Research Briefing
The Autumn Budget 2017 is this Wednesday. How are the economy and public finances performing? Why are we having a budget in autumn? What’s the economic situation? Growth Economic growth has been stable but modest so far in 2017, on the back of a slowdown in consumer spending. Latest quarterly GDP growth of 0.4% in
Research Briefing
Analysis of the latest key UK and international economic indicators.
Research Briefing
The briefing sets out the background to Autumn Budget 2017 which will take place on Wednesday 22 November 2017. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) will publish revised forecasts for the economy and public finances on the same day.
Research Briefing
What happened in round five of the Brexit negotiations - the last scheduled round in phase one? Did the EU negotiator, Michel Barnier, and the other 27 EU Member State leaders think "sufficient progress" had been made in the priority areas to move on to a discussion of the UK's future relations with the EU? And what about a transition period or the possibility of a 'no deal' scenario? Has the Government planned for this? This note looks at what happened in the October round and other Brexit issues.
Research Briefing
What happened at the fourth round of Brexit negotiations from 25 to 28 September 2017? And what did Theresa May say that was so important in her speech in Florence on 22 September? Have discussions progressed sufficiently to move on to a negotiation of the UK's future trade and other relations with the EU? The EU thinks not; the UK is impatient to move on. This is what happened ...
Research Briefing
What happened at the second round of Brexit negotiations from 17 to 20 July 2017 and what have we learnt? This first phase of the negotiations aims to reach agreement on citizens' rights, the financial settlement and the border between Ireland the Northern Ireland, as well as other separation issues, such as Euratom, EU external agreements and dispute resolution. But there was little evidence of agreement on any of these, and the UK Government has been asked for more clarification at the next round. A lot is at stake, because if sufficient progress isn't made by October, the negotiations will not move on to future relations, an EU-UK trade agreement or transitional arrangements.
Research Briefing
Once the UK leaves the EU, it will no longer get most, if not all, of the EU funding it currently receives. The funding is only small in the grand scheme of things – it was less than 1% of government spending in 2016 – but there is likely to be significant scrutiny of the
Debate Pack
A debate will be held on balancing the public finances in Westminster Hall on Tuesday 11 July at 9:30am. The subject for the debate has been chosen by Mark Harper MP.
Research Briefing
Scotland and Wales will receive no additional funding as a result of the agreement reached yesterday between the Conservative Government and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). Some thought that the Barnett formula would see Scotland and Wales benefit indirectly from the agreement’s promise of financial support to Northern Ireland. The Government has stated clearly that
Research Briefing
Key Issues 2017 is a series of short briefings on the topics that will take centre stage in UK and international politics in the new Parliament. Written by impartial Commons Library specialists, these articles are designed to help the reader get up to speed quickly on issues such as; Brexit, the housing crisis, the future of devolution and much more.
Research Briefing
The deficit has come down significantly since it peaked at 10% of national income in 2009-10. In 2016-17 it was 2.5% of national income, similar to the level it was prior to the 2007-2008 financial crisis. But this is still higher than the historical average. Since the crisis, large deficits have led to a significant
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