SDLP Brexit motion ‘aimed at Alliance over its fence-sitting on a border poll'
O'Toole's resolution argues Irish unity only viable way to rejoin EU as England tacks further to right
Irish unity is the only way Northern Ireland can rejoin the EU and there is no point pretending otherwise, according to an SDLP motion MLAs will debate on Monday.
Stormont sources say the resolution is a way of putting pressure on the Alliance Party over its 'fence-sitting' on a border poll. Alliance has been approached for comment.
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Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Right-wing candidate wins Poland's presidential election in huge blow to pro-EU PM Donald Tusk
Poland has elected conservative eurosceptic Karol Nawrocki as its new president after a staggering turnaround to clinch 50.89 per cent of the vote. Nawrocki, 42, narrowly overcame Warsaw's centrist liberal mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, 53, who scored 49.11 per cent of the vote in Sunday's runoff. Supported by the Law and Justice party (PiS), Nawrocki is expected to follow his predecessor, Andrzej Duda, in blocking the reform agenda of the government. While president is a largely ceremonial role in Poland, he will now have the power to veto prime minister Donald Tusk's pro-EU programme and liberalising policies. Tusk came to power in 2023, promising to restore the rule of law, reform the courts and state media, and to liberalise abortion - purging institutions of cronies installed by the PiS government over its eight years in power. His coalition government does not have a large enough majority in parliament to overturn pushback from the president, who will look to stall Tusk's reversals. Nawrocki campaigned on a promise to ensure economic and social policies favour Poles over other nationalities, including refugees from neighbouring Ukraine. His election comes at a sensitive time, with Poland one of the leading countries in the EU and one of few positioned to face down a belligerent Russia. Turnout in the second round of the election reached 72.8 per cent, according to Ipsos - the highest of any presidential election in Poland's history. Unlike other eurosceptics in central Europe, including Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and Hungary's Viktor Orban, Nawrocki supports giving military aid to help Ukraine fend off Russia's three-year-old invasion. But he has said that, if elected, he will oppose membership in Western alliances for Ukraine, a position that seeks to chime with falling support for Ukrainians among Poles, who have hosted more than a million refugees from across the border. In an interview on May 22, Nawrocki - who enjoys backing from Donald Trump - said he opposed Ukraine joining NATO, breaking from the position of previous PiS candidates. His backers at home had supported fast-tracking membership in the EU and NATO for Kyiv while in power until late 2023. Nawrocki's critics said he was fuelling unease over Ukrainian refugees at a time when the far-right is highlighting migration, the cost of living and security. He cited his campaign slogan, Poland First. 'Let's help others, but let's take care of our own citizens first,' he said on social media in April. He is likely to follow a similar path to outgoing President Andrzej Duda, a PiS ally who has used his veto power to block the pro-EU government's efforts to undo the previous PiS administration's judicial reforms. The EU says the PiS reforms undermined the independence of the courts. Without Trzaskowski in the presidential role, Tusk will face an uphill battle to pass legislation looking to undo the work of the former PiS government. Outgoing president Duda has already blocked some reforms and appointments by Tusk, limiting progress. Nawrocki's win will block the government's progressive agenda for abortion and LGBTQ rights and could revive tensions with Brussels over rule of law issues. It could also undermine strong ties with neighbouring Ukraine, with Nawrocki looking to cut benefits for Ukrainian refugees. Nawrocki, a historian and amateur boxer, won in spite of questions around his past dominating the presidential campaign. It has been reported that in the early 2000s he arranged sex workers for guests staying a hotel where he worked, allegations he denies. Questions also remain over his acquisition of a flat from a pensioner to an admission that he took part in orchestrated mass brawls of football hooligans in his 20s. Nawrocki visited the White House during his campaign and said he had been told by Trump: 'You will win.' US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem also endorsed Nawrocki when she attended a conservative conference in Poland last week, saying: 'He needs to be the next president.' European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Monday congratulated Nawrocki on winning, adding she was 'confident' that 'very good cooperation' would continue with Warsaw. 'We are all stronger together in our community of peace, democracy, and values. So let us work to ensure the security and prosperity of our common home,' she said on X. Hungary's prime minister hailed the 'fantastic victory'. 'What a nail-biter!,' Viktor Orban wrote on X. 'We are looking forward to working with you.' Not all were convinced by Nawrocki's election. Poland's blue-chip index WIG20 was down around 3.39% at 7:01 GMT.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
European shares start lower after Trump's fresh tariff threats
June 2 (Reuters) - European shares opened lower on Monday, after rounding off monthly gains in May, as U.S. President Donald Trump's new tariff plans threatened to rekindle global trade tensions. The continent-wide STOXX 600 (.STOXX), opens new tab was down 0.2% as of 0708 GMT. Late on Friday, Trump said he planned to increase tariffs on imported steel and aluminum to 50% from 25%, to which the European Union said it was prepared to retaliate. Steel companies in Europe fell, with ArcelorMittal down 1% and conglomerate Thyssenkrupp ( opens new tab down 1.1%. The tariffs, which can impact automobiles, weighed on stocks of carmakers, with the sector (.SXAP), opens new tab down 1.2%. Meanwhile, Sanofi ( opens new tab agreed to buy U.S.-based Blueprint Medicines Corporation (BPMC.O), opens new tab, paying $129 per share, representing an equity value of approximately $9.1 billion. Shares in the French pharma group were slightly lower. This week, the spotlight will be on the European Central Bank, which will announce its interest rate decision on Thursday. Comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and ECB President Christine Lagarde will be on tap, alongside a slew of economic data out of the trade bloc.
The Herald Scotland
2 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
The fundamental battle which unites Donald Trump and Nigel Farage
There is a fundamental contest under way - with those who purport to be on the side of the people pitching themselves against those whom they decry as the failing Establishment. Look at the recent elections in the UK and the USA. Sir Keir Starmer did not enter Downing Street on a tide of love. Rather, he benefited from loathing directed at the departing Tories. A revulsion he helped foment. That does not mean that his election was illegitimate. Rather, that it is predicated upon disquiet and discontent, rather than optimism and hope. Read more by Brian Taylor In the USA, Donald Trump regained the White House by positing himself as the voice of a disgruntled people. A siren yelling at an Establishment which he chose to depict as anyone opposed to him. This political turmoil has common origins on both sides of the Atlantic; a sluggish, static economy. It can thus be traced back to the banking crash of 2008. Folk feel unsettled and discontented. Looking for scapegoats, they blame – or are exhorted to blame – those who have held power over a prolonged period. In EU countries like Germany and France, that has resulted in the rise of the populist Right, held off – just, so far – by more mainstream offers. In the USA, that has meant the election of a President – whose supporters previously stormed the Capitol building and who is now in direct conflict with counter-balancing elements of the Constitution he is pledged to uphold. Donald Trump won by decrying the entire political structure in the US. He won by pitching a populist appeal against elements he claimed had weakened America in search of self-interest. While corporate America sought calm constraint, he surrounded himself with individualistic, oligarchical figures whose chief talents lie in disruption, in challenging the status quo. Elon Musk has now left Team Trump, with a whimper of disquiet. He was never a team player, happier issuing orders rather than compromising. But, more, he fears that Trump's 'big beautiful bill' will counter his own cost-cutting efforts by devoting far too many dollars to defence spending. But, as we wish so long to Elon, there is now a far more significant controversy. A federal court has ruled that President Trump exceeded his powers on trade tariffs. Nigel Farage (Image: free) That is out to appeal. But President Trump's initial response is intriguing. He seeks to depict his rivals and the judiciary as part of an Establishment rump which he blames for undermining him – and, by extension, the America for which he purportedly stands. It is a quite deliberate and specific challenge to the entire structure of countervailing power upon which America is founded. President Trump summons up a crisis – then offers himself as the sole, incontestable solution. A tactic not unknown elsewhere down the decades and centuries. Generally associated with despots. Not that such a term should be applied to the elected 47th President of the United States of America. Across the US northern border, there is turmoil of a different kind – and the positing of an intriguing solution. While President Trump identifies and excoriates his enemies within, the Canadians are angry and unhappy over an external challenge. From Donald J. Trump who wants to annexe Canada as the 51st American state. Enter, briefly, King Charles. Opening the Canadian Parliament. Delivering the Speech from the Throne, as his mother did in 1977. The task usually falls to the Governor General, a term that speaks of times past. But the King sought to look to the future, from this troubled present. And his choice of language echoed our age of anxiety. A diplomatic nod to the annexation issue, vaunting Canada as 'strong and free'. His audience will not have missed the significance of the freedom reference. But he went further, adding: 'The Crown has for so long been a symbol of unity for Canada. It also represents stability and continuity from the past to the present.' In essence, the King was responding to a decidedly North American political conflict by offering a regal hand across the ocean. Equating monarchy with permanent reassurance. But what of the sovereign's regular home, this United Kingdom? Here too there is disquiet. But, more than that, there are signs of fragmentation in the political system, exemplified above all in the rise of Reform UK. Nigel Farage may attract adulation and loathing to varying degrees – but he is reading contemporary politics well. To be frank, that is scarcely difficult. Folk are thoroughly unhappy and, indeed, angry. They are upset over the cost of living, energy bills, taxation. They are discontented with the familiar political system, feeling it pays no heed to their concerns. Enter Nigel. He discloses a hitherto understated concern for those on benefits by offering to reverse Labour government constraint. Read more Mr Farage presents established parties with a conundrum. Do they ignore him and hope he fades away? Or do they, like the Prime Minister this week, assail his policies as unfunded, damaging drivel? Then there is Scotland. Firstly, that row with Anas Sarwar. Mr Farage plays innocent. He was only quoting the Scottish Labour leader who had hoped people of Asian heritage might enter politics. The Reform version had Mr Sarwar prioritising the Pakistani community. Mr Sarwar stresses he intended no such thing – and calls Mr Farage a spiv for good measure. This particular controversy will subside – although canine whistles can persist, faintly. But there is a broader issue, which has featured in the Hamilton by-election. Does Reform represent an enduring challenge to the already fractured Scottish political system? Scots are very far from immune in the age of anxiety. Plus, as The Herald disclosed, they now count immigration among their chief concerns. Each of the major political parties knows the response. They need to focus upon delivery, upon popular concerns. But they need to do so through measured, thoughtful discourse. The people will tolerate no less. Brian Taylor is a former political editor for BBC Scotland and a columnist for The Herald. He cherishes his family, the theatre - and Dundee United FC
