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China bullies Australia with 'bans and restrictions on its exports', and this justifies the Australian PM's breaking the global rule that the Southern Hemisphere should not be nuclearised, argues Helen [...]

Harry Lambert resurrects the myth that all would have been different had Labour imposed the EU's seven-year transition period in 2004 for people from new member states working in the [...]

Sir Keir Starmer, the new Prime Minister of Britain, has risen to prominence as a leader of the European left. Unlike previous Labour prime ministers who had years of political experience, Starmer was a lawyer specializing in human rights cases before entering politics. He became leader of the Labour Party after Jeremy Corbyn's defeat in 2019 and positioned himself as a centrist, avoiding reopening the Brexit divide. Starmer's calm and measured approach, along with the disarray within the Conservative Party, helped him secure a majority in the Commons. While his leadership is not revolutionary, it has brought stability and progress to British politics. [Extracted from the article]

The upcoming European Parliament elections are unlikely to bring about significant changes in European politics. While the elections are often seen as a way to demonstrate the existence of a European identity, the decisions that directly impact people's lives, such as taxes and social policies, are still made by national governments. The EU's influence in areas like foreign policy is limited, as national governments retain control over key decisions. The elections are often used as a platform for protest votes, with right-wing nationalist and anti-European parties gaining support. However, this does not necessarily translate into control of national governments or the EU. The far-right movement in Europe is fragmented and lacks a common vision. The upcoming elections are predicted to see gains for right-wing nationalist parties, a decline in social democratic parties, and a fading influence of liberal parties. The Labour Party in the UK, under the leadership of Keir Starmer, is expected to achieve a major victory, while the Brexit-era Conservatives face challenges. Overall, the European Parliament elections are not expected to bring about significant changes in the European political landscape. [Extracted from the article]

David Goodhart falls back on his favourite theme as he argues that massive in-flows of immigrants "are not compatible with stable democracies" (Letters, May). After the EU's eastward expansion in 2004, the campaign against European immigrants went into overdrive thanks to the Tory Party, Ukip, the BNP and some on the left. Poland is a stable democracy, as is Greece, which welcomes Albanian immigrants to work in construction, agriculture and domestic care. [Extracted from the article]