European Union: Farmers flex their power [print version]
After years of simmering discontent, farmers’ protests are spreading across EU member countries.
European Union
European Union
Horizon Europe – hidden strings revealed
24 September 2023
Details of the agreement signing up Britain to the EU’s Horizon Europe research programme show that it is a dodgy deal.
Research – Horizon giveaway
9 September 2023
A long-delayed deal with the EU to allow British scientists to take part in the Horizon research programme is weighted against Britain’s interests.
Research: take control of our funding
The government’s fear of real independence from the European Union is nowhere clearer than in funding for research – and it’s a fear shared by too many who work in research…
How long before Brexit is really done?
While the EU is increasingly devoid of direction and entangled in debt, the government is reluctant to take the steps needed to secure British independence…
The EU: a bloc of stagnation
23 December 2022
Very much like capitalism in Britain, the EU is clueless about how to run an economy. A particular weakness is the European Central Bank, run by the famously helpless Christine Lagarde.
So where is Plan B?
Nowhere has the reluctance to break definitively with the EU been more evident than in research…
Northern Ireland - Legislation stopped
Prime minister Rishi Sunak has stopped the passage of a vital piece of legislation designed to bolster the independence of the UK, the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill.
Biomass: EU blow to forests
On 13 September, the European Parliament voted to keep the definition of woody biomass as renewable energy.
EU science challenged
Britain is taking to the law to force the EU to admit it to the Horizon research programme…
SNP tries to block gene editing progress
The Scottish government intends to block the deployment of gene-edited crops even if the proposed new legislation on gene editing applies to the whole of the UK.
Oh so slow: sovereignty at a snail’s pace
18 May 2022
The Queen’s Speech signalled progress on Brexit-won freedoms to boost the use of new gene editing techniques in agriculture. But it’s taking precious years to get anything done.
Scientists unite against EU ‘punishment’
13 February 2022
Scientists across Europe are taking on the EU as it seeks to exclude Britain and Switzerland from research collaboration for purely political reasons.
Slovenian EU presidency ignites fresh discord
5 July 2021
On 1 July Slovenia took over the rotating presidency of the European Council – and promptly ignited a furious row with the Commission how countries like Slovenia are treated.
Switzerland - EU rebuffed [print version]
To the delight of the country’s leading trade union federation, the Swiss government has abandoned talks with the EU over replacing its 120-odd treaties with Brussels with one overarching “framework” agreement.
See you in court, says EU
Unable to exert authority through its control of purse strings and keeping everyone else in the dark, the EU is taking legal action against its own member states.
Swiss break off EU negotiations
26 May 2021
To the delight of the country’s leading trade union federation, the Swiss government has abandoned talks with the EU over replacing its 120-odd treaties with Brussels with one overarching “framework” agreement.
Nurses: stop the poaching!
20 May 2021
In the midst of a global pandemic, what is a country like Britain doing importing nurses from India, itself in desperate need of medical staff?
Bouncing back: the return of British fruit
1 April 2021
The Covid-19 pandemic has seen increased discussion of home food production. Encouragingly, some British food growers are thinking positively along the same lines.
How the EU turned a vaccines crisis into a fiasco
The EU cannot hide its dismay at the success of Britain’s vaccination programme. And its attempt to strongarm Britain to make up for its failure backfired spectacularly…
Swiss face EU battle again
Once more, the EU is squaring up for a fight with Switzerland over how far European law should reach.
Bad faith from Brussels
9 February 2021
Whatever the limitations for Britain of the final Brexit agreement it is now blindingly obvious that the EU has never been happy with it.
How the EU created a vaccines disaster
30 January 2021
Remember the warnings? Poor Britain, too small to go it alone in the big bad world. Now look at the EU’s vaccines debacle…
Brexit dividend as government consults on gene editing
10 January 2021
Taking advantage of Brexit, the government has launched a consultation on whether to change the law on genetically modified organisms to allow companies and researchers to use gene editing more freely.
Agriculture unchained
New developments in agricultural policy give some idea of our potential future as a sovereign nation…
Free to protect the environment
In this original and exciting book, Ben Pontin argues that independence presents us with a real opportunity for environmental protection in Britain…
We have the power
Wherever you look in the world, you will see the green shoots of the future. And wherever you see them, you will see a working class – thinking, organising, acting.
Research: EU funding grab
Britain’s normally pro-EU academic establishment is becoming edgy as it absorbs the implications of the EU’s price tag for joining its multibillion-euro Horizon Europe research programme.
Nobel Prize: Rebuke for ECJ
The award of this year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the invention of CRISP-R gene editing technology recognition of the importance of the field – and an implicit rebuke to the European Court of Justice.
Britain takes on EU over plant safety
9 August 2020
Britain is refusing to give way to an EU instruction that it must reverse a government decision to enforce stricter regulations on the importing of some plants and the banning of others.