Rebalancing UK regional and industrial policy post-Brexit and post-Covid-19: lessons learned and priorities for the future

In this paper, we examine the challenges and opportunities facing the UK's industrial and regional policy in the context of the policy decisions made over recent decades. We argue that the overly centralized and sectoral logic of the UK governance systems has led to a lack of clarity in thinking through place-based issues. This, in turn, has resulted in policy ambiguity, confusion and contradictions, and successfully moving industrial policy and regional policy forward post-Brexit can only take place if conceptual and operational clarity is brought to these matters.

'Brexit put us in the Fridge, Covid in the Freezer': The Impact of Covid-19 and Brexit on UK Freelance Dance Artists

This article investigates how Covid-19 and Brexit have impacted the practices, finances and wellbeing of UK dance professionals, drawing on first-hand data collected in early 2021 from interviews, questionnaires and a panel discussion. The testimonies of freelance practitioners from different backgrounds, as well as key stakeholders from national institutions and organisations employing or otherwise interacting with freelancers, present bottom-up insights from the scene. Our research project more specifically explored the ramifications of the pandemic and Brexit, and the impact of these crises on the diversity of the UK dance scene (broadly construed). The voices and findings presented are framed by a discussion of the economic and political infrastructure of the so-called 'creative industries' in the country, with particular attention to the freelance creative labour model, risk and precarity. The article concludes by proposing a politics of small resistive steps which might help to mitigate these challenges, working from within the dance ecosystem. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Dance Research is the property of Edinburgh University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Shocks, resilience and regional industry policy: Brexit and the automotive sector in two Midlands regions

This article draws upon novel survey evidence to examine the possible regional impacts of Brexit as a ‘disruptive process' to manufacturing operations and logistics in the automotive industry, in the context of the regional resilience literature. The current Brexit (and Covid-19) context, along with the sector's need to re-orientate towards electrification, provides renewed urgency to reconsider industrial policy in spatial terms. The findings have salience not only in the context of anticipating and reacting to Brexit-induced economic shocks at a regional level, but also over the role of decentralized regional bodies. In this regard, the UK government's agenda of ‘levelling up' will be challenging, especially in the context of the place-based shocks likely to arise from Brexit as well as the impact of Covid-19. The article concludes that a more place-based regional industrial policy is required both to anticipate and to respond to shocks and also to reposition the sector in the region going forward.

EXITitis in the UK: Gravity Estimates in the Aftermath of Brexit.

The withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union has had disruptive effects on international trade. As part of its 'Global Britain' strategy in the wake of Brexit, the UK is pursuing a series of Free Trade Agreements with countries around the world, including Canada, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Norway, Switzerland, Turkey and possibly the United States. Closer to home, the UK is under mounting pressure to dissuade Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales from seeking independence to regain the severed ties with the EU. We analyze the economic consequences of these scenarios with a state-of-the-art structural gravity model for major economies around the world. We find that 'Global Britain' yields insufficient trade creation to compensate for Brexit-induced trade losses. Our results also reveal that secession from the UK in itself would inflict greater post-Brexit economic harm on the devolved nations of Great Britain. Nevertheless, these effects could be offset when secession from the UK is combined with regained EU membership.

The rhetorical power of aid for trade: UK aid in the age of Brexit and COVID-19

The UK is a global leader in Aid for Trade (AFT). Aid for Trade discourse frames it as a solution to development challenges and key to building trade relationships. This article examines the rhetorical value of this framing in pursuit of myriad interests amidst Brexit, the COVID-19 pandemic, and changes to the UK's aid budget and administration. It is informed by data from government documents and interviews with AFT and aid experts. This study finds that AFT discourse is used to justify the UK's merging of diplomatic and development agendas and its new 'Global Britain' identity.

Quantile connectedness between oil price shocks and exchange rates

Oil is an energy resource and a driver of global economic activities. The increasing need for oil amplifies its trade and places pressure on the current account balance, which causes exchange rate fluctuations. We transcend the mean-based connectedness measures to explore the oil shocks-exchange rates nexus from an asymmetric perspective. With daily data from 07-03–1996 to 22-08-2022, we analyse the quantile dynamic spillovers between oil price shocks and exchange rates of oil-exporting and oil-importing economies. We show that shock sizes shape the system returns and volatility connectedness, with lower-tailed and upper-tailed shocks having a greater influence on the system connectedness than shocks modelled at the conditional median. By demonstrating asymmetry, the findings emphasise that for a detailed comprehension of the oil shocks-exchange rates connectedness under extreme shocks, it is necessary to go beyond mean-based connectedness metrics. The implications of our findings are important for investors, policymakers, and practitioners.

Introduction

The geopolitical scenario generated by the Russian aggression against Ukraine continues to determine the international order and, in particular, the European context. This conflict at the external borders of the European Union (EU) has slowed down the timid post-Covid recovery process initiated in 2021, while adding more uncertainty. Apart from the colossal humanitarian emergency, the war in Ukraine is having a direct global economic impact, reflected primarily in the significant rise in inflation caused by rising energy prices and the intermittent disruption of international supply chains. However, even at a slower pace, the EU and the Member States keep on implementing their recovery plans, which began with the adoption of the Next Generation EU in 2020. In this uncertain and evolving context, the EU strives to adopt measures that respond to new challenges. An example is the REPowerEU Plan, a new strategy adopted in May 2022, which includes additional financing, and with which the EU hopes to reduce its dependence on Russian oil and gas before 2030 and accelerate the green transition towards a climate-neutral European economy. As a relevant geopolitical gesture, it is to point out the recognition of Ukraine and Moldova as candidate countries to join the EU. In addition to the usual case law commentary and European current affairs report signed by our faithful and valued collaborators, respectively, David Ordonez Solis and Beatriz Inarritu, the contributions included in this miscellaneous issue 67/2022 of Deusto Journal of European Studies deal with some of the challenges that the EU is currently facing.

Hungarians in the United Kingdom: End of an era?

Emigration to the United Kingdom became a symbol of the post-2004 EU enlargement migration processes in Hungary, which were increasingly characterised by the long-term outmigration of highly educated, urban youth from the early 2010s. This paper seeks to answer how the structure and social composition of intra-EU migration of Hungarians - and especially towards the UK - changed in the last decade, and how the Brexit referendum and the COVID-19 pandemic affected those changes. In doing so, a longitudinal analysis of administrative data on emigration and return migration will be carried out. Outmigration in the 2010s reached its peak in the middle of the decade, first for the UK and later for other European destinations, then started to decline subsequently. In parallel with the growth of emigrant stocks, also the pool of potential returners increased, which made possible a consequent acceleration of return migration in the second half of the decade. As a result, however the UK has lost much of its attractiveness by today - in 2021 only 5% of Hungarian emigrants chose it as a destination - almost one in five (17%) of the returners resided previously in this country. In addition to the changes in the volume of emigration and return migration, mobility patterns had also changed significantly in the second half of the decade shifting towards circular and short-term mobility forms. Meanwhile, the demographic base of emigration had broadened, expanding to a wider range of age and occupational composition, with the increased importance of workers in the industrial and service sectors. Although this shift can be observed in all European destinations, the UK continues to be a receiving country of younger age groups of long-term migrants, with a higher proportion of professionals and service sector workers and those emigrating from urban areas. In addition to emigration trends, two major events in the second half of the decade had a significant impact on return migration to the UK. While the Brexit referendum has mostly stimulated the return migration of Hungarians who have been living abroad fora longer period of time and its impact can be said to be long-lasting, the Covid outbreak has caused a more temporary shift, mainly for short-term mobility, which seems to stabilise from 2021 onwards. However, the impact of the epidemic on the return migration of Hungarians living in the UK was much smaller than for those living in EU Member States, which is related to the occupational structure of Hungarians in England, the degree of integration and the low number of short-term, circular and seasonal mobility movements most affected by Covid.

The dilemmas around digital citizenship in a post-Brexit and post-pandemic Northern Ireland: towards an algorithmic nation?

Northern Ireland (NI) has pervasively been a fragile and often disputed city-regional nation. Despite NI's slim majority in favour of remaining in the EU, de facto Brexit, post-pandemic challenges and the Northern Ireland Protocol (NIP) have revealed a dilemma: people of all political hues have started to question aspects of their own citizenship. Consequently, this article suggests an innovative approach called 'Algorithmic Nations' to better articulate its emerging/complex citizenship regimes for this divided and post-conflict society in which identity borders and devolution may be facilitated through blockchain technology. This article assesses implications of this dilemma for a city-regionalised nation enmeshed within the UK, Ireland and Europe. This article explores digital citizenship in NI by applying 'Algorithmic Nations' framework particularly relating to intertwined (i) cross-bordering, (ii) critical awareness, (iii) digital activism and (iv) post-pandemic realities and concludes with three dilemmas and how 'Algorithmic Nations' framing could better integrate NI's digital citizenship. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Citizenship Studies is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Brexit, trade and UK advanced manufacturing sectors: a Midlands' perspective

The paper examines how Brexit has impacted on Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and suppliers in the UK Midlands, and to what extent such firms are reconfiguring their supply chains with the increase in trade barriers with Brexit. To do this, the paper aims to add to macro studies in the area by using a mixed-methods approach that combines descriptive quantitative analysis of secondary data with a complementary qualitative research analysis based on a novel interview dataset. The latter is generated from 14 semi-structured interviews conducted in late 2021 with senior managers and directors in advanced manufacturing firms across the East and West Midlands regions of the UK. A key finding of this paper is that the imposition of new non-tariff barriers through Brexit has proved particularly challenging to smaller firms in manufacturing supply chains. The findings of our research highlight the need for policy support for smaller firms engaging in EU-wide supply chains, particularly around skillsets and access to talent, cost reduction for exports and facilitating trade. © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

In the wake of Brexit: negotiating diversity and majority-minority relations in the North of England

Our contribution to this special issue brings the theoretical and empirical orientations of the Becoming a Minority (BaM) project into dialogue with the complex and charged post-Brexit geography of the North of England. We present findings from the UK ESRC funded project Northern Exposure: Race, Nation and Disaffection in 'Ordinary' Towns and Cities after Brexit, drawing upon a period of co-productive and ethnographic work with local authority stakeholders, voluntary sector practitioners and community actors in two urban locations in the English North: Halifax and Wakefield. We report on how shifting patterns of diversity and population change interlock with deindustrialised economies, fiscal austerity, the coronavirus crisis, and the predations of ethno-nationalist politics and policy. Amid these dislocations and risks, we find delicate, differentiated, and predominantly informal infrastructures of community governance and intervention attempting to build alliances and resolve tensions: a grounded, local-view that belies the kind of image of the North established in mainstream national understandings of the dramatic politics of Brexit and after. Taking a productive cue from the BaM study, we offer some fine-grained reflections on localised dynamics of diversity experience and the negotiation of inter-ethnic relations albeit in a sprawling urban region beyond the West-European metropolitan core. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Ethnic & Migration Studies is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Aesthetics and leadership

In the current author's opinion, Democrats in the U. S. failed to provide an aesthetic that was as appealing to their own supporters and which manifested what they stood for, as did the anti-Brexit pro-European "remainers" in the UK. Both decried the aesthetic of simplicity and both failed to manifest an alternative aesthetic that was as attractive to their own supports as that of their opponents was to their own teams. The big challenge for those opponents is to create a compelling aesthetic that takes in complexity (instead of rejecting it in over-simplistic one liners or slogans fitting Twitter word limits, as Trump and Johnson have done). The author's proposal is that clarity rather than simplicity will be a potential avenue in this regard (Ramirez, 2008). Let us hope that in times affected by rising inequality among and within countries, climate change imperatives, ageing and still growing populations, increases in armed capabilities, and massive debt issued to avert the worse effects of COVID-19, new leaders will manage to muster an aesthetic of clarity that is as convincing and riveting as that of simplicity has been in the last few years. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Regulatory policy and pharmaceutical innovation in the United Kingdom after Brexit: Initial insights.

Brexit was presented as an opportunity to promote innovation by breaking free from the European Union regulatory framework. Since the beginning of 2021 the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has operated as the independent regulatory agency for the United Kingdom. The MHRA's regulatory activity in 2021 was analyzed and compared to that of other international regulatory bodies. The MHRA remained reliant on EU regulatory decision-making for novel medicines and there were significant regulatory delays for a small number of novel medicines in the UK, the reasons being so far unclear. In addition, the MHRA introduced innovation initiatives, which show early promise for quicker authorization of innovative medicines for cancer and other areas of unmet need. Longer-term observation and analysis is needed to show the full impact of post-Brexit pharmaceutical regulatory policy.

Colonial Hangover and ‘Invited' Migration: Hong Kongers to the UK

Protests in Hong Kong over plans to allow extradition from Hong Kong to mainland China is going on since mid-2019. These reforms are seen as a threat to Hong Kongers' freedom. The protesters expanded their demands for democratic reform and opposition to Beijing's introduction to a new national security law. Following the continued protests, the UK government invited over five million Hong Kong residents to relocate to the country. The purpose of this article is to delve into why the UK welcomes Hong Kong residents to apply for citizenship. During the economic impact of COVID-19 and Brexit on the UK, this invitation raises questions about its intention. Since the Brexit referendum, immigration has plummeted, perhaps resulting in a labour shortage. This study has significant policy implications for Hong Kong, China and the UK. © 2022 SAGE Publications.

"I returned to being an immigrant": Onward Latin American Migrants and Brexit

We explore the experiences of Onward Latin American Migrants (OLAs) in London - individuals born in Latin America who live in London and hold EU passports - with the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS), a programme developed by the British Government to register EU nationals as part of the Brexit process. Drawing from qualitative fieldwork, we show that prior experience of being subject to immigration control in Southern Europe, including periods of irregularity, made OLAs anxious about maintaining lawful residence, favouring their uptake of the EUSS in an effort to re-secure their status and keep their rights. However, many of OLAs' non-EU family members could not apply successfully to the scheme given difficulties in meeting the eligibility criteria - a pattern exacerbated by the COVID pandemic. For many OLAs, the EUSS ultimately signified a loss of rights and secured status which took them long to achieve and a return to a position of uncertainty. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

The European Union on Cross-Roads: an Overview of Post-Lisbon Crises and a Way Forward

The main aim of this chapter is to make a brief and comprehensive overview of various events of crises across the EU member states that arose in the period from the adoption of the Lisbon Treaty until the end of year 2020. The chapter first, examines the period of crisis in the EU after the adoption of Lisbon Treaty and before BREXIT which includes: economic and debt crisis, euro-zone crisis, Ukrainian crisis and migration crisis. The next part of the chapter looks at BREXIT as "another serious test for the EU”. In the third stage, the chapter looks at the most recent crisis the EU is facing as a consequence of global spread of COVID19 virus in the world and examines various options for further potential cooperation of member states in this new area. In this part chapter looks at the scope of EU competences and explores measures adopted by the EU since the beginning of the pandemic. In its conclusions the chapter looks at various options and scenarios of further potential developments the "European union on crossroads” at the end of year 2020. This includes reflections on various (and often contradictory) views and arguments on the shape of future euro integration process. © The Author(s) 2022.

The association between the proportion of Brexiters and COVID-19 death rates in England.

RATIONALE: A cultural divide may exist between a set of people who accept and a set of people who reject the advice of experts. This cultural divide may have important consequences and policy implications, especially in times of severe crisis. OBJECTIVE: Ecological study of whether there exists a significant conditional correlation between two variables that appear unrelated except for attitude towards experts: (1) Proportion of people voting in favour of remaining in the European Union in 2016 and (2) COVID-19 outcomes measured by death rates and vaccination rates. A significant conditional correlation would indicate that polarized beliefs have important consequences across a broad spectrum of societal challenges. METHODS: This study uses simple descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression, considering confounders suggested in the related literature, with data at the District level in England. RESULTS: Districts where people voted most heavily in favour of remaining in the EU (top quintile) had nearly half the death rate of districts in the bottom quintile. This relationship was stronger after the first wave, which was a time when protective measures were communicated to the public by experts. A similar relationship was observed with the decision to get vaccinated, and results were strongest for the booster dose, which was the dose that was not mandatory, but highly advised by experts. The Brexit vote is the variable most correlated with COVID-19 outcomes among many variables including common proxies for trust and civic capital or differences in industry composition across Districts. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest a need for designing incentive schemes that take into consideration different belief systems. Scientific prowess - such as finding effective vaccines - may not be sufficient to solve crises.

De Iure and De Facto: The Two Sides of the European Council after Lisbon

This work contributes an innovative vision of the European Council presented in two different but interrelated parts. The first, a de iure analysis of the essential primary law provisions that compose the European Council's competence framework according to the most recent version of the Treaty of Lisbon. The second, a de facto analysis focusing on the breaches to said competence framework by European lea-ders during the five UE crises: financial crisis, migratory crisis, Brexit, COVID and the war in Ukraine. Some of these crises show that the European Council has gone beyond its competence framework and breached EU law, making the rest of the ins-titutions into necessary collaborators. The main conclusions are three. First, the Eu-ropean Council, after the Treaty of Lisbon, has become the main constitutional and constituted << power >> in the EU, holding key competences and becoming the essential institution in moving the integration process forward. Second, after studying the afo-rementioned crises, there is evidence that the European Council has consciously gone beyond the EU law framework, not basing their actions in existing legal frames, but in a clear will to avoid political or legal controls when it considers that a crisis calls for it. The third conclusion allows us to conclude that the rest of institutions, including the CJUE, have tried to justify these actions.

Stress Testing the Fiscal Framework

The part of the UK fiscal framework which determines how UK government funding is allocated across the four home nations has undergone profound change since 2012, given tax and social security devolution. The UK government's post-Brexit plans for regional development funding, state aid, regulation and trade negotiations have led to significant disagreements about the nature of the devolved fiscal and constitutional settlement. And the COVID-19 pandemic provided a major shock to a fiscal system with limited flexibility for the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish devolved governments. This paper reviews the changes and challenges faced during these reforms and policy shocks. We find that: tensions about reforms to funding arrangements reflect the inconsistency of principles guiding the reforms;that the UK government's post-Brexit plans do reduce the policy autonomy of the devolved governments, but reflect powers central governments often have in even highly decentralised countries;and that temporary changes to rules and the nature of the COVID-19 pandemic prevented a subnational fiscal crisis, but that more systematic change may make the system more robust to future shocks. This suggests that a review of the principles underpinning the UK's subnational fiscal and economic policies would be highly worthwhile.

Diversification during Hard Times

Using a large sample of stocks from 48 developed and emerging markets over 1995 to 2021, we find evidence that suggests that international diversification is the best risk-reduction tool when all markets are considered. However, after the turn of the millennium, industrial diversification is the best alternative for funds limited to developed markets, especially when they are restricted to a region. Importantly, the benefits of diversification persist through hard times, such as the Asian financial crisis, the IT bubble burst, the global financial crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic, demonstrating their countercyclicality and proving their value when investors need them the most. © 2023 CFA Institute. All rights reserved.