Government ‘Guarantee’ post-EU funds after Brexit occurs

SOURCE: BBC

It has been announced today that EU funding, which the UK receives as a member that will consequently be lost after Brexit occurs, given to organisations involving farming, scientists and others, will be replaced by the Treasury, Chancellor Philip Hammond has said.

Brexit could cost up to £6bn a year in losses of funding, but the Treasury will guarantee to back EU-funded projects signed before this year’s Autumn Statement.

The BBC have stated that agricultural funding which is now provided by the EU will also continue until 2020.

However, critics said the guarantee does not go far enough and there was ‘continued uncertainty’.

Voters ultimately backed to leave the EU in the 23 June referendum by 3.8%, but Prime Minister Theresa May has indicated the UK government will not trigger Article 50, which would begin a two-year process to leave, during 2016.

Furthermore, Mr Hammond has said “EU structural and investment fund projects signed before the Autumn Statement later this year, and Horizon research funding granted before leaving the EU, will be guaranteed by the Treasury after the UK leaves.”

The BBC have also said ‘the EU’s 80bn euro (£69bn) Horizon 2020 programme awards funding for research and innovation and is open to UK institutions while the country remains a member.’

The chancellor responded to critics by saying the government was “determined to ensure that people have stability and certainty in the period leading up to our departure from the EU”.

The Treasury said it would assess whether to guarantee funding for certain other projects “that might be signed after the Autumn Statement, but while we remain a member of the EU”.

Currently, farmers receive subsidies and other payments under the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

It’s said that they get about £3bn a year in subsidies, with the biggest farmers pocketing cheques of £1m. The grants are given for owning land and also taking care of wildlife.

The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) said the Treasury’s announcement was “positive” for farming.

Other examples of projects that have received, or are due to receive regional development fund money, include:

• £5m for the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre at the University of Manchester
• £9m for the manufacturing growth programme to support areas in the Midlands, Yorkshire and the Humber and the East of England
• £3m for a new life sciences incubation and innovation centre at Porton Down in Wiltshire

(BBC 2016)

Reportedly, the UK currently pays money into the EU budget, which will stop once it formally leaves.

In 2015 the UK Government paid in £13bn; EU spending on the UK was £4.5bn, meaning the UK’s net contribution was estimated at about £8.5bn, or £161m a week.

The UK private sector receives a further £1-1.5bn annually in EU funding.

What do you make of the Governments post-EU promisees?

Is the affordable for the UK to do? Will this mean Taxation and further Austerity cuts? Are these promises realistic?

Comment below your views on the post-EU funding plans

The UK interest rates are cut to 0.25%

SOURCE: BBC

It was announced recently that the UK interest rates have now been cut from 0.5% to 0.25% by the Bank of England, which is a record low and the first cut since 2009.

Furthermore, the Bank of England has also signalled that rates could go lower if the economy worsens.

The BBC have stated that the Bank of England has also announced that ‘additional measures to stimulate the UK economy, including a £100bn scheme to force banks to pass on the low interest rate to households and businesses.’

It’s said that it will also buy £60bn of UK government bonds and £10bn of corporate bonds.

Governor Mark Carney said there was scope to cut the interest rate further.

He said that a majority of the nine-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) backed another cut if subsequent data showed the economy was deteriorating.

The governor additionally stated that banks have ‘no excuse’ not to pass on the lower borrowing costs to customers and will be charged a penalty if they fail to do so.

“The MPC is determined that the stimulus the economy needs does not get diluted as it passes through the financial system” – Governor Carney.

The Bank also announced the biggest cut to its growth forecasts since it started making them in 1993.

It has reduced its growth prediction for 2017 from the 2.3% it was expecting in May to 0.8%.

Mr Carney that the decision to leave the EU marked a ‘regime change’ in which the UK would “redefine its openness to the movements of goods, services, people and capital”.

How will the Interests rates effect you?

Here is a link  by the BBC that runs over a few things.

Here is a breakdown to what they think.

Mortgages

They claim that a mortgage is by “far the biggest debt taken on by the majority of households in the UK.”

It’s said that an estimated ‘11.1 million households have one.’ The typical amount still left to pay on each home loan in the UK is £116,000, according to the Council for Mortgage Lenders.

Some Banks have quickly announced that they would “pass the cut on in full from September, with others expected to follow suit.” The BBC have also said that a “separate scheme announced by the Bank – called the Term Funding Scheme – is designed to ensure that banks pass on the rate cut.”

There are those on fixed rate mortgages – equating to nearly half (46%) of all mortgage holders.

They will see no change. However, if their mortgage term is up soon, they may find they pay less if and when they sign up to a new one. Fixed mortgage rates on new deals have been falling – even when there was no change to the Bank rate.

An increasing number of people have signed up to longer term fixed rate deals – locking them in for up to 10 years. For them, this change is fairly irrelevant.

Savings

The BBC supposedly say that the theory of a Bank rate cut is that “consumers see a cut in their mortgage bill, and a worsening return on their savings, so they go out and spend.” Hence, there is a boost to the economy and the same goes for businesses who will be more minded to invest.

That is the relatively simplistic explanation but it does make it clear that a Bank rate cut is bad for savers.

So overall as an example, “for anyone with £10,000 saved in such an account, they will receive £40 a year in gross interest, which is £25 less than before the cut.”

Pensions

The Bank of England also added further stimulus measures to the rate cut – namely, the purchase of government and corporate bonds. So as the BBC state, this will have no effect on the state pension.

It will, however, add extra pressure on the deficits facing defined benefit pension schemes, such as final-salary pensions, putting increased pressure on businesses to plug that gap or reduce the availability of such pensions.

Holiday money

The decision by the Bank of England has led to a fall in the value of the pound, meaning exchange rates will be more expensive.

What do you make of the BBC’s articles and the interest rate cuts?

Is this all due to the aftermath of Brexit? Will cutting interest rates help stabilise the economy? Do you think that interest rates will fall further?

Comment below your views on the interest rates cut and the BBC’s articles below

G20 announce that Global Economic Risks have ‘heightened’ due to Brexit

SOURCE: BBC

After the UK’s vote to leave the European Union, risks to the world economy have heightened, according to the global finance chiefs at the end of the G20 summit in China.

The outcome of last month’s EU referendum ‘adds to the uncertainty’ for the global economy, the group of the world’s 20 largest economies further said.

“In the future, we hope to see the UK as a close partner of the EU,” the G20 collectively said.

The UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond revealed the subject had come up ‘a great deal’ at the two-day talks.

“The reality is there will be a measure of uncertainty continuing right up to the conclusion of our negotiations with the EU,” Philip Hammond told reporters.

Following the meeting in the Chinese city of Chengdu, the G20 group said it was well placed to actively cope with the potential economic and financial impact from the Brexit vote.

However, despite the threats the G20 agreed that despite the Brexit vote, the global economy ‘would improve in 2016 and 2017’, Mr Weidmann (the president of Germany’s central bank) said.

Separately, G20 policymakers said they recognised that excess steel supply was a global issue.

The excess capacity of steel has had a negative impact on trade and workers and requires a collective response, they said.

It was also announced that Britain’s decision to leave the EU has led to a ‘dramatic deterioration’ in economic activity, not seen since the aftermath of the financial crisis.

Data from IHS Markit’s Purchasing Managers’ Index, or PMI, shows a fall to 47.7 in July, the lowest level since April in 2009. A reading below 50 indicates contraction.

What do you make of these announcements by the G20? 

Has the Brexit warnings by the Stronger In campaigners become a fact? Will the economy suffer heavily from a brexit? If so, will it be able to grow again by 2017?

Comment below your views on Brexit’s outcomes and a potential global economy suffering the G20 have announced as a result of brexit

Top bosses move to back Remain ahead of EU vote

Source: BBC

In an article by the BBC, it’s reported that top bosses including Sir Richard Branson, the Premier League chair and car industry executives have backed Remain ahead of Thursday’s EU vote.

Football:

Premier League chair Richard Scudamore said the 20 clubs in the top tier wanted to remain and that leaving would be “incongruous” in the context of the league’s commitment to “openness”.

Mr Scudamore further stated in a BBC Radio 5 live interview that leaving would be “incongruous” in the context of the league’s commitment to “openness”.

“There is an openness about the Premier League which I think it would be completely incongruous if we were to take the opposite position,” he said.

Entrepreneurs: 

Meanwhile, Sir Richard Branson has warned a British exit from the EU would be “devastating” for the UK’s long-term prosperity.

Sir Branson, who has long backed the Remain campaign, wrote an open letter, recalling “how difficult it was” for businesses to operate effectively before the EU, adding he was “saddened” at the prospect of returning to those days.

Car Industries:

Car industry trade bodies and the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders’ (SMMT), warned leaving the EU would increase costs and threaten jobs.

“Remaining will allow the UK to retain the influence on which the unique and successful UK automotive sector depends,” said chief executive Mike Hawes.

Directors at Toyota UK, Vauxhall, Jaguar Land Rover and BMW, as well as from component makers GKN and Magal Engineering, also voiced their support.

Soft Drinks Companies:

Drinks giant Diageo’s chief executive Ivan Menezes wrote to the company’s 4,773 UK employees, telling them that it would be “better for the UK, better for Diageo and better for the Scotch whisky industry that we remain in”.

Mr Menezes said Diageo benefited from ease of access to the European single market, as well as trade deals that the EU had negotiated with the rest of the world.

Backlash?

John Longworth, chair of Vote Leave business council, said the UK would be better off outside the EU.

“The single market isn’t a nirvana, it’s a mirage. The single market’s a protectionist area.

What do you make of this recent report?

Will this effect the voting polls knowing major Companies/individuals are remain minded? Can Vote Leave tackle the issues that these global companies/individuals are saying? How will the referendum turn out on the 23rd, a remain or leave result?

Comment Below YOUR views on Stronger In’s backing companies/individuals views. 

 

IMF says EU exit ‘largest near-term risk’ to British economy

Source: BBC

In a recent BBC business article, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that a ”UK exit from the European Union (EU) could mean the UK misses out on up to 5.6% of GDP growth by 2019”

They (IMF) further state that a Brexit is the “largest near-term risk” to the UK economy, during the IMF’s annual UK economic outlook.

It added during the gathering that the “net economic effects would probably be ‘negative’ and ‘substantial.”

However, the Economists for the Brexit campaign state the “consensus that a UK exit would be bad for the economy was ‘based on flawed EU-centric models’.”

The IMF advisedly say that under its least adverse scenario for Brexit, by 2019 UK GDP would be 1.4% below what it would be should the UK vote to stay in the EU.

Its most adverse Brexit scenario predicts 2019 growth 5.6% below what it would otherwise have been, and also a drop in GDP in 2017 of 0.8%, which an IMF official described as a “recession”.

Under this scenario the UK would return to GDP growth of 2.9% in 2021. But the UK would have missed out on 4.5% of growth by then, according to the IMF.

‘Substantial Brexit costs’

Following a Brexit, the IMF finally said the UK would have to negotiate new trade terms with the EU if it wanted to stay in the single market.

If not, the UK could rely on World Trade Organisation rules, but this would ‘significantly raise trade barriers’, believe the IMF.

What do you make of the IMF brexit warning? Will the UK suffer economic consequences if it were to leave the EU? Will Brexit be able to negotiate trade deals quickly? 

Comment below YOUR views of the IMF’s Brexit warning 

EU referendum: Vote Leave sets out post-Brexit plans

Source: BBC, Sky

Vote Leave campaigners have recently set out a ‘roadmap’ for the UK to ‘take back control’ if it votes to leave the EU. The following is taken from BBC news.

Vote Leave believe Parliament should act to end free movement and curb the power of EU courts however, the government has warned of a ‘decade of uncertainty’ as the UK attempts to disentangle itself from Brussels and form new trade deals.

Vote Leave said a new settlement – including a UK-EU free trade deal – would be possible by May 2020.

Vote Leave have also said in the BBC article that the government should ‘invite figures from other parties, business, the law and civil society to join the negotiating team to “get a good deal in the national interest”.’

It called for immediate legislation in the current session of Parliament to “end the European Court of Justice’s control over national security and allow the government to deport criminals from the EU”.

Leader of the House of Commons and Vote Leave campaigner Chris Grayling has outlined in a BBC interview that: “After we vote Leave, the public need to see that there is immediate action to take back control from the EU”.

Furthermore, he claims “We will need a carefully managed negotiation process and some major legislative changes before 2020, including taking real steps to limit immigration, to abolish VAT on fuel and tampons, and to end the situation where an international court can tell us who we can and cannot deport.”

So what are vote leaves main ideas if the UK were to leave the EU?

Over subsequent sessions of Parliament it wanted to introduce:

• Finance Bill – This would abolish the 5% rate of VAT on household energy bills by amending the Value Added Tax Act 1994. It would be paid for by savings from the UK’s contributions to the EU budget, Vote Leave said
• National Health Service (Funding Target) Bill – The NHS would receive a £100m per week real-terms cash “transfusion”, to be paid for by savings from leaving the EU
• Asylum and Immigration Control Bill – “To end the automatic right of all EU citizens to enter the UK”
• Free Trade Bill – The UK leaves the EU’s “common commercial policy” to “restore the UK government’s power to control its own trade policy”
• European Communities Act 1972 (Repeal) Bill – The European Communities Act 1972, “the legal basis for the supremacy of EU law in the UK”, will be repealed. “The EU Treaties will cease to form part of UK law and the European Court’s jurisdiction over the UK will end,” said Vote Leave.

What do you make of these outlines plans by Brexiters? 

Are these realistic goals to achieve? Can the UK afford to wait until 2020 to negotiate a UK-EU trade deal if one can be achieved? Will the NHS be ‘saved’ if the UK were to leave the EU?

Here’s what David Cameron’s idea of a UK in a ‘Reformed European Union’ would like.

Comment below YOUR views of Vote Leaves ideas and where you stand in the European Referendum.

EU referendum: Sir James Dyson says Britain better off out

Source: BBC, Telegraph

A big player in the vote for leave has recently come out, with the head of Dyson industries and billionaire Sir James Dyson announcing he is voting for Brexit.

The BBC have published that the inventor said the idea that Britain could not trade successfully outside the EU was “absolute cobblers”.

He said the single market did not work because exporters had to adapt products like his to cater for different languages and different types of plugs.

Britain Stronger in Europe said: “James Dyson wanted the UK to join the euro. He was wrong then and he is wrong now.”

Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, Sir James, who is best known for designing a bagless vacuum cleaner, said the UK “will create more wealth and more jobs by being outside the EU than we will within it”.

What’s your view of James Dyson’s Brexit remarks?

Will the UK be better off outside the EU? Will the UK adapt quickly to life outside the EU? Will the UK be able to negotiate trade agreements and migration barriers quickly?

Comment below YOUR views about the possible UK Brexit and the consequences of leaving the EU. 

Stronger In: Voice YOUR views on Britain Stronger in Europe’s Campaign

Official Website: http://www.strongerin.co.uk/

This specific blog aims to allow you to simply voice your views about the Europhile Campaigners Britain Stronger in Europe. Stronger In are headed by individuals such as the UK Prime Minister David Cameron (Conservatives), Chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne (Conservatives) and Leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn. 

Britain Stronger in Europe mainly argue the following key points as to why the UK should remain in the European Union.

• The EU allows for better security and citizen protection via its policies and working together with the other 27 EU states. It relates to boosting the UK defence industry. 
• The UK expenditure given to the EU allows the UK to access the EU’s Free Trade Market. This allows for a no tariff or taxation process to occur when importing, exchanging and transporting products to other EU states, which ultimately keeps prices low and reduces VAT. 
• Migration and Immigration allow the UK Economy to grow due to skilled workers and laboured jobs being filled and worked at efficiently.
• They argue over 200,000 UK businesses trade with the EU, so leaving would potentially effect the way these businesses are run and could see many close or go bankrupt.
• The last key point they have is the high number of economists who give warnings of a Brexit, due to the potential negative economic consequences of this occurring which includes the IMF. 

These are the main points from the Stronger In campaign as to why the UK should remain in the EU, which is mainly focussed upon the negative Economic consequences that  could occur if Britain were to leave the EU.

So what’s your view of the Stronger In campaigning and are their arguments valid and solid enough to sway you to vote for them?

Comment Below YOUR views on Britain Stronger in Europe’s campaigning and Remain arguments.

Brexit: Voice YOUR views on Vote Leave’s Campaign

Official Website: http://www.voteleavetakecontrol.org/

This specific blog aims to allow you to simply voice your views about the Eurosceptic Campaigners Vote Leave. Vote Leave are headed by individuals such as the Justice Minister Michael Gove (Conservatives), former London Mayor Boris Johnson MP (Conservatives) and a helping hand from UKIP leader and head of the defunct Grassroots Out Campaign Nigel Farage MEP. 

Vote Leave mainly argue the following key points as to why the UK should Leave the European Union.

• Britain Pays £350 million every week to the EU which amounts to the cost of facilitating and building a new hospital.
• They argue that Five new nations want to join the EU with a total up too 89 million potential new migrants and immigrants allowed to come to work and live in the UK. The nations are as follows: (Population in Brackets)

1. Albania (2.8 million)
2. Montenegro (600,000)
3. Macedonia (2.1 million)
4. Turkey (76 million)
5. Serbia (7.2 million)

• The EU overrules UK Laws: Vote Leave suggests that UK laws are ‘dictated’ by the EU that stops the British public being able to vote out the politicians who make european laws.
• Vote Leave claim that the UK can still trade within the EU and tap into the european market just like Norway.
• UK Sovereignty is lowered because Vote Leave argues the UK has lost its power and law making abilities to govern its own state.

These respective points outline the key arguments from the Vote Leave campaign, focusing on mainly the negatives of Immigration and decreased Sovereignty showing why the UK is better off outside the EU.

So what’s your view of the Brexit campaigning and are their arguments valid and solid enough to sway you to vote for them?

Comment Below YOUR views on Vote Leave and Brexit arguments.

ITV debate: Farage and Cameron face EU questions: The Overview

Source: BBC

Last night saw a Referendum ‘grilling’ from a live audience towards the Eurosceptic leave campaigner Nigel Farage and the Europhile remain campaigner, the Prime Minister David Cameron. 

During the TV debate, Nigel Farage has said he has been “demonised” for his views on immigration as he and David Cameron faced questions in a live EU TV debate.

The UKIP leader faced accusations of “inflammatory” scaremongering during exchanges with members of the public.

But he insisted there was wide support for “getting a grip” on migration, including from ethnic minority groups.

The PM David Cameron said there were “good and bad ways” to control immigration but warned against a “Little England” stance.

Mr Farage and Mr Cameron did not debate head-to-head but appeared in turn on the ITV referendum special – hosted by Julie Etchingham – each facing half-an-hour of questions on the economy, immigration, security and sovereignty from the 200-strong audience.

So, what did they argue?

Nigel Farage 

According to the BBC, UKIP leader Nigel Farage, who was making the case for the UK to leave the EU, argued the 28-member union was “done for” economically and that even if UK firms had tariffs imposed on them after leaving, this would cost less than the amount the UK was currently giving to Brussels.

“No deal is better than the rotten deal that we have at the moment,” he said.

Furthermore, he pressed on the Leave campaign’s plans to stop EU migrants having the automatic right to live and work in the UK, Mr Farage said he accepted that migrants did make a contribution to the UK economy but “the real truth is that there is more to life than GDP” and the reality was that “ordinary decent Britons” had had “a rotten time” in recent years.

David Cameron

The BBC quote that when addressing the same audience, Mr Cameron outlined he was ‘frustrated’ by the EU, but this was not a justification for walking away, saying he wanted to lead a country that was a “fighter not a quitter”.

“The right thing to do is to fight for a great Britain in the EU and not take the Little England option of Nigel Farage,” he said.

He argued there was a growing consensus that a vote to leave the UK would “put jobs at risk and shrink the economy”, criticising Mr Farage for downplaying the economic arguments.

“GDP is the size of our economy. It is the combination of all the wealth our country creates. He (Farage) is basically saying it doesn’t really matter. He is so keen to get us out of Europe that he is prepared to sacrifice jobs and growth along the way.”

What’s YOUR view of the debate and the respective arguments?

Who was stronger during the live ITV debate? Who’s arguments were more encouraging for the UK to vote for? Who is leading in the Referendum race in your view, Remain or Leave?

Comment below your views on the debate and general Referendum arguments