Latest posts
Luis Suarez – the problems of a throwback footballer in the modern age
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There is much to admire about Luis Suarez. He is a prolific goalscorer and a scorer of great goals. He, along with Diego Forlan, has spearheaded Uruguay’s renaissance as a footballing power. He shines brightly in a distinctly average Liverpool...
Comedy review: Eddie Izzard (Antwerp Sportpaleis)
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It can be difficult for any artist or performer to live up to expectations: each new album, film, book or exhibition must be better than the last. As a phenomenally successful comedian who has around half-a-dozen sold-out and critically-acclaimed tou...
It’s sometimes difficult, but everyone deserves a second chance
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Tonight, Ilombe Mboyo may make his first full international appearance for the Belgian national team. Nothing remarkable there: Mboyo is a talented striker who has been called a “rare pearl” by Vincent Kompany, captain of Belgium and the...
Hello world!
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Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!
EU health policy on hold?
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Yesterday, John Dalli resigned as European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy. This follows an investigation by OLAF, the EU’s antifraud office into a complaint made by tobacco producer Swedish Match. The EU’s antifraud office wa...
A Very British Tea Party?
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On the face of it, Conservative Voice – launched yesterday – is just another right-wing, anti-European Tory ginger group. But does its creation signal a more fundamental move to the right for the Conservative Party? The members of Conservativ...
A Very British Tea Party?
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On the face of it, Conservative Voice – launched yesterday – is just another right-wing, anti-European Tory ginger group. But does its creation signal a more fundamental move to the right for the Conservative Party? The members of Conservativ...
Let’s hear it for the absent fathers
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A few months ago, I sent a complaint to the UK Advertising Standards Authority about the sexist nature of Proctor & Gamble’s ‘Proud Sponsor of Mums’ campaign to market some of their best-known brands, including Ariel, Fairy and Pampers. In...
TV review: The Newsroom; Veep
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“America is not the greatest country in the world any more” says Will McIvor, the flawed hero of The Newsroom, in the opening minutes of Aaron Sorkin‘s latest TV drama. It is a classic Sorkin moment of eloquent, logical argument: a...
TV review: The Newsroom; Veep
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“America is not the greatest country in the world any more”, says Will McIvor, the flawed hero of The Newsroom, in the opening minutes of Aaron Sorkin‘s latest TV drama. It is a classic Sorkin moment of eloquent, logical argument: a...
William Hague, the unlikely federalist?
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What is federalism? Ask a Brit, and the answer will probably feature the words ‘European superstate’. Ask a Belgian or a German, and the answer will be very different. The diversity of views on federalism in the European Union has made it a toxic...
700 days to make the European case
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In June 2014, people from across Europe will elect the next European Parliament. They probably won’t do so in great numbers: at the last election in 2009, turnout was less than 50% in more than two-thirds of the European Union’s 27 member states.
A blurred vision for the Future of Europe
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Last week foreign ministers from ten EU countries published the initial outcomes of a series of meetings of the ‘Westerwelle Group’. This group, named after the German foreign minister, has held meetings over the past three months. The mi...
A blurred vision for the future of Europe
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Foreign ministers produce a damp squib Last week foreign ministers from ten EU countries published the initial outcomes of a series of meetings of the ‘Westerwelle Group’. This group, named after the German foreign minister, has held meet...
It’s a Girl Thing? It’s a patronising thing
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The Commission mis-steps despite its laudable motives As someone who works in communications – and who is ‘pro-European’ – I often despair of the way the European institutions communicate. Yes, some of the issues they handle a...
The time has come to let us vote
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Exercising your rights shouldn’t mean losing other rights Like around 750,000 other British citizens, I live in another European Union country. We have chosen to exercise one of the key rights granted by the UK’s membership of the EU R...
Euro 2012: Could it be England?
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An England win at Euro 2012 is unlikely – but not impossible Could Euro 2012 offer England’s best chance in a generation of winning a major championship? This, of course, sounds absurd – but looking at difficulties facing many teams in Euro...
An EU referendum: bad for the UK, and bad for Labour
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In Sunday’s Observer, we were told that Ed Miliband is being urged to pledge an ‘in-or-out’ referendum on the UK’s membership of the European Union should Labour be elected in the 2015 General Election. It is clear from this article, and othe...
An EU referendum: bad for the UK, and bad for Labour
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Complex issues like EU membership cannot be boiled down to yes or no In Sunday’s Observer, we were told that Ed Miliband is being urged to pledge an ‘in-or-out’ referendum on the UK’s membership of the European Union should Labour be elected...
The unlikely rebirth of the newspaper
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Nearly six years ago, The Economist asked ‘Who killed the newspaper?‘. The answer was ‘the internet’, which offered free news and comment from here, there and everywhere. Sales of print versions are in decline – down by...
