Andy Burnham could learn a few lessons from a previous Labour government in the pre-privatisation era on how to tackle water shortages, writes KEITH FLETT
HUNGARY and Slovakia have launched a scathing attack on the European Union. The two nations, growing increasingly frustrated with Brussels policies, have slammed the EU’s handling of the Ukraine war, its energy security failures and its perceived incompetence in negotiating trade terms with the US.
The joint condemnation delivered at the press conference in Komaram, a small town at the joint border, by Hungary’s Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto and Slovakia’s National Council vice-president Peter Shiga signals a deepening rift within the EU as Budapest and Bratislava refused to toe the block’s line on key geopolitical and economic issues.
Szijjarto did not hold back tearing into Brussels’ approach to international diplomacy, calling out what he described as serious “Trump-phobia” and failed leadership. The Hungarian minister’s fiery remarks came amid growing EU infighting over support for Ukraine with Hungary and Slovakia becoming the loudest critics of the bloc’s strategy.
Andy Burnham offers unconditional support for Zelensky but no solutions to the underlying conflict between the Nato/EU bloc and Russia, says NICK WRIGHT
SEVIM DAGDELEN asks why the European Union is targeting the Swiss academic Jacques Baud, cutting off his access to banking services



