It seems to me the newspapers are missing something quite key to this whole EU President and High Representative for Foreign Policy debate, and it's this:Many papers are reporting a Left v Right tussle and they're not wrong. The European People's Party, the biggest grouping in the European Parliament,...

UKIP achieved another fantastic gain in vote share at yesterday's  Huntingdon North By election, reports Eastern Regional Organiser Cllr Peter Reeve.The by-election was caused by the resignation of the sitting Liberal Democrat Cllr. UKIP increased its share of the vote from 8.2% in 2008 to...

One thing I think people are missing regarding the likely appointment of Tony Blair as the permanent President of the European Union: forget who is going to take the role for a minute, just where is the scrutiny for such a role even existing? If Blair does get the post as I believe he will, it will have...

While people in the UK are still reeling about MP's expenses it might be worth contextualising our grumbles about the frivolous and greedy use of taxpayer's money with what's been going on over the Channel.Yes, I'm of course going to refer to Sarkozy's Power Shower.The French President's impulse spending...

A YouGov opinion poll undertaken for the University of Aberystwyth is showing some interesting polling figures. Excluding Don’t Know/Wouldn’t Vote Lab  34 Con  31 Plaid  15 Lib-Dem  12 Other  7 Others UKIP  4 BNP  2 Green  1 Respect  0 Other  1 The poll also shows that Welsh voters...

It could have been the title of a horror movie, or at least a Sun headline, were it released at the same time as Blair's media driven fall from favour. But now the storm has calmed it seems somehow, despite everything, he could be back in charge, via the backdoor! Where have we seen this before? Oh that's...

An article in the Observer suggests that UKIP could slash a Conservative majority at the general election, blocking them in 50 or 60 seats. A private analysis by Labour strategists suggests that in marginal constituencies, even a few hundred extra votes for Ukip could frustrate Tory challengers trying...

By J Conway, occasional Independence Home contributor… French EU Presidency was Twice the Price and Half the Value Reuters is reporting today (with a suspiciously small amount of media attention) that the French Presidency of the EU last year cost twice as much as the average presidency due to...

Yet again it's at the forefront of topical discussion. Well it's always been at the forefront of our discussion, yet like every other relevent political discourse, it has often been marginalised and the parties that comment on the issue are marginalised themselves. There has developed this tendency...

This morning I got into Parliament at 8:00am (GMT+1) which is pretty normal. The days are long and it's quite an intense week. After four days in Strasbourg I'll be glad to get home. MEPs from France and Belgium probably don't appreciate how fortunate they are to face a much smaller commute. It'll be...

Yes you heard it here first; there are moves underway by several MEPs to block a Tony Blair EU Presidency because the man just isn’t committed to the EU as they are. Five MEPs, Jorgo Chatzimarkakis, Robert Goebbels, Jo Leinen, Klaus-Heiner Lehne and Herbert Reul don’t want Blair as the President...

I am beginning to worry now. Out of the candidates standing I find myself at best apathetic and at wort antipathetic towards them. I have been contemplating abstaining completely from the vote, but this has pulled me back into the fold very abruptly!… But the horrified “not in my name” brigade...

A new opinion poll by Political Betting is showing UKIP registering 4 and 5% for voting intention. It is their first poll commissioned by PB, and from a new pollster whose methodologies and accuracy has yet to be tested against real world results. However, the detailed tables of past votes show a 2%...

UKIP candidates contested 3 by elections last week. None were ones in which we had stood the previous time, making them all new territory the party is establishing itself in. In the first, for the Hanworth and Birch Hill Ward of Bracknell Forest Borough Council, Jeff Newbold took 139 votes in a six way...

Chris Davies has been getting hot and bothered because a resolution in the European Parliament was voted down by just 1 vote thanks, so he says, to Conservative and UKIP MEPs. The resolution apparently called for the European Parliament “denounce pressure and intimidation against Italian and European...

We are used to the witty exchange of banter flying across the Chamber in Westminster. Whether the heckling is highbrow, or the humour deliciously lowbrow, the energy in the House of Commons is the envy of many political institutions globally.Not surprising then that the EC thought they could liven up...