Let it be clear: you are wanted here.

I'll go nation by nation now. In England, why did people not vote Labour? Interesting split here where non-Labour voters overall cite competence/cost of living/migration BUT Labour 2024 defectors talk about values - Lab as 'Tory lite', uncertainty over what they stand for. (sorry for small graph)

Britain "at the heart of Europe", 2026 edition:

This is truly important work by @hopenothate.org.uk.

Exclusive: Sadiq Khan calls for “very talented” Andy Burnham to be allowed to return as an MP and says the UK should rejoin the EU without a second referendum. www.arguably.uk/p/sadiq-khan...

On 7 May 2026, Britain ran a PR experiment: Scottish Parliament: a Mixed-Member Proportional system Welsh Senedd: a (new) Low-Magnitude Party List system Same day, same political context, different outcomes. Which version of PR would be better for Westminster? 🧵

Happy Europe Day! 🇪🇺❤️ Unity. Solidarity. Cooperation. Let’s celebrate what Europe has achieved. Looking back to 9 May 1950, when Europe turned a corner, shaping the EU we know today.

Labour has done a great deal of damage to itself and the country by making “win over a caricature of Reform voters” and “panicked stakeholder management” its only governing priority. Time to make “win over a caricature of Green voters” and “panicked stakeholder management” the aim instead.

From the outside, there are indeed funny aspects to Brexit. The fact that migration went heaps up is certainly the funniest bit.

In a recent interview, French political analyst Nicolas Tenzer explains why many political leaders avoid addressing Russia’s crimes despite overwhelming evidence. Here’s what he said 👇

Europeans have to step up and defend their own interests because the U.S., China and Russia are now all “dead against” them, French President Emmanuel Macron warned today.

The key question is why? Why is the EU a target for Trump and the US? The answer is neo-royalism. The EU is a rules based system that puts constraints on personalist leaders. This is not simply a beef or spat. It is a competition between orders. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Exceptionally grim @financialtimes.com essay by Keir Giles of @chathamhouse.bsky.social: archive.ph/287LE

Perhaps a good time to bring up again our proposal with @dimitrispieker.bsky.social and Ulrich Karpenstein on how to suspend Hungary’s voting rights based on a breach of solidarity in CFSP: www.delorscentre.eu/en/publicati...

This is what electoral interference in European elections looks like - per the USG NSS strategy last year

I never really sign stuff. But this was different. It's not about trying to facilitate or block a particular party's route to power. It's about an electoral system that's unsuited to the political realities we face today and risks giving us government after government with no convincing mandate.

Lack of a common foe enfeebled Europe — but not any more, says Simon Kuper ft.trib.al/DSHzkRZ

On Brexit, are there “glimmers of hope that the UK may be preparing to turn the page of this costly national psychodrama” asks Martin Leng: big-europe.eu/publications...

One of the most depressing things about Carney’s brilliant speech is the certain knowledge that neither Keir Starmer nor any other senior British politician of any party could have given anything like it - even if they understood the arguments.

European weakness on full display by these horribly contorted responses from Merz, Macron and Starmer - neither condoning nor condemning US actions in Venezuela Such weakness only risks making the Europeans more vulnerable (ie Greenland)

Reflections on the European Council decision to borrow €90 billion and lend it to Ukraine. Tl; dr: Ukraine benefits, but not enough; Putin & Trump will be encouraged; the EU & individual member-states have shown that it’s still too easy to intimidate them. 🧵1/13

If we can't even identify our enemies then how can we fight them? Trump's National Security Strategy is the longest suicide note in American history www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...

The Berlin meeting.

Persuasive letter on populism as a cognitive short-cut in the @financialtimes.com

I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again. Ignore the haters, London is the 🐐

Read in full 👉

This very much aligns with my view: eulogy for the transatlantic alliance has now to be written. Time for Europe to move on. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Europe’s State of the Union address is becoming a political ritual, symbolizing the slow maturing of the EU as a political entity, writes columnist Caroline de Gruyter. foreignpolicy.com/2025/09/09/e...

Radical right accommodation really does not work. New paper out with this exceptionally talented team @katharinalawall.bsky.social @robjohns75.bsky.social @drjennings.bsky.social @sarahobolt.bsky.social @zachdickson.bsky.social @danjdevine.bsky.social & @jack-bailey.co.uk doi.org/10.31235/osf...

- 8/20 He stresses that while the EU's first decades could draw on memories of war and the goodwill of strong economic growth, those have both dried up (correct, but for my money this was the weakest part of his speech: as the experience in central and eastern Europe is very different).

Just got round to watching Mario Draghi's speech in Rimini in the original Italian. It is easily the most important speech on Europe so far this year and I hope someone (@grandcontinent.bsky.social?‬) publishes it in English and other EU languages soon. www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMME...

Meanwhile, UK politicians continue their race to the bottom as to who can talk the most nonsense about immigration... www.ft.com/content/8bfd...

Thoughts ahead of Trump’s meeting with Zelenskyy & European leaders. First, Trump wants both sides to stop fighting, but is only prepared to put pressure on Ukraine. If Putin had any worries on that score, the Alaska summit will have reassured him. Sanctions are postponed, again. 1/16

It is only sentimental American exceptionalism that makes what Trump is doing any different from "increasingly dictatorial president uses military to assert power in capital city".

Its clear that Mr Clegg would greatly benefit from taking our 2nd year undergraduate module: Introduction to the Integration of the European Union!

This is high art

Carney: Canada must be looking elsewhere to expand our trade, to build our economy, and to protect our sovereignty. Canada is ready to take a leadership role in building a coalition of likeminded countries who share our values… If the US no longer wants to lead, Canada will

I think we’ve reached the point where this discourse is no longer helpful. It’s hardly breaking news that the EU/Europe has been heavily dependent on the US for its security. What we should be discussing is how do we move away from this dependency in as fast and as sustainable way as possible.

This is the one article to read on contemporary (and future) U.S. politics. Laid out analytically and clearly. There is a hint of optimism (which I do not share but do appreciate).

🇬🇧🇪🇺 I am increasingly convinced that the British government, despite a massive parliamentary majority and no veto-capable head of state standing in its way, is going to pull off one of the more spectacular self-inflicted political suicides that will make Scholz govt look like it had a good run.

“We find that fact-checks are successful in debunking misperceptions. Moreover, this debunking effect is consistent across countries” Posting this key finding from our recent 16 country study. For no particular reason today. doi.org/10.1080/1520...

Snowy greetings from our space sentinels! 🛰️ From Scandinavian fjords to Alpine peaks, Europe's snow-covered landscapes were captured by Copernicus satellites. Copernicus provides crucial data to monitor our planet’s health, track climate change, and support disaster response.

The normalisation of ideas espoused by the radical right - I.e., we need to reduce immigration - based on the electoral ‘threat’ that not endorsing them poses, is now particularly concerning as even the centre-left are partaking in it.

This suggests Labour is being far too shy in its approach to the EU reset, particularly on mobility issues. As the article says it's possible that the change in Leave voters' view on free movement is due to the post-Brexit surge in non-EU migration. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...