Gary Gibbon
Labour’s economic policy – here’s the tofu
“In answer to the ‘where’s the beef?’ call from some parts of the Labour Party, the leadership is serving up some sort of tofu substitute.”
-
Gary Gibbon
-
Jon Snow
'Pragmatic' Britain must review its strategic lines
The UK positions itself between Europe and the US, but an Italian journalist warns that the British should prepare for the possibility that its neighbours may emerge from the eurozone crisis stronger.
-
Gary Gibbon
Europe and the hokey cokey
Political Editor Gary Gibbon blogs on the twists and turns of the government’s EU policy – and what a referendum could involve.
-
Gary Gibbon
Merkel concedes – what will she get in return?
Angela Merkel concedes. Gary Gibbon wonders what she will get in return?
-
Gary Gibbon
Pressure on Germans to help Spain
Don’t expect any great gestures from Angela Merkel at the EU summit, says Gary Gibbon.
-
Gary Gibbon
Colossal agenda matched by massive disagreement in Brussels
A year ago he announced he was giving up his salary to show solidarity with Greeks in their hour of need.
-
Gary Gibbon
G20: eurozone for starters, dinner and pud.
Gary Gibbon blogs on what will be a eurozone dominated G20.
-
Gary Gibbon
Cameron speech – going down like cold moussaka
Political editor Gary Gibbon blogs on the less than positive reaction to David Cameron’s interventions on Europe.
-
FactCheck: Are Eastern Europeans to blame for social housing shortages?
Is UKIP’s Nigel Farage right about immigrants snapping up all the social housing? “All you have to do now if you come from Eastern Europe, all you have to do is to get a national insurance number – which you can get easily within a fortnight – and then you qualify automatically for social housing,” he said. FactCheck investigates.
-
Gary Gibbon
No Tory MPs uprising over Europe – yet
Quite a few normally outspoken MPs genuinely thought the PM “had no choice” over Europe’s fiscal compact, though there is a sense amongst some that he has marched people up the hill again.
-
Gary Gibbon
Merkel to Cameron: ‘madness’ talk is ‘typical British negotiating punch’
Chancellor Merkel has another saying which aides say she uses frequently in private: “If you climb up a tree you have to climb down it.” She may well be looking at David Cameron’s mini u-turn this afternoon on the use of EU institutions by the rest of the EU and think she’s watching just such an arborial stunt. Certainly some Tory MPs think they’re looking at some kind of climbdown and don’t like it.
-
Gary Gibbon
Brussels and Westminster wondering what that veto was about?
There isn’t normally a prime ministerial statement after an informal European Council like this one but one Tory MP told me he was sure there would be an attempt to table an urgent question and drag Mr Cameron to the Commons. “He’d better explain quickly,” one Tory MP said, “or he’s going to get his backside kicked.”
-
Why the EU oil embargo on Iran matters
It’s all brinkmanship, and goes to prove how the volatile politics of the Middle East affects all of our lives, writes Channel 4 News International Editor Lindsey Hilsum.
-
FactCheck: Has Cameron saved the City from Sarkozy?
“An EU-wide Robin Hood Tax – which John Major called a “heat-seeking missile” pointed at the heart of the Square Mile (surely it should have been an arrow?) – does now appear to have stalled on the launchpad.”
-
Faisal Islam
Athens: the lessons of monetary history for Greece
One economist likened the euro to Hotel California “where you can check out but you can’t leave”, pointing out that, “almost no modern fiat currency union has broken up without some form of authoritarian or military government or civil war”.