PRESS REVIEW #2

Jun 01, 2025

How we can smash Britain’s two-party system for good at the next election, The Guardian, 27 MAY 2025

I am all in favour of the end of the two-party system. Countries in which there is a lack of political plurality (the US or the UK, for example) don’t offer a true opportunity for their citizens to choose their leadership when all they can pick is the lesser of two evils.

A short interlude on France:

When Emmanuel Macron’s party ‘En Marche’ came to power in 2017, it seemed like France broke free of the two-party system. Yet, in the following election, the French people were once again faced with an either/or situation between a centre-right party and Le Pen’s far-right. When parliamentary elections were triggered, following Macron’s shitty results in the 2024 European elections, I had my hopes up for the left coalition, the Nouveau Front Populaire. Indeed, the Left made significant gains and became the majority in Parliament with 180 seats. This should have ensured them to have the prime ministry. FOOLS. Macron picked some guy from the right minority, Les Républicains (39 seats), and destroyed what was left of trust in the democratic system. And that’s on us, for believing a politician would have any good idea and not give his country to the fascists. Oh well.

When we talk about a two-party system, it is important to underline that there are more parties, but those are not seen as big enough to win. So when British people voted, unenthusiastically, for Keir Starmer’s Labour, they hoped for change after 14 years of Conservatives. Our hopes for a better country crashed sooooo fast. And, as George Monbiot put it in the article:

It’s not dissatisfaction. It’s not disillusionment. It’s revulsion: visceral fury, anger on a level I’ve seldom seen before, even towards Tory cruelties. Why? Because these are Tory cruelties, delivered by a party that claimed to be the only alternative, in our first-past-the-post electoral system.

The UK is now at a crossroads. We had hope after Labour’s victory. Sure, it was not the same Labour as under Corbyn, but surely it will be better than the Tories, it has to be better. But it isn’t, and in many cases it is worse. We are at a crossroads between the possibility of changing the political system and opening the vote to more than two parties, or we head into complete disillusionment of democracy working and favour an authoritarian leaning path. We could have mass engagement and hope, or mass disengagement and a profound sense of hopelessness.

‘They told me that they’d hunt me down’: journalists on how they survive working in war zones, The Guardian, 27 MAY 2025

In my youth, the grand journalist dream was to become a war zone reporter. I still envy our people on the ground, I’m still deeply impressed and in awe of the journalists who cover conflicts. I have an utter respect for Palestinian journalists documenting the genocide of their own, of their friends and family. Around the globe, the freedom of the press is under attack, and journalists themselves are threatened, attacked, harassed, imprisoned, murdered. Read the words of those experiencing it in the article.

I believe in the power of memory and although it doesn’t happen quickly, journalism helps bring about change.

+ How to Write About Palestine, The Intercept, 25 MAY 2025

A great satirical piece on how Western media reports on the ongoing genocide in Palestine (don’t mention Israel!!!!).

Paris and Berlin join EU calls for crackdown on Hungary over pride ban, Politico, 26 MAY 2025.

It is time to go nuclear on Orban’s Hungary: it is time to trigger Article 7. The truth is, if Hungary tried to become a Member State today it would not be able to. Viktor Orban’s disregards for the Copenhagen criteria is blatant, not only with the dismantlement of the Hungarian rule of law, the alliance with Vladimir Putin, the oppression of minorities,… What are the Copenhagen criteria and what is Article 7?

Well I’m glad you asked, as someone who wrote her thesis titled ‘The Copenhagen Dilemma’, I am a bit of an expert on the reluctance of the EU to trigger Article 7 against Hungary.

The Copenhagen criteria got their name from the 1993 EU summit in the Danish capital. There, the Member States proposed a list of criteria countries must adhere to before become EU member states (see article 2 above). The issue, and it is a big one, is that once they are members there are no mechanisms to ensure those values are respected.

Article 7 refers to Article 7 of the TEU, “the nuclear weapon of the EU”, it is a supervision tool that uses monitoring procedures and report on the state of the rule of law, it is the only real law put in place to enforce European values and extends beyond European competences. There are two phases to the mechanism: a preventive phase (1) and corrective phase (2), they demonstrate the complexity of the approach and the high political level involved. The sanctions provided for in Article 7 can go so far as to remove the voting rights of the country in question, which amounts to rejecting it from the European process.

1. On a reasoned proposal by one third of the Member States, by the European Parliament or by the European Commission, the Council, acting by a majority of four fifths of its members after obtaining the consent of the European Parliament, may determine that there is a clear risk of a serious breach by a Member State of the values referred to in Article 2. Before making such a determination, the Council shall hear the Member State in question and may address recommendations to it, acting in accordance with the same procedure.
2. The European Council, acting by unanimity on a proposal by one third of the Member States or by the Commission and after obtaining the consent of the European Parliament, may determine the existence of a serious and persistent breach by a Member State of the values referred to in Article 2, after inviting the Member State in question to submit its observations.

This is rather technical but it gives a good idea of how difficult it is to force a Member State to respect the criteria. Considering Hungary, over the years Orban has made alliances with different countries which ensure the unanimity cannot be reached. When I wrote my thesis in 2018-19, it was Poland, it is now Robert Fico’s Slovakia.

The Anti-Social Century, The Atlantic, 08 JANUARY 2025

This is a long read but it is worth it. Although the author focuses on the US, I believe it applies to much of society and especially highly individualist ones. One thing that really frustrates me in the UK is how flaky people are. Plans get cancelled all the time and I find it so annoying. Sure, there are good reasons but how do we build meaningful relationships in such conditions? HOW?

A few weeks ago I popped in at a friend to get back a coat I lent her, she invited me in for coffee and cake, I was in a bit of rush but still said yes, and it was the highlight of my week. Bring back popping in, bring back small inconvenience and discomfort in favour of something greater.