They used to say the EU lacks a narrative. The crisis has remedied that. The high stakes poker game being played out by Angela “cool-hand” Merkel and Yanis “mother****er” Varoufakis has unleashed a colourful social media storm, which continues to throw up surprises, the latest being a successful German attempt at humour.

Featuring self-parodying stereotypes: blitzkrieg, parents slapping children, slapping generally, and the observation that “We started two world wars and almost won them both,” a video from Neo, a programme created by national broadcaster Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF), is the latest to enter the fray.

We hope our readers enjoy this is non-partisan joke that can be enjoyed by all parties. It could be classed as politically correct!

How can any intelligent person accept the lies perpetrated by Iain Duncan Smith and the Department of Work & Pensions (DWP)?

O.K. The Winter Fuel Payment (instituted under Gordon Brown) was ill conceived
O.K. The WFP needs reform.
O.K. The UK Government needs to cut back on benefit fraud and waste.

On 2 December 2014, a bill to scrap the 15 year limit on overseas voting was presented to the House of Commons and unanimously accepted. It is due to go to second reading in March 2015.

This represents a unique opportunity to overturn the 15 year rule, perhaps even before the 2015 General Election, and certainly before any UK EU referendum takes place.

The support for freedom of expression that was coupled with the denunciation of terrorism during last weekend’s rally in Paris was phenomenal, but how resilient is it going to be in the face of various forms of intimidation?

Holding pencils and pens skyward in a show of solidarity was one thing, but what now? Freedom of expression remains a tangled and contentious issue with no uniformity of opinion on just how free the freedom should be.

The 2nd December 2014 was an historic day for British ex-patriates. At 12.30 on that day Geoffrey Clifton-Brown M.P. rose from his seat in the House of Commons and proposed a Bill that would give back to 1.5 million expatriates in Europe their Right to Vote. This event alone demonstrates that we had won!

Our case was now before Parliament, and it was made very convincingly.
The Speaker called for opposition - there was none. The Bill now goes forward to be considered again at the next stage on March 6th. I shall be in the House on that day as I was on 2nd December.

A few chapters of this bilingual book, newly launched at the Federação Empresarial de Portugal, presented by its President Antonio Saraiva, with foreword by the President of the Auditing Court of Portugal, Guilherme d’Oliveira Martins. 
It was edited by our author Jack Soifer, supported by co-authors Francisco B.Weinholtz, John Wolf, Stefan de Vylder, Luis Silva, Armindo Palma, Henrique Neto and Viriato Soromenho-Marques.

'Out of sight, out of mind' - Peers debate voting rights and registration of UK expats.

As New Europeans made clear to the Commons Select Committee on Political and Constitutional Reform, there is a job of work to be done to register the UK expat vote.