Economics & Trade

Eurosceptics often claim that they love Europe, but hate the European Union. They assert that Britain can still be part of Europe without having to be part of the European Union. That, of course, is true to an extent, but it rather misses the point and purpose of the EU. The European Economic Community – […]

On BBC Question Time last week, Frank Field, MP, got it wrong by repeating that old myth that the EU accounts hadn’t been signed-off. I wrote him an open letter – to which I am still awaiting a reply: Dear Mr Field On BBC Question Time last night (2 June) you told the audience: ‘I […]

My five years as a PhD student, first in Oxford (Brookes) and then as a post-doc at LSE, have told me that the smart people from the UK, especially those working in the City, see the Euro project thus: European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) is like a ship that has been built badly from […]

Boris Johnson has spoken out against holding a referendum on whether the UK should remain part of the European Union. The Guardian reported that Mr Johnson’s intervention would help the prime minister, David Cameron. Mr Johnson told BBC Radio Five Live, “Whether you have an in/out referendum now, I can’t quite see why it would […]

The chairman of Aviva, Britain’s biggest insurance company, said at their AGM yesterday that the company would prefer to “avoid the uncertainty” of Brexit. Sir Adrian Montague, CBE, the company’s new chairman, was answering a shareholder’s question about the board’s view on the EU referendum. At first he gave a guarded response. “I am not […]

A straightforward comparison between Britain remaining in the EU and leaving isn’t possible. That’s because we know what ‘Remain’ in the EU means – it’s the status quo and we’ve experienced it for four decades. But Leave? Nobody knows; nobody can say for sure. Even those campaigning for Britain to leave the European Union cannot […]

Isn’t it strange how history sometimes seems to repeat itself? Not always in exactly the same way, but in ways to make it seem uncanny. Take the remarkable resemblances between the referendum of 1975 and the one we’re having now, both regarding Britain’s future in Europe. Back in 1974 Labour leader, Harold Wilson, won a […]

If you’re young with a University degree and live in London, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, you’re more likely to vote for Britain to remain in the EU. But if you’re older, with only a secondary education, and live in provincial England, you’re more likely to vote for Britain to leave the EU. That, in […]

Rival groups are bitterly battling each other to gain the official nomination to run the EU referendum Brexit campaign. Three campaigns with different visions of Britain after Brexit have applied to the Electoral Commission to be designated as the official ‘Leave’ group. Only one group from ‘Leave’ and one from ‘Remain’ can be awarded the […]

Writing exclusively for the Daily Telegraph, London Mayor Boris Johnson said that if Britain left the EU, “we would have to recognise that most of our problems are not caused by Bwussels [sic]”.  Mr Johnson made his remarks after Michael Gove and Philip Hammond became the first two Cabinet ministers openly to support leaving the […]