Brexit

  • Agriculture and Rural Affairs in the 21st Century: A Blueprint for Sustainability

    Agriculture and Rural Affairs in the 21st Century: A Blueprint for Sustainability

    To say that the farming community across the UK has had a challenging time in recent years, would be an understatement. Everything from Brexit to the increasing cost of operating expenses like fertiliser and fuel, to reforms made by Labour to Inheritance Tax, have all massively impacted farmers. The result has been that around 20% of all farms in the UK have ceased to exist over the last decade. I believe that three reforms could begin to address some of the problems that farmers have faced and these could also help us to move towards a more sustainable method of…

  • Scottish Independence: A Second Bite of the Cherry or a More Fruitful Pursuit?

    Scottish Independence: A Second Bite of the Cherry or a More Fruitful Pursuit?

    I voted Remain in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. Since then, I have come to the conclusion that I was young and naïve back then and didn’t completely understand all the arguments. I most likely voted ‘no’ for sentimental reasons: my heart felt more attached to being part of the UK, than Scotland per se. Fast-forward to today and obviously being a lot more mature and educated on the debate surrounding Scottish Independence, I am still content that I would vote Remain again on the grounds that I don’t believe that the SNP’s argument for Independence is persuasive enough to…

  • Immigration in the 21st Century: A Fair and Humane Approach

    Immigration in the 21st Century: A Fair and Humane Approach

    In recent years, the debate on immigration in the UK has been plagued by the following issues: its alleged impact on public services due it being ‘too high’, the daily illegal boat crossings and the most contentious issue of them all, arguments that detention seekers are afforded too much protection by international human rights law – which guarantees the right to liberty and prohibits arbitrary arrest. Consecutive governments most notably, the recent Conservative one, have talked tough on immigration without reducing overall numbers, or explaining clearly how they are made up (prime example – on average 35% of immigrants, are…

  • The Ballot and the Manipulated: Has Democracy Lost Its Way?

    The Ballot and the Manipulated: Has Democracy Lost Its Way?

    Other than being friends, Dan and I don’t have much in common on paper. He was born into poverty in Liverpool, left school at sixteen, joined the army, protested nukes at Greenham Common, drove taxis, raised a couple of children alone on next to nothing, and arrived at philosophy and anarchism through sheer intellect led bloody-minded curiosity. He’s precisely the kind of intellect that Stalin would have sent to Siberia. Me on the other hand, I came from a middle-class background that turned out to be as fractured as any – a mother who resented me, an early exit from…

  • Another Referendum?

    Another Referendum?

    John Barrett avatar

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    7 comments on Another Referendum?

    The problem of asking people what they want in a referendum is that after the event, those happy with the result declare that the matter now settled and those who do not like the result then want another referendum at a later date. The problem for the Liberal Democrats is the party has held both views at the same time, following the Scottish Independence referendum and then the Brexit vote. In Scotland, the Party was happy with the result after the Independence Referendum, as the party campaigned strongly against independence, although it was estimated that 40% of Liberal Democrat voters…