Poland’s re-elected Prime Minister says ”Our goal is to make Poland Europe’s best place to live.” In his maiden speech outlining the newly appointed government’s plans and policies for the next four years, the Prime Minister said he wanted to build a Poland which would be the best place to live in Europe. Morawiecki underlined that Poland is a 'common good of all’ and that his government’s programme is based on culture, building cultural identity, on the family and marriage.

The PM said his government wanted the country’s GDP growth level to be at least 2 and maybe even 3 percentage points above the growth in the euro zone during the next four years.

The speech was welcomed by the parliamentary majority which passed a motion of confidence in the new government but attracted criticism from opposition quarters who said it did not address the housing situation, so important for millions of Poles as well as lacking clear ideas on how to upgrade the current laws on foreigners living and working in Poland.

President Andrzej Duda appointed Poland’s new government under Morawiecki on November 15.

UK Election Debate

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his main rival Jeremy Corbyn have clashed in the first televised debate ahead of next month’s elections.

The Tuesday night debate was immediately controversial as it excluded the smaller parties. Two small parties, the Liberal Democrats and the SNP, even went to court to demand they be allowed to participate, but their claim was rejected by the court.

Accordingly, the clash put Boris Johnson head to head with leader of the opposition Jeremy Corbyn. The first half of the debate looked at each leaders Brexit policies. Then, the second half turned to issues such as healthcare, the monarchy, and the problem if distrust in politics.

Throughout the debate Johnson repeatedly attacked Corbyn on his Brexit policy. Mr Corbyn has been notoriously unclear about his personal views on Brexit, something his rival picked out again and again, asking him which side he would be on if a second referendum were held. Over the 50 minutes of debate, Mr Corbyn failed to give a clear answer.

In return, Mr Johnson faced questions his Brexit plans and plans for a trade deal with the United States, something Mr Corbyn says would endanger the UK’s health service.

But perhaps the most controversial thing to come from the night didn’t even happen at the debate but on Twitter, where Johnson’s Conservative party rebranded one of its accounts as „Factcheck UK”, imitating independent charities like FullFact or FactCheck.org which monitor and verify claims made by politicians.

Overall, the debate was not a major breakthrough for either of the two leaders, but one thing did stand out to those watching: how much the audience laughed. At several occasions in the debate, the candidates’ comments were met with laughs from the audience, highlighting the unusual state of British politics.

US Election Debate

The fifth Democratic party debate for next year’s presidential elections took place Wednesday night.

The ten hopefuls debated for hours, but taking centre stage was the issue of the ongoing impeachment inquiry, which is investigating possible misconduct by President Trump.

The same day, top US diplomat, Gordon Sondland, was testifying in Congress about his role in the alleged misconduct. Mr Sondland told the hearing that there was a 'quid pro quo’, meaning President Trump asked Ukraine for something in exchange for something in return, possibly supporting the case for impeachment.

However, many have said Sondland is not reliable, pointing to his lack of records or notes and failure to recall events as „trifecta of unreliability”.

Having discussed impeachment, the candidates then moved on to other issues and, similarly to the debate in the UK the day before, healthcare was a major issue along with the economy, foreign policy, and the climate emergency.

100 Years of Polish-British Relations in Pictures

A photo exhibition showing key events in the history of Polish-British friendship has opened in London.

The photos include the 1940 military agreement, the visit of Queen Elizabeth II to Poland in 1996, and last year’s talks between Mateusz Morawiecki and Theresa May.

The photos are on display outside the Polish embassy in London until the end of the year.

Tricity Mayors Head to Krakow

The presidents of Gdańsk, Gdynia, and Sopot were in Krakow at the Open Eyes Economy summit.

The international summit discussed innovative approaches to the economy and developing sustainable and open minded alternatives.

The three mayors spoke together on Tuesday at a session entitled „Three Voices on the Tricity”.

Weather: lots of thick cloud and fog around making for a dark day today. But still not too cold for this time of year, with highs of 8° Celsius, that’s 48° Fahrenheit.

RGEN/TH