12 July 2018 Comment The Brexit process What should Brexit mean?
It cost the Prime Minister a couple of cabinet ministers along the way, but the British government has now outlined the future relationship it would like the UK to have with the EU post-Brexit. A three page summary of its vision was published following a Cabinet away day at Chequers last Friday, while today a […]
10 July 2018 Comment The Brexit process The EU Referendum
Do voters know what they are doing? This is a question that is often asked about referendums, not least by those who doubt voters’ ability to grapple with major issues of policy. Since the EU referendum it has, perhaps, been regarded as a particularly pressing question by some on the Remain side. For example, the […]
22 June 2018 Comment The Brexit process The Brexit Vote: Right or Wrong?
Britain spent just four months debating whether it should leave the EU or not after David Cameron had renegotiated our terms of membership. In contrast, the country has now spent as long as two years debating how the majority decision to leave should be handled. It is a debate that has left many voters doubtful […]
11 June 2018 Comment The Brexit process What should Brexit mean?
Tomorrow and Wednesday, the House of Commons will consider the 15 amendments that the House of Lords made to the EU Withdrawal Bill against the government’s wishes. Three of these amendments in particular have been the focus of most attention. The first two would require the UK government (i) to keep the UK in the […]
7 June 2018 Comment Brexit and the Unity of the UK The EU Referendum
When the outcome of the EU referendum was announced, it looked at first glance as though it represented a golden opportunity for the nationalist movement. The divergence between the majority Remain vote in Scotland and the majority Leave vote across the UK as a whole provided what must have seemed to nationalists like a perfect illustration […]
7 May 2018 Comment Attitudes towards topical events The Brexit process
It is perhaps not immediately obvious that local elections might be of interest or relevance to the Brexit process. After all, such elections are meant to be about who can best empty the bins rather than who can cut the best deal with Brussels. However, in practice, the broad ups and downs in party performance […]
3 May 2018 Comment What should Brexit mean?
It appears that the question of what customs arrangements the UK should have with the European Union after 2020 is becoming the first crunch issue in the negotiations about Britain’s future relationship with the EU. The Cabinet is reported to be having difficulty in reaching a decision on what arrangement the UK should seek, while […]
16 April 2018 Comment The Brexit process
There has recently been increased talk about the possibility of holding another referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU once the Brexit negotiations have come to some kind of conclusion. A few weeks ago, two former Prime Ministers, Tony Blair and Sir John Major, voiced their support for the idea. More recently, much of the speculation […]
29 March 2018 Comment The Brexit process The Brexit Vote: Right or Wrong?
As I first wrote in January – and have updated in a publication released today by the UK in a Changing Europe initiative – one of the striking features of the first year of the Brexit process so far as public opinion is concerned is that while the public have become rather more pessimistic about […]
31 January 2018 Comment The Brexit process The Brexit Vote: Right or Wrong?
The Brexit negotiations are about to enter a critical phase. Between now and October the UK government and the EU have to agree an outline of what their relationship will be once the transition/implementation phase ends in December 2020. In the UK, that agreement will need to secure the approval of a House of Commons […]
