26 02, 2021

The North East of England: Economic and political challenges and opportunities post-Covid and post-Brexit

By |2021-03-02T11:18:05+00:00February 26th, 2021|Categories: Brexit, Coronavirus, Devolution, North East, UK Constitution|

by Joyce Quin Photo credit: UK Parliament/ CC BY 3.0 The Rt Hon. Baroness Joyce Quin is a member of the House of Lords.  She previously served in both the European Parliament and the House of Commons where she was MP for Gateshead. She was a government minister between [...]

26 02, 2021

The UK’s European and Constitutional Challenges Collide

By |2021-02-26T11:03:50+00:00February 26th, 2021|Categories: Blog, Brexit, Devolution, Europe, Scotland, UK Constitution, Views from the Federal Trust|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

The UK’s politics failed in the face of Brexit for a mixture of reasons. There were three main causes. First, the ideology and dishonesty at the heart of the pro-Brexiters’ campaigning was, and remains, central. Second, Labour’s opposition to Brexit foundered on internal splits and a leader, Jeremy Corbyn, who [...]

25 01, 2021

England’s Scotland Panic – What is to be Done?

By |2021-01-25T17:32:09+00:00January 25th, 2021|Categories: Devolution, Europe, Scotland, UK Constitution, Views from the Federal Trust|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

This article was first published by the Scottish Centre on European Relations   There is more than a whiff of hysteria in the air about the possibility of the UK fragmenting via Scottish independence and Irish reunification. Two former UK chancellors (one also an ex-prime minister) find the idea that [...]

4 01, 2021

The UK’s European Question is Far From Over

By |2021-01-06T12:09:46+00:00January 4th, 2021|Categories: Brexit, Coronavirus, Devolution, Europe, Scotland, Trade, UK Constitution, Views from the Federal Trust|Tags: , , , , , , , |

This article was first published by Scottish Centre on European Relations As the start of 2021 looms, the EU and UK have a new relationship underpinned by their new trade and cooperation agreement. This agreement fractures, damages and complicates economic, political and social links between the UK and EU. And, [...]

21 12, 2020

The UK’s Chaotic Brexit Slide Towards 2021

By |2020-12-23T13:55:07+00:00December 21st, 2020|Categories: Blog, Brexit, Coronavirus, Devolution, Europe, Europe, Foreign Policy & Defence, Scotland, UK Constitution, UK Devolution|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

With Covid gridlock in Kent, chaotic borders have arrived earlier than expected, although stockpiling ahead of the end of the transition was already causing queues and a glimpse into the UK’s difficult post-Brexit future. As talks and haggling continue over fishing, one thing is clear: deal or no deal, four [...]

18 12, 2020

Can the United Kingdom be saved through federation? Lessons from 1919

By |2020-12-18T15:05:36+00:00December 18th, 2020|Categories: Devolution, Federalism, Federalism, UK Constitution, UK Devolution|Tags: , , , , , , |

by Sam Whimster Professor Sam Whimster is Deputy Director & Head of UK Futures Programme at Global Policy Institute; he is also Editor of Max Weber Studies.   Andrew Adonis has recently argued that the present tensions disuniting Britain can be resolved by following the example of the Federal Republic [...]

4 12, 2020

Brexit and the decline of democracy

By |2020-12-04T13:53:37+00:00December 4th, 2020|Categories: Brexit, Coronavirus, Devolution, Europe, Europe, Federalism, Federalism, UK Constitution, UK Devolution|Tags: , , , , , , |

“The fabric of democracy is always fragile everywhere because it depends on the will of citizens to protect it, and when they become scared, when it becomes dangerous for them to defend it, it can go very quickly.” (Margaret Atwood) The deadline for ending the “transitional” arrangements for Britain’s relations [...]

13 10, 2020

Brexit: removing the connective tissue of the United Kingdom?

By |2020-11-14T12:25:11+00:00October 13th, 2020|Categories: Brexit, Devolution, Europe, Europe, Federalism, Federalism, Scotland, UK Constitution, UK Devolution|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

The United Kingdom (UK) and what is now the European Union (EU) were intertwined for nearly half a century. Consequently, Brexit means more than the UK removing itself from the EU. It involves extracting the EU from the UK. The four years after the EU referendum of 23 June 2016 [...]

29 09, 2020

Was the EU the Glue Holding the United Kingdom Together?

By |2020-10-27T15:34:40+00:00September 29th, 2020|Categories: 2020, Brexit, Devolution, Europe, Federalism, UK Constitution, Video|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Dr Andrew Blick, Reader in Politics and Contemporary History at King's College London, looks at the internal constitutional consequences of Brexit. He discusses how far the British Union has been held together by membership of the European Union and whether Brexit will lead to its break up. This talk was [...]

16 07, 2020

Hard Brexit plus Covid equals Divorce?

By |2020-07-16T13:18:15+00:00July 16th, 2020|Categories: Brexit, Devolution, Scotland, UK Constitution, UK Devolution|Tags: , , , , , |

President Clinton admonished us that it was “the economy, stupid”. Perhaps, in the current febrile situation this should be amended to being “it’s the politics, stupid”.  Faced with a 25% drop in GDP in the UK in quarter 2, this might seem surprising to some. But take a closer look. [...]

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