Harmonisation Harmonisation is a lovely word which has its roots in music. A harmony is defined as “the combination of simultaneously sounded musical notes to produce a pleasing effect”. The process of harmonisation in the EU is “the process of creating common standards across the internal market”. Whether the effect …

The Treasury Select Committee (TSC) has delivered its report on Brexit, or to give the full title, “The economic and financial costs and benefits of the UK’s EU membership”. The result is far reaching, leaving a few questions unanswered. At times, observers might feel that the committee has been uneven …

George Osborne, as he promised, has released a second dossier on the effects of a no vote on 23rd June. This time, the target of doom and gloom was the first two years after a Brexit vote. Sadly, Osborne decided not to attend the House of Commons to defend the …

A further report of doom and gloom after Brexit has been released, this time from the institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS), claiming the Brexit would bring two more years of austerity. Is the body of evidence from independent analysts really increasing? The IFS is a charity, based in London specialising …

One of the early claims in the referendum campaign, even before the campaign started in earnest, is that Britain is “safer IN”. Let’s have a look at these claims. There are three aspects to the claim. The first of these is militarily, the second is in terrorism, the third crime. …

The Treasury Select Committee (TSC) met on the afternoon of 11th May to question George Osborne and Treasury official, Mark Bowman over the EU Referendum campaign. The session can be seen here. For those who are unaware, select committees are broadly organised to reflect government departments. Naturally, the TSC reflects …

The debate surrounding Britain’s referendum on the EU is well under way. After making some surprising statements at the end of February and start of March, Foreign Secretary, Philip Hammond, has been surprisingly quiet. Hammond’s reputation was once that of being something of a Euroscpetic. As recently as 2013, in …

David Cameron yielded to pressure to face the Parliamentary Liaison Committee on the afternoon of 4th May. The committee Chair had previously written to express disappointment that he did not intend to face the committee. Proceedings can be seen here. Following his earlier admonition of the Leader of the opposition about …

It has been outlined before that the aim of this site is to explore arguments around the forthcoming EU referendum, helping people to make a decision based in complete information. So far, the campaign had been dominated by “official” information from the government’s position labelled as Project Fear. Exports will …

Last week George Osborne took centre stage. He started with selective quotes from Emmanuel Macron the French economy minister. Macron told us on the Andrew Marr show that there would be a price for access to the Single European Market (SEM). Macron told us some other things too. Outside, Britain would “killed” …