Monday, 8th February 2010
 

The City of London Under Threat

The EU and its attack on Britain’s most successful industry

Bruges Group research shows that the EU’s proposed financial services regulations are set to destroy thousands of well-paid jobs in the City of London. These jobs – like those in manufacturing – will be forced out of the UK; losing Britain many talented professionals. Almost certainly the financial services industry will go to Asia.

The EU now threatens the long term prosperity of the City of London and, by extension, the London and UK economies

 Comment and Analysis
Taxpayers to lose £9.7 billion

British taxpayers will lose at least £9.7 billion due to rulings by the European Court of Justice. These tax blows to the nation’s finances, coming at a time when the Government is struggling with our huge national debt, could have been prevented. However, Ken Clarke and his successor, Gordon Brown, as Chancellor failed to act on advice to amend EU tax rules. Now the only option to protect British tax law from EU interference is for the UK to regain its freedom

 Papers
Renegotiation is a slogan not a policy
David Cameron’s decision to renege on his “cast-iron” guarantee to hold a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty has evidently disappointed a great many people. Until Cameron, or some other political leader, can find away to reengage the electorate in the decisions over Britain’s political future and shapes policy accordingly, British politics will remain “broken”
 
On the Wrong Track
Britain has consistently been ahead of the game where EU railway legislation is concerned. We broke up a monolithic network, ran private trains and encouraged competition long before the EU told us to. However, as the UK’s horizontally fragmented network - the uniquely British franchise system - is in tune with Brussels’ thinking, if we wanted to revert to either a nationalised railway or vertical integration along the lines of the pre-nationalisation era, we could not actually do so while a member of the EU
 
Cool Thinking on Climate Change

The European Commission proposes to forge ahead with eyewateringly expensive initiatives designed to mitigate climate change. The estimated cost of these programmes is €73 billion a year across the EU by 2020. In the UK, it will cost £9 billion a year by 2020. It is expected to force a million more households into fuel poverty. These policies are likely to raise average domestic fuel bills by up to £200 a year, while the total economic cost would average around £600 per family

 
Our Fight for Democracy
This study looks at how the European elites are in danger of creating a profound moral and institutional crisis in Europe – a crisis of democracy. Those in the Brussels elite who have power have not been elected, and those who have been elected have no power

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Eat the Pound: Online Game

Papers


The City of London Under Threat


Cool Thinking on Climate Change


Are the British a Servile People?


The Costs of Regulation


The Principles of British Foreign Policy


Lost Illusions: British Foreign Policy


The Case for EFTA


Plan B For Europe


Will the EU's Constitution Rescue its Currency?


Galileo: The Military and Political Dimensions


The Fate of Britain's National Interest


Health and the Nation


Criminal Justice and the draft Constitution


Subsidiarity and the Illusion of Democratic Control


A Constitution to destroy Europe


Giscard d'Estaing's "Constitution": muddle and danger presented in absurd prolixity


Free Speech: The EU Version


Federalist Thought Control


Democracy In Crisis


European Union and the Politics of Culture


Britain and Europe: The Culture of Deceit


The Bank that rules Europe?


Conservative MEPs and the EPP: Time for Divorce


Bruges Revisited


Aiming for the Heart of Europe: A Misguided Venture


Is Europe Ready for EMU?


A Single European Currency: Why the United Kingdom must say 'No'


From Single Market to Single Currency