By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter. I called it on Saturday and Eurosceptic parliamentarians are now in agreement. Cameron's veto has all but died. Andrew Lilico calls it a capitulation. Dan Hannan MEP is most categorical: "December's 'veto' turns out to be nothing of the kind; at best, it is a partial opt-out. Britain had […]
By Martin Callanan MEP. Once again as MEPs gathered in Strasbourg on a Monday, they were still feeling the tremors from events the previous Friday. Last month it was the Cameron veto that had left Conservatives stirred and our opponents shaken. This month it was the downgrade of France's credit rating that was causing an […]
Martin Callanan is leader of the Tory MEPs. Of course, we were supposed to be feeling "isolated". That was according to the newspapers with a federalist leaning – and especially if you listened to the BBC. We were meant to be marginalised and misled too, but above all – "isolated". That was the buzzword on […]
Martin Callanan is leader of the Tory MEPs. Strasbourg had even more of an Alice in Wonderland feel about it than usual this week, especially so when I sat down briefly to go through Thursday morning's press. In the national file there was the Financial Times, clearly keen to cement its reputation as the Euro-federalists' […]
Martin Callanan is leader of the Tory MEPs. Last week, the action was all happening in Brussels. Two summits, countless meetings, media galore. The European Parliament, however, was in Strasbourg! The mood was sombre but strangely detached from the historic events happening 250 miles up the road. Actually, I’m not sure our being in Brussels […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter Last week's Eurozone deal was only ever going to be a sticking plaster solution. The level of Greek debt went from deadly before the deal to still murderous afterwards. The overnight news that the Greek people will get a chance to reject that deal in a referendum will deeply […]
After some knockabout humour Mr Callanan, leader of Tory MEPs, told the Manchester Party Conference that Eurosceptics deserved a bigger hearing in Brussels after they had been so comprehensively vindicated by predicting the problems of the single currency.
Martin Callanan is an MEP for North East England and leader of the Conservative group in the European Parliament. This is his latest monthly report for ConservativeHome readers. THE EUROZONE Albert Einstein once defined insanity as, 'doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.' I wonder then what he would make […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter. I ask the question because MEPs have just rejected increasing the EU's emission reduction targets unilaterally from 20% by 2020 to an eyewatering 30% by 2020 (the reduction is from 1990 levels). Votes from Tory MEPs made the difference. The British Government – like the governments of France and […]
By Jonathan IsabyFollow Jonathan on Twitter 9pm update: The BBC confirms that the European Commission wants its budget increased by nealry 5% for the next seven year period. It quotes a British Government spokesman as saying: "A 4.9% increase would not be acceptable to us… We will work very closely with other EU governments to […]
Martin Callanan is Leader of the Conservative MEPs After 12 years in the European Parliament I thought I'd seen it all: the vitriol spouted at anyone opposed to an ever-expanding EU, the attempts to smear anyone who thinks the EU should not interfere in every area of our lives, and the sneering at nations such as the […]
Jan Zahradil MEP is chairman of the European Conservatives and Reformists group and member of the Czech ODS party – the party of the Czech Prime Minister. Martin Callanan is leader of UK Conservative MEPs. EU leaders will be taking their sleeping bags to Brussels today. They have been put on notice to prepare for […]