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The Bruges Group spearheaded the intellectual battle to win a vote to leave the European Union and, above all, against the emergence of a centralised EU state.
The Bruges Group spearheaded the intellectual battle to win a vote to leave the European Union and, above all, against the emergence of a centralised EU state.
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Bruges Group Blog

Spearheading the intellectual battle against the EU. And for new thinking in international affairs.

How Has Brexit Benefited UK Businesses?

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The UK exited the European Union on December 31, 2020. Leaving the EU has been a double-edged sword for British companies, who have experienced advantages and numerous difficulties due to Brexit. Combined with the COVID-19 pandemic, the results have only sometimes favoured UK companies. Before Brexit, goods and services could be transported to and ...
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  365 Hits

Unfinished Business of Brexit

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It's time to well and truly close a chapter and consolidate those newfound freedoms. Post-Brexit Britain needs a plan, it needs a rallying cry, and the anxiety of Britain's place in the world needs to end. Managed decline or nostalgia-driven fantasies of 'Global Britain', dictates the naysayers charter. There are no solutions, they claim. Well ther...
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  388 Hits

Out pops the cloven hoof

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Yesterday (Thursday 11 May) was a wonderful demonstration of why we are blessed to have a sovereign Parliament. The Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch had informed the Press before telling Parliament about the decision to remove the deadline for abolishing hampering EU legislation. Coming to the House to explain, she began with an unfortunate turn of...
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  475 Hits

A True, Tried and Tested Horizon

New-Horizon The World is more important than the end piece of Eurasia.
Whatever the choreography we have a clog dance not a ballet. Sunak's 'deal' is yet another fudge. Involving the King in politics and the manipulation, copied from the EU, demonstrate a cynical disregard for probity. The Northern Ireland Protocol is a travesty. No Independent nation can agree to be ruled by a political court (The ECJ) whose sole rem...
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  812 Hits

HeatON-Harris to Deliver on Protocol - The Union is Under Threat

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The appointment of Chris-Heaton Harris as the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland was greeted warmly by unionists, ever hopeful that at long last we would have a Secretary of State who cared as much about protecting the rights of unionists as those of nationalists. Moreover, there was a great hope that this UK Government would break with the sy...
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  2497 Hits

The Northern Irish Protocol Must Go Now

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The Acts of Union is the present constitutional foundation of the United Kingdom. As the late Lord Trimble, the unionist architecture of the Belfast Agreement, said: The Acts of Union is the Union. The Northern Ireland Protocol "subjugates" (in the words of the Court of Appeal) Article VI of the Acts of Union, and therefore it follows that it subju...
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  2304 Hits

The United States and Europe Redefined

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It is past time to re-evaluate key U.S. assumptions about Europe and the European Union.  For far too long, America and Europe have had a very one-sided relationship. It is like a codependent marriage, in which one partner sacrifices his or her own needs for those of the spouse. That person's actions will completely revolve around the other pe...
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  1626 Hits

The Cost of BRINO

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Margaret Thatcher broke the mould of British politics. A grocer's daughter raised above the family shop. She benefited from free state education including university. She believed in equal opportunity. She believed in wealth distribution through hard work and getting rid of as much state intervention as possible. As Prime Minister she encouraged pr...
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  1503 Hits

Time Boris stood up to EU bullies - free Northern Ireland from Protocol

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By Andrew Rosindell  In 2019, we went to the polls with a simple choice, Boris Johnson or Jeremy Corbyn, a choice to either Get Brexit Done or a choice for more dither and delay, maybe even a second referendum.  Thankfully, the people of the U.K. voted to Get Brexit Done and they did so with an overwhelming majority. Unfortunately, our fr...
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  1865 Hits

British consistency makes it No.1 for Global Soft Power since 2010

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Facts4EU.Org presents their review of the major Global Soft Power rankings in the world. Their analysis of these rankings covers every year from the first in 2010 until the latest for 2022. We reviewed the three emerging ranking systems that have over time become more and more detailed and analytical. We started with the Institute of Governmen...
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  1670 Hits

Do you believe in Brexit?

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Fourth upon a time the Brexit elf went in search of the true Brexit. He had been over the moon all those years ago when the British people had voted to leave the EU. He looked forward to an early and complete departure. He expected the creation of a land of freedom. He looked forward to wise government from a newly independent and powerful Parliame...
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  1798 Hits

'Spartan Victory' - Interview with Mark Francois MP

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"We were the 28 MPs who saved Britain, we saved our nation and this is the inside story of how we did it." The Rt. Hon. Mark Francois MP The Bruges Group led the intellectual debate for Britain to leave the European Union and now we have the story from within, the story of the ERG from an MP who was at the heart of Brexit. 28 Members of Parliament ...
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  3655 Hits

Strasbourg Calling! Is the European Parliament growing its teeth - or is it the new Shadow Commission?

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The decision by Poland's Constitutional Tribunal that the national constitution has primacy over EU law - a decision supported by the PiS government - has sent shockwaves around the EU establishment. The Tribunal decided that Articles 1 and 19 - referring to an 'ever closer union', and the role of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) respectively - ...
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  2250 Hits

Murdering Democracy

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The sun had shone all day, the people we had been meeting every time the Brexit battle bus stopped all of us anti EU, pro-Brexit campaigners, would pile out and meet mostly receptive people who were declaring they were going to vote to leave the EU in the run-up to the 2016 EU referendum. We had spent an hour or so on Worcester market and were on t...
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  1785 Hits

Does the WTO Promote Trade?

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"Does the WTO promote trade?" is the research question that this literature review attempts to answer. The key word "promote" is taken to mean increase. The WTO is an abbreviation of the World Trade Organisation and has '164 members since 29 July 2016'[](WTO Members and Observers, no date) and was established in 1995 after the conclusion of many ba...
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  1876 Hits

The Northern Ireland Protocol: Trigger Article 16!

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Where is the evidence that this ruling has saved anyone from being exposed to sub standard or dangerous products? We have heard so much from the EU Big Wigs and European politicians about how important it is to have checks on goods going from one part of the United Kingdom to another – mainland UK to Northern Ireland - it is therefore vital to...
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  1531 Hits

In Conversation with Lord Lilley

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I had the opportunity to speak to Lord (Peter) Lilley, a former speaker at a Bruges Group conference who served in Cabinet in the Thatcher and Major Governments as Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and Secretary of State for Social Security – and later in William (now Lord) Hague's Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer and De...
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  2069 Hits

Liberty Zone at Party Conference

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At Conservative Party Conference this year, we are delighted to be hosting the 'Liberty Zone' on Monday 4th October 2021 at the Science and Industry Museum, Liverpool Road, Manchester, M3 4PF.  We are holding our annual Party Conference event this year alongside Time 4 Recovery, a group set up to pressure the government with oppositi...
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  3386 Hits

Tax is Theft!

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You get to meet some interesting people on holiday, each year for several years my better half and I would return to the same hotel during the same two weeks in June where we would meet up with other regular returning guests. One of them was a senior accountant with a very large firm, he once told me every time they had to produce a cheque to pay t...
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  1899 Hits

AUKUS - Time to Raise the Periscope

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By Mike Clitherow Wow, so much coverage everywhere of the AUKUS agreement and the outrage in France. Must be the Remoaners dream to be able once again knock their own country and cry for an EU member state. "Those naughty two faced Brexit Brits " they will scream. For me an important point has been completely missed in all media coverage. So n...
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  1692 Hits

The AUKUS Agreement Isn’t Perfect

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On Wednesday, September 15th, 2021, the United States, United Kingdom and Australia announced a new trilateral security agreement, 'AUKUS', which has the purpose of improving collaboration in the defense sectors of the signatory countries including collaboration on artificial intelligence, cyber security, quantum technologies as well as undersea ca...
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  1942 Hits

To Stimulate Economic Recovery, We Need Low Tax Solutions

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Hands up, who still thinks the Conservatives are a low tax party? If your hand is up, might I suggest you put it swiftly down and start writing some letters to the 321 Tory MPs who this week voted in favour of the biggest tax hike since the Second World War. Someone ought to inform them. Someone also might want to disband CCHQ come the next general...
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  2803 Hits

In Conversation with John Manley OC PC - Former Deputy PM of Canada

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I had the opportunity to speak to the Honorable John Manley, a long serving Cabinet Minister in the Canadian Government, having served in key posts such as Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Finance, and Minister of Foreign Affairs – among others. John Manley is also known for having authored the Manley Report on Afghanistan in 2007 and having been...
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  2375 Hits

Scotland and Currency

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Clearly neither Wales nor Scotland could create their own currencies: they would have to stay with the pound or join the euro. And since the euro is hugely unpopular in Scotland (only 18 per cent of Scots want to join the euro) - and would simply introduce dependence on Brussels - that would mean sticking with the pound. Yet Alex Salmond seems...
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  1926 Hits

Technology Sovereignty

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 Economic victory in a free trade world will always go to the strongest economy – and the disparity is growing. Against this a new concept has emerged: technology sovereignty. This recognises that IT infrastructure lies at the heart of a modern society. And it's about far more than access to broadband. Networked computers are not only essentia...
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  1676 Hits

America Retreats - What Next?

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Is America's precipitous withdrawal from Afghanistan just a temporary setback, or does it signal a strategic retreat, an abdication from its role as world leader? If so, it will leave a gaping void, a vacuum that others will want to step in and fill. To be a world leader a country needs not only muscle (economic, military, demographic) but also a m...
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  1712 Hits

In Conversation with the Hon. Christopher Pyne

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Kendall O'Donnell and I, as contributors representing The Bruges Group, had the opportunity to speak to the Honorable Christopher Pyne, a long-serving former Cabinet Minister in the Australian Government, holding portfolios ranging from Education to Defence. We spoke on matters ranging from the domestic, such as Australia's Covid policy and the nat...
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  2197 Hits

Why ‘Wolf Warrior’ Foreign Policy is the New Status Quo for Beijing

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Xi Jinping's acceleration of the shift towards an increasingly jingoistic Chinese foreign policy reflects a strengthening of Xi's position in China. Throughout the past 12 months, Chinese foreign policy has changed course in an aggressive manner. China spread propaganda about Australian soldiers committing war crimes in the Middle East and lashed o...
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  2572 Hits

Interview with Ambassador Jim Gilmore

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Kendall O'Donnell and I had the opportunity to speak to Jim Gilmore, former US Ambassador to the OSCE, Governor of Virginia, and Chairman of the Republican National Committee, among other roles. We spoke on matters international, regional, and domestic, on topics stretching from President Biden's foreign policy, European security and the EU's role ...
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  3633 Hits

Why the United States Needs to Re-think Ideas Such as the Wolfowitz Doctrine When Thinking About Dealing with China

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A new consensus: Why the United States needs to re-think ideas such as the Wolfowitz Doctrine when thinking about dealing with China  The U.S.A. is no longer in a position of primacy in the Indo-Pacific; to regain hegemony, it must alter its policies. U.S foreign policy, ever since the tenure of President Woodrow Wilson and his famous 14 point...
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  3298 Hits

Land of Hope and Glory

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How the Commonwealth of Nations Can Become the Most Innovative Bloc in the World  By Alexander Flint Mitchell MSc Dissertation for Business Innovation with EntrepreneurshipBirkbeck, University of London2020 ABSTRACT Much has been written on the three topics of the literature review of this thesis: innovation, the Commonwealth of Nations' ...
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  2237 Hits

Waterloo Day Lecture - ‘The Future of the Union’

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 Panelists: Barry Legg (Chair), Lord Dodds of Duncairn, Sir Bernard Jenkin MP, James Webber Lord Dodds, former Westminster Leader of the DUP: On the recent resignation of Edwin Poots: resignation provides the opportunity to "move forward…in a more constructive way"The imposition of the NI protocol has been the main contributory factor to ...
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  2325 Hits

‘The Future of the Union’, Sir Bernard Jenkin MP

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Panelists: Barry Legg (Chair), Lord Dodds of Duncairn, Sir Bernard Jenkin MP, James Webber Barry Legg, Chairman of the Bruges Group: Our next speaker is Bernard Jenkin. Bernard is Chairman of the House of Commons Liaison Committee, on which all select committee chairmen sit. Previously, he was Chairman of the Public Administration Select Committee,...
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  2415 Hits

Europäische Wirtschaftsgemeinchaft Conference, Berlin

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Europäische Wirtschaftsgemeinchaft conference Berlin 1942 and the Mitteleuropäischer Wirtschaftstag (MWT) This was the report and conference by the leading Nazi economists during WW2 which planned a European Economic Community: http://www.jar2.com/Files/Nazism/The_Europeische_Wirtschaftsgemeinchaft_Berlin_1942.pdf When I started looking i...
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  1761 Hits

The 'Build Back Better' Charter

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The new Atlantic Charter, signed by the Prime Minister and President Biden as a 'reaffirmation' of the Special Relationship, is a somewhat mixed bag. The Atlantic Charter of 1941 envisioned a postwar world order we're all too familiar with, from respecting national sovereignty and democracy overseas to the aim of lowering tariffs. This 'New' Atlant...
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  2437 Hits

"Tear Down This Wall": How Reagan Changed the World

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Today marks 34 years since one of the most memorable and historic speeches ever made by a US President, and one that changed the course of history, it is of course when President Reagan stood in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin and told General Secretary Gorbachev to "tear down this wall". Now as we face today's challenges, our leaders shoul...
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  4302 Hits

Aurora - A New Dawn for Sterling with Benefits for All

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A major City group has just published a report calling for an immediate development of an e-pound Britain could create a Western alternative to a Chinese digital/e-currency It is not generally appreciated that over 98% of UK transactional banking (by value) takes place in what is known as 'the wholesale market'. Less than 2% takes place in the reta...
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  2355 Hits

A Sad and Sorry Page for British Justice

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Alexander Adamescu is to be extradited from the UK to Romania, on an accusation of having, with his late father Dan Adamescu, bribed judges in Romania in 2013, in a case concerning a construction company. He asserts that the real reason is political - that his father and he controlled an opposition newspaper, Romania Libera, and Romanian Prosecutor...
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  2422 Hits

Fish, Vaccines and Wind

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By Professor James Blyth The Fishing Saga The story of the UK's fishing rights scarcely needs re-telling, but it is well worth remembering. They are part of the internationally agreed economic resources of the UK, and are located primarily within the North Sea and parts of the Atlantic Ocean. They fall within the UK's exclusive economic zone (EEZ),...
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  2074 Hits

Coughlan Hollowing Out

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The hollowing out of Irish independence: how the Irish people were made citizens of an EU Federation, by Anthony Coughlan, pamphlet, 16 pages, The National Platform, January 2021. The indefatigable Anthony Coughlan has produced another fine contribution to the debates about Brexit, Irexit and the EU. He is a lifelong campaigner for Irish independen...
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  2348 Hits

The Future(s) of the United Kingdom

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The Great Financial Crisis (GFC) of 2008 has left many cadavers in its wake; zombified economies with under performing companies kept under life support by a presumed modern monetary theory, not too dissimilar to what Japan embarked on in the late 1990s. Quantitative Easing where the quantity is never enough, and the pressure is such that central b...
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  2489 Hits

von der Leyen’s Götterdämmerung

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Twilight of the Gods" was Richard Wagner's last in the cycle of music dramas called, "The Ring of Nibelung," which is based on old Norse mythology prophesying war among beings and gods that results in the burning and remaking of the world. It is always deeply dissatisfying when a negative prediction comes true—especially predictions which are meant...
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  2510 Hits

Obituary: Jens-Peter Bonde (March 27th 1948 - April 4th 2021)

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By Morten Dam  The long serving eurosceptic stalwart and Danish MEP from 1979 until 2008 has passed away. After a time of illness he died in Arresødal Hospice in the north of Zealand, Denmark. Jens-Peter Bonde has been an influential eurosceptic voice for over a decade. He was a founder of Danish People's Movement Against EU in 1972 and has be...
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  2443 Hits

Interview with New Zealand MP, Todd Muller: CANZUK and More

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I had the opportunity to speak to Todd Muller, MP for the Bay of Plenty in the North Island of New Zealand, the Opposition National Party's Spokesperson (Shadow Minister) for Trade, Export Growth, and Internal Affairs, and the Former Leader of the Opposition. We spoke on matters international and domestic, concerning Britons, New Zealanders, and hi...
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  2237 Hits

'We Need Courage, Not Lockdown!' John Longworth

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John Longworth was the Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce; he was also an MEP and co-Chairman of Leave Means Leave. A great problem with many politicians and most civil servants is that they don't understand business. The reverse is probably also true. The enterprise economy is alien to the political class and they tend ...
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  2644 Hits

Pre-Budget Suggestions - No Tax Rises!

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As the Chancellor prepares to deliver his Budget, we want to make clear a few brief advisories to Mr Sunak on what this historical Budget should contain. First of all, there has been plenty of speculation from countless newspapers and TV reports that the Chancellor is plotting tax increases, namely corporation tax and potentially freezing tax bands...
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  3257 Hits

Good News. The EU is Spiteful!

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All except its acolytes knew (and accepted) that, but how spectacularly have the EU Imperialists lived up to expectations. In a recent article (Liberal Fascism's Last Hurrah?) I wrote: "The EU has never been interested in a mutually beneficial deal. To deal with that I offer something I learned in negotiating with a variety of corrupt countries' re...
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  2667 Hits

Unpicking the European Arrest Warrant's Violation of Habeas Corpus

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On the matter of extraditions to EU member States, the new Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the UK and the EU, coming into force on 1/1/21, has added the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to the benchmarks of fundamental human rights. This opens new possibilities for contesting unjust and arbitrary arrest warrants from those States, as I...
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  2488 Hits

Kate Hoey: "Scrap the Northern Irish Protocol!" 'In conversation with Baroness Hoey'

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I spoke to former Labour MP for Vauxhall, Kate Hoey, now Baroness Hoey of Lylehill and Rathlin (County Antrim, Northern Ireland), after sitting for 30 years as a Labour MP and spearheading Labour Leave during the referendum and the subsequent years until her retirement from the House of Commons in December 2019, she was made a life peer i...
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  6502 Hits

The UK’s post-Brexit Role within the Indo-Pacific Strategy Debate

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The term 'Indo-Pacific' first came into practical use by the British Government in the 1960s during the height of the empire's process of decolonisation. As a strategy, it sought to conceive what the UK's position within the region would be as the country gradually withdrew its influence there. The structural constraints of the Cold War—which had m...
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  2525 Hits

Free of the EU’s Stifling Legal System, British Financial Services will go from Strength to Strength

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By Barney Reynolds  Like it, or loathe it, Brexit is an opportunity for Britain to reassert herself as a sovereign nation. For those of us who are optimistic about our post-EU future, we have only to point to the recent fiasco around the EU vaccination roll out as one example of how "taking back control" has already been beneficial. But t...
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  2942 Hits

In Conversation with Ben Habib: Brexit, Lockdown and China

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I caught up with former Brexit Party MEP, Ben Habib who now runs the pressure group 'Unlocked', campaigning for an end to lockdown and highlighting the economic and social damage of remaining in lockdown. You can watch the full conversation on YouTube, with links to the videos throughout or digest a condensed summary on each question and debate poi...
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  5059 Hits

With the Anglosphere Champion Gone from the Oval Office, We Shall Have to Lump it for Four Long Years

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In November, Nigel Farage tweeted, "Biden hates the UK," https://twitter.com/nigel_farage/status/1325166010106851328?lang=en. That statement may have been deliberately unnuanced for effect, but it contains more than an element of truth. So too, many on this side of the Atlantic wonder if Biden, hell bent to roll back the policies of his predecessor...
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  4465 Hits

The Deal’s Backdoor Route to Defence Entanglement

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The Government's deal with the EU coupled with last-minute law changes in Brussels produce a new set of legal obligations which will renew concerns about UK involvement in 'Military EU'. Why was the Brexit vote actually a reprieve for the remain campaigning establishment? Because it meant they would never have to explain the arrival of EU mili...
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  3612 Hits

How a Legal Mystery Reveals the Continuing EU Threat to UK Shipbuilding

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For years, politicians and industry associations have claimed that the UK can simply ignoring EU defence contract rules which require an international competition where the cheapest bid wins. If the rules were rigid, UK defence and shipbuilding industry would lose many UK Government contract overseas. But the rules are not rigid, they have always c...
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  3488 Hits

Habeas Corpus Rights Now Reclaimed - Govt. Reverses its Position on Extraditions with the 'Deal'

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On Dec. 1st the Home Office stated to Parliament that, "There is no intention for extradition to any EU jurisdiction after the end of transition period to be made subject to a court ruling that there is a prima facie case." As I explained in https://www.express.co.uk/comment/expresscomment/1372705/Brexit-latest-news-EU-laws-european-arrest-war...
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  3244 Hits

Barney Reynolds: Treasury Select Committee on the UK's Economic and Trading Relationship with the EU

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On Monday 11th January The Treasury Select Committee discussed the UK's future economic and trading relationship with the European Union; Bruges Group speaker and friend, Barney Reynolds was invited to give evidence as a witness. Present at the meeting were Select Committee Chairman, Mel Stride MP (Conservative), Rushanara Ali MP (Labour), Steve Ba...
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  2857 Hits

All at Sea

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By David Scullion It's been a fortnight since the Northern Ireland Protocol was introduced and yesterday in parliament the DUP MP Sir Jeffrey Donaldson secured an Urgent Question on the problems it has caused in that short time. Responding, Michael Gove (who privately hinted to Brexiteer MPs it would never be introduced) said that there had been "c...
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  2609 Hits

Sturgeon's Desperate Bid to Beg von der Leyen for EU Membership

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By Richard Percival  Nicola Sturgeon has been pestering President of the European Commission (EC) Ursula von der Leyen and other Brussels officials with letters and emails in a desperate attempt to get Scotland to rejoin the EU, leaked correspondence seen by Express.co.uk shows.  About 25 letters and emails released under Freedom of Infor...
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  2379 Hits

Escaping the Sublunary World of the EU

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If anything the hysterical clamouring of EU supporting re-moaners (now relabelled Re-Joiners) has increased since January 1. Those of us who had hoped that democratic realism might have inoculated the afflicted should not be surprised. The fanaticism of EU acolytes and collaborators is religious in its intensity and belief. Indeed, there is a paral...
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  2339 Hits

Making the Impossible Happen

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Since becoming an active anti-EU campaigner in 1996 when I joined and was selected as a Referendum Party candidate, along with many of my fellow Eurosceptics, I have been called by the EU supporters of being: 'A little Englander', ' a xenophobe', 'swivel eyed','far right' a 'racist', and somehow or other even a 'monetary xenophobe'! None of these i...
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  2323 Hits

We Got Brexit Done!

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The Bruges Group Statement on Britain's EU Exit  https://www.brugesgroup.com/blog/statement-on-britain-s-eu-exit ERG Star Chamber Legal Analysis The full text of the Star Chamber's analysis of the trade deal https://lawyersforbritain.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/ERG-Legal-Advisory-Committee-Opinion-on-EU-UK-Trade-and-Cooperation-Agreeme...
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  4413 Hits

The EU Has Outsmarted The UK At Every Turn

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The standard mantra in EU trade negotiations is that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed. Everyone knows this, except apparently British trade negotiators who have accepted the very opposite by acceding to the EU's sequencing of negotiations. First was the divorce bill. The UK agreed to pay a £40bn settlement when under international law t...
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  2347 Hits

Liberal Fascism's Last Hurrah?

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As we approach December 31st and our exit from the EU, anti democrats are using the COVID pandemic as their last ditch assault on democracy. We should not be surprised. The so-called liberal left both here and in the USA have damaged democracy and restoring it is a monumental task. In the US the Democrats waged a four-year guerrilla war against Tru...
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  2702 Hits

Boris Must Keep The EU At Arm’s Length – Or He’ll Regret It

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By Dr Lee Rotherham  Epicharmus, a Greek comic writer of the fifth century BC, had this maxim: "Stay sober and remember to be sceptical." It is as good a piece of advice as we are likely to deploy at present. We are at a time of flux and flex in the Brexit talks. Helpfully, Michel Barnier has reportedly now figured out how to get his Zoom work...
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  2522 Hits

Michael Gove on the Northern Irish Protocol - House of Commons

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Two days ago, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office the Rt. Hon. Michael Gove MP made an extraordinary statement in the House of Commons. In his opening remarks he stated: "Throughout 2020, we have worked intensively to ensure that the withdrawal agreement, in particular the Northern Ireland protocol, will be full...
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  2731 Hits

Are Brexiteer MPs Happy?

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By David Scullion There was expectation of a Brexit trade deal announcement on Sunday night, but then we were told the differences between the two sides were too great to bridge. Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen, the EU commission President, spoke on the phone and, we're told, asked both of their negotiating teams to work out what the big dif...
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  2536 Hits

Sammy Wilson MP: UK’s Trade Deal With The EU Must Live Up To Brexit Promises

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By The Rt. Hon. Sammy Wilson MP - DUP Member of Parliament for East Antrim  As the U.K. edges toward a final deal on its future relationship with the European Union, it is important that we ensure the agreement delivers on what was promised. Already it is clear that last year's Withdrawal Agreement was fatally flawed. It leaves Bruss...
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  2387 Hits

Sir John Redwood: Biden, Brexit and Lockdown 2.0

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Starting with the implications of the second lockdown, the former Cabinet Minister said it will be damaging for the economy though not as damaging as last time. The virus should be taken seriously – and treatments should be sought etc. – but let's get life back to normal for those free from the disease or not at much risk, he said. Sir John hopes t...
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  2699 Hits

Unwanted Legacies

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How we live today was shaped in the past over the course of our long history and the outcomes of various events. Had we lost World War Two life now would be very different indeed.If Winston Churchill had not become our Prime Minister at such a vital time and instead the Nazi appeaser, Lord Halifax, he would have made a peace deal with Hitler who wo...
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  2666 Hits

The Great Reset: The Virus That's Transforming Government and Society for the Worse

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Initial article on The Bow Group By Robert Oulds and Dr Niall McCrae  "You'll own nothing, and you'll be happy" (World Economic Forum, 18 November 2016). Covid-19 is a crisis too good to waste for UN agencies and other transnational bodies. The coronavirus pandemic has led to governments around the world signing up to the 'Great Reset' designe...
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  5047 Hits

Why Donald Trump is on the Way to Another Victory

MAGA
President Trump will win big since Republican voters are super energised and are turning out in massive numbers to vote for him, on the other hand Democrat voters are not enthused by the incompetent and senile 'Sleepy' Joe Biden. The polls that predict Biden is winning the US election so far, which is already underway, assume that there's...
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  3798 Hits

The EU Deal Unmasked

Boris-signing
Link to the full paper by the Centre for Brexit Studies By The Rt. Hon. Sir Iain Duncan Smith MP (Conservative Party MP), Martin Howe QC (Intellectual Property and EU Law; Chairman of Lawyers for Britain), Professor David Collins (International Economic Law, University of London), Edgar Miller (Managing Director of Palladian Limited;...
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Britain outside Europe; The need for a fundamental, multilateral based UK Indo-Pacific Policy

Britain outside Europe; The need for a fundamental, multilateral based UK Indo-Pacific Policy
By stating that the UK should prepare for a no-deal Brexit as both sides refused to compromise, the Rt Hon Michael Gove produced a shattering rebuke to Macron's hardliner posture over the negotiations. This change of tone from the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster exhibits an overdue realisation that Britain must have a plan for all eventualitie...
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We Face a Critical Choice: Global Britain, or the Mire of Protectionism

Best-of-British
By Shanker Singham  As the Agriculture Bill makes its way through Parliament, the UK faces a critical choice in its international trade policy. It is widely understood in trade circles that agriculture is the gate through which all trade policy flows. Long the bugbear of world trade, agricultural sectors all over the world have rigidly op...
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The Solution to the Backstop: Article 349

David-Frost-and-Michel-Barnier
By Jonathan Stanley  Downing Street would have us believe we are making progress on a free trade deal with the EU. Beyond trying to give away as much of our fish as possible for as long as possible I'm not so sure. Ultimately the Irish border remains a big issue and the recent Internal Market Bill, badly marketed by No.10, only confirms this. ...
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The power of the City is a double-edged sword, but it is yet to be respected

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Samuel Johnson famously said, 'when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life'. However, unlike S.Johnson, it seems that B.Johnson has succumbed to this, in light of the lack of news surrounding the future of our greatest financial asset, the City of London. Whilst the recent focus has been perpetually on State Aid and fishing rights, the City ...
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Busting the Food Price Myth in a No Deal Brexit

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By Catherine McBride  On Friday the BBC headline news included an item entitled: Shoppers could pay more after no-deal Brexit. The story was planted by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) who said that tariffs would add £3.1bn a year to the cost of importing food and drink unless the UK and the EU can strike a free trade agreement. This was a ...
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Would a ‘No Deal’ Brexit Really Cost Three Times More Than COVID?

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Link to initial article By Julian Jessop Brexit talks resumed this week with growing hopes that a trade deal can be done in time for the October EU summit. This follows speculation that the UK has softened its position after Boris Johnson was 'shocked by a London School of Economics report suggesting that no deal would cost Britain up to three time...
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Leaving The EU Defence Policy Will Be a Relief, But There’s a Sting in the Tail for British The Defence Industry

Ben-Wallace
People have asked whether the UK remains under EU defence policy during the transition.The answer is yes, the UK remains EU Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) until 31st December 2020.  This policy is a general term which not only includes the common formation of decisions and strategy, it also describes the political-military stru...
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DUP MLA: Joe Biden's Unwelcome Intervention in Northern Irish Politics

Sleepy-Joe
When you examine the history of America you find two waves of migration from Ireland. The first, the Scotch-Irish, were to the vanguard of creating and establishing schools, universities, banks and the United States of America itself (11 of the 45 US Presidents derive direct descent from). The second wave, a century later, of Irish emigration built...
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Political Tactics

Churchill-and-Boris
Boris Johnson: a Churchillian moment France political commentators have for months patiently waited for Boris Johnson to renegade on his promise to the electorate. They have sought to help him pretend that we have left the EU whilst keeping close ties with the superstructure. The European Union has sought to manipulate our exit from the get-go and ...
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An Unavoidable Exit

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European technocrats and their British supporters have been left aghast by the government decision to present the Internal Market Bill, designed to protect the integrity of the United Kingdom. The remainer machinery, which has remained largely dormant over the past few months, has awaken in defence of international law and the United Kingdom's stan...
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The Alternative to Tax Rises - A Recovery Plan for Britain

Boris-and-Rishi
As reported in The Sunday Telegraph last week, and again today, some Treasury officials have been flirting with the idea of tax increases to foot the bill for the COVID measures put in place and for the lockdown that the left and media were so desperately pressuring for. However, according to several media sources, Number 10, Boris Johnson and Domi...
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Britain Should Welcome Refugees, Not Migrants From France

Migrant-crisis
It is a quintessential British bonding experience to enjoy a joke at the expense of the French. In many ways, it has become an entrenched part of our national identity. However, even the truly gallophobic among us couldn't possibly believe that those who leave France for the United Kingdom should be classed as refugees. Refugees are displaced peopl...
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Possible Threats to the UK’s National Security and to the Security of Every UK Inhabitant From a “Security Treaty” with the EU

NSC
Here are some facts that we believe need to be brought to the attention of the ISC: How many in government, at any level, are aware that the European Court of Human Rights declared that up to 5 years in prison awaiting, not just trial, but a prisoner's first appearance in a public hearing in open court, is perfectly legitimate, and a "reasonable ti...
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Canada’s New Tory Leader Spells Good Things For CANZUK

Erin-OToole
The election of Erin O'Toole as the Canadian Tories' new leader demonstrates that value-based politics and value-based trading partnerships are truly possible. Erin O'Toole, previously his party's Shadow Foreign Minister, was one of the most vocal advocates in favour of a CANZUK (Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom) alliance and ...
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‘Soldiers of Destiny’ No More? Ireland’s Role in an Ever Centralising EU

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"Sinne Fianna Fáil, Atá faoi gheall ag Eirinn" are the first two stanzas of Amhrán na bhFiann, Ireland's national anthem, and translates to "Soldiers are we, whose lives are pledged to Ireland". This is the essence of how Fianna Fail, the major party in Ireland's governing coalition, led by Taoiseach (PM) Micheal Martin, sees itself: as the purveyo...
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Kiwis and CANZUK: A Bridge Too Far No More?

Adern-and-Collins-NZ
For over 40 years, New Zealand has been keen to engage, but Britain ignored their pleas. Finally, New Zealand can not only engage, but also be part of a bigger alliance – the CANZUK alliance. CANZUK is a largely economic alliance between Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK based on the principles of free trade and possibly free-er movement. ...
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Giving up Control

Giving-up-Control
First published in The Critic by David Scullion https://thecritic.co.uk/no-escape-for-britain-brexit/ After concluding the latest round of Brexit talks, the UK's chief negotiator David Frost said, 'considerable gaps remain in the most difficult areas' and that on the sticking point of fisheries the EU has failed to understand that the UK position a...
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The EU’s Pandemic Recovery Fund is a Leap Towards Ever Closer Union

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Marathon talks have concluded between EU leaders as they battled over the details of its multibillion-euro pandemic recovery fund. With France and Germany head-to-head against the frugal four of Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden over grants, veto rights and funding criteria, you could be mistaken for seeing the talks as the break-up of t...
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The Complicated Politics of CANZUK in Canada

CANZUK
In the aftermath of the British exit from the EU, the concept of CANZUK, a largely economic alliance between Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, all of which have the monarchy, the same common law systems, and parliamentary democracy, among others. However, the question remains, what has stopped these four countries, throughout ...
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Deal or No Deal

Noel-Edmunds
Brexit may have gone quiet lately in the mainstream media, but between now and the end of October will be critical. Remain have been defeated in trying to keep us in the EU, their plans for a 'People's Vote' have been defeated, and their attempts to extend the transition period have been defeated. Their last hope is that between now and October our...
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Sir Bill Cash: Where We're at With Brexit

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Having experienced the entire process of leaving the EU since the Maastricht rebellion, through to the passing of the sovereignty clause, Section 38 of the Withdrawal Agreement Act 2020, including the result of the referendum itself, I am thoroughly aware that there must be no ECJ jurisdiction after 31 December 2020. The Governm...
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The Interesting Finances of the European Union

Viktor-Orban
There's nothing very surprising when the EU spends money in individual member States to enhance its standing, and to influence people in those States to work in what the EU sees as its interests. That's known as old-fashioned pork-barrelling. But when the EU argues that the bankrolling of political organisations within a State by those outside it i...
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On the Level Playing Field

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Roland Vaubel Professor emeritus of Economics Universitaet Mannheim Germany Mr. Barnier seems to misunderstand the argument for maintaining a level playing field. The laws of a country, above all, ought to reflect the preferences of its people. It follows that the laws ought to differ between countries if, and to the extent that, the preferences of...
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Fisheries and the Brexit Negotiations

Fishing-boat
Every year the International Council for the for the Exploration of the Sea and the European Union's Scientific, Technical and Economic Council for Fisheries make a suggestion of what the TAC should be for each stock. A stock of fish refers to a "particular species of fish caught in a particular geographic area". The European Commission drafts a pr...
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The Brexit Transition Period Won't be Extended and Rightly So

Boris-signing
On Friday the European Commission admitted that the Brexit transition period will not be extended, and that Britain must now prepare to police the border in the Irish Sea. In a meeting of the joint committee on the implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement, Michael Gove told Maros Sefcovic, a vice-president for the commission, that the UK wou...
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Brexit Cannot Afford to be Delayed Again

Brexit-clock
 ​By Alex Johnson It is often said that all good things come to those who wait. Whilst patience is indeed a virtue, it is not always a profitable one. With the Brexit negotiations deadline being the 31st December this year and with enough delays already being made since the 2016 referendum, time is running short. When one realises that it has ...
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The UK-EU Trade Talks – Why The Pandemic Has Changed Everything

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By Victor Hill, first published on Master Investor   The UK-EU Trade Talks – Why the pandemic has changed everything - Master Investor ​By Victor Hill https://masterinvestor.co.uk/economics/the-uk-eu-trade-talks-why-the-pandemic-has-changed-everything/ The Road to No Deal  While Europe and the world have been monopolised by the Covid-19 p...
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