Post-Brexit UK Must Choose: America or Europe?

Sep 19, 2025 | Brendan Donnelly and John Stevens discuss the choice post-Brexit Britain must make between Europe and America. They predict that the UK will opt for Europe in the medium to long term, despite the short term attractions of the “special relationship.

SPEAKERS:
John Stevens is the Chairman of the Federal Trust and a former Conservative MEP.
Brendan Donnelly is the former Director of the Federal Trust and a former Conservative MEP.

ABOUT THE FEDERAL TRUST:
The Federal Trust is a research institute studying regional, national, European and global levels of government. It has always had a particular interest in the European Union and Britain’s place in it. The Federal Trust has no allegiance to any political party. It is registered as a charity for the purposes of education and research.


The FEDERAL TRUST can be supported on Patreon here.

Europe Braces for Trump: ‘Worst Economic Nightmare Has Come True’

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The United States is the biggest trading partner for the European Union and Britain, whose economies could be at risk from the president-elect’s policies.

The outlook for Europe’s economy has been disappointing.

Last week — after Donald J. Trump’s presidential election — it got worse.

Deep uncertainty about the Trump administration’s policies on trade, technology, Ukraine, climate change and more is expected to chill investment and hamstring growth. The launch of a possible tariff war by the United States, the biggest trading partner and closest ally of the European Union and Britain, would hammer major industries like automobiles, pharmaceuticals and machinery.

And the need to raise military spending because of doubts about America’s guarantees in Europe would further strain national budgets and increase deficits. In addition, the president-elect’s more confrontational attitude toward China could pressure Europe to pick sides or face retribution. » | Patricia Cohen | Patricia Cohen covers the global economy from London. | Tuesday, November 12, 2024

Almost 700,000 Driven into Poverty by Covid Crisis in UK, Study Finds

THE GUARDIAN: Total includes 120,000 children, according to thinktank that is calling for anti-poverty strategy

Almost 700,000 people in the UK, including 120,000 children, have been plunged into poverty as a result of the Covid economic crisis, according to a thinktank analysis.

The Legatum Institute also said an additional 700,000 people had been prevented from falling below the breadline by the chancellor’s temporary £20-a-week boost to universal credit, introduced in April to help claimants cope with the extra costs of the pandemic.

Overall, the pandemic has pushed the total number of people in the UK living in poverty to more than 15 million – 23% of the population – according to the institute, which uses poverty measures developed by the independent Social Metrics Commission. » | Patrick Butler, Social policy editor | Monday, November 30, 2020

The UK Is One of the Most Corrupt Nations on Earth

THE GUARDIAN: Fortunes are being made by political favourites, while Brexit could cement London’s reputation for money laundering

Fear, shame, embarrassment: these brakes no longer apply. The government has discovered that it can bluster through any scandal. No minister need resign. No one need apologise. No one need explain.

As public outrage grows over the billions of pounds of coronavirus contracts issued by the government without competition, it seems determined only to award more of them. Never mind that the consulting company Deloitte, whose personnel circulate in and out of government, has been strongly criticised for the disastrous system it devised to supply protective equipment to the NHS. It has now been granted a massive new contract to test the population for Covid-19. » | George Monbiot | Thursday, September 10, 2020

Cummings ally's PR firm given Covid-19 contracts without tenders »

40 Years after Thatcher: Inequality in the UK – BBC Newsnight

Forty years after Margaret Thatcher came to power, is the UK once again on the brink of a sea change?

In the final of a series of three films about the direction of the UK, our economics editor Ben Chu looks at the issue of inequality.

He visits Cambridge, home to Silicon Fen, and is joined by Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, chief secretary to the Treasury Liz Truss and former Bank of England governor Lord King.

Brexit vs the World: Is Britain Too Self-obsessed?

As the Brexit process treads water, we've decided to stand back and ask: does Brexit matter in the big scheme of things? Is it virtually irrelevant beside the forces that are shaping our changing world? Gary Gibbon chats to Peter Frankopan, Oxford professor of global history and author of the best-selling The Silk Roads and The New Silk Roads.

Austerity Push: Britons Struggle with High Hidden Debt

Consumer debt has hit record levels in the UK with many borrowing to cover basic necessities like rent and utility bills. And new information's now come to light, revealing the problem affects far more people than previously thought, as RT's Laura Smith now reports

Venture Capital: Muslim Money & Extending Bitcoin Influence

Britain is seeking money from the Middle East in its ambition to become the first country outside of the Muslim world to offer an Islamic Bond - Katie Pilbeam asks London based Market Strategist Ishaq Siddiqi if this is the way forward for the finance hub. The first ever Bitcoin ATM went live this week in a café in Vancouver, Canada. Does this breakthrough mean that the controversial coin is finally fighting off its critics - Katie asks Moscow based economist Dr William Wilson and Buenos Aires based expert Daniel Bruno for their view on the virtual currency to get a global perspective. Plus the World Bank props up Russia in its annual 'Doing Business' report, but there's still a long way to go, corporate news and the loveable in-house investor Sean Thomas reveals the latest results of his rather unique style of trading on the ever volatile Russian stock market.

George Osborne: ‘Second-rate Britain’ Needs to Be More Like China

George Osborne in China

THE INDEPENDENT: Chancellor dismisses suggestions that China has a 'sweatshop' economy and wishes Britain would be more like the communist country

Britain is no longer great, is defeatist and unambitious and needs to be more like China, the Chancellor has said.

In an astonishing trashing of his country’s attitudes, George Osborne added that Britain had lost its “can do” approach and had been relegated to the status of a “second-rate power”.

He was speaking at the end of a five-day trip to China in which he had been awed by the speed and scale of China’s economic development.

Dismissing suggestions that China has a “sweatshop” economy, he said he wished Britain would be more like the communist country.

“I also feel a bit like, my God, we’ve really got to up our game as a country, and the whole of the West has to understand what is happening here in Asia,” the Daily Telegraph reported him as saying. » | Lewis Smith | Friday, October 18, 2013

Good News – Foreigners Are Buying Up Britain

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The present phase of globalisation is painful for the West, but we should see it through

Part of the anger many consumers feel about rising energy bills – opportunistically tapped into by the Labour leadership this week – is that foreigners are partly responsible. Since privatisation, Britain’s gas and electricity supply industry has become substantially foreign-owned. To the bogeyman of supposed profiteering can therefore be added a further demon – that of remote foreign ownership with no loyalty to these shores or interest in their economic wellbeing.

Twenty years ago, less than a fifth of the UK stock market was foreign-owned; new figures published by the Office for National Statistics show that the proportion has risen to 53.2 per cent, up nearly 10 percentage points in just three years. For the first time in history, UK plc is majority‑owned by foreigners.

What with the Asian invasion of London’s housing market, it sometimes seems the entire country is under the hammer. The recent Chinese purchase of the iconic Lloyd’s of London building in the City, and the Sunseeker yacht business in Poole, is further evidence of this mass sale of national silverware.

On one level, these trends should be viewed positively, for they demonstrate an economy of almost unparalleled openness and welcome. The rule of law, economic and political stability, and a still relatively competitive tax system make Britain attractive to foreign investment. It was these virtues that Labour’s Ed Miliband put at risk this week with his ill-thought-out wealth grab.

Yet there is also a more negative side to the story, for burgeoning foreign ownership is only the flip side of a persistent current account deficit – Britain ran a deficit of a massive 5.5 per cent of GDP in the first quarter of this year. So much for the economic recovery; it’s happening all right, but it is also based as much on a continued propensity to live well beyond our means as it is on the solid foundations of rising productivity and enhanced competitiveness. » | Jeremy Warner | Thursday, September 26, 2013

My comment:

Have you not heard the old saying: He who pays the piper calls the tune? Only a fool would think it a good thing that foreigners are buying up Britain. What good can possibly ever come of that?

The British political élite behave like prostitutes: They prostitute themselves; they prostitute the country's assets; they prostitute the country – and leave the rest of us like slaves to foreign powers.

This is a disgraceful situation. It is a situation which even a bright child in junior school would be able to understand as being stupid. Yet the powers-that-be do not. Incredible!

What happens if a major war broke out? We wouldn't be in control of our country: We wouldn't be in control of the water supply; we wouldn't be in control of the power supplies; and now, it seems, we won't be in control even of our money supply. And you, Mr. Warner, call this a good thing? Where did you study your economics, your history? Naïveté is a mild word for this nonsense.

Look at the successful countries in Europe: Germany and Switzerland as perfect examples. Do you think the Germans or Swiss would allow this? Go try and buy a property in Switzerland and see what restrictions apply. It will be an eye-opener for you.

I am tired of being governed by nitwits. I am tired of my country being driven into the ground. I am tired of my country being raped. And if I ask myself if I am proud to be British, my answer is not really. I used to be, for sure. But there is little left to be proud of. The country has been brought to its knees. And it will be all even worse from here on in. Rule Britannia? I don't think so. It can no longer rule itself, still less the waves. – © Mark

This comment appears here too.

One in Three Britons Struggling to Feed Themselves

THE INDEPENDENT: A Which? survey out today reveals that rising grocery bills are causing real hardship

The rise in the price of food is an extra source of stress for households who are already struggling to make ends meet, new research has revealed.

A survey by the consumer group Which? shows that as incomes stagnate, eight in 10 people in Britain are concerned that food is too expensive, and more than half worry about how they will pay for their groceries in the future if prices continue to climb.

The findings come at a time when the cost of food has grown over and above general inflation by 12.6 percentage points over the last six years, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Since last year, the price of food and alcoholic drinks rose by 3.9 per cent on average. However, in the same period, incomes rose by only 2.1 per cent, with three-quarters of consumers saying their income has stayed the same or decreased in the last year. The result of this is that three in 10 people now struggle to feed themselves or their family. » | Kashmiri Gander | Sunday, September 22, 2013

Most of Us Will Have to Work until We Drop

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The idea of a long and happy retirement is a myth for all but a minority of people, a stark new official analysis of the nation’s health suggests.

New projections by the Office for National Statistics show that in many parts of the country even future generations will see their health effectively broken long before they reach pension age.

In some areas an average baby born today can expect to see their health deteriorate irrevocably up to 10 years before they are due to retire.

Even when wide regional variations are taken into account, the average so-called “healthy life expectancy” – the length of time people would normally expect to lead a full and active life – in England is below the state pension age.

It calls into the question one of the strongest arguments for increasing the retirement age: that because people are living longer than in the past they should also have to work longer.

But the report also exposes a dramatic divide between north and south as well as the wealthiest and poorest neighbourhoods.

Children in the some better-off areas can now expect to remain fit and healthy as much as 18 years longer than their poorer counterparts. Read on and comment » | John Bingham, Social Affairs Editor | Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Powerless Part-timers: Zero Hour Contract Growth Sparks Anger in UK

Desperate for any kind of job, low-paid workers in the UK are being caught in the trap of what's become known as zero hour contracts. RT's Polly Boiko looks at a world where employment doesn't mean there's any work ... or any money.

Bequest to Nation Worth £350 Million Lies Untouched

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: An anonymous bequest intended to help Britain's finances has lain untouched since 1928 and is now worth some £350 million.

The unknown donor set up the National Fund some 85 years ago with a donation of £500,000 - a huge sum at the time which corresponds to £26.6 million in today's prices.

However, it has grown sevenfold and is now effectively the 30th largest charity in Britain by net assets, making it bigger than the Royal British Legion, the Financial Times reported.

The original donor, possibly responding to a request from the government in 1919 for voluntary donations from the rich to help pay off Britain's First World War debts, specified that the money should be placed in trust until the country had collected enough money to pay off the entire national debt - which now stands at £1.2 trillion.

However, the donor said trustees could use part of the funds to pay down the debt if "in their opinion at any time or times national exigencies [should] require." » | Patrick Hennessy | Saturday, August 17, 2013

Riots to Repeat? 'UK Failed to Respond to Needs that Caused 2011 Unrest'

Two years since violent riots rocked London and other cities and towns across the UK - and Britain's youth still feels left behind. With the government pressing on with cuts, thousands of young people are falling into long-term joblessness. RT's Sara Firth met a young Brit, who took part in the riots two years ago, to find out if anything's changed.

Insult to Injury: UK's Disabled Must 'Prove' Handicaps to Get Benefits
Life as a disabled person in Britain could soon become a lot harder. They're now being asked to prove, face to face, that they deserve the help that until recently had been taken for granted.

UK Faces Fitch Downgrade Over Debt Levels
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Britain's credit rating faces another downgrade in the next month after Fitch warned it is reviewing the country's "AAA" status in the wake of the Budget.

The agency warned that there is a "heightened probability of a downgrade" as it conducts a review of the rating by the end of April.

Fitch said its decision to put the UK on a "negative watch" was because Britain's debt will now be bigger than Chancellor George Osborne first forecast and is taking longer to bring under control. » | Andrew Trotman, and agencies | Friday, March 22, 2013

Britain’s Secret Shoppers
Watch the Channel 4 programme here

Knights of Malta to Open Soup Kitchens in Britain

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: They were once warrior monks who tended to fallen crusaders and sick Christian pilgrims amid the burning desert scrub of the Holy Land.

But nearly 1,000 years later, the Knights of Malta, once known as the Hospitallers, are opening soup kitchens and shelters across Britain and the rest of Europe in response to rising poverty and homelessness caused by the economic crisis.

The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and Malta – as the chivalric order is officially known – is this week celebrating 900 years since it was given official recognition by the Vatican, with a 'bull' or decree issued by Pope Paschal II in 1113, in the midst of the crusades.

The order's 98,000 members and volunteers, who long ago swapped their chain mail and tunics for doctor's coats and emergency worker overalls.

They have traditionally provided humanitarian help in war zones, earthquakes and floods around the world, from Congo and Rwanda to Haiti and Afghanistan.

But they are now concentrating more and more on Europe, as austerity cuts and a deep recession swell the ranks of the jobless, the homeless and the drug-dependant. » | Nick Squires, Rome | Tuesday, February 05, 2013

UK's Rich Increase Stake in Economic Pie
The wealth of the richest people in the UK has increased compared to last year, according to British newspaper the Sunday Times