Press

In an invaluable new paper Sam Lowe looks in detail at the kind of alternative arrangements that would be needed to keep the Border free of physical infrastructure and associated checks after Brexit.He points out that, even if efficient systems of online predeclaration of goods, trusted trader schemes and tracking technology are developed, some checks will still be necessary away from the Border. And any system would require an intensification in anti-smuggling measures near the Border, either through intelligence-led policing or electronic surveillance.

“To meet the challenges that lie ahead — a weakening eurozone economy and a potential debt crisis in Italy — the ECB will need to implement bolder monetary policy than seen to date,” said Christian Odendahl of the Centre for European Reform think-tank. “The eurozone needs someone bolder than Draghi — not a conservative like Weidmann.”

"I think the first thing that we're going to see is a clarification of Labour's position on Brexit," said Camino Mortera-Martinez, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform. "They cannot sit on the fence any longer. They might finally become the party of remain and the second referendum."

The Centre for European Reform estimates that exiting the European single market could reduce U.K. exports of financial services to the EU by as much as 59%, slash insurance and pensions services exports by 19%, and lead to a 10% drop for other service export sectors including law, accountancy and professional services.