While British politicians gear up for a debate on whether or not to hold a referendum on EU membership, and discussion swirls around how the British public feels about Europe, perhaps more important is how the German public feels.
By Lucy Hatton Following Tuesday’s decision by the House of Commons Backbench Business Committee, MPs have finally been given the go-ahead to debate whether or not a referendum should be held on the UK’s membership of the European Union. On 24 October, MPs will debate a motion which calls upon the Government to hold a… [Read More]
By Emily Clarke According to recent figures from the Office of National Statistics UK unemployment now stands at 2.57 million or 8.1%. Perhaps even more worrying is the news that the number of 16-24 year olds out of work has crept ever closer to 1 million, currently sitting at a record high of 991 000… [Read More]
Britain must plan exit strategy from failing EU, but should keep trade links As Europe’s leaders gamble their nations’ finances on saving the Euro, a new Civitas report reveals that the European Union is damaging Britain’s economic recovery and sapping job growth. Time to Say No, by Ian Milne, shows that a break with the… [Read More]
Via the Monkey Cage, we learn of a new and interesting academic study examining how public opinion effects law-making across US states. The results offer some tentative support for a theory put forward in our report, Total Recall. There we argued that direct democratic mechanisms can complement representative democracy but primarily as a way to… [Read More]
Plans to expand the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) have taken a tumble at the last hurdle. Yesterday (11 October), a vote in the Slovak parliament – the 17thand final Eurozone member state needed to accept the reform measures – failed to gather the necessary support, leaving the expansion of the EFSF in disarray. The… [Read More]
This is the last of a short series on the subject of pensions. In an earlier post, I considered the situation of a low-wage earner saving in order to preserve a constant income after retirement. I now present a final example to illustrate the retirement planning of someone further up the income scale.
It is not clear if David Cameron was really planning on telling ‘households – all of us’ to pay off ‘credit card and store card bills’ or whether he really just meant that in general ‘the only way out of a debt crisis is to deal with your debts’. Whatever Mr Cameron’s original intention, it… [Read More]
When people mention personal pensions, Gordon Brown and the Dividend Tax Credit get mentioned soon afterwards. This note sets that change in the context of other reductions to pensions.
Long anticipated plans to introduce a financial transaction tax (FTT) have come a step closer to fruition with the European Commission President announcing the proposal in his state of the union address. Speaking to the European Parliament in Strasbourg yesterday (Wednesday 28 September), José Manuel Barroso announced that the college of commissioners has already adopted… [Read More]