In two recent posts (Regime Standards and Shorties-10) we concluded that the EU’s ideology of ever closer union has done identifiable damage in at least one area – fire standards. Once the EU has regulated a standard its member states are obliged to implement that standard and not introduce anything that contradicts it, even if … More Standard Confusion
A collection of five short, independent pieces on various topics. Distributed Culpability In his blog EUReferendum.com Dr Richard North has a series of posts examining the relevance of EU standards to the cause of the disastrous fire at Grenfell Tower in London on June 15. He has been able to trace back the origin of … More Shorties-10
There is no doubt about it, after Brexit Britain will not be subject to the rulings of the European Court of Justice, the EU’s high court. The Prime Minister has been absolutely clear about this, it’s a red line for her negotiators, they must not step over it. As she told fellow Conservatives at the Party … More The Withdrawal Method
The 20th anniversary of the hand-over of Hong Kong to China by the British triggered some thoughts of similarities between that David-and-Goliath pair and the EU-UK pairing. The Economist (TE) published an article on June 22 with the heading “Still on borrowed time”, which seems to fit the Article 50 deadline as well. Below we … More Comparative Studies
Ladies and gentlemen, place your bets. Is Brexit a winner or a loser? What are the odds on the UK economy being a success after leaving the EU and what are the ‘tipsters’ saying? To guide your instinct we provide the following review of some of the leading economists’ guesses. So what are economists forecasting … More Betting on Brexit?
Lord Heseltine, former Deputy Prime Minister and fanatical Remainer, says of Brexit (Daily Telegraph, 20 June 2017): “… the younger generation [is] bemused that an older generation could wilfully undermine their future.” His comment isn’t really about youth at all, it’s an indirect assertion that Britain will be much poorer outside the EU. This is … More Are EU serving the young?
Exactly 365 days after the Referendum decision to leave the European Union the Prime Minister offered to let EU immigrants who’ve been in the UK for five years remain and enjoy all the rights of British citizens. Apparently that’s not good enough, according to Jean-Claude Junker, however, it’s infinitely better than the EU’s offer to British … More Anniversary Thoughts
Following the disaster at Grenfell Tower in Kensington, Dr Richard North has two recent posts (18 and 19 June) in his blog, EUReferendum.com, which discuss how responsibility should be allocated between national and international governments (he does not bring local government into his discussion). He is thorough in his analysis and cautious in his conclusions. … More Regime Standards
Much ink is being spilt over the outcome of the UK general election; we expect this to continue for some time yet, at least until (or if) some semblance of order is restored. In this post we focus on some possible consequences for Brexit. The Economist has been a fervent opponent of Brexit since last … More Storm Before the Calm?
The possibility has been discussed at a senior level of creating a European Union Defence Force. We question the underlying motive, asking whether defence is needed internally as well as externally. For the latter we argue that NATO is sufficient. Some important features of nation states are still missing from the EU, including defence, police … More Ever Closer Defence
This EU Won't Work 