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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.
Trade

Trade

Michael Wood

Danegeld and Cult Crash

celebrating-1297377_1920 Thanks for the € Subsidy!
The chief executive of Deutsche Bank Christian Sewing told a meeting in Frankfurt "We are not the sick man of Europe. But, it is also true that there are structural weaknesses that hold back our economy and prevent it from developing its great potential. And we will become the sick man of Europe if we do not address these structural issues now." Ac...
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German Economic Failure EU Colony Danegeld Reset Tory Politics
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Bruges Group Research

Brexit is Working - Part TWO

world A World of Opportunity
We are pleased to publish this analysis by Sebastian James based on his blog at The Blue Anchor. PART TWO In part two we look at GDP growth. The dataset is here. Here is the graph:  Below is the section from 1956 when records began up to the 1975 referendum vote to remain:  I see a line going up from bottom left to top right. GDP grew fro...
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Brexit Opportunities World Trade Trade Opportunities EU Held us Back
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Bruges Group Research

Brexit is Working

world A World of Opportunity
We are pleased to publish this analysis by Sebastian James based on his blog at The Blue Anchor.  PART ONE After the vote to leave The Guardian started a regular tracker to chart its impact on the economy. But as the Remainer predictions turned to dust and the good news kept piling up the Guardian quietly dropped this feature. So I'm reviving ...
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Brexit Opportunities World Trade Trade Opportunities EU Held us Back
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Bruges Group Research

Remain Eat Your Words (yet again)

success-3138743_192_20230415-100634_1 BREXIT Success
 Full yet? You wont see this on the BBC news but the last three quarters have seen the biggest improvement in the UK trade balance ever in history … EV-ER. This is precisely, exactly what the Remainiacs swore would NOT happen if we became an independent democracy again. The full dataset is here if you want to satisfy yourself I'm not maki...
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Economics Brexit Opportunities Economic improvement
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Bruges Group Research

Politicking is Not the OBR’s Job

Dizzy_1 OBR the Doom Merchants
"Richard Hughes, the chairman of the Office for Budget Responsibility, (OBR) claims Britain's departure from the European Union has reduced economic output by around 4 per cent compared to if the UK had remained in the bloc". "Speaking to the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme, Hughes was asked to quantify the 4 per cent drop in UK e...
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Brexit Opportunities OBR Forecasts Misinformation
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Michael Wood

The EU Lobby’s Repudiation of UK Independence

rejected-5250678_1920__20230330-144103_1 The Blob Rejects Democracy
The repudiation of the sovereignty of the UK's people by a pro EU elite has always been a puzzle. It is a puzzle because not one of them was able to explain their reason. In the absence of a cogent argument, independence opponents resorted to 'Project Fear' during the referendum campaign on leaving the EU. Blood curdling threats were rolled out exp...
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Brexit Opportunities OBR PWC ONS Real Data
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Michael Wood

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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N I Protocol Sunak ECJ Horizon
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Robert Oulds

Rishi Sunak Must Rip Up EU Laws Immediately to Deliver on Brexit’s Promise

europe-3256079_1920 EU Laws are Holding Back British Growth
The Bruges Group is pleased to republish this article by Barnabas Reynolds  Brussels' rules are prescriptive and controlling, and are holding back British growth The Prime Minister must restore Britain's sovereignty over our laws The Government is seeking the power to remove some of the vast swathes of EU-inherited law by the end of 2023 in it...
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EU Laws UK Sovereignty Impediment Legal Freedom
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Colin Bullen

What Needs to be Taught

teacher-651318 Numeracy is the Key
The Prime Minister advocates that the teaching of Maths should be a priority, although one suspects that he really means numeracy, as the ability to add up a few figures is more useful for the average person that knowing all about the calculus of the hyperbola. However the level of debate concerning economic matters in this country makes clear that...
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Economics economy Numeracy Maths Teaching
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Robert Oulds

Post-Brexit Online Trading for Better Opportunities: Study Promises Steady Economic Growth

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Although Brexit and the free trade agreement initially disrupted and confused UK-based business operations due to the UK's dominant role in cross-border online distribution and sales with other European countries, things are finally looking up in the long run. A study published by the Board of Trade stresses the enormous prospects that digital trad...
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Michael Wood

For Whom the Bell Tolls - Democracy, It Tolls for Thee

death-5770668 The Grim Reaper
The short-lived Truss government came to power with a mandate to change Britain. She fought her campaign clearly stating her policy. She was lawfully elected according to the rules. Her policy was designed to produce growth. Cutting taxes was a part of the program. The respected US Tax Foundation in its 2020 report on UK tax wrote: "All things bein...
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democracy Blob Speculators Green Damage
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Michael Wood

Déjà Vu and a Confected Crisis

crisis-5238323_1920 Crisis. What Crisis?
An energy crisis hit world economies and after almost three years the pain exploded in most countries. The exception was the USA. Acting pro-actively President Reagan slashed regulation to free the economy. He fired over 11,000 striking air traffic controllers. Breaking the strike. An action Paul Volcker saw as a 'watershed' moment in the battle ag...
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energy Déjà Vu Tax Relief Growth Remoaners
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Jamie Bryson

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

Chris-Heaton-Harris
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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Brexit Northern Ireland Northern Ireland Protocol Brexit Opportunities
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Jamie Bryson

The Northern Irish Protocol Must Go Now

Union-Jack-bunting-on-Shankhill-Road
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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Brexit Northern Ireland Northern Ireland Protocol
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Michael Wood

Green Anarchy and the Illeberal Elite

Green Destruction Green Anarchy and the Illeberal Elite
Democracy, liberty and the continuation of western civilisation is under threat. It is threatened by those we have elected to protect and nurture our society. A small number of self entitled politicians and bureaucrats take decisions without reference to their electorate. Sunak's decision to raise Corporation tax to 25% next year has everything to ...
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Net Zero Crop Failure Revolution
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Robert Oulds

We are being hoodwinked (again) by the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill

janus Duplicity
 The following analysis by Ben Habib is reprinted from: https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/opinion/ben-habib-we-are-being-hoodwinked-again-by-the-northern-ireland-protocol-bill-3750685 Ben Habib is a Newspaper Columnist and former Brexit Party MEP I am having a profound sense of déjà vu. In 2019 I said the Prime Minister's oven ready deal was a...
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EU NI Protocol
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Derek Bennett

KNOCKING AT THE EU’s DOOR

door-1587863_1920 Bolted Door
 Nicola Sturgeon, Scotlands first Minister, has been banging on, yet again, about holding another referendum on Scottish independence and is proposing to hold a plebiscite during October 2023. This is despite the fact she lost the so-called 'once in a lifetime' independence referendum in 2014. If the people of Scotland go mad and vote to break...
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EU Scotland Independence Sturgeon
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Sir Bill Cash MP

REPORT BY LEGAL STAR CHAMBER ON NORTHERN IRELAND PROTOCOL BILL

london-453099 Northern Ireland Protocol Bill
Sir William Cash MPRt Hon David Jones MPMartin Howe QCBarnabas Reynolds The constitutional and legal position of the United Kingdom in relation to the Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland (the "Protocol") is founded on Section 38 of the EU (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020 ("EUWAA 2020"). There are also pertinent issues relating to international ...
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Will Podmore

Net Zero Fantasy

oil-industry-4663283_1920 Oli Rigs
British politicians and mainstream media have claimed that Russia is responsible for "turning off" our gas supplies, amid hysteria over Ukraine. That's not the case, the culprit is closer to home. In late 2021, the British government paused the development of the Jackdaw and Cambo oil and gas fields off Scotland as a result of its commitment to the...
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Net Zero energy Gas Oil Exploration
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Will Podmore

The new working class: how to win hearts, minds and votes, by Claire Ainsley, paperback, 200 pages, ISBN 978-1-4473-4418-6, Policy Press, 2018, £12.99

New-Workng-class The new working class: how to win hearts, minds and votes
 Claire Ainsley is Executive Director of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. In this useful book she shows that voters generally have very sensible views about what Britain needs to flourish. She points out that "by Labour's third successive victory in 2005, working-class support for Labour had waned, and non-voting rates of working-class voters i...
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Working class Labour losses Brexit Opportunities
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Reynolds

Moving on From EU Law – Good for the Economy, Good for Business!

career-g2fc5edaac_1920
By Barnabas Reynolds. The Brexit Freedoms Bill aims to end the special legal status of EU law. It will also simplify the removal of retained EU law. Here Barnabas Reynolds explains the advantages for the City – and the economy. The UK has recently been confronted with a series of adverse economic shocks – from Covid and the war in Ukraine, to the c...
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Brexit Trade Tax economy finance
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Robert Oulds

How to Build a Legacy Within Your Family Business

family-1 Family Business
Some people who start a business dream of it becoming an enterprise that is passed down through generations. While this is true for some companies and families, it can also be a fraught ambition. Families can be dysfunctional, and when that dysfunction is transferred to the workplace, it can be catastrophic for the business. Furthermore, there is n...
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Family Business SME Legacy Project Succession
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Dr Frank Millard

Is globalisation defunct?

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Is there a need for a rethink of the 21st century direction of travel of globalisation, the concept of a global village, 4IR, communitarianism and supranationalism, as conceived at the end of the previous century? Vulnerabilities of scale The devastating impact of the pandemic on economics, trade, logistics and the global supply chain, plus the imp...
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Trade China economy globalisation democracy
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Dr Ted Malloch

The United States and Europe Redefined

Anglo-American280
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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European Union Trade Ukraine War America
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Robert Oulds

“Despite Brexit” becomes “Despite Biden” with US mini-trade deals

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US states courted for deals on financial services after US tariffs on steel and aluminium lifted.  A look at the improving UK trade with US and Canada While all eyes have been on the possibility of a large bilateral deal with the US, the two governments have been reaching across the pond to strike small deals that amount to great improvements ...
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Robert Oulds

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

big-ben-g64f0f7aa3_1920
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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Chris Davies

P&O in employment race to the bottom where no one wins

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BackgroundIn one of the most egregious examples of the nefarious practice of fire and rehire, P&O Ferries sacked 800 workers via Zoom this week, without notice, attempting to replace them with agency workers on much lower pay and worse terms and conditions. By using security guards to escort hardworking employees forcibly and inhumanely off the...
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Robert Oulds

Where the UK Education Technology Industry is Headed Post-Brexit

It's clear that UK industry is in a period of adjustment post-Brexit. Despite the drop in FDI and disruptions like the global pandemic, there are nonetheless emerging industries where the UK has the potential for global leadership. The education technology (edtech) industry is undoubtedly one of them. 1. UK education pre-Brexit Prior to the Brexit ...
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Ethan Thoburn

'Spartan Victory' - Interview with Mark Francois MP

Mark-Francois-Bruges-Group
"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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Brexit Spartans Mark Francois book Theresa May
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Michael Clitherow

Forget the sermons - first read the small print

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Since before the 2016 referendum and continuing non-stop, those against GB leaving the EU including - Joe Biden and other US Democrats , most EU bureaucrats, several European politicians (particularly the French) and of course our own Re-joiners - have been pursuing the following rhetoric: "You must not go against or interfere with the 19...
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Peter Kirby

Hot Air - Carbon Dioxide and Global Warming: A Review and a Few Facts

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Introduction The purpose of these notes is to present some facts about the campaign to stop global warming and climate change. The climate has changed in the past, is probably changing now, and will change in the future. The campaign is trying to stop the unstoppable. The natural factors affecting global temperature are very powerful: terrestrial, ...
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Climate Alarmism Net Zero
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Jack Brookes

Does the WTO Promote Trade?

WTO-HQ
"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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Michael Clitherow

The Northern Ireland Protocol: Trigger Article 16!

WhatsApp-Image-2021-10-21-at-22.18.18
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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Christopher Lim

In Conversation with Lord Lilley

Peter-Lilley
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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Ethan Thoburn

Liberty Zone at Party Conference

Conference-Banner
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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Christopher Lim

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

Manley
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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Will Podmore

A Coalition of Chaos

Coalition-of-chaos
The failure of the SNP to gain a majority in the elections to the Scottish parliament has forced them into a huddle with the equally separatist Greens – and into a series of increasingly unpopular policies. Dubbed a 'coalition of chaos', the new alliance in August between the Scottish National Party and the Scottish Green Party has been born out of...
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Christopher Lim

In Conversation with the Hon. Christopher Pyne

CP
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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Christopher Lim

Interview with Ambassador Jim Gilmore

Jim-Gilmore
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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Trade US UK politics Special Relationship USA US politics
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Kendall O Donnell

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

US Skyline
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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US UK politics Donald Trump USA US politics
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Taylor Downs

Land of Hope and Glory

Land-of-Hope-and-Glory
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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Christopher Lim

Waterloo Day Lecture - ‘The Future of the Union’

Nigel-Dodds
 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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Christopher Lim

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

Sir-Bernard-Jenkin
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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Christopher Lim

The 'Build Back Better' Charter

RC
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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Ethan Thoburn

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

Reagan-Berlin
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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Margaret Thatcher US UK politics Special Relationship US politics Ronald Reagan
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Taylor Downs

Aurora - A New Dawn for Sterling with Benefits for All

20
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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Taylor Downs

Fish, Vaccines and Wind

Wind
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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Callum Oliver

Biden, Cryptocurrencies, and the American State

Bitcoin
 In recent days, the internet has been abuzz with the news of Joe Biden's proposed hike of federal capital gains tax to 43.4% for the highest earners. However, unsubstantiated rumours swirl of another, far more significant reform to American taxation: an 80% tax on cryptocurrency transactions. If true, it must be conceded that such a reform ha...
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Christopher Lim

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

Todd-Muller
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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Barry Legg

'We Need Courage, Not Lockdown!' John Longworth

John-Longworth-LML
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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John Smith

Will The EU Restrict UK Markets?

hands-1063442_1920
 In May 2015 the announcement of the European Union Referendum Bill in the Queen's Speech was not the major news story it perhaps should have been. At the time, it was viewed as an effort by then Prime Minister David Cameron to quell the dissenting Euro-sceptic voices amongst his backbenches. As the following 5 years of action, in-fighting and...
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Ethan Thoburn

Pre-Budget Suggestions - No Tax Rises!

Rishi-Sunak
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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Brexit COVID-19 Rishi Sunak COVID Lockdown
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Michael Wood

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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Ethan Thoburn

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

Kate-Hoey
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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Brexit Northern Ireland Boris Johnson Trade Deals Nigel Farage
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Alex Johnson

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

trade
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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Barry Legg

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

Canary-Wharf
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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Chloe Grant

Our Product Consumption Should Not Come at the Expense of Uyghurs' Freedom

Uyghur
Many of us have been saddened to learn of the atrocious inhumane treatment by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to the Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang over recent months. Although constantly denied by the CCP, evidence of genocide is undeniable. The CCP claim they are offering 're-education camps' to Uyghurs, said to offer family planning programmes and...
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Trade Deals China
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Ethan Thoburn

In Conversation with Ben Habib: Brexit, Lockdown and China

Ben-Habi_20210211-002626_1
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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Brexit EU European Union Northern Ireland Lockdown
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Lee Cohen

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

President-Trump
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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US UK politics Donald Trump Special Relationship USA US politics
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John Smith

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

Shipbuilding
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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Barry Legg

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

Barney-Reynolds
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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Barry Legg

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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Ethan Thoburn

We Got Brexit Done!

Boris-Johnson
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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Dr David Blake

The EU Has Outsmarted The UK At Every Turn

Michel-Barnier
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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Barry Legg

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

Boris-and-UVDL
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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Rt Hon. Sir John Redwood MP

Sir John Redwood: Biden, Brexit and Lockdown 2.0

Sir-John-Redwood
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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Robert Oulds

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

Great-Reset
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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Robert Oulds

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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Barry Legg

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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Ethan Thoburn

Why the UK Needs a Trump Victory

President-Trump-Union-Jack
As the US general election approaches, it is very much in our interests on who wins, there are some people in the Conservative Party suggesting it would be beneficial for Joe Biden to be inaugurated and to walk into the White House on 20th January, following the US general election next week. However, I think there'd be nothing worse than Mr B...
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Sean Sewell

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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Ethan Thoburn

The Cost of Lockdown and Then What We Do Next

Boris-Whitty-and-Valance
Lockdown has absolutely crippled the economy and what for? We have a similar death rate to Sweden which never locked down, the average age of death from COVID in the UK is 82.4 when the average age of death for the UK as a whole is only 81.2. Not only that, what I would like to see published is the death rates from other illnesses such as cancer, h...
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Barry Legg

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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Dr John Stanley

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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Sean Sewell

Independent Trade arbitration is a right, so why is the EU flouting it?

Felixstowe Felixstowe
As negotiations began the week of an EU summit on the 15th October, there was talk of the EU pressing their chief negotiator Michel Barnier to insist on tough enforcement rules for any UK trade deal. This came as a result of their shock to the Internal Market Bill, yet while any dispute resolution mechanism is normal for any trade deal, the words '...
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Sean Sewell

The UK desperately needs a breakthrough in R&D, but Europe isn’t the catalyst for change

UkK R&D UK R&D
Perpetual doom and gloom for British science as a result of uncertainty with our relationship with Europe is the mood in the FT this week. The paper recently reported that research and development (R&D) collaboration by British businesses under the EU's research grant scheme has halved since 2016. But contrary to the FT's personal Project Fear ...
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Sean Sewell

The EU’s unlevel playing field; why Britain must re-secure the right to support it’s industries

The EU’s unlevel playing field; why Britain must re-secure the right to support it’s industries David Frost and Michel Barnier
The Covid-19 crisis has brought to light a fundamental flaw within the European Union – there is one rule for Germany's state aid regime and another for the UK's. As such there is a fundamental need in negotiations this week to redress this flaw. Data shows that Germany made up for nearly 10% of all EU-authorised State Aid requests from April ...
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Sean Sewell

The power of the City is a double-edged sword, but it is yet to be respected

20200920_113535
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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Barry Legg

Busting the Food Price Myth in a No Deal Brexit

img-2
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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Barry Legg

Would a ‘No Deal’ Brexit Really Cost Three Times More Than COVID?

IMG-123
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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Sean Sewell

A taste of the real world; Macron has confused intimidation with the reality of no deal

Lorries in Dover
Over the past week there have been announcements from Michael Gove regarding the provisions for international lorries leaving the UK after December 31st, something which apparently Macron's government sees as abhorrent. The labelling of these announcements as 'intimidation' by Clément Beaune, Macron's Europe Minister, further shows the EU's hypocri...
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Scarlett Spencer

An Unavoidable Exit

Boris-Johnson-Internal-Markets
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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Ethan Thoburn

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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Christopher Lim

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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Christopher Lim

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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Jude D Alesio

The EU’s Pandemic Recovery Fund is a Leap Towards Ever Closer Union

Von-der-Leyen-elbow-pump
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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Christopher Lim

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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Trade Trade Deals CANZUK Liz Truss Canada
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Will Podmore

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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John Smith

How to Start a Kratom Website

website
There's no denying the fact, kratom is having a major moment right now. From being labeled as the most toxic plant in the world to being used as a weight-loss medicine, kratom has had its journey. Its global popularity has encouraged many young entrepreneurs to cultivate this plant and start their kratom business. If you sift through the internet, ...
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Sir Bill Cash MP

Sir Bill Cash: Where We're at With Brexit

Sir-Bill-Cash
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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Brexit Conservative Party Boris Johnson Trade Deals Sir Bill Cash
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Barry Legg

Brexit in a post-Coronavirus World

brexitinapostcoronavirusworldbanner
The challenges and the opportunities  With the speakers; - Rt. Hon. Sir John Redwood MP- ​Tim Congdon CBE- ​Professor Patrick Minford CBE- ​Dr. Gerard Lyons Professor Tim Congdon CBE:Are Eurozone Trends in Public Debt and Financial Imbalance Unsustainable?  Quotations from the April 2020 ECB Economic Bulletin 1. "...
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Andrew Tettenborn

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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Robert Oulds

On the Level Playing Field

Unlevel-Playing-field
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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Karan Gupta

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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Kieran Clare

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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Barry Legg

The UK-EU Trade Talks – Why The Pandemic Has Changed Everything

Barnier-and-Fros_20200609-113114_1
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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Ethan Thoburn

Margaret Thatcher - The Heroine of Brexit

Thatcher-and-the-EU
Margaret Thatcher's Bruges Speech to the College of Europe in September 1988 - YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqv8HF84EOs&t=1s The Bruges Group was set up in 1989 in honour of one speech, a now landmark address made by our then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher to the College of Europe on 20th September 1988 on the 'Future of Europe'. L...
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Ethan Thoburn

Sir Geoffrey Howe: A Revolutionary Thatcherite Chancellor

Sir-Geoffrey-Howe
During this pandemic, I felt it would be the perfect opportunity to take a closer look to the careers of some political giants who don't always get the recognition or remembrance they deserve. One of my greatest interests is political history and every Friday I will publish an article outlining the career and some interesting facts about some polit...
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Conservatives Conservative Party Margaret Thatcher Economics Sir Geoffrey Howe
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Scarlett Spencer

Das Ende?

Euro-collapse
Almost four years after we voted to leave the European Union (EU), Boris Johnson delivered on his promise to 'GET BREXIT DONE'. Little did we know at the time (on 31st January 2020) that the year was going to bring its own woes, which are now threatening to bring down the European dream of unity, solidarity, and borderless territory. In addition to...
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Robert Oulds

The Government Split Over Free Trade Deals - Cabinet Fear of a BRINO Coup

The-Critic
Originally published in The Critic by David Scullion https://thecritic.co.uk/the-government-split-over-free-trade/  The Government is committed to signing Free Trade deals. The Conservative Party's 2019 manifesto said as much, and added: "Our trade deals will not only be free but fair". The UK has just started trade talks with the United ...
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Brexit EU European Union Trade Deals Free Trade
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