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September 16, 2026

Our colleague Anupriya Datta got her hands on a draft of the speech Ursula von der Leyen will deliver to the European Parliament this morning. Officials insist the text could change right up until the moment the Commission president takes the floor in Strasbourg at 9 a.m.

But here – exclusively – is what she plans to say:

SECURITY: Von der Leyen will propose a ‘European Security Council’ – bringing together leaders from the EU, Canada, Britain, Ukraine, Norway and elsewhere. The idea has long been pushed by Brussels policymakers – and is likely to face pushback from those who see it as a potential rival to NATO. She will also pitch a new EU ‘security protocol’ modelled on NATO’s Article 4. Any EU state facing a serious security threat could trigger the mechanism and call an emergency meeting.

CANADA: With Mark Carney in attendance, von der Leyen will propose upgrading the relationship to an “Alliance for the Future,” building on the EU-Canada trade deal known as CETA. (Not mentioned is that 10 countries have yet to ratify it.) The two sides want to deepen co-operation on critical raw materials, energy, defence and tech. Commission insiders are sniffy about being brought under the umbrella of Carney’s “middle powers,” insisting that a bloc of 450 million people belongs in a different league.

CLIMATE: This was the “summer of truth,” von der Leyen will say. She will propose a framework to identify 100 of Europe’s most vulnerable territories and assess the risks they face following a summer of extreme weather. She will also announce an alliance on climate insurance to strengthen financial protection, as well as a new “water initiative,” first reported by Euractiv’s Florent Servia.

MIGRATION: In the wake of the Ceuta crisis, von der Leyen will propose a “European Emergency Response Framework” to deal with mass arrivals of migrants, as we reported last week. She will argue that the EU’s migration tools must evolve, particularly to cope with emergencies. The framework would kick in only under a “strictly defined” set of criteria, giving capitals limited flexibility to depart from standard procedures. Von der Leyen will also call for a stronger Frontex, particularly to speed up returns and co-operation with non-EU countries.

SOCIAL MEDIA: Von der Leyen is set to propose the long-awaited Kids Act, which would restrict access to social media platforms for children under 15, as Anupriya previously reported. From the age of 13, children would be able to set up accounts with limited features if they have approval from a parent or guardian. “Platforms will have to prove that they are safe,” the draft speech reads.

FAR RIGHT: Speaking after the AfD’s stonking victory in Germany’s Saxony-Anhalt, von der Leyen will issue a rallying cry to defend “our European idea” against ultra-nationalists, Russian interference and anti-Europeans, as she terms them. She will also celebrate Viktor Orbán’s defeat in Hungary in April.

CONGRESS OF EUROPE: To mark next year’s 70th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, she will also announce a new ‘Congress’ bringing together great thinkers to sketch a path for Europe’s future.

NOT MENTIONED: The United States. Donald Trump’s spectre will nevertheless hover over proceedings.

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October 05, 2026
Monday Night At The Movies: "Alphaville" (1965)

Join Gagglers for "Alphaville"!
The screening starts at 3 p.m. ET sharp.
Share all of your thoughts, comments and criticisms on the Live Chat.

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01:39:13
October 04, 2026
TG 2191: NATO Clichés Unleashed: Tucker Carlson vs. Jacob Rees-Mogg

George Szamuely and Peter Lavelle discuss Tucker Carlson's debate with former Tory government minister Jacob Rees-Mogg, and wonder at the banality, ignorance and addiction to clichés on the part of the U.K. political establishment and indeed of NATO as a whole.

01:36:26
October 03, 2026
TG 2190: NATO's Reckless Threats Against Kaliningrad

George Szamuely and Peter Lavelle discuss Russia's warnings to NATO to knock it off with the threats to take Kaliningrad.

01:05:52

US trade deficit jumps to $ 105.6bn on OIL and AI

Imports rose 4.3%.
Exports rose 1.4%.

2 things are driving it.

1️⃣The first is oil🛢️
The 🇺🇸US exports more petroleum than it imports, but its refiners still buy foreign crude, mostly heavy barrels from 🇨🇦Canada.
With Brent near $100, each of those barrels costs more. Early data showed imports of industrial supplies up 16.6% in August, led by petroleum.

2️⃣The second is AI🤖
Most data centre hardware is built abroad.
Imports of capital goods rose 4% in August, after imports of computers and accessories jumped $ 13.5bn in July alone.

You can see it in where the deficit sits.
In July the gap with 🇹🇼Taiwan was $ 18.1bn, bigger than the gap with 🇨🇳China at $ 15.2bn. 🇲🇽Mexico ($ 27.5bn) and 🇻🇳Vietnam ($ 23.3bn) were bigger still.

Tariffs were meant to narrow the gap.
Through July the deficit was 29.6% below the same period of 2025, although early 2025 was inflated by companies ...

According to Middle East Eye, citing Turkish officials, as a part of their commitment to the now activated Turkish-Saudi-Pakistani Mecca Joint Defense Agreement, Turkey will deploy troops, air defense systems, and aircraft to Saudi Arabia to defend against increasing attacks on the Gulf nation from the Houthis.

Per the report, Turkey has forces, including technical teams, EW equipment, and aircraft defense systems, already in place since last year under a prior joint exercise agreement that allowed limited Turkish deployments to Saudi Arabia. The Turkish commitment to the Mecca Agreement expands the scale of Turkish deployments, now that the agreement has been activated.

Turkish officials maintain that the deployments are purely defensive in nature.
https://x.com/sentdefender/status/2107537800522346936?s=20

January 21, 2023
More Leftie Than Thou
"Jacobin" Magazine Celebrates A Strike Against Ol' Blue Eyes

Here at "The Gaggle" we have very little time for the "more Leftie than thou" school of thought--that's the approach to life according to which the only thing that matters is whether you take the right position on every issue under the sun from Abortion to Zelensky. No one in the world meets the exacting standards of this school of thought; any Leftie leader anywhere is always selling out to the bankers and the capitalists. The perfect exemplar of this is the unreadable Jacobin magazine. 

The other day I came across this article from 2021. It's a celebration of trade union power. And not simply trade union power, but the use of trade union power to secure political goals. Of course (and this is always the case with the "more Leftie than thou" crowd), this glorious, never-to-be-forgotten moment on the history of organized labor took place many years ago--in the summer of 1974 to be exact. Yes, almost half a century has gone by since that thrilling moment when the working-class movement of Australia mobilized and prepared to seize the means of production, distribution and exchange. 

Well, not quite. Organized labor went into action against...Ol' Blue Eyes, the Chairman of the Board, the Voice; yes, Frank Sinatra. Why? What had Sinatra done? Sinatra was certainly very rich, and he owned a variety of properties and businesses. But if the Australian trade union movement were, understandably, searching for the bright, incandescent spark that would finally awaken the working class from its slumber there were surely richer, greedier, more dishonest, more decadent, above all more Australian individuals it could have discovered. Australia was never short of them. Rupert Murdoch immediately springs to mind. Why Sinatra?

 

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