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As the Austrian Nightmare Continues: Dark Clouds over Europe
The election of the Green candidate Alexander Van der Bellen as president of Austria in the second round of the presidential elections on 23 May caused a sigh of relief across Europe. But while the election of an extreme right-wing president seemed to be prevented his extremely narrow defeat – by only 30.000 votes –…
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After the Brexit Referendum Result: Labour’s Descent into Civil War
After the shock of the Brexit referendum result, observers from across the English Channel are likely to be rather confused by the chain of events now convulsing British politics. No sooner had the Leave campaign won its unexpected victory than Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage and Michael Gove fled for the hills, disowning all responsibility for…
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Scotland’s No to Brexit – the End of the United Kingdom?
All was relatively calm in Scotland during the EU referendum campaign. So shortly after the Scottish election, most of the political funding was spent; many students and activists felt they had done enough for the year. Of course, there was a Remain and Leave presence on the streets and the Scottish Greens had a distinct…
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It’s Only Over When It’s Over
When the British government announced that 52 percent of the population had voted to leave the European Union, this seemed to be a final decision. Right-wing populists from Marine le Pen in France to Geert Wilders in the Netherlands euphorically congratulated the Leave voters and already demanded their own national referendums. Global stock markets lost…
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Britain Has Voted Out, and Europa Is Weeping
This is the feeling of the axis of history tilting: not a smooth, mechanical turn, but the ground shifting and trembling beneath your feet. What even yesterday seemed so solid is now running through your fingers like silt. The possibilities that gave you hope have vanished behind a cloud, and now there is only a…
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We Need to Recognise Jo Cox’s Murder as an Act of Far-Right Terrorism
Published on 22. June 2016 by James Bartholomeusz and Paul Stocker In the early afternoon of Thursday 16 June, British MP Jo Cox was murdered. On the way to a local library for a meeting with her constituents, she was confronted by an armed man shouting “Britain first”. The man, Thomas Mair, proceeded to shoot…
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Brexit and the Change from Within
On 23 June the citizens of the United Kingdom will have to decide if they want to remain part of the European Union or rather, after the deal that British Prime Minister Cameron negotiated a few months ago, if they want to remain part of the European Union under a special status. This deal implies…
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Brexit or Bremain, the British Culture War Is Just Getting Going
Yes, thank God – it’s nearly over. In a fortnight’s time, the British public will finally decide at the ballot box whether or not to remain part of the European Union, bringing to a close several months of agonisingly irrelevant campaigning. There were those of us who hoped this referendum campaign would stimulate something of…
