Joshua Edwicker
Latest content from Joshua
FAQ: The UK-EU Youth Experience Scheme
Following the release of the UK Trade and Business Commission’s (UKTBC) pioneering report into a Youth Experience Scheme, outlining 17 recommendations for the government's negotiations with the EU, there’s a lot of detail to get across. Ever wondered how the proposed scheme would work? Well, we’ve broken down all you need to know about a UK-EU Youth Experience Scheme.The price of democracy?
How much is a pint of milk? A litmus test for politicians everywhere. But how much does a democracy cost? Well, if you’re Argentinian, you could answer quite quickly and precisely: forty billion US dollars.Macron or move on?
Since Emmanuel Macron welcomed back a new parliament in July 2024 things have not gone smoothly. Each Prime Minister appointed by the French President - Barnier, Bayrou, and Lecornu - has tried and failed to form effective governments due to a bitterly divided legislature. Radical parties on both the left and right have exposed a shrinking centre ground in French politics, building pressure on Macron to resign in the face of unprecedented public unpopularity. With Lecornu re-appointed just four days after his resignation with a new promise to delay planned pension reform, why has French politics descended into chaos?What does the victory for Babiš in Czechia tell us about populism?
Over the weekend, Czechia became the latest country to elect a populist prime minister. Self-styled Trumpist Andrej Babiš, albeit a centre-right version, completed his political comeback by winning more than a third of the vote, ousting the pro-European coalition led by Petr Fiala. Babiš now appears poised to join Viktor Orbán of Hungary and Robert Fico of Slovakia in opposing the European Union’s efforts to bolster Ukraine in its war against Russian aggression.‘The new Brexit’ - why is climate action the populist right's next battleground?
When Michael Gove proclaimed that “the people of this country have had enough of experts, ” he personified the anti-intellectualism that pervaded the 2016 Referendum. The hallmarks of the 2016 Referendum have been reimagined for the climate crisis. At the end of Climate Week NYC we look at how, once again, misinformation, mistrust of international institutions, and the weaponisation of national sovereignty form the backbone of Nigel Farage’s plan.What the Norwegian Election could teach Starmer
Try and picture this. A Labour Party flailing in the polls less than a year before an election, a centre-right Conservative party decimated by a radical right alternative, a wealth tax on the front pages, a fragmented party system, and no mainstream party daring to mention the EU. Easy right? Except on Monday it was the Norwegian Labour Party overturning an eight point deficit in the polls to win a general election and fight off the right-wing populist threat. So what happened?What lessons can be learnt from the rise of Europe’s radical right?
The summer of 2025 has been marked by rising nationalism both at home and abroad. From the much-discussed “Raise the colours” campaign to the weaponisation of vulnerable asylum seekers, we have seen the increasing normalisation of a dark political ideology within mainstream politics.International Joke Day
Today is International Joke Day, and as nothing in British politics is as laughable as the inconsistencies and hypocrisies of Reform UK, we felt it was the perfect time to shine a light on what has been happening recently…What is the UK's new Trade Strategy?
This morning the government published the UK’s new Trade Strategy, the first one since the UK left the EU. The report outlines the targeted approach the government will take over the coming years to provide ‘practical deals that deliver faster benefits to UK businesses’. The Trade Strategy makes clear that the EU is “our closest neighbour and trading partner”, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer saying that he wanted the UK-EU relationship “to move on in iterations” at the yearly summits the UK and EU have now agreed to.FAQ: What is the truth about refugees?
For far too long asylum seekers, and immigrants of all kinds, have been demonised. Their existence weaponised for political gain, their struggles ignored in favour of a narrative designed to stoke division and fear. Tomorrow is World Refugee Day and so we felt there was no better time to dispel the myths which surround refugees. How many refugees are in the UK? How much do we spend each year to protect refugees? Which country takes the most refugees globally?What was in the Labour spending review?
Fifteen years after George Osborne entered the Treasury, Reeves branded austerity as “a destructive choice for our economy…creating a lost decade for growth, wages, and living standards”. Reeves' first year in office has so far been largely defined by cuts to Winter Fuel Payments and looming cuts to PIP, but what was included in the Chancellor’s plans for the rest of the Parliament? And how could a closer relationship with Europe help her mission?The UK avoids Trump's steel tariffs hike - for now. Here's what you need to know.
Donald Trump has temporarily exempted the UK from his doubling of tariffs on steel and aluminium while the UK-US Economic Prosperity Deal is being finalised. But with a 9 July deadline looming, what are the chances of EPD being implemented - and will tariffs return if it isn't?Another Trump-style politician has just won an election. What does it mean for Poland - and Europe?
The defeat of the liberal mayor of Warsaw by an ardent nationalist and eurosceptic will bring challenges to Polish PM Donald Tusk and threaten Poland’s place at the centre of the European Union. With victory, Nawrocki becomes the latest European leader to actively ape President Trump as the MAGA movement seeps into European politics.