Category: United Kingdom

Here is Your Brexit Primer


What is the issue?  The UK has long had a strained relationship with the EU and has never been comfortable with the ever-increasing drive for greater integration and harmonization of rules and regulations coming from Brussels.  As the EU has grown, more decisions are made by a qualified majority.  Previously decision required unanimity.  The shift weakens the power of a UK veto.  The UK Prime Minister has called for a national referendum on continued UK membership of the EU.

U.K. Wages Rise, Jobless Claims Fall Steeply


Signs of an improving job market in the United Kingdom are growing.  Incomes are up and jobless claims are down, while the unemployment rate remains at its lowest point in a decade. According to the Office for National Statistics, unemployment remained at 5.1% in December, despite expectations that unemployment would fall 10 basis points to 5%.

Given the Obstacles, How can Great Britain Exit the European Union?


For months, Great Britain has been talking about withdrawing from the European Union (EU). The matter is up for full debate, and shall be put to a referendum. This has left many to ask how the British could exit (or “Brexit”) the European Union? Would it be legally possible? After all, no other nation has left the EU. 

British Public Opinion About Face on Privatization


When Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn flagged up the potential re-nationalisation of British railways, and later made similar comments about the energy industry, his ideas were dismissed as a return to the past.

However, the evidence is that the public has bought into it. YouGov polls show that a majority of British people now support the nationalisation of the railways (66%) and energy sector (68%).

UK to EU: “We’re In”


Prime Minister Cameron has enthusiastically embraced the EC draft proposals in response to the UK’s demands.  The wires quote Cameron as saying, “I would opt in to EU membership on these good terms.” 

The proposals presented by European Council President Tusk are weak on details that are still to be decided, though Cameron quickly seized upon them to claim: I have delivered commitments in my election manifesto.”  It has yet to be seen if it is sufficient to convince several of the Eurosceptic cabinet members and backbenchers. 

Calculating the Cost to the UK without the EU


There have been a couple of notable signals about the upcoming EU referendum lately. A public opinion poll showed a clear majority lead for Brexit, then a Financial Times poll of more than 100 leading economists concluded that a vote to leave would damage UK growth.

However, while the arguments for and against are still shaping up, everyone appears to be ignoring how the credit-ratings agencies would respond to Brexit.

Why is U.K. Productivity Lower Than Its Peers?


We all know by now that Britain has a productivity problem. The average British worker simply doesn’t make as much stuff as those from other major countries and for all the agreement that something must be done, there is little consensus.

Debates about solutions tend to focus on big ticket national infrastructure policy designed to grandly sweep away obstacles and enable improvement. But the risk is that we obscure practical steps needed at the very heart of the problem.

Britain Ups its Craft Beer Game


The traditional worldview of the British pint is of something warm, flat, and rather unpleasant. However, the recent signing of a multi-million-pound deal to supply barley to China underlines the extraordinarily far-reaching esteem in which the world holds the British brewing industry.

Scottish Economy Falls Behind Rest of U.K.


According to the University Fraser of Allander Institute, Scotland’s economy will grow to 1.9 percent for 2015, a downgrade from a previous estimate of 2.5 percent. Scotland will continue to fall in 2016, but analysts expect growth to increase to 2.2 percent and eventually surpass the rest of the U.K. in 2017.

Time for a Rethink of U.K. Food Policy


It is a strange world if I can greet with pleasure two reports, which actually shame my own country. However, alas, it is so. In the UK, two excellent examinations of food poverty have been published just as Westminster is arguing over whether the government’s tax credits cuts are excessively punishing poorer working families. The timing could not be better.