As Scotland heads to the polls, the main parties offer variations on the same script, says MATT KERR
THE European elections confirmed the crisis of the European political systems. It predates the 2008 crash but was accelerated by it.
There isn’t a single “European electorate” but an agglomeration of 28 national political realities. The European Parliament lacks anything like the power of national legislatures.
That’s why though turnout was up in 20 countries and hit a 20-year high, it still fell far short (with most working-class voters abstaining) of a national election — except in Belgium where there was a general election.
JOHN REES replies to Claudia Webbe
From Reform UK to Trump, Orban and beyond, the far right is organised across borders and growing. Waiting for it to collapse is a fatal error – building an international, locally rooted left alternative is now an urgent necessity., argues ROGER McKENZIE
The desperate French president keeps running up the same political cul-de-sac. DENNIS BROE offers an explanation
Starmer sabotaged Labour with his second referendum campaign, mobilising a liberal backlash that sincerely felt progressive ideals were at stake — but the EU was then and is now an entity Britain should have nothing to do with, explains NICK WRIGHT



