Denis MacShane
Greece short of friends in Europe as Erdogan steps up pressure
The decision to postpone the EU council meeting solved – for the time being – one thorny EU question, writes Denis MacShane. What to do about Turkey’s new Sultan Erdogan and his non-stop aggression against EU member states, and core EU values?
Boris Johnson is more focused on Brexit than coronavirus
Boris Johnson's obsession with obtaining a Brexit deal in June has over-ridden the need to act decisively in response to Coronavirus. But the signs of panic are emerging, writes Denis MacShane.
Swiss politics goes Green with a capital G
The surge in support for Green parties in the Swiss elections suggests that the Alpine country is shying away from right-wing populism and euroscepticism, writes Denis MacShane.
Johnson is desperate for an election. So why would his Opponents give him one?
Boris Johnson is desperate to hold a general election, but why should opposition lawmakers give him a poll on his terms, asks Denis MacShane. Denis MacShane is the UK’s former Minister of Europe, and a former Labour MP. In politics...
Ten aspects of the Johnson coup against the UK Parliament
Boris Johnson's prorogation of Parliament may have come as a shock to many but it has stripped away whatever remaining illusions there might have been that the Prime Minister was going to abide by British parliamentary traditions, writes Denis MacShane.
Will Brussels turn its back – again – on the Balkans?
Will the EU honour its word to Tirana and Skopje or will Brussels – not for the first time – leave the Western Balkans stewing in its own juice? All eyes are on the reaction of EU foreign ministers to last week's inflammatory rhetoric by two Balkan leaders, writes Denis MacShane.
Ten lessons for British politics from Peterborough and Strasbourg
All is not what it seems in the UK, after Nigel Farage's Brexit party suffered a major setback in its bid to win a seat in the UK parliament, writes Denis MacShane.
Macron should keep Britain twisting on its Brexit hook
With the Brexit camp in increasing turmoil, EU leaders would be wise to give Theresa May her extension and wait for the tide to continue turning, argues Denis MacShane.
The only way for May to save her deal
It is now clear that the Brexit deal has not been changed and the demands of the hardline anti-European MPs for the Withdrawal Agreement to be re-opened have been rejected by the EU27, writes Denis MacShane.
Brexit is dissolving British politics
The new eleven-member Independent Group is the latest product of a Brexit process that is dissolving British politics, writes Denis MacShane.
In the House of Commons, Brexit has no winners, only losers
Britain neither wants Brexit nor knows how to escape from it. The result is that everybody loses, and the camp of losers just gets bigger and bigger, writes Denis MacShane.
The Brexit saga will go on for years
The deal agreed between the United Kingdom and the European Union has detonated the biggest political dispute in British politics since Neville Chamberlain came back from Munich in 1938 waving a leaf of paper and proclaiming he had won “Peace in our time”, writes Denis MacShane.
As Putin falters, possible next leader of Russia in Brussels this week
Vladimir Putin is now 66, the average age of death for a Russian male. He keeps fit so we can expect he will live longer than his fellow Russian men, whose standard of living and health care has not been at the forefront of his near two decades of rule, writes Denis MacShane.
7 nightmare days for Theresa May
A second referendum or an extension to Article 50 could be the only way to cut the Brexit Gordian knot, argues Denis MacShane as he reflects on a nightmare week for Theresa May.
On Brexit, Theresa May is a true Fabian
As Theresa May returns from yet another European Council where she had nothing to say in concrete terms to her fellow 27 heads of government on Brexit, she could actually be copying the tactics of one of the most famous Roman leaders, writes Denis MacShane.
Johnson and Davis isolated as key Brexit Tory MPs opt for pragmatism
On the eve of the second anniversary of the Brexit plebiscite, nothing but nothing is clear on what the UK government’s policy is, still less on what the official opposition’s policy is. All the enthusiasm for Brexit has disappeared from political life in Britain, writes Denis MacShane.
Brexit turns into a constitutional crisis in Britain
Divisions across the UK's political institutions are turning Brexit into a major domestic constitutional crisis, writes Denis MacShane.
Barnier-Davis deal puts off all key decisions as Brexiternity beckons
A Brexiternity beckons for the years ahead, well past the next general election, as political, economic and policy shapers will debate and disagree on what kind of Brexit the UK wants and needs, writes Denis MacShane.
Tony Blair is right on immigration but did nothing to control freedom of movement
After Brexit, the rest of Europe will control freedom of movement sensibly without discriminating on grounds of nationality, adhering to the principle that has been in all European treaties since 1950, writes Denis MacShane.
Two cheers for Balkan Boris
UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has come in for plenty of criticism in his 19 months in post. But there is one area of foreign policy where he has been faultless and where indeed Britain can play a leading role in shaping Europe’s future direction of travel, explains Denis MacShane.
From Queen Mary to Macron – the Calais problem is eternal
If the frontier was on British rather than on French soil, the French believe the immigrants would not be drawn to Calais, writes Denis MacShane.
Brexit set to dominate UK politics for years ahead
In March, Michel Barnier told me he had offered the UK a two-year transition period after April 2019 in which Britain could trade freely without tariffs or duties, provided London accepted existing EU rules and laws on social protection, environment and rights of EU citizens. Denis MacShane explains.
Does return of EU growth weaken case for Brexit?
One of the more powerful arguments advanced in Britain by Eurosceptics – from hardline Brexit ideologues to polite rationalists who disliked many aspects of European integration - was that the European Union had a dreadful economic tale to tell this century, writes Denis MacShane.