European Movement - West London

European Movement - West London European Movement - West London
We are Londoners of all parties and none, living in West London

Just Sayin'
19/08/2026

Just Sayin'

How does Europe's budget stack up against the US' trillion-dollar golden fleet and Russia's war economy?Europe is underg...
19/08/2026

How does Europe's budget stack up against the US' trillion-dollar golden fleet and Russia's war economy?

Europe is undergoing its fastest defence build-up since the Cold War. European NATO members spent around €520 billion on defence in 2025, and are on track to spend a combined €800 billion a year on defence by 2030. Yet that's still not enough – at least in the way the money is used now.

Full article
https://europeancorrespondent.com/en/r/europes-defence-math-needs-a-lot-of-work

Ahead of the Nordic nation’s EU referendum, the Icelandic flag has been co-opted by the far rightTo enter Reykjavik’s Gr...
19/08/2026

Ahead of the Nordic nation’s EU referendum, the Icelandic flag has been co-opted by the far right

To enter Reykjavik’s Grafarvogur Lutheran church, worshippers and visitors are invited to make their way down 16 steps painted in the rainbow stripes and the white, pink, blue, brown and black chevrons of the Progress Pride flag. The artwork, which can even be seen on satellite pictures, was originally a project of former head pastor Guðrún Karls Helgudóttir, now the bishop of Iceland, and her colleagues. The point was to show support for the LGBTQ+ community’s “need to be visible and accepted”, the church’s current head pastor, Arna Sigurðardóttir, told me.

And then some time in between the barely faded midnight sun of 7 July and the early morning light of 8 July, someone painted over all those colours with just three: blue on the outside, and two thin strips of white encasing a thicker strip of red in the centre.

The church’s pride flag had been defaced twice before, both times in 2022, once with black scribbling alluding to a verse from the Old Testament.

This time, though, when Sigurðardóttir heard the news that it had been completely painted over with the Icelandic flag, something about it felt different. “More systematic, in a way – much more methodical,” she said. “We are experiencing everywhere this pushback against human rights, and they’re starting to envelop it in national flags.”

Full article
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/aug/19/flag-culture-wars-progressive-iceland-far-right

Tofu and other legumes may help both planetary and human health, but we still have a long way to go.Walk into a German s...
19/08/2026

Tofu and other legumes may help both planetary and human health, but we still have a long way to go.

Walk into a German supermarket looking for tofu, and you may find an empty shelf with a price tag still lingering. Germany is experiencing waves of tofu shortages. Demand has surpassed production to the point where even large major retailers can't keep up with the pace.

Full article
https://europeancorrespondent.com/en/r/why-dont-we-just-grow-more-tofu

Hundreds of people overwhelmed a mountain hut in the Italian Dolomites, not for the panoramic views but in search of a c...
19/08/2026

Hundreds of people overwhelmed a mountain hut in the Italian Dolomites, not for the panoramic views but in search of a creamy pastry, reigniting the debate about social-media-driven tourism.

The visitors ventured en masse to the Friedrich August refuge – perched at 2,300 metres (7,500ft) above sea level, between Col Rodella and Passo Sella in Val di Fassa – some reportedly waking up at dawn or camping overnight, just to ensure they could buy a freshly baked krapfen, a traditional German pastry similar to a doughnut, before they ran out.

Full article
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/aug/19/italy-krapfen-friedrich-august-dolomites-tourists-social-media-influencers

Ten years on, and what did you learn, as my twice-refugee Grandfather used to ask late in his life and early in mine. We...
19/08/2026

Ten years on, and what did you learn, as my twice-refugee Grandfather used to ask late in his life and early in mine. Well, there’s been little space for reflection, between the endless repetition of UK politicians stuck in 2016 either as their highlight or preventable nightmare, and an EU doing what comes naturally, seeking internal consensus and presenting that in a negotiation. Neither side really understands why the other behaves as they do even after all this time.

Hence those few of us still shuttling between London and Brussels get frustrated not least as simplistic statements that pass for wisdom continue to dominate particularly the UK media. No, the EU hasn’t changed fundamentally, and negotiations are still more about finding joint solutions than yelling at each other.

Full article
https://encompass-europe.com/comment/five-lessons-of-brexit

The official talk is of the government acting with understanding and flexibility. But devastated lives tell another stor...
19/08/2026

The official talk is of the government acting with understanding and flexibility. But devastated lives tell another story

There is anger about the case of Joyce Thomas, a 78-year-old retired nurse who has lived in Sweden for 21 years. Her husband died there; her son, grandchildren and home are there. Yet she has been told to leave because her post-Brexit residence application was late. Her case is appalling and predictable – but far from isolated.

The Guardian has also reported on the plight of Horace Mason, 74, who faces being deported after a court ruling, despite having lived in Sweden for 25 years. This is sad but not surprising.

When Sweden set out its plans in 2020, we at the Brits in Sweden campaign warned in an official submission that the application scheme could strip vulnerable people of their rights if they missed the deadline. We urged a flexible and generous approach, and later raised concerns about outreach and refusals with the UK government and European Commission. We have watched Britons fall off that cliff edge since 2021; only occasionally does a case reach the media.

The new scheme gave British residents safeguards under free-movement law – including assistance, reasonable grounds for lateness and proportionality – that were untested.

We were not alone. The Swedish Bar Association said the new rules must be applied generously to both evidence and deadlines, to which the government insisted that the authorities already had sufficient flexibility.

The truth of the situation is now clear, for the statistics only point in one direction. Almost 4,000 of 14,200 applications in Sweden have been refused. The UK Foreign Office calculates a 27.5% refusal rate – three times that of any other member state and far above the EU average of 3–4%. Eurostat records 2,500 British nationals have been ordered to leave Sweden since 2021, about a third of the EU total.

Full article
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/aug/18/sweding-deporting-britons-eu-country-brexit

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