Voters across Europe are rejecting leaders like Matteo Renzi and President Hollande – when will they admit time is up for the EU?
European leaders ignore the anti-EU feeling across the continent at their peril
WHAT will it take for the Brussels elite to question their slavish promotion of the EU project?
On Sunday voters in Italy served up another blow to the European Union by handing pro-EU PM Matteo Renzi a crushing referendum defeat, prompting his immediate resignation.
Hours earlier Austria had come within a hair’s breadth of electing far-right Eurosceptic Norbert Hofer.
In France, Brussels ally President Hollande is too unpopular to stand in next year’s elections, while anti-EU Marine Le Pen is rapidly gaining ground.
Britain has been labelled “petulant” for wanting to go it alone and pompous Eurocrats like Guy Verhofstadt — the EU’s chosen negotiator — revel in every bit of bad news for Brexit supporters.
Yet voters across Europe are increasingly rejecting the EU’s self-interested ruling consensus.
While no one would wish economic turmoil on our European neighbours, the political instability spreading across the continent brought about by Brussels’ decades of bad management further strengthens Theresa May’s hand in Brexit negotiations.
And with bank bailouts already planned in Greece and likely in Italy, the Eurozone will doubtless need London to calm nervous financial markets.
We suspect hurting EU leaders are hatching plans to override Italian voters and lever Renzi back into office.
But they ignore the siren call of anti-EU feeling at their peril.
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Lords-a-leeching
THE House of Lords is a festering stain on British democracy.
It’s absurd that more than 800 ageing political cronies have such a large influence on UK law-making.
Doubly so that it doesn’t reflect the composition of our House of Commons, granting washed-up Lib Dems the power to pursue petty grievances.
As the latest attempt to reform this relic is debated, we call on all parties to support halving the size of the House of Lords and ensure it reflects party strength in the Commons.
This democratic disgrace has gone on far too long.
Casey to answer
DAME Louise Casey’s bombshell integration report is a timely wake-up call.
Yet, fearing criticism, the Government sat on it for months. Many suspect it was released yesterday to be overshadowed by the Brexit court case.
If the PM is serious about giving everybody a chance to succeed, she must take Casey’s recommendations seriously and tackle the racial and religious segregation holding back many in Britain’s communities.
This report is too important to be put in a drawer and forgotten.