EU-UK Relations

An attempted crackdown on protest in the UK has suffered a partial defeat in the House of Lords, writes Ros Taylor. But the government is still determined to make it more difficult for Britons to organise and take part in public protest, and hand substantial powers to the police – just as their authority has come under new scrutiny.

Migration policy, economic and trade policy, health policy, technology policy, and climate policy are increasingly being thought of in terms of “security”.

Global climate policy is the subject of multiple announcements put to the test over the course of these two weeks of COP26. Between the countries that have established carbon neutrality targets for 2050 (the United States and the European Union) and those looking to 2060 or further instead (Russia, China, India), the major challenge lies not in the deadlines, but in the translation of these dramatic promises into concrete actions.

The causes of the current global gas crisis are now well understood. Europe finds itself the convergence zone of two supply challenges, related to a shortfall of pipeline supplies and simultaneously an inability to attract deliveries of liquefied natural gas (LNG). Consequently, going into winter storage levels are low, and prices are extremely high. But the UK has been singled out as being more vulnerable than most, why is this so and what lessons can be learnt from the current situation?

Yes, Brexit is partly to blame for Britain’s supply chain crisis, says Ros Taylor. But ending free movement has exposed deeper problems within the labour market.

Ros Taylor presents a critique of the new law that allows the English police to crack down on protest and seize the vehicles of Roma, Gypsies and Travellers who stop on private ground. The public do not seem to be particularly bothered – though that may change as the scope of the legislation becomes apparent.

Leavers had promised that Brexit would improve people’s lives. With its ‘levelling up’ policy, the British government is now promising large state aid investment in poorer regions, which it argues would not have been possible in the EU. Expectations are high and the potential for abuse and cronyism is significant, says Ros Taylor.

Rather than pulling the four nations of the UK together as Global Britain, the UK’s decision to leave the EU is providing political oxygen to different movements who do not see their future as part of this union. How is the Conservative government handling these tensions at home? Is it creating a stronger United Kingdom?

1 July 2021 has seen a change in immigration status for millions of EU nationals resident in the UK as the “Settled Status” takes effect. What faces those who have not applied and what can we learn from a digital-only system? What can be taken forward to the Conference on the Future of Europe?

Gendered disinformation is a form of identity-based disinformation that threatens human rights worldwide. It undermines the digital and political rights, as well as the safety and security, of its targets. Ellen Judson from Demos explains what gendered disinformation is, how it impacts individuals and societies, and the challenges in combating it, drawing on case studies from Poland and the UK. It assesses how the UK and EU are responding to gendered disinformation, and sets out a plan of action for governments, platforms, media and civil society.