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France has reaffirmed its commitment to European Union reform, aiming to extend qualified majority voting (QMV) to sensitive areas, including taxation, social security, and external trade. Despite British opposition, led by Prime Minister Tony Blair, France is determined to make progress on the issue at the upcoming EU summit in
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The bitter clash between William Hague and Prime Minister Tony Blair over European policy unfolded in the House of Commons yesterday, with Hague warning of a federal superstate and Blair insisting that Britain's participation in the EU would allow it to make a "real impact" in
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Britain is planning to offer up to 10,000 troops to join a European Union defence force, officials announced yesterday. The troop commitment is part of the EU's plan to develop a 60,000-strong force capable of being deployed at 60 days' notice and sustainable for a
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Tony Blair is under growing pressure to compromise on the UK's veto over EU decisions on tax policy, ahead of a crucial summit in Nice next month. The UK Prime Minister is determined to maintain the current requirement for all 15 EU member states to agree on tax-related
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A six-month evacuation exercise for foreign nationals has turned into Britain's most delicate and dangerous military commitment in Sierra Leone, with a Royal Naval force and 500 marines being deployed off the coast to support the beleaguered civilian government of President Ahmed Kabbah. This move risks being a
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As the international community intensifies efforts to quell the conflict in Sierra Leone, Britain has announced a significant deployment of military forces to the West African nation. A six-ship amphibious task force with 600 Royal Marines, including 42 Commando on board HMS Ocean, will be diverted from Gibraltar to Sierra
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UK and Irish workers are entitled to some of the lowest numbers of annual leave days in the European Union, with just 31 and 29 days respectively, compared to the EU average of 36 days. This is according to a recent study by human resource consultants William H Mercer, which
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South Korea welcomes and supports Britain's willingness to normalize diplomatic relations with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), according to Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Lee Joung-binn. Britain's plan to open diplomatic ties with the DPRK will have a positive impact on the
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President Fidel Castro led a massive march in Havana, with over 800,000 Cubans demanding an end to the four-decade-old US trade embargo. Meanwhile, the European Union, led by Britain, is taking a proactive approach to establishing diplomatic relations with North Korea. The Inter-Parliamentary Union has also passed a resolution
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Led by Britain's Trades Union Congress (TUC), four of Europe's most powerful trade union organizations have joined forces to pressure their governments to drop their objections to an EU directive that would grant workers the right to be consulted on plant closures and job losses. The
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The British electorate's sense of helplessness in shaping its own destiny has been eerily reminiscent of the "Learned Helplessness" phenomenon studied in psychology, where individuals become demoralized and listless when faced with uncontrollable stress. This condition was highlighted by the Danish referendum on joining European Monetary
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The British government has claimed a victory in its efforts to bring European Commission rules on telecoms liberalisation in line with its own, but admitted that the UK has fallen behind Germany in terms of implementation. Patricia Hewitt, the e-commerce minister, said that most member states had agreed to amend
