Steel tariffs watered down after industry backlash Industrials Government ministers have watered down the looming steel tariffs after manufacturers warned that the measures intended to safeguard Britain’s steelmakers would cause “immediate hardship” on downstream businesses. In a written statement to parliament, trade minister Chris Bryant confirmed the government would now slash the tariff-free steel import quota by 51 per cent, as opposed to [...]
Brexit ten years on: my journey from Remain to Leave Opinion 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? Opinion 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 [...]
A decade after Brexit, what does the City want next? June 24, 2026 The 46th floor of the iconic One Canada Square building was once home to the European Banking Authority. Towering over a sea of skyscraper headquarters adorned with the biggest names in finance, the watchdog’s office was both a nod to its regulatory might, turbocharged by the fallout from the 2008 crash, as well as to [...]
EU airport chief: ‘I don’t know how we’ll cope’ with new border system June 23, 2026 Europe’s airport chief has warned that he “doesn’t know” how the continent’s airports will “cope” with the huge delays caused by a new EU border system as the holiday season looms. Stefan Schulte, president of European airports trade body ACI Europe, told an industry event in Prague: “Passengers are queuing for hours at peak traffic [...]
Brexit 10 years on: Business does not want a referendum rerun, says CBI chief June 23, 2026 British businesses are focused on the future and do not want a rerun of the Brexit referendum, the leader of the UK’s largest business lobby group has warned. Speaking to the FT, CBI director-general Rain Newton-Smith, on the tenth anniversary of the referendum, stated that despite the economic pain of leaving the EU, businesses don’t [...]
‘Not all sunlit uplands’: Pub bosses weigh in on whether Brexit leaves a bitter taste June 23, 2026 A decade on from the referendum, has Brexit left a bitter taste? The bosses of the UK’s biggest pub firms have their say Notoriously outspoken, the bosses of the UK’s leading pub brands are usually shouting about the same thing: the tax and regulatory burden threatening watering holes across the country. But, on the anniversary [...]
Revolut, Wayve and Elevenlabs join European tech sovereignty push June 1, 2026 The founders behind some of Europe’s biggest technology success stories, including Revolut, Wayve and ElevenLabs, have launched a new push for European tech sovereignty as the continent seeks to build homegrown rivals to Silicon Valley. More than 100 startup founders and chief executives have joined a new ‘built in Europe’ campaign spearheaded by venture capital [...]
EU rejected UK push for single market on goods May 23, 2026 The EU rejected a UK proposal to set up a single market for the trade of goods because the UK refused to allow freedom of movement. Michael Ellam, Britain’s chief negotiator, proposed that the UK align with UK regulations to allow free trade with the bloc, but the idea was rebuffed by Brussels. The rebuttal [...]