By Ivano di Carlo and Shada Islam, European Policy Centre Amid the intense competition underway between the US and China and the increasing presence of Russia, China, Turkey, Iran and Britain in the Indo-Pacific, the EU must build better bilateral relations with all South Asian countries – and not just India. […]
Tag: UK
Wales’ proposed universal basic income threatens to do more harm than good
by Tom Ryan In May the first minister of Wales, Mark Drakeford announced that he is trialling a ‘Universal Basic Income’ (UBI) in Wales, a policy of direct and unconditional cash transfers. This fashionable policy has been tried around the world by governments and private organisations, but hasn’t much to show for it so […]
Will the United Kingdom Survive the United Kingdom Internal Market Act?
By Professor Stephen Weatherwill The EU has an ‘internal market’. So do Canada, Australia, the United States and Germany. And now, with the enactment of the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020, the United Kingdom has one too. The Act was drafted, debated and adopted with blistering speed during 2020, from a […]
UK’s “Test and Trace” an expensive, pointless bungle
“Test and Trace: At what cost?” By Joe Ventre, courtesy of Taxpayers’ Alliance NHS Test and Trace has become the latest arena for the debate around wasteful government spending. The recent report from the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) doesn’t pull its punches, and offers some damning insights. After the bizarre initial decision to pursue a centralised approach […]
The double irony of the new UK-EU trade relationship
By André Sapir, courtesy of Bruegel Institute The Trade and Cooperation Agreement signed between the European Union and the United Kingdom goes against six decades of UK efforts to avoid being economically disadvantaged in Europe. Tracking the evolution of the EU-UK relationship over the last 60 years can help in understanding this. On […]
The real meaning of the UK-EU deal
“The Brexit trade deal is no frictionless uncoupling” By John Bruton, courtesy Centre for European Policy Studies The Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the EU and the UK is an exercise in damage limitation. The UK’s decision to leave the EU, the Customs Union and the Single Market, means it will face numerous obstacles. […]
Worst-hit authorities are least able to respond to COVID
“The financial risk and resilience of English local authorities in the coronavirus crisis” By Kate Ogden and David Phillips, courtesy of IFS Local authorities (LAs) across the country are among those on the front line of the coronavirus crisis. But geographical differences in demographic and economic structures make different parts of the country […]
What is “Global Britain” exactly, or even inexactly?
“‘Global Britain’: still waiting for the big reveal” By Nick Witney, courtesy of UK In a Change Europe Mystery shrouded the Prime Minister’s advertised parliamentary statement on ‘Global Britain’ yesterday. His first shot at giving substance to this favourite Brexit slogan, his Greenwich speech of 3 February, got about as far as […]
Time to start worrying about 2021 deficits
“Don’t worry about today’s borrowing numbers. It’s next year’s that should worry us” By Carl Emmerson, Benjamin Nabarro, and Isabel Stockton, courtesy of the IFS The ONS will release its latest monthly public finance estimates at 7 a.m. on Friday 19 June. They will show that across April and May government borrowing ran […]
UK needs tax cuts, regulatory clear-out to speed recovery
“New report outlines deregulatory and tax-cutting measures to reboot Britain” By Julian Jessop and Len Shackleton, courtesy of IEA The uncertainty created by the COVID-19 crisis has reinvigorated many old debates about the role of the state, says a new report from the Institute of Economic Affairs and Civitas, written by IEA Economics Fellow […]