Photo by Winston Chen on Unsplash Following his invention of the Rocket, in 1829 Robert Stephenson inaugurated the first inter-city railway in the world: connecting Liverpool and Manchester in the country’s northern manufacturing heartland was an obvious priority. Since then other countries have leapt into the future with high speed trains, while the UK struggles with one of…
Photo by Oleg Ivanov on Unsplash The EU has announced fresh new support for war-torn Ukraine. On Wednesday, the commission said it will ship 13,000 additional laptops, smartphones and tablets to the country. These have been gathered and will be delivered to Ukraine through the Commission-supported initiative “Laptops for Ukraine” scheme. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Commission has…
Photo by Matt Brown on Unsplash In recent weeks the British Government has been deluged with noise about the Northern Ireland Protocol, agreed with the EU following the UK’s departure, well before the text of any new agreement was revealed, writes Philip Bushill-Matthews. None of the noise came from European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič, who remained diplomatically silent about the…
Photo by K. Mitch Hodge on Unsplash MEPs and the business community have reacted after the European Commission and UK reached a political agreement in principle in the long running dispute over the Northern Ireland protocol. Known as the Windsor Framework, the new deal constitutes what the EU calls a “comprehensive set of joint solutions aimed at addressing,…
Photo by K. Mitch Hodge on Unsplash The European Commission and UK have reached a political agreement in principle in the long running dispute over the Northern Ireland protocol. Known as the Windsor Framework, the new deal constitutes what the EU calls a “comprehensive set of joint solutions aimed at addressing, in a definitive way” the practical challenges…
Photo by Julien Riedel on Unsplash Easter is fast approaching and you may well be scratching your head wondering what to do over the holiday. If so, why not consider a destination that is often overlooked by travellers from Belgium. Some often bypass the region en route to sunnier climes or a spot of skiing in the Alps….
Photo by Korie Cull on Unsplash An estimated 47 journalists and media workers have been killed in Ukraine, eight while carrying out professional duties. This is according to new data from the National Union of Ukraine. In response to the war against Ukraine, UNESCO has mobilized an immediate emergency response for media workers in the country. To support…
Photo by JC Gellidon on Unsplash The European Commission’s emergency preparedness and response authority has donated 10,000 vials of Bavarian Nordic’s Mpox vaccine to Ukraine. The Commission and Ukraine signed a deal associating Ukraine to the eu4Health programme in July 2022. Ukraine is therefore eligible to receive support from HERA for the second round of Mpox donations, joining 27 other recipient…
The EU has been urged to give the green light to Ukraine’s “swift” accession to the Union “in full respect of enlargement principles.” The demand was made by the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) which said it supports establishing a special international tribunal on “crimes of aggression against Ukraine” and points out that support to civil…
Photo by Jacek Dylag on Unsplash Margaret Thatcher was a great believer in privatisation. She said it was crucial for ‘reversing the corrosive and corrupting effects of socialism…. ensuring the power of the people is enhanced….and reclaiming the territory for freedom’, writes Philip Bushill-Matthews. She was equally clear that Governments were inherently inefficient at running businesses, and few…
