Jeremy Corbyn and Labour could potentially play a crucial role in determining how the UK’s Brexit process will develop in the runup to 29 March. But as Graham Room writes, having sat on the fence for so long, Corbyn must be feeling uncomfortable. Unless he moves swiftly to shift the impasse at Westminster he will be consigned to political […]
Theresa May’s government won a confidence vote on Wednesday, 24 hours after the Prime Minister’s plan for Brexit was rejected. Benjamin Martill and Leo von Bülow-Quirk argue that amidst the confusion that now hangs over the process, there are three avenues available: to make piecemeal modifications to the initial Brexit agreement in the hope of winning parliamentary support, to […]
The UK government published a policy paper this week that attempts to counter unionist concerns about the Withdrawal Agreement and its potential impact on Northern Ireland’s place in the United Kingdom. Underpinning this paper is the government’s commitment to ‘maintain absolutely the principle of consent’. Katy Hayward and David Phinnemore explain the origins and significance of this concept in the contemporary politics of […]
In less than three months, the United Kingdom is set to leave the European Union. Martin Westlake writes that despite Brexit, internal and external forces are driving European states towards ever closer relations. The UK will remain an integral part of an ever-closer Europe, whatever the fine detail of its relations with the EU.
The European continent is covered by […]
While the scheduled date of Brexit is fast approaching, the British public debate, which is focused on the current state of the exit negotiations and the outlooks for the future relationship, mainly represents the UK’s point of view. This is why the LSE European Institute and the LSE School of Public Policy jointly hosted a panel event aimed at […]
As 2018 comes to a close, it still remains uncertain how Brexit will be implemented, or whether a new election or referendum will be called before the issue is resolved. Helen Parr assesses what the long-term impact of Brexit is likely to be on British politics in the years and decades to come.
The politics of Brexit are the politics […]
What will the economic impact of Theresa May’s deal be? And how does it compare to the no-deal scenario?The LSE’s Centre for Economic Performance, in association with The UK in a Changing Europe, has modelled both scenarios and examined the effects on migration, fiscal policy, trade and productivity. The authors – Anand Menon, Jonathan Portes, Peter Levell and Thomas Sampson – also look […]
Much has been made of the potential for a second referendum on Brexit, but have the British public changed their minds since 2016? Drawing on recent polling data, Thiemo Fetzer writes that there is an observable shift away from support for Brexit. This is happening along a key characteristic: how exposed a local authority district was to austerity in […]
Is it time for the British Parliament to compromise and vote through Theresa May’s Brexit deal? Dimitri Zenghelis argues that ‘no deal’ is not the only viable alternative to a deeply flawed deal. Yes, a second referendum would divide the country – but it is already divided. People are now in a better position to understand the choices on […]
The Conservative MEP, Daniel Hannan, responding to the withdrawal agreement reached between the UK government and the EU over Brexit, indicated that the deal could leave the UK facing colonial rule of the sort imposed on Bosnia following the Yugoslav war. Catherine Baker argues that there is indeed a connection between Brexit Britain and post-Dayton Bosnia, but it is […]
In principle, EU law still applies in the UK until the day the country formally leaves. However, as Arthur Dyevre writes, the UK’s impending exit may have already altered the application of EU law in British courts. Drawing on new research, he explains that UK courts have submitted substantially fewer questions to the Court of Justice of the European […]
The Brexit referendum and Trump’s election were each decided by a free and fair vote, yet large proportions of UK and US citizens have trouble accepting them as truly ‘democratic’. Brian Milstein writes that a working democracy requires more than free elections; it requires additional institutions, such as a well-functioning political public sphere and a responsive political party system, […]
Higher education, although clearly not a government priority, is becoming a bargaining chip as the UK considers its future outside the EU. Anne Corbett examines the UK government’s proposal to treat higher education as a sweetener for free trade deals, an idea that is likely to have life in it whatever the immediate Brexit outcome.
Spare a thought for second order policy sectors […]
Contrary to claims of Britain’s enduring political and constitutional distinctiveness, in the period from 1997 to 2016 the UK in fact modernised its polity by following several strong ‘Europeanisation’ trends. British democracy came to increasingly resemble other European liberal democracies in some fundamental ways. Yet now this meta-narrative may be lost following Brexit. Patrick Dunleavy explores some implications of […]
In a recent article, Peter J Verovsek criticised left-wing supporters of Brexit, claiming that they were backing a ‘statist, nationalist initiative’ that could only benefit the right. Peter Ramsay replies, arguing that it is left-wing Remainers who are stuck in the past and that a fetishism of the supranational and the cosmopolitan is the real problem for the left.
Peter Verovsek reminds […]
Brexit has been very divisive for the left in Britain. While some socialist intellectuals claim that it is a prize within reach for the Labour movement, it remains largely a neo-colonial project of a ‘Global Britain’, writes Peter J. Verovšek. He argues that the case for Lexit ignores the right-wing roots of the EU referendum, and that it will be no prize […]
Is there a bright side to Brexit, even for those who voted for the UK to remain in the EU? Nauro F Campos reasons that there is at least one undeniable positive from Brexit: we are now more willing to ask questions about European integration than we were before the referendum. In doing so, our knowledge about economic integration […]
If Britain ever sought to rejoin the EU, it could not be on the terms of membership the country previously enjoyed, warns Iain Begg. The UK’s budget rebate, exemption from Schengen and opt-outs from the euro and judicial cooperation will not be on the table again. This would make rejoining a difficult sell to the British public.
A curiosity of the […]
The Chequers deal is deeply flawed on both economic as well as political grounds and a ‘no deal’ Brexit would be a far preferable solution for the UK, argues Ruth Lea. In her opinion, a Chequers-style deal would be economically sub-optimal, tying the UK to the EU’s rulebook, but without any influence. On the contrary, in the event of a no deal Brexit, […]
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No-deal Brexit nears as May creates temporary illusion of party unity
No-deal Brexit nears as May creates temporary illusion of party unity
Recent votes in the UK Parliament prove that it is no more capable of agreeing where to go next on Brexit than the cabinet. As Theresa May creates the temporary illusion of party unity, a no-deal Brexit grows ever closer, writes John Ryan. However, the political fallout associated with the economic hit of No Deal – or any form of harder Brexit […]