction. David Hearst is co-founder and…
Economics
Unfortunately, understanding how the world works now, making sensible suggestions and carrying them out require exactly those skills and competencies which western governments and western societies have sent the last…
Economics
As the entire international economic, political and military balance is upended, and governments are going to find themselves in a frightening new world, unlike anything they have ever known, and where neither Powerpoint…
Column
The following story is co-published with Luke Savage’s Substack . On a recent episode of the London Review of Books’ podcast On Politics, James Butler hosted a conversation about the current state of Britain’s Labour…
Economics
The latest war-driven global price panic is not an aberration but a constant state of being in the contemporary global economic. It is all so unstable that unless we take a new course, it will fall down sooner or later…
Finance
The UK is in a doom loop and the Labour government has got no idea how to escape it. Michael Roberts is an Economist in the City of London and a prolific blogger . Cross-posted from Michael Roberts’ blog Today, Britain’s…
#Current Affairs
Pro-Palestine activism received a respite from longstanding official and unofficial repression in Britain this week with a legal order to overturn a government ban on Palestine Action, an activist organization that was…
Austerity
What is currently occurring in the UK is happening in most Western nations. Here a good analysis of what has gone wrong and what now needs to be done. Richard Murphy is an economic justice campaigner. Professor of…
Austerity
What Aurelien does not appear to understand is that it was the union of workers and middle class that enabled progressive politics. The PMC alone is the Green Party, which eventually becomes far-right. Cross-posted from…
SWP Comment
External
How Europe Plans to Strengthen Its Security with Partners beyond the United States Europe must take more responsibility for its defence, if necessary without the United States, given Washington’s volatility. In March…
Campaigns
The Central Bank of Ireland is complicit in Israel’s genocide and regime of apartheid by facilitating the sale of Israeli war bonds throughout the European Union. Its role in the funding of the most unspeakable crimes…
UK
External
Islam Times - The British Labor Party scored over the past week a major victory over the Conservative Party. It gained two-thirds of the British House of Commons while the number of seats of the Conservative Party…
Uncategorized
External
Britain’s trade exchanges with Iran has more than tripled since the country left the European Union, a move known as Brexit, as the value of annual trade between the two countries reached 696 million pounds in 2022…
Article
External
Do we really need a new book such as "Johnson at 10" by Anthony Seldon and Raymond Newell to know that Boris Johnson did not have a plan for Brexit? Aren't all the disastrous aftermath consequences of Brexit enough to…
Africa
External
The British government has been widely reported over its controversial asylum policies to tackle the mounting number of English Channel crossings by migrants in boats, with some accusing it of "scapegoating" migrants for…
Africa
External
The number of migrants arriving in Britain in small boats hit a record for a single day yesterday, as the rise in dangerous journeys across the English Channel continues despite UK government plans to deport those…
Europe & Russia
External
Prince William, second in line to the British throne, on Thursday, visited the United Arab Emirates at a time when the former British protectorate has faced an unprecedented, though mostly foiled, string of missile and…
Latest
External
For the EU, gaining greater autonomy in chipmaking is now a key component of its digital strategy, to fight the semiconductor shortage blooming in 2021 The EU worries how its market share across the entire chip value…
Latest
External
Coming regulations will differ from Europe’s GDPR The government will pursue data partnerships with countries including Australia, South Korea andUS as part of a post-Brexit data regime That may lead to substantial…
News
External
The ending of the common agricultural policy and the increased awareness of the need to transform the UK's agricultural system to combat climate breakdown represents a window of opportunity. It could be the moment when…
Democracy & Governance
Shutterstock The nightmare is over. The vanquished beast has crawled back to Mar-a-Lago to lick his wounds. The heroes are hard at work repairing the damage. As America returns to the international stage, the world…
Latest
External
A Brexit deal was finally agreed, but how data will be transferred across the channel has yet to be agreed The UK is no longer within the realm of GDPR, the clock is now ticking on the UK becoming a ‘third country’ under…
Blog
External
A year ago this would have been unthinkable. Now it has become par for the course. Today, around 34m people in England are living under Tier 3 restrictions. It is quite something that, despite securing prior votes on the…