Kieran Lawrence looks at autonomous weapons and the effect they could have on modern warfare
Continuing a series on world leaders, Miles Deverson takes a look at Angela Merkel
Ben Bland examines the fallout from the Iowa caucuses and looks forward to the New Hampshire primaries.
In the first of a series on world leaders, Miles Deverson takes a look at Nicholas Sarkozy
The Yorker politics team has invited various political societies to provide a fortnightly comment on current affairs. Next up is the York Tories, with the second column in their series "The Blue Duck".
As everybody races around trying to save the Euro on the continent, the fundamental question of Britain’s relationship with the European Union has come up once again.
It’s the issue that keeps coming round: what exactly should our relationship with Europe be? Very few people are going to argue for us to join the Euro at present, as the various members of the currency race around trying to keep it from going the way of Roman Sesterces. The question is: should we be more of a part of an integrated Europe, keep the status quo or step back from the centre of the EU?
For example, it may well be that the finances of Europe will become inextricably linked soon in order to save the Euro. Should Britain be part of a European taxation system? Certainly there would be advantages, but there would also be a lot of problems.
London is after all still a banker to much of the world. Paris, Berlin, Rome and the other European capitals do not have an equal to the City and Canary Wharf. They would be far less inclined to keep our present favourable conditions for banks, which continue to support much of our economy. We are not yet in a position where we can fall back upon other sectors were we to do without the city, regardless of how fashionable it is to bash the bankers.
We may well see a new treaty for the EU soon. The reforms needed may well be beyond the reach of the Lisbon Treaty’s allowances. This will result in a referendum, after the affront to democracy that was the ushering in of Lisbon, signed with less dignity than is generally awarded to a cheque for the water bill.
The problem with Europe is that there is an ever growing clamour for a reappraisal of our relationship, but at the same time we have to be practical. We can’t afford to turn our back on Europe when so much of our trade is with the continent - we need it to be stable. At the same time however we cannot be dependent on Europe, nor should we be dominated by it. The EU needs reform, and the tide of power must turn and return to Westminster.
The PM has an excellent opportunity to improve the situation for Britain. We can have a lot more confidence now than we had under the last government. They regarded popular opinion on Europe as a trifling inconvenience rather than what it is - the necessary driving force of our EU policy.
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