Publications
All Policy Exchange publications are free to download in .pdf format. You can also purchase hard copies of the majority of our reports – check each individual report page for details.
International Trade Publications
Strengthening the UK’s position on the Backstop
Professor Guglielmo Verdirame and Richard Ekins“The UK continues to be too timid” in its negotiations with the EU over the Backstop and its relationship to the 1998 Good Friday Agreement (also known as the Belfast Agreement), says a Policy Exchange Research Note published today by Professor Guglielmo Verdirame and Professor Richard Ekins.
The ‘Backstop’ Paralysis: A Way Out
Lord BewThe Irish Backstop would “turn the Good Friday Agreement on its head”, says a Policy Exchange Briefing Note by Lord Bew of Donegore, a Crossbench peer and leading historian of Ireland.
The Irish Border and the Principle of Consent
Dr Graham Gudgin and Ray BassettIt is the EU’s Brexit position which most threatens the terms of the Good Friday Agreement.
Trading Tigers
Dr Geoff Raby and Warwick LightfootBrexit offers the opportunity to join free trade deals with fast growing economies like members of the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) – but only if the UK is free to make commitments on both goods and services, argues a new essay by Policy Exchange’s Head of Trade Policy Geoff Raby and Head of Economics Warwick Lightfoot.
Brexit and the British Growth Model
Christopher Bickerton, Warwick Lightfoot, Dr Graham Gudgin and John MillsIn this new Policy Exchange paper Brexit and the British Growth Model, Dr Christopher Bickerton of Cambridge University argues that post-Brexit we need a new approach to and understanding of economic growth which moves away from a reliance on consumption. He advocates a new social settlement to mediate the relations between individuals, the state and markets.
Brexit: Prospects for Trade and Britain’s Maritime Ports
Michael TaylorBritain’s competitive and dynamic sea ports are well placed to reap the rewards of growing trade flows in and out of the UK. Around £570 billion in trade passes through Britain’s sea ports and after Brexit this is likely to increase, argues Policy Exchange’s new report Brexit: Prospects for Trade and Britain’s Maritime Ports.
Getting Over the Line: Solutions to the Irish border
Dr Graham Gudgin and Ray BassettThe Irish border is not the insoluble obstacle to Brexit negotiations that it has been made out to be and the UK can leave the single market and customs union while preserving a frictionless border in Ireland. This can be achieved by the use of new technology and in the context of a Free Trade Agreement between the UK and EU, in an arrangement that goes beyond the Customs Partnership and in no way threatens the Good Friday Agreement.
Global Champion: The case for unilateral free trade
Warwick Lightfoot, Jonathan Dupont, Dr Geoff Raby and Michael TaylorIn a major new study, Policy Exchange argues that as the UK leaves the EU, it should unilaterally abolish all tariffs. This would reduce UK consumers’ shopping bills, increase productivity and promote global prosperity. We can also disarm the threat of a ‘No Deal’ Brexit. In the Foreword, Australian High Commissioner to London Alexander Downer said: “Trade is not a zero-sum equation. In the decades ahead all major economies should remove their tariffs and open their markets to competition. As the UK once again takes its place at the WTO it should take the opportunity lead by example and remove its tariffs.”
Global Britain, Global Solutions: How British R&D can transform international development
Jonathan DupontThis new Policy Exchange report, published today — written by Economic and Social Policy Research Fellow, Jonathan Dupont — recommends that the UK should double the proportion of its international aid budget spent on research and development, in order to solve the most pressing global challenges and support the Government’s Industrial Strategy. George Freeman MP, Chair of the Conservative Policy Forum, has written a Foreword for the report.
After Brexit: Will Ireland be next to exit?
Ray BassettIn a flagship new report for Policy Exchange, former senior Irish Ambassador Ray Bassett argues that a failure to reach a benign compromise between the EU and the UK in Brexit negotiations risks seriously damaging the Irish economy. So far, the Irish Government has sided firmly with the EU27, but Bassett believes this may be a mistake given how intimately the Irish and British economies are connected. In the event of the UK leaving the Customs Union and the Single Market, Ireland may be forced to follow suit, potentially even seeking its own “Irexit”.
