Politics

One of the Europe’s most senior leaders has accused Boris Johnson of suffering from “political amnesia” and making “absurd arguments”, after the former London mayor drew a comparison between the aims of the EU and Adolf Hitler. EU institutions have so far avoided getting drawn into the UK’s increasingly bitter referendum campaign, but Donald Tusk, the president of the European council, said on Tuesday that he had to respond when he heard the EU being compared to the Nazi leader’s plans. He said: “When I hear the EU being compared to the plans and projects of Adolf Hitler I cannot remain silent. Such absurd arguments should be completely ignored if they hadn’t been formulated by one of the most influential politicians in the [UK’s] ruling party. “Boris Johnson crossed the boundaries of a rational discourse, demonstrating political amnesia.” These views were in the minds of many Europeans, not just Britons, Tusk … [Read more...] about Tusk slams Boris Johnson’s Hitler remarks as ‘political amnesia’

For all the divisions on display in this election campaign, there’s one point nearly all voters agree on: the desperate need for reform in Westminster. Yet despite many parties commenting on the need for change in their manifestos, the issue of political reform has been dangerously absent from the campaign trail. This radio silence is indefensible when polling for the Electoral Reform Society shows 85% of people feel that politics isn’t working, and 80% feel they have little or no influence on decision-making today. With public faith this low our politicians cannot afford to stay silent. The signs of democratic decay are all around us – from an electoral system that wastes votes on an industrial scale, to the private members’ club that is the unelected House of Lords. This year we’ve seen our parliament lunge from crisis to crisis. This election is a watershed moment for our democracy – inaction is not an option. Today we are calling for leaders to … [Read more...] about An overhaul of Westminster politics is long overdue

Reverend William Barber speaks to the press in 2016. Photo: Sean Rayford/Getty Images Not long before his assassination, Martin Luther King Jr. announced the formation of the Poor People’s Campaign. The project would eventually unite poor whites from Appalachia with farmworkers, indigenous people, and black civil-rights activists. After King’s death in 1968, the campaign marshaled a significant mobilization in Washington, D.C., and then went quiet — until 2017. Revived by Reverend William Barber and Reverend Liz Theoharis, the renewed Poor People’s Campaign continues the mission set out by King and his allies so many decades ago. Its ambitions are broad: On its website, it says it intends to “lift up and deepen the leadership of those most affected by systemic racism, poverty, the war economy, and ecological devastation.” It goes on to state, bluntly, that “people should not live in or die from poverty in the richest nation ever to … [Read more...] about Rev. William Barber on the Political Power of Poor People: ‘We Have to Change Our Whole Narrative’

Jeremy Corbyn's solution to the fact that many traditional Labour voters voted for Brexit has been an ungainly fudge that is likely to make many Leavers politically homeless, according to the latest polling. While recent events have exposed the toll the Brexit process has been taking in the Conservative party, Labour's woes are also acute and could prove to be even more electorally consequential. Labour's Brexit plan - which now includes a tentative commitment to a second referendum - has steadily been moving to the Remain side of the argument in recent months, risking an alienation of their pro-Leave constituents and the loss of Brexit-backing seats. Concern about this issue was highlighted... … [Read more...] about Revealed: The 30 Labour heartlands where Corbyn’s Brexit fudge is set to make voters politically homeless

(CNN)The Trump administration is planning to hold off releasing the political portion of its Israeli-Palestinian peace plan until after the Israeli elections and after Israel forms a new government, according to two sources familiar with the thinking of senior White House adviser Jared Kushner and White House Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt, who are leading the administration's effort. The administration does not want the political part of its plan to become an issue for the Israeli elections, explains one of the sources. Both sources have talked with the Kushner-Greenblatt team recently, following team Netanyahu's inability to form a coalition last month. Greenblatt, in an piece published on CNN's website Sunday, said the Israeli elections could affect timing, writing, "We know there is no perfect time, and we won't pretend that the Israeli elections might not have an impact on that timing." Axios reported that Greenblatt told a conference hosted by the Jerusalem Post that the … [Read more...] about Trump admin plans to hold off on political part of Israeli-Palestinian peace plan until Israel forms government in November