The French Right settled long ago on their candidate for this year’s crucial elections and have rallied behind Francois Fillon’s social conservatism and liberal economics. On the Left, however, things are not so clear cut – with a confusion of candidates fighting for the nomination on 22 January. Yet never has an election been more important. […]
We had to wait less than three days to get the first big Brexit-related news story of 2017. Sir Ivan Rogers, the UK’s permanent representative to the EU, has decided to quit his post early – his original departure date was November. His surprise resignation comes shortly before the March 2017 deadline Prime Minister Theresa […]
“Europe” is not a monolith. It comprises several overlapping entities. There is “Freemovementland” – the passport-free travel area that stretches from the Greek islands to the north of Norway. There is “Frontlineland” – the countries which fear Russian meddling and aggression. There is “Euroland” – the countries which use the common currency. And there is […]
Over the Christmas week, CapX is republishing its favourite pieces from the past year. You can find the full list here. Twenty-five years ago, on 8 December 1991, the leaders of Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine signed the Belavezha Accords, an agreement that dissolved the Soviet Union. Fewer than two weeks afterwards, leaders from all […]
Over the Christmas week, CapX is republishing its favourite pieces from the past year. You can find the full list here. It came as no little surprise when, three years ago, François Fillon accepted my invitation to participate in the Margaret Thatcher Conference on Liberty, organised by Britain’s Centre for Policy Studies. Needless to […]
Over the Christmas week, CapX is republishing its favourite pieces from the past year. You can find the full list here. As NATO scrambles to beef up its defences in the frontline states and Western diplomacy is humiliated in Syria, the New Cold War is no longer a fanciful book title. It is fact. As the […]
It happens the same way each time. Families, couples and friends strolling and laughing. The chatter and patter of street vendors, the delicious curling aromas of confectionery and cooked meat. A communal sense of relaxation and a happy holiday vibe: people switching off from all the stresses and strains of their lives, if only for […]
In early December, British foreign secretary Boris Johnson was forced to deny reports that he’d told a group of ambassadors he was personally in favour of the free movement of people across the European Union. Given his previous negative public statements on the issue, reports of his private support for the principle, which allows all […]
In May 2017, champagne corks will be popping in London as the first branch of Crossrail comes into operation, running between Liverpool St and Shenfield. When the new service – renamed the Elizabeth Line – comes into full operation, it will be the culmination of Europe’s largest construction project, a multi-billion-pound symbol of London’s status […]
Out in the waves on Carcavelos Beach near Lisbon, Hélder Ferreira stood out from the other surfers. Among a crowd of tall teenage boys who had skipped class to head into the freezing waters that morning, and strikingly beautiful blond girls carving the waves and breaking hearts, it was easy to notice a short, bald man in his fifties. “I started down here, you […]
Last weekend’s referendum defeat for the Italian Prime Minister, Matteo Renzi, has been depicted as another pro-populist blow against the European Union and its minions, and an advance tremor ahead of the coming collapse of the Italian financial system. It is neither. If there were anything “populist” and anti-status quo in this drama, it was […]
“Grandma Gertrude” must be celebrating: Her favoured candidate, Alexander van der Bellen, will be the next Austrian president. And she herself will long be remembered for her moving video endorsement of him, which went viral within and beyond the little Alpine country of 8.7 million inhabitants. While it will of course be impossible to measure the video’s exact […]
Italian voters have rejected plans for constitutional reform supported by the government of prime minister Matteo Renzi. This result means more political and economic uncertainty for the time being. The aim of the reform was to end Italian’s “perfect bicameralism”; that is, the institutional arrangement whereby the House of Representatives and Senate have exactly the […]
In the chancelleries of Europe, in the gilded suburbs and Michelin-starred restaurants, the cry goes up: the populists are coming! The populists are coming! Not since Attila the Hun swept towards Rome has there been such fear and trembling. With some justification. In both Italy and Austria, voters could this weekend deliver the latest hammer-blow […]
I live right on the border of Richmond Park, the constituency where Zac Goldsmith (former Tory) just lost a by-election to Sarah Olney of the Lib Dems; I also spent the least four years promoting an independent plan for Heathrow (which Zac indicated he could possibly accept) so, I guessed this might happen. It’s important […]
The Foreign Secretary gave his first major speech this morning at Chatham House on Britain’s role in the world. Here is the transcript: There is a sense in which the British cemetery in Kabul is a monument to the human spirit. A triumph of hope over experience and as I stood there last Saturday on a […]
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