A €50bn Brexit bill? Britain shouldn’t be quibbling over coughing up to the EU One of the more unfortunate aspects of the run-up to the UK-EU negotiations on a withdrawal treaty to allow a separation of Britain from Europe is the excessive focus on payment questions. Boris Johnson, in urging Theresa May to resist paying any substantial Brexit bill, made the fanciful analogy with Margaret Thatcher’s famous settlement at [...]
As rival Martin Schulz overtakes Angela Merkel in the polls, is the Queen of Europe about to lose her crown? Daniel Hamilton, a senior director at FTI Consulting, says Yes. The last year has been a torrid one for Angela Merkel. September’s elections won’t offer her any respite. Merkel has traditionally been lucky with her hapless Social Democrat (SPD) opponents. This year’s foe, former European Parliament president Martin Schulz, is different. Cunning and commanding, Schulz’s [...]
With Britain on track to invoke Article 50 in March, is the EU unprepared for the implications of Brexit? Tim Worstall, senior fellow of the Adam Smith Institute, and author of Chasing Rainbows: Economic Myths, Environmental Facts, says Yes. There are minor implications of Brexit that Europe hasn’t really got to grips with yet. Given that the UK has long been a substantial net contributor, who is going to fill the hole in their [...]
As scandal hits the frontrunner for the French presidency Francois Fillon, is this good news for Marine Le Pen? February 2, 2017 Dylan Kissane, a France-based writer and director at The CoSMo Company, says Yes. After five years of mismanagement by Francois Hollande’s Socialist left, the electorate in France is primed for change. Until recently, Francois Fillon seemed to be the natural choice: a known quantity on the centre-right, a devout Catholic, and the man endorsed by [...]
Breaking EU up will take time to do: Brexit will go on for years January 25, 2017 As expected, the Supreme Court has told the Prime Minister that she needs to get the authority of Parliament before moving forward to remove the rights of EU citizenship from the British people in line with the referendum result. She should have done this from day one. Even the most devoted of Theresa May’s fans [...]
Is giving Parliament a vote on the final Brexit deal a disaster waiting to happen? January 18, 2017 Denis MacShane, the former minister of Europe, author of Brexit: How Britain Left Europe, and senior adviser at Avisa Partners in Brussels, says Yes. The Prime Minister’s speech is just the first shot in what will be a very long two years. Right now it’s about politics. But over the next 24 months it will [...]
Will 2017 be one of the best years ever for the United Kingdom? January 3, 2017 Alex Deane, a City of London common councilman, says Yes. We live in a great country – and what’s even better is that our best days lie ahead of us. When historians write the book on 2016, it will be seen as the year in which – despite the doomsaying pronouncements from some who were [...]
Is the uncompromising stance of the other EU leaders pushing the UK towards a hard Brexit? November 28, 2016 Rachel Cunliffe, deputy editor of Reaction, says Yes. First the European President decided to lecture Britain that it was “hard Brexit” or “no Brexit". Then the Prime Minister of Malta (that European powerhouse) felt the need to reiterate that the EU is “not bluffing” about barring the UK from the Single Market. Such posturing only [...]
Are London-only visas a good idea? November 10, 2016 Richard Brown, research director at the Centre for London, says Yes. For much of the UK, immigration was the big issue in the EU referendum. Londoners have always been slightly more relaxed. One in four workers in the capital are from overseas, and Londoners in general are far more positive about immigration than people from [...]
As Wallonia blocks the EU’s trade deal with Canada, should Britain be concerned about its own prospects in Brexit talks? October 24, 2016 Denis MacShane, the UK’s former minister of Europe, author of Brexit: How Britain Left Europe, and senior adviser at Avisa Partners, Brussels, says Yes. Europe (including the UK) has 7 per cent of the world’s population, but 30 per cent of its trade and 30 per cent of its foreign direct investment. In 1950, global trade amounted to [...]
