The case against Europe: MEP Daniel Hannan reveals the disturbing contempt for democracy at the heart of the EU

Over 13 years as an MEP,  Daniel Hannan has witnessed first hand how Brussels works. Now he has written a forensic analysis of why it’s rotten to the core. His devastating critique should be required reading for every politician.

There is a popular joke in Brussels that if the European Union were a country applying to join itself, it would be rejected on the grounds of being undemocratic.

It’s absolutely true – [...]

Bruni ‘barely recognizable

Pic: http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/04/22/article-0-12B7B866000005DC-561_306x423.jpg

Four years as France’s first lady looked to have taken their toll on Carla Bruni yesterday as she voted in presidential elections which are on course to bring them to an end.

Just before exit polls predicted that her husband, Nicolas Sarkozy, would suffer a humiliating defeat, Carla ticked her ballot paper close to her home in Paris’s 16th arrondissement.

Many suggested that too much Botox and other surgical procedures had transformed [...]

FT: Broken promises come back to haunt Sarkozy… Disillusioned French voters focus on core economic issues

From FT:

 

In the drizzle outside a post office in Fourmies, a once bustling town in the north of France, 25-year-old Adeline voices her frustration with President Nicolas Sarkozy.

“I voted for him in 2007 and I‘m disappointed,” says Adeline, who declined to give her second name. “He said he would help the youth but no one has helped us find work. The youth of today is lost – I’ll vote but I’m going [...]