Brussels is threatening to walk away from Burnham’s EU ‘reset’ talks until after the next general election unless Britain makes even more concessions than Labour is already offering. Give an inch, and they’ll take a mile 1.6 kilometres…
Labour has reportedly offered to slash tuition fees for European students in British universities, along with lifting the cap on a youth mobility scheme to let in up to 100,000 under-30s visa-free. The EU wants all of that, thank you very much, and is still refusing to let British steel and car firms into its “made in Europe” scheme, which hands EU companies priority for public contracts and subsidies. Brussels wants an even “wider reset”…
Buried underneath the summit row is the SPS agreement, which would hand Brussels the rule book on British food and farming, give the European Court even more power, and asks British taxpayers to cough up for the privilege. It would also make a US agriculture deal practically impossible…
The European Commission has designated Roblox a ‘Very Large Online Platform’. Yes, Roblox. It’s a game rather than a platform for a start…
This means the makers of the block-based universe will now be required to produce systemic risk assessments covering illegal content, harm to minors, mental wellbeing, fundamental rights, electoral processes and public security. ChatGPT and Reddit were also declared VLOPs in the latest sweep…
So far X, Temu and AliExpress have been fined under the DSA – so the Californian makers of Roblox will likely be shortly paying a huge amount of cash to the EU. Brussels bureaucrats can’t keep the lights on or stop small boats, but they can force an American games company to produce a 200-page document explaining why its dancing ducks won’t collapse European democracy…
What’s going on with Burnham and the EU talks? The PM said he would be ‘bolder‘ in a readout this morning:
“The UK had to be bolder in terms of getting closer to the bloc, the Prime Minister said. That included building on the close defence and security ties already forged between the UK and European Allies to drive greater cooperation across all areas of the relationship, he added.
The UK-EU summit set to be held later this year, would offer a platform to continue that work, the leaders agreed. Both looked forward to seeing one and another at the Coalition of the Willing later today.”
Questioned on the ‘bolder’ point, sources from the government insisted that in his final months Starmer also said Britain should be ‘bolder’ with the EU ‘reset’ and Burnham was simply ‘reiterating that ambition’ instead of changing the position of the last government. So according to this version – no change…
Contrast that to the end of last month when Hamish Falconer, the minister tasked with picking up Nick Thomas Symonds’ negotiations with the EU, said:
“Well, look, Nick and the previous Prime Minister did really important work to help reset relations and I want to consolidate some of that work. But we also need to see how we can go further. Even since when we started those talks, the world has changed quite dramatically. The threats have changed quite dramatically.
Both, we were talking about some of the threats in Eastern Europe, but clearly there are economic security threats, disinformation threats too. And I’ll be wanting to look at those issues in the round with my European counterparts.”
Burnham himself wants to rejoin eventually. Labour’s EU policy is to repeatedly smack itself in the face but from different and unpredictable angles…
The new Intergovernmental Relations and European Relations minister, Hamish Falconer, has suggested that rejoining the EU could be on the next Labour manifesto. That’s what they’re von der Sayin’…
Falconer said of Starmer’s ‘reset’ efforts that he wants “to consolidate some of that work, but we also need to see how we can go further.” More rule-taking…
Asked on Sky News about whether rejoin could be on the next manifesto, he said:
“Well, look, the questions for the next manifesto are not yet sorted, but I think it’s been absolutely clear from what the prime minister has said, and I share his views on this. Look, we had this vote 10 years ago. It was the will of the country. It was the will of my own constituency as well. We’re not backsliding from that. The world has changed since 2016. We need to make sure that our relationship with Europe changes, too. Europe and the UK both face real challenges.”
Pushed on the matter, he added: “We’re not talking about rejoin today. What we do in our next manifesto will obviously be a question for the Labour Party.” Lathering up…
Brussels has slapped Google with a whopping €890m (£759m) fine for supposedly shoving its own services in front of rivals in search results. According to the European Commission, the search giant violated the EU’s new Digital Services Act by restricting consumer choice and giving itself an ‘unfair advantage’ over competitors. Google isn’t alone – they also handed out a €120 million fine to Musk’s X last year…
The ‘Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for Technological Sovereignty, Security, and Democracy’ (still a ridiculous title) Henna Virkkunen said:
“After this decision, we want to make sure that there is more competition and also other companies are able to innovate…”
The reality is Google is now following other tech companies in restricting its services in Europe, rather than bothering to jump through all the ridiculous hoops Brussels tries to impose:
“To comply, we are having to strip away real-time Search features Europeans love – like instant pricing and direct availability for hotels, flights and restaurants – and dismantle safety protections on Google Play…”
OpenAI delays the rollout of its most advanced ChatGPT tools to Europe. Apple’s upcoming AI features won’t launch in the continent at all. Europe is a regulatory nightmare and it will get left behind very quickly if this carries on…
Fun sponge EU bureaucrats have effectively banned original Nintendo Switch consoles as part of a new raft of regulations on battery technology. Don’t hate the player, hate the game…
Brussels bigwigs just dropped “upcoming changes in European battery regulations coming into effect in mid-February 2027,” which affects the Lite and OLED models of the popular handheld device. The EU has mandated that all portable games consoles must have fully replaceable batteries by next year…
Gaming site IGN reported: “Nintendo will no longer sell to retailers hardware in the Nintendo Switch family of systems – specifically Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch Lite and Nintendo Switch – OLED Model“. An insult to old school gamers or anyone looking to get a bargain with a cheaper old-gen system…
Models without replaceable batteries can still be sold in the UK. Brexit benefit…
Boris spoke to GB News about Labour’s attempts to restrict donations:
“It looks absolutely pathetic. Just because some people want to support one party very generously, Labour kicks up a huge fuss and says they’re going to cap donations.
I just saw Richard Tice on your show just now. I have to say I rather agree with him.
They’ve got huge amounts of money – troughing it from the trade unions. It’s absolutely ridiculous Labour are trying to cap donations.”