Essential one for exceptionalists in the UK to read. Straight from the horse's mouth. The Copenhagen Criteria won't change, and that includes European law and the euro

Another Brexit dividend. A movement that spent years sneering at experts, universities and "people with qualifications" has now made it harder and more expensive for British children abroad to study in the UK. Yet another opportunity sacrificed on the altar of anti-intellectual populism.

No running commentary on UK-EU talks latest... but what I hear from Brussels has not filled me with confidence about the way the UK side has approached these negotiations. As I keep saying, the reluctance to learn lessons is not a good sign.

It would be good if Burnham fires the entire Starmer team that did the EU-UK Reset. The UK will never be allowed a “decision shaping’ role in the EU: It would be the Trojan horse - endless problems caused by a non-team player.

Brussels rebuffs UK request for ‘decision-shaping’ role in EU - Another collision with reality. The UK wanted sovereignty over shared decision-making. It got it. What it didn't get was a say over everyone else's decisions. giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... via @FT

Nope, the EU still isn't giving the UK a special deal however desperate politicians and media are to escape the trap of being just another third country. Next.

Another Brexit dividend. We walked away from seamless access to Europol and key EU security databases, then act astonished when cross-border criminal intelligence becomes harder. It turns out slogans are a poor substitute for police cooperation.

From a European perspective, this is straightforward: protect the Single Market, manage overcapacity, and apply the rules to third countries. If car plants in Brexitshire suffer c'est la vie. This is precisely what happens when a country votes to leave the system that cushioned them.

This exemption would not protect EU car companies in UK, but it would leave our (EU) back door open for China to enter via UK. Besides that, the RoO battery exemption of UK car manufacturers should also be ended. If car production moves to EU because of this, this would mean jobs and growth in EU.

Brexit, in one headline. The EU is looking after its own industry. The UK is outside, pleading for special treatment. This isn't vindictiveness. It's the entirely predictable consequence of leaving the club. www.theguardian.com/business/202...

Brexit, in one headline. The EU is looking after its own industry. The UK is outside, pleading for special treatment. This isn't vindictiveness. It's the entirely predictable consequence of leaving the club. www.theguardian.com/business/202...

www.politico.eu/article/eu-s... The EU's job is to protect the interests of the MS, not to underwrite the consequences of Brexit. It has tightened safeguards against Chinese overcapacity while still giving the UK preferential treatment compared with other third countries.

Europeans are increasingly pessimistic about the state of the world, but their belief in the EU is riding high, according to polling published today.

Brexit didn't abolish economic gravity. The UK still needs access to the EU market; the EU merely has the leverage to decide on what terms. This agreement is another reminder that cooperation beats slogans every time. www.reuters.com/world/uk/bri...

That’s an important point, from the 80’s the three big world currencies were the USD, DEM and JPY USD/DEM was by a huge margin the most traded pair in the FX market That Germany was able to give their own currency up for the overall good of the other member states shouldn’t be overlooked

londonlovesbusiness.com/france-says-... Not again. First Barnier, now Barrot. Warm words are nice. They are not EU policy. Rejoining means A49, unanimous consent, and rebuilding the trust you squandered. No shortcuts.

You' ve fundamentally misunderstood the criticism. No one's attacking legal immigrants / saying they should "go f*** themselves". Criticism is directed at people who had a lawful route to secure residence, consciously chose not to take it, and now complain about the consequences of that choice.

“We voted to slam our dicks in a door. We didn’t vote for it to hurt.”

Trump threatens 100% import tariff on UK over digital services tax www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli... The best argument, if one were actually needed, to plough straight ahead and implement the tax asap.

Whatever about being stupid generally, to be so stupid as to believe even a syllable from Michael Gove’s slithering gob is award winning, when all they had to do was think for themselves.

What happened between 2015 and 2020 taught me that, should that awful day come and we, settled EU migrants, become the target of Reform, the Great British Public will do nothing to protect us. Friends will be appaled but powerless. A few marches, some nice, principled words, that'll be all.

@nialloconghaile.bsky.social Over to you. www.mundoamerica.com/british/2026...

www.mundoamerica.com/british/2026... A load of self-indulgent exceptionalist twaddle. People lamenting the loss of rights they valued, while ignoring those rights existed precisely because of EU membership.

And there lies the unresolved problem. Europeans appear broadly open to Britain returning. Many Britons appear open to returning provided it is still on “special” terms. A decade later, the fundamental question remains unchanged: Does Britain want to be a member of the EU, or an exception to it?

www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/... The great British political tradition: when unable to challenge a person’s record, ideas, or argument, start rummaging around their family life for “insight”. A country facing profound economic and social challenges, and somehow this is what passes for scrutiny.

internationalbusinessnews.co.uk/rejoining-th... @richardcorbett.bsky.social Theoretically could Britain rejoin quickly? Possibly. The harder question is whether Britain has changed. Has it accepted the EU as a political union of equals, rather than a marketplace where it negotiates exceptions?

Imagine Trump ever being invited to join a photo like this — not in a million years. Four presidents. Zero drama. Just smiles, respect, and a shared love of country. 🇺🇸

www.theguardian.com/politics/202... With respect to M. Barneir, a little perspective: a former EU negotiator giving an opinion is not the same as 27 sovereign member states agreeing accession terms. Europe is not a restaurant keeping Britain’s favourite table permanently reserved.

And there we are. Apparently this can now be sent triumphantly to “Brexiters and Brexilers” whoever the latter are. Meanwhile, back in the less exciting world of reality: one former negotiator expressed a view & the Gospel according to St Michel hoves into view.

www.theguardian.com/politics/202... Perhaps we should wait until the EU actually extends an invitation before debating which cushions Britain would like on the chair. The EU27 may have their own views.

Back in the day we used to call this prolier than thou. Labour folk returning to the 1980s because the current world is too difficult presumably

It seems a good day to remind people that in the UK 3 times as many people work in Indian restaurants or for McDonalds as in the whole coal and steel industry. 5 times as many are academic staff at universities. If Labour does not understand its electorate, there is no way to appeal to it.

youtu.be/-lIytSqC_EA?... This👇

www.rollingstone.com/music/music-... This is the way to do it👇

www.reuters.com/world/ukrain... If Putin’s aim was to prevent Ukraine moving closer to Europe, history may record it as one of the great strategic own goals. Some victories look remarkably like defeats.

www.ft.com/content/37af... The delusion that GB simply decides when it returns to the EU is the last echo of Brexit exceptionalism. The EU isn’t a jilted ex waiting by the phone. GB left & the EU moved on. If GB wants back in, it must first prove it deserves a seat at the table.

Mark Carney, "The next world order will likely be built out of Europe, and Canada will be part of that effort" "Working together, Canada, France and Europe are poised to be a powerful force for good in the century ahead"

A brutal but necessary read. Britain’s tragedy is not decline. Nations rise and fall. It is the refusal to understand why. Decades confusing nostalgia for strategy, slogans for policy, and exceptionalism for competence. www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

www.politico.eu/article/uk-e... And so the wheel turns. Again. A decade after Brexit, Wm still negotiates with the EU as though it were an awkward member seeking exemptions, rather than a third country seeking access.

Europe’s post-Cold War illusion was believing that prosperity alone could domesticate power politics. Russia provided a brutal reminder: peace is not maintained by wishing away threats, but by making aggression prohibitively costly. Strength isn't the enemy of peace: it's often its precondition.

The starting point for me is this: The European Union is a union of equals The United Kingdom isn't We need to be honest about what we are.

Martin acknowledges an uncomfortable reality: Brexit was a historic & strategic blunder, but history has no rewind button. Neither the UK nor the EU of '26 are those of '16. The challenge lies with the UK: to abandon exceptionalism, learn the lessons of the last decade, and prove it can be trusted

www.theguardian.com/business/202... - The EU is protecting its steel industry. The UK is protecting its steel industry. Both are trying to shield themselves from China. The small Brexit plot twist? The UK left the room, stood outside the door, and now seems surprised the locks work both ways.

The paradox of Rejoin is that a UK accession process will be much quicker if the UK does not ask for special treatment

Good to postpone the EU-UK summit. There is no need for it if the substance is nearly nil. Non-painful reasons to postpone: agenda trouble, late replies and just general silence would be enough. UK Labour won’t say anything - as always.

giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... The EU did not spend a decade defending SM integrity to now rescue UK car production from the consequences of Brexit. Access to Europe is a privilege governed by rules, not an industrial subsidy for a country that chose exclusion yet still demands exceptions.

@simoncalder.bsky.social Remarkable doctrine: you choose Brexit, you become a a third country, you create the problem, and now we, Europeans, must now “pause and reflect”. Why do you choose to treat cause and effect as an outrageous act of foreign aggression?

A rare outbreak of strategic common sense. If Europe is serious about digital sovereignty, critical infrastructure such as digital identity systems cannot sit one corporate takeover away from foreign legal control. Sovereignty outsourced is sovereignty lost. www.dutchnews.nl/2026/05/dutc...

More detail, in English: The sale "would bring people’s private information within the scope of the US Cloud Act. "The law gives US authorities the power to compel American-owned companies to hand over data they store, even if the servers are in Europe." www.dutchnews.nl/2026/05/dutc...