Let Nicola Sturgeon have her referendum – and find out that a Hard Brexit is better than a Hard Independence October 17, 2016 It could not have been staged better. Like a general on the battlefield making a final appeal to her troops, Nicola Sturgeon’s use of the SNP’s annual conference to announce the publication of a draft bill to pave the way for Indy Ref Two could not be matched. The legions cheered, ready to go over the top [...]
Forget Hard or Soft – Theresa May is right to back a Clean Brexit October 3, 2016 Defining the language of politics is crucial if you want to influence the outcome of events. That is why the Prime Minister is not allowing herself to be bounced into settling for either a “Hard” or a “Soft” Brexit. These seemingly innocent and succinct terms offer a great advantage to broadcasters and headline writers, but [...]
Leave the EU’s Customs Union for a serious trade and aid policy September 26, 2016 It will not be enough to leave the EU’s Single Market. We need to leave its highly corrosive Customs Union too. Indeed, as a new report from Global Britain into the links between international trade and development aid shows, leaving the Customs Union is a prerequisite for making globalisation of benefit to the whole world – [...]
Why the Single Market is the problem – not the solution September 16, 2016 With UK exports at £669bn in 2015, it hardly needs to be said that trade is critical to the UK economy. Despite this huge number, however, the UK has the largest current account deficit in the G7, approaching 6 per cent of GDP. Understanding the reasons for the UK’s trade deficit is critical to designing [...]
Why the Salmond surge won’t happen – and the Scots will back Labour in 2015 December 8, 2014 ALEX Salmond just won’t go away. The politician, who first became an MP in 1987 – and who is no stranger to holding mandates in different parliaments at the same time (while criticising others for doing the same) – has announced he will seek to re-enter the House of Commons in May, after resigning as [...]
The UK desperately needs a free trade alternative to costly EU membership November 3, 2014 THE ANNOUNCEMENT that the UK must stump up a further €2.1bn (£1.7bn) to finance the EU’s ballooning budget has understandably caused outrage. Not only does this demand appear to punish Britain’s relative economic success, while France and Germany are rewarded with handouts, but with Greece and Cyprus also asked to pay more, a political farce [...]
