If Brexit is to blame for Britain’s economic woes what’s the EU’s excuse? September 23, 2026 The Labour government is blaming Brexit for low growth but ignoring that’s it’s a phenomenon plaguing the EU as well, says Paul Ormerod At the weekend, Bridget Phillipson became the latest leading politician to pin the economic woes of the UK on Brexit. She recognised that youth unemployment will continue to rise but argued that [...]
Burnham: Rejoining the EU is a debate ‘for another day’ September 22, 2026 Andy Burnham has refused to rule out launching a bid for the UK to rejoin the EU, saying the debate is “for another day.” Speaking to reporters in New York at the United Nations summit on Tuesday, the Prime Minister said his priority was to “build on the good work that Keir [Starmer] did in [...]
Did call centres cause Brexit? September 16, 2026 Over a generation, millions of ordinary interactions with government, utility providers, financial institutions and corporate giants became remote, standardised and procedural. Each individual change was introduced in the name of operational efficiency. But accumulated across a lifetime, they altered something more fundamental: our sense that an individual can make things happen, says Lucy Harris Did [...]
Singapore on Thames or the Sick Man of Europe?: The Economics of Brexit Ten Years from the Referendum July 9, 2026 Paul Johnson, former director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies and Robert Johnson of the Centre for Cities analyse the economic impact of Brexit and its promise of deregulation and growth Since the Brexit referendum of 2016, and since actually leaving the EU in January 2021, the UK’s economic performance has been feeble. On a [...]
Farage quits to stand in ‘people versus establishment’ by-election July 7, 2026 Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has announced that he will resign as an MP and stand again as a candidate in an upcoming Clacton by-election as part of what he dubbed a battle of “people versus establishment”. In a video statement where he repeatedly attacked Sky News and The Times and Sunday Times for “harassing” [...]
Tale of two cities: London leaps ahead in global finance but domestic growth stalls July 3, 2026 The City of London has cemented its dominance in international finance ten years on from the Brexit vote but faced sobering domestic growth that failed to match the momentum. The capital sees more international activity conducted than the next eight largest financial centres in Europe combined, according to a new report by New Financial. The [...]
Fractured politics has its upsides – trust me, I led Vote Leave June 30, 2026 For all the challenges of multi-party politics, the policy competition it encourages is already bearing fruit, writes former Vote Leave chief Matthew Elliott.
Brexit ten years on: my journey from Remain to Leave June 25, 2026 I voted Remain despite having serious reservations about the EU. A decade on, I believe Brexit has strengthened Britain, says Nigel Biggar I am an icon of Brexit, it seems. In 2019, Richard Drayton, Rhodes Professor of Imperial History at King’s College London, contributed ‘Biggar vs Little Britain’ to a collection of essays entitled Embers [...]
What if Andy Burnham had become Labour leader in 2015? June 24, 2026 On his third try, Andy Burnham looks all but certain to become Labour leader. But what if he had taken the reins of the party eleven years earlier? Matt Kenyon imagines an alternative timeline… 2015 It’s a world that looks a lot like our own. There’s just one, seemingly minor, difference: A cluster of well-meaning [...]
Has Brexit been a success? It’s too early to tell June 24, 2026 Ten years ago today the country woke to the news that the UK had voted to leave the European Union. Campaigners for Remain were horrified, pro-Brexit activists were jubilant, markets were panicked and in Westminster the Prime Minister, David Cameron, resigned. The magnitude of the Leave campaign’s victory – of their achievement – was sinking [...]