Vicky Pryce, Senior Fellow, BCU Centre for Brexit Studies Latest research by Damien Lyons Lowe of Survation  presented at a recent ‘ Best for Britain’ event suggests that trust in  politicians in the UK is one of the lowest in the world. Indeed, data from the 2024 Edelman Trust Barometer showed that among developed countries the UK is in last place alongside Argentina and Japan with just 39% for the general population trusting in their respective NGOs, Businesses, Governments and Medi ..read more

Dr. Steven McCabe, Associate Professor, Birmingham City University Significantly, in her speech at the annual Mais Lecture that took place at the Bayes Business School in the City of London , shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves made reference to the radical change in policy following Margaret Thatcher’s victory in May 1979 ending five years of Labour being in power: “When we speak of a decade of national renewal, that is what we mean. As we did at the end of the 1970s, we stand at an inflection point. “And as in earlier decades ..read more

Nicholas Hurtado Europe’s post-Brexit political landscape has changed a great deal since 2020. Four years on from the formal divorce, policymakers in the UK and EU appear to increasingly mirror one another in terms of their respective outlooks on an increasing number of issues. This extends prominently to the subject of migration. Recent developments on migration have highlighted how much the UK and EU have arrived at similar points regardless of political affiliation. Despite separating, the British and EU have followed charted mirrored political trajectories that have led them to comparable ..read more

Ferry Biedermann in Amsterdam There’s a great divergence happening between the UK and Europe that very few seem to be aware of but that nevertheless is already having an enormous impact on the nature of the relationship. While Britain keeps getting roiled by Brexit and its ongoing and cumulative effects, be theypolitical, economic, environmental, societal or other, Europe has spectacularly lost interest. A quick scan of media stories mentioning Brexit in Germany and France over recent months shows that they overwhelmingly deal with the debate in the UK, not with Brexit effects in Eur ..read more

Vicky Pryce, Senior Fellow, BCU Centre for Brexit Studies As we are approaching elections, the focus has centred on examining where there might be differences in economic policy between the parties. Unfortunately for Labour, many of its distinctive tax ambitions, such as abolishing  non-dom status and extending the windfall tax on oil and gas companies -have already been taken up and are being implemented by the Conservatives What is more is that future proceeds from these recently announced changes by Jeremy Hunt will be eaten up by the extra tax g ..read more

Dr Lily Hamourtziadou The ‘genos’ is a primary and universal institution of mankind and it is clear that mankind spent most of its history within the framework of this social unit. It was here that the original esprit de corps, the way of life, the traditions, the forces of cohesion and solidarity were born. It was also here that the spirit of exclusiveness, suspicion, and hatred of other groups was bred. Thus, the genos is both the unit against which the crime is directed and the unit from which it originates.                ..read more

By Dr. Bertha Dzifa Kumodji BBA, MBA, Ph.D., MBAM, MIoL, MSHRM, MCIPD, FCIHRM, CMgr MCMI HR & Recruitment, Workforce and Organisational Development, The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital NHSFoundation Trust, Birmingham – UK Researcher, Centre for Brexit Studies, Birmingham City University Business School, Birmingham – UK Members of the United Kingdom (UK) voted to leave the European Union (EU) in 2016, with the official exit taking place on January 31, 2020. This event, colloquially referred to as “BREXIT,” ended the UK’s 47-year membership with the EU. The decision ..read more

Vicky Pryce, Senior Fellow, BCU Centre for Brexit Studies Well, here we go again- another MPC meeting, the 5th in succession which kept interest rates unchanged. Rates stuck at 5.25 % until the next meeting on May 9. But what does it all mean? A tight monetary policy continues. Not only are we now in a situation where interest rates have moved from being negative, in other words below inflation, to positive, in other words above the rate of inflation, but Quantitative Easing is also continuing with the Bank of England(BoE) still intent on selling some £100b of govt bonds fr ..read more

Beverley Nielsen is Associate Professor at the Institute for Design, Economic Acceleration & Sustainability (IDEAS) at Birmingham City University and a Councillor on Malvern Hills District Council and Worcestershire County Council. It’s been tough times for business – especially the SMEs which deliver 67% of private sector jobs and contribute over 50% of UK GDP. Last week I was pleased to speak at an Enterprise Nation event hosted in partnership with Mastercard as part of their Strive UK programme, ‘Future of funding for small business support’. Held in the Library of Birmingham on Centena ..read more

Dr. Steven McCabe, Associate Professor, Birmingham City University If last week’s Spring Budget was, as some Conservative MPs had hoped, intended to herald the beginning of the campaign for the next general election, potentially on May 2nd, its impact does not will appear to have shifted the party’s standing in the opinion polls. According to polling organisation Savanta who carried out a survey following chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s spring budget, the Conservatives are on 25% and Labour, on 43%, enjoy a lead of 18 points – the largest since Liz Truss’s resignation – meaning it “failed to deliver ..read more