Philip Hammond Spreadsheet Phil has been in Berlin, attempting to persuade Germany to offer fair terms to The City following Brexit. He has given an interview with the newspaper Welt am Sonntag in which he told European leaders that rather than being afraid that a good deal for Britain would encourage others to leave the … More People and Brexit
As the year 2018 begins we realise we have written more than 150 posts – some cover the fine detail, others the broad issues. We wish we could encapsulate the debate as it stands today but it is too complex for a single post. Here we start the year with a high level summary of … More The Brexit Debate
Will it be a Brexit in name only, and what does the name mean anyway? The Prime Minister says “Brexit means Brexit” but Lord Malloch-Brown (Labour peer and former UN Deputy General Secretary) believes it should mean ‘No Brexit’ and that the recent Government defeat gives MPs the chance to reverse it (we expect other … More Transition, Implementation or What?
Continuing our critique of the euro and the Eurozone, particularly the effects on weaker economies. The Euro currency was a giant step towards political union, a dangerous one that could undermine the peace that the Union was supposed to ensure. For some countries it would be like being “trapped in a burning building with no … More Zone In or Zone Out?
Remaining in the EU is an appalling option, we’d be a supplicant with all credibility lost, even more likely to be outvoted on everything. From Malta to Ireland, from Spain to Slovakia and from the EU core in Germany and France, every country feels it can tell us what we must do. The German Social … More Carrying on Voting?
At their Vienna summit this month EU leaders, as expected, refused to give M. Barnier permission to move on to the crucial issue of trade, but they did agree to discuss it amongst themselves. Chancellor Merkel said enough progress had been made to encourage her to think it will be possible to “take the work … More Vienna Sunshine
On Wednesday 13 September Jean-Claude Juncker gave his annual state of the union speech to the European Parliament. We offer a critical review of the speech in this post and a linked paper. The English text of the address can be downloaded from here: We have read the speech carefully and find a lot to … More State of the Union 2017
According to the EU the Brexit negotiations are not going well, or indeed at all. According to the UK government the negotiations are progressing. The difference in interpretation is at least in part cosmetic. In any negotiation conducted in public, as this one is, both sides will use their public comments as part of their … More The Windmills of Your Mind
Commentary on Brexit focuses mainly on the attractions of independence and on the risks that are inherent in separating the country from a 44-year ‘engagement’ (the ‘pull’ of exit). In this post we ask why so little attention is being paid to the ‘push’, the reasons that the EU offers such an insecure future to … More Pull and Push
Our review of an article about President Macron’s recent proposal to discuss the EU’s future with his citizens. In a recent article for The Conversation Richard Youngs, Professor of International and European Politics at the University of Warwick, offers his observations on the proposal of Emmanuel Macron for a series of ‘conventions’ in EU member … More Carry on Macron
This EU Won't Work 