cafebabel.com

Scottish independence: Haud yer weesht, Cameron

('Annie Rutherford',) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 11:43:13 -0000

On 9 January, British prime minister David Cameron offended pretty much everyone in British politics by telling the Scots to hurry up with their referendum on independence. Now the Scottish parliament has confirmed the vote will take place in autumn 2014. One Scot explains why Cameron should stay out of it

European words of 2011

('Annie Rutherford',) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 11:03:26 -0000

Whilst lexicographers from the UK, Germany, France and Spain have released their sometimes odd ‘words of the year’, we’ve taken the liberty of grading the results from 1-10 and naming our own favourites

Britain-Europe: confessions of an angry Lib Dem

('dominicmaciver',) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 15:42:58 -0000

Type 'What Defines an English Person' into google right now and see the top result - this is how unpopular we are with the rest of the world, especially after the UK chose not to join a new EU treaty governing the finance system. Europe has divided a two-headed monster, 'Clammeron', in half: the government led by David Cameron and Nick Clegg since 2010 has been spliced together by iron threads of political contingency

Slovenian, British, Spanish and German media on UK’s EU veto

('euro topics',) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 13:14:45 -0000

British prime minister David Cameron defended his EU veto in the British house of commons on 12 December, while French president Nicolas Sarkozy lamented that he was ‘splitting Europe in two’. Britain is simply more eurosceptic, replies the rest of Europe, who stress the advantages that the British can offer Europe

Europe reacts: what Gaddafi’s expiration means

('Nicola Accardo',) — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 12:58:29 -0000

On 20 October the world saw a mediatised repeat of bloody images and videos of Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein on their deathbeds: Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi, 69, was killed in his hometown of Sirte. French, US and British forces were part of the Nato airstrikes in the Libyan civil war which began in February 2011. Read presidential and prime ministerial postcards from Poland, Malta, Italy, France and Germany after the news broke

French perspectives on London riots: 'so 2005'

('hkeet',) — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 12:20:55 -0000

Rioters were brought before the courts, police failings were discussed. What were the causes of the unprecedented violence that the UK witnessed in August? The authorities, driven by traditional populism and reactionary politics, refused to analyse them in-depth in the moment. Perspective from across the channel

Confused, Cameron? Don’t abandon multiculturalism just yet

('Daniel G. Ross',) — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 12:23:39 -0000

There's nothing particularly new in the British prime minister's 5 February claims that multiculturalism has failed. But there is something worrisome about his speech, and not only because other English-speaking countries are looking to Britain as they debate the merits of their own multiculturalism policies. View from Canada

Cameron vs. multiculturalism: British, Belgian, Spanish, Romanian press react

('euro topics',) — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 13:25:53 -0000

In a call for ‘muscular liberalism’ at the Munich security conference, the British prime minister blames multiculturalism for exacerbating Britain's problems with radical islamists. While cautiously commending Cameron's objectives, Europe’s press criticises his methods on the grounds that they play into the hands of the extreme right

81 billion pounds later: Brits avoid bankruptcy

('euro topics',) — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 12:02:44 -0000

The British government announced a barrage of drastic austerity measures on 20 October: major cuts in social welfare and almost half a million jobs in the public sector axed. British, Finnish, Danish and Dutch commentators find these public sector cuts, the biggest since world war two, harsh, unfair and extremely dangerous for the economy

Europe's politician loudmouths

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 11:54:31 -0000

British prime minister David Cameron was accused of 'going offscript' by former foreign secretary David Miliband after a series of press conferences where he accused Pakistan of 'exporting terror'. Do Europe's eurosceptic politicians have the biggest mouths when it comes to diplomatic rows? Expression of the week

UK, Germany, Iraq: welcome to the Hotel Coalition

('Metsa Rahimi',) — Wed, 26 May 2010 19:04:12 -0000

From Britain's 'wildcard' to Iraq's power vacuum, the outcome between the elections has been similar - the winning party not gaining a majority and the other two forming a coalition to push them out. In Iraq, negotiations have been ongoing since 7 March, with over two months of riots and attacks. Parallel between one of the world's biggest democracies and a failing state

Dutch, Slovenians, Swiss on Cameron-Clegg: new UK leaders

('eurotopics',) — Wed, 12 May 2010 13:03:06 -0000

On 12 May, conservative and liberal democrat heads David and Nick officially stood outside No. 10 Downing Street to present themselves as the leaders of the coalition in Great Britain. Clegg has said we need to get used to a 'new kind of government', which will not be moving closer to Europe. The EU press reacts

UK elections on 6 May: EU press discuss budget and coalition

('euro topics',) — Wed, 05 May 2010 11:41:44 -0000

As the British house of commons goes to vote, the statistics are putting David Cameron (conservative party) a little ahead of Gordon Brown (ruling labour party). Whoever wins might share power with Nick Clegg in a coalition with the liberal democrat party. The German, Spanish, British and Italian press say 'balance the budget first'

Nick Clegg for European British prime minister?

("naomi o'leary",) — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 15:13:10 -0000

Since 1918 the prime minister of Britain has been either labour or conservative. Red or blue. The 6 May elections were set to be no different. The two-party system seemed safe. Murdoch's papers screamed blue. Until Mr. Nick Clegg, leader of the liberal democrats, entered. The final televised leaders' debate in the UK takes place on 29 April

Truth? There's no-one to vote for in 6 May UK elections

('james whyte',) — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 10:13:58 -0000

For the first time in decades, the very real possibility of a hung parliament allows the political landscape to be shaken up in the UK's general election on 6 May. But the opposition leader David Cameron, who launches his election campaign on 13 April, appears windswept, PM Gordon Brown imperious and Nick Clegg just wants to be recognised

UK election: EU press on the one month for 'posh boy' Cameron to battle Brown

('euro topics',) — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 13:05:28 -0000

On 6 April the British prime minister Gordon Brown announced parliamentary elections on 6 May, opening the race for the House of Commons. The Spanish, Italian, Irish and Austrian press expect the country's enormous budget deficit to dominate the discussion; the credibility of the established parties is also at stake, they say

Tories, Klaus and Kaczyński: EU 'three kings' vs Lisbon treaty

('euro topics',) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 11:55:20 -0000

The eurosceptic Pole Lech Kaczyński plans to sign the EU reform document in the next few days, Czech president Václav Klaus refuses and British conservative leader David Cameron again promises his country a referendum if he is elected prime minister in 2010 and the treaty has still not taken effect. The Irish, Czech, German and Hungarian press react

Homage to Catalonia

Tue, 17 Jan 2006 12:45:00 -0000

Catalonia’s draft statute changes Spain’s fiscal system.