This essay was commissioned by Léo Keller on behalf of the Blogazoi blog, as part of a collection to be published following the German election. It is over 21 years since Angela Merkel took over from Wolfgang Schäuble as leader of the CDU, Germany’s most consistently successful political party. Schäuble, the [...]
Nine months into Brexit and it is already apparent that musicians are one of the main sectors whose lives and livelihoods are being radically disrupted by Brexit, to the point that it is causing 21% of musicians to consider changing their career. Sir Simon Rattle recently stated that it was [...]
In this video, Professor Richard Rose of the University of Strathclyde argues that the British government's attitude towards the Northern Ireland Protocol is a profoundly unhealthy one. It stems from the misplaced beliefs that the UK can dictate the terms of its external relations, that the UK's partners have no [...]
The week beginning 19th July was an eventful one in British politics. Our Director Brendan Donnelly discusses Freedom Day, Dominic Cummings and the Northern Ireland Protocol. He concludes that Boris Johnson’s position is shakier than it seems. So is the future of the UK under Johnson’s Premiership: Watch previous [...]
In this video, financial analyst and Federal Trust Council member Graham Bishop and our Director, Brendan Donnelly, discuss the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak's recent Mansion House speech. The speech acknowledges the importance of financial services for the British economy. But it gives little hope that the British government [...]
In this video conversation, Dr Michael Lloyd of Global Policy Institute and our Director Brendan Donnelly discuss how, when and whether the UK will rejoin the EU. Michael advocates first joining the European Economic Area as a possible first step towards rejoining the European Union, while Brendan argues that it [...]
In this video, our Director Brendan Donnelly criticises the main British political parties for their reluctance to talk about Brexit. He thinks this reluctance stems primarily from calculations of political advantage. These calculations may however be mistaken. The Labour Party in particular may end up alienating all its potential supporters. [...]
Division has been central to the electoral strength of the Johnson Conservative Party. It might also prove key to understanding its potential weakness. Conservative victory in December 2019 was achieved partly through identifying a social cleavage and securing a large proportion of the support of those on one side of [...]
6 years ago I published a book “Brexit. How Britain Will Leave Europe.” It came out before the May 2015 election. It set out all the reasons, based on 20 years of door knocking in what we now call a red wall seat, why I thought that if a populist [...]
“Take back control” was one of the main battle-cries of Brexit. Underpinning it was the notion that the UK had ceded its sovereignty to the EU and was no-longer an ‘independent’ country. We will leave aside the issue of whether or not Brexit really represents a return of sovereignty to [...]
