DataBox

Today the UK is in a state of consistency

In the week leading up to delivery of the Brexit divorce letter, public opinion in the UK appeared to be a strange mix of short-term pragmatism and long-term pessimism, writes John Egan….

Trade negotiating reality check

Soon Britain will be going it alone on trade at a time of resurgent protectionism. A parliamentary committee has been told it is ill-equipped for the challenge of quickly finding export markets,…


UPDATE: Trading in the Trump era

Major multilateral free trade agreements – existing, proposed and in doubt in the era of the Trump Presidency – compiled by Geoff Kitney. Doha Development Round of World Trade Negotiations 164 countries…


Wherein lies the future for economic migration?

In the forthcoming trade-off between migration controls and access to European Union (EU) markets, the UK economy could be hit from both sides, leading to a possible lose-lose outcome. This is the…


Migration fault lines revealed

Few issues stir up such strident opinion as migration. From the wish to control borders and protect jobs and communities, to the need to open the door wide and welcome workers with…


Global political shocks shift global trade

By Geoff Kitney As China seeks to exploit an unprecedented series of political shocks to the major western nations, trade policy has emerged as the key battleground on which the balance of…


Hammond bets on a productive future

In 51 minutes and with 15 references to “productivity” the UK Chancellor Philip Hammond threw more light on what a post-Brexit Britain could look like than all the uncountable hours of hints…


Fee-free apprenticeship degrees on the up

The number of degree apprenticeships is on the rise as business and students take advantage of a growing list of subjects on offer and the absence of hefty tuition fees. Degree apprenticeships…


Brexiters wrong: Australia has high immigration

There is a paradox about Australia being used by Brexiters as the exemplar of a fit-for-purpose system for reducing immigration. Australia certainly has a prescriptive and, in the case of its humanitarian…


The English Premier League of Nations

It was proposed and widely commented upon last week that the British Government had in mind to count and publish levels of foreign labour employed by businesses in the UK. On Sunday,…