Tag Brexit

Marmalade skies

Apparently, one of the bigger Brexiteer bugbears has been the belief that a Briton could be criminally prosecuted for breaking the EU directive on the production and sale of marmalade, jam and other preserves (Council Directive 2001/113/EC) – and, crucially,…

“The leading publicist for the referendum”

Neal Ascherson wrote in the New York Review of Books in 2017: The parliamentary sovereignty dogma was enshrined by the great Victorian jurist A.V. Dicey. But, funnily enough, Dicey changed his mind about referendums at the end of his life.…

A filibuster in Hungary?

If my calculations are correct, 37.4% of the eligible voters voted for Brexit in June and 39.7% of the eligible voters voted for Orbán’s immigration proposal last Sunday. However, the turnout for the Brexit referendum was 72%, with 52% voting…

Dublin or Amsterdam?

At first glance, it seems that Ireland would be the natural domicile for companies wishing to move their addresses from Britain. In particular, Dublin should be in a position to take in refugees from the City. It speaks English and,…

What was wrong with the polls?

The Financial Times’ latest poll of polls had a Remain-Leave-Undecided ratio of 48%-46%-6%. The Economist’s tracker had 44%-44%-9% (not sure where the missing 3% went). The actual vote went 52%-48% for Leave. Were the polls misleading or misinterpreted? First, the…

“Weapons-grade solipsism”

My superficial impression of the Brexit controversy – which I tried to express in two words in a comment to this post – is of a high downside-to-upside ratio. Lots to lose and not much to gain. Of course it…

Not in thrall to Gazprom (yet)

A follow-up to Thursday’s post on Gazprom and the UK. Reuters sounded alarmist when it reported in 2015: Russia provides around 30 percent of the EU’s gas and a single supply deal signed last year by Britain’s biggest energy supplier Centrica meant…