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The most striking event of the past year and, in retrospect, of the decade, is the continuing rise of the Media Industry (Television, Film, News, Advertising, Social Media, Internet Sales, Computer Games etc).  It is now worth over $2 trillion worldwide.  In the UK alone it is worth about £100 bn.  This …

The treatment of Northern Ireland in the context of the negotiations between the EU and the UK has shown the inconsistency of the EU’s position with regard to nationalism. The EU rightly condemned Crimea’s secession from Ukraine and reunification with Russia. This was not so much because the referendum that …

Many Remainers, still refusing to accept the democratic mandate to Leave the EU given in June 2016, claim that people only voted for Brexit because they were lied to, or because the Leave campaign misled the people. In doing so, they infer that in contrast the Remain campaign put out …

Since the Referendum we can already see that wages are rising in real terms: The Referendum has brought us the highest level of real earnings since November 2010. According to the BBC article Wage Rises Accelerate to the Fastest Pace since 2008:  ‘Howard Archer, chief economic adviser to the EY Item …

Like many of you, I have friends and family in both camps Remain and Leave and in the interests of friendship the subject of Brexit is studiously avoided. However I got into a conversation about it with one of them and with great foreboding he asked why I voted Leave …

I don’t want Mrs Sturgeon to click her ruby slippers together while repeating endlessly that there’s no place like Scotland. Nor is it helpful to once more hear nationalists repeat clichés like “A hard Tory Brexit makes independence inevitable.” But it might be useful to revisit Scottish independence in the …

On the European continent, Britain has always been seen as the country – half in and half out of Europe. Perhaps this is because we are neighbouring a geographical block of 500 million people but share a first language with a worldwide block of 500 million people. The Euro-federalists mock …

When I write these articles it is the equivalent of public speaking for me, which is terrifying and makes me feel stressed and ill afterwards. Which is why on the run up to the referendum and afterwards I resisted the urge, there were enough people shouting the odds. However I …

The countries that make up the Commonwealth are inextricably linked by their shared history and values; the rule of law, good works through aid, sport and democracy and shared cultures. Together, as one, the modern Commonwealth strives to improve the lives of its 2.4 billion people, whether that is ensuring …

Laughing at Britain’s Brexit woes might be justified if other countries were successfully tackling the pre-eminent problem of the early 21st century — reconciling meaningful democracy and self-determination with the imperative for global regulation and governance. But since no-one else has bothered to pick up the torch of destiny, maybe it’s …

When the British government handed over Hong Kong to the People’s Republic of China, I was a staffer for a member of the Ontario Legislature. In the local constituency office, we had a television in the reception area that was normally tuned to the Ontario Legislative Assembly channel. In advance …

Two years on from the Brexit referendum and out of the lull we crash into political upheaval again. At the moment UK politics has more drama in it than your worst soap opera. The trouble is, when the field is evenly split it is going to be a dirty drag …

This letter originally fully appeared in the magazine National Review and an abridged version appeared in The Daily Telegraph on 6 December 2018. The Prime Minister’s proposed Brexit deal has been discussed in detail, and to describe it would replicate the excellent work of many journalists. However, we feel that it has …

The Bank of England published this graph showing the effect of leaving the EU with no deal in its report: EU withdrawal scenarios and monetary and financial stability: The graph is designed to look as scary as possible.  However, when we read the notes on page 53 we find this little …

There were always two types of empire. There were those like the British and the French that spread overseas. British and French people would move to Delhi or Saigon and pretend they were living at home only it was rather hotter. These empires were always fragile. The other type of …

Any “Plan B” for Brexit must take account of the Referendum result.  The 2016 EU Referendum in the UK was held to determine whether the UK desired to Remain in or Leave the European Union. The result of the Referendum was a convincing majority to Leave the EU in England …

How many times have you thought ‘Why does it have to be so complicated’? Looking for white sauce recipes I was confounded with requests to decide if I was OK with my data being used/searched for a better user experience. No I just want a sauce recipe. In the end …

We have been warned by the BBC that Philip Hammond thinks Brexit will be bad for the UK economy.  What do other sources of economic “wisdom” predict? The IMF Predicts the UK will have some of the strongest growth in European big 5 after Brexit: The World Bank in its Global Economic Prospects Predicts the UK …

Yesterday I attended a meeting held by my MP Matt Warman, where he attempted to explain his reasons for voting for Mrs. May’s Draft Agreement. At the end of it I was left feeling confused and depressed, however I did meet people who have far more knowledge on this Agreement …

Coverage in the media of the fact that the Belfast Agreement does NOT specify open borders with frictionless trade in Ireland has been entirely suppressed (read the Belfast Agreement here if you don’t know this) and the news that the Bank of England has calculated that a WTO Brexit with a 21 …