I'm a huge fan of the House of Commons Library. They do some really excellent briefing papers setting out the evidence, context and background to issues.

They've compiled this excellent list of briefings relevant to the EU Referendum coming up in June:

That includes the House of Commons Library briefing paper "
EU referendum: impact of an EU exit ( Read more... )

Am I the only person who's heard that there's been some spectacular elections in Poland, where the ruling Evil Party, headed by a pair of Evil Twins, has been ousted by a liberal opposition party on the biggest turnout since the fall of Communism and by a majority that's startled pretty much everyone? And the vast armies of ex-pat Poles living in ( Read more... )

As a contribution to the contradictory advice to parents on whether to 'push' your kids or not, and ever keen to take advantage of improving **FIXME's knowledge and understanding of the world, I thought I might incorporate some useful educational asides in to nursery rhymes as I sing them to him:
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So, the UK took over the rotating Presidency of the EU this morning. I love that phrase - "the rotating Presidency" - it conjures up an image of a self-important-looking late-middle-aged politician in a sober suit gently turning round and round. This virtual leader figure takes an incessant gyratory perambulation across Europe, drifting from ( Read more... )