The EU/Brexit Blog

First of all, I apologise for my brief sabbatical. There was a circle of repetitive Brexit-related news found across all mainstream mediums and having addressed them, I felt it unnecessary to further comment on issues and ideas. However, the elephant in the room is that Mrs May has lost her 'meaningful vote' by 230 votes, the largest government defeat in history and the message from the Commons to May could not be clearer. Parliament fundamentally rejects the deal presented and no matter the amendments proposed, the deal is flawed and will never be supported by the Commons. Now, this vote is not legally binding but it would be politically suicidal to pursue with such a deal as fellow parliamentarians would argue the executive is acting independent of Parliament and, no doubt, a successful vote of no confidence would follow. There was talk earlier on Tuesday that May would, if there was a minor loss of her deal, to allows the proposal of amendments and return to the EU and u...

In a surprising turn of events, the Chancellor's Autumn Budget 2018 was fairly light in terms of mentioning Brexit. When the Chancellor mentioned Brexit, it was either to refer to a Brexit dividend, a sum of £4.4bn or an increase in spending on Brexit preparations. I think it's fair to say there was a lack of long term funding commitments to the public services, bar the increase in NHS spending, however, that was indeed due to Brexit. With a certain lack of awareness regarding the future relationship between the EU and UK and the effect that that would have on trade and economy, it is typical of Spreadsheet Phil to be pragmatic about saving up money in the event of a no deal. There were lots of small contributions to each public sector, a strong commitment to fixing potholes and privind money for the little extras for school was an attempt to sway funding concerns whilst also not committing to long term funding in the event that a no deal Brexit means that funding needs to...

Are the UK government finances as dire as many it perceive it to be? The Chancellor has been a fierce critic of Brexit since day one and his prominent position as a Remainer has brought much criticism from fellow party and cabinet members. The Chancellor has distributed statistics from the Treasury that frequently state the distinct negatives on the economy of any kind of so-called Hard Brexit. Unsurprisingly, as the economy has appeared fairly resilient to Brexit recently, and I recognise that the markets have been susceptible to statements about the Brexit negotiations, however, considering the mass uncertainty over the future relationship between the EU and Britain, the economy is performing well. Therefore, despite the dire concerns of the Treasury that Brexit would be a detriment to the economy, the Chancellor appears to be unable to eat his cake and have it at the same time. Yet on the brighter side, that means that the economy is in a stronger position than expected...