1.
Brexit
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Brexit is a commonly used term for the United Kingdoms planned withdrawal from the European Union. Following the 2016 referendum vote to leave, the UK government started the process on 29 March 2017. She has promised a Great Repeal Bill to repeal the European Communities Act, the terms of withdrawal have not yet been negotiated and in the meantime, the UK remains a full member of the European Union. The UK joined the European Communities, the EUs predecessor, in 1973, in the 1970s and 1980s, withdrawal from the European Economic Community was advocated mainly by Labour Party and trade union figures. From the 1990s, withdrawal from the EU was advocated mainly by the newly founded UK Independence Party, Brexit is a portmanteau of British and exit. It was derived by analogy from Grexit, referring to a withdrawal of Greece from the eurozone. The term Brexit may have first been used in reference to a possible UK withdrawal from the EU by Peter Wilding in a Euractiv blog post on 15 May 2012, since 1977 both pro- and anti-European views have had majority support, with dramatic swings between the two camps. In the United Kingdom European Communities membership referendum of 1975, two-thirds of British voters favoured continued membership. The highest ever rejection of membership was in 1980, the first full year of Prime Minister Margaret Thatchers term of office, with 65% opposed to, once de Gaulle had relinquished the French presidency in 1969, the UK made a third and successful application for membership. The document concluded that it was advisable to put the considerations of influence, the Treaty of Accession was signed in January 1972 by the prime minister Edward Heath, leader of the Conservative party. In 1975, the United Kingdom held its first ever national referendum on whether the UK should remain in the European Communities, All of the major political parties and mainstream press supported continuing membership of the EC. On 5 June 1975, the electorate were asked to vote yes or no on the question, every administrative county and region in the UK returned majority Yes votes, apart from the Shetland Islands and the Outer Hebrides. With a turnout of just under 65%, the outcome of the vote was 67. 2% in favour of staying in, support for the UK to leave the EC in 1975, in the data, appears unrelated to the support for Leave in the 2016 referendum. In 1979 the United Kingdom opted out of the newly formed European Exchange Rate Mechanism which was the precursor to the creation of the euro, the opposition Labour Party campaigned in the 1983 general election on a commitment to withdraw from the EEC without a referendum. It was heavily defeated as the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher was re-elected, the Labour Party subsequently changed its policy. In 1985 the United Kingdom ratified the Single European Act, the first major revision to the Treaty of Rome without a referendum with the full support HM Government of Margaret Thatcher. In November 1990 Thatcher resigned as Prime Minister amid internal divisions within the Conservative Party arising partly from her increasingly Eurosceptic views, in September 1992 the United Kingdom was forced to withdraw from the ERM after the pound sterling came under pressure from currency speculators. The resulting cost to UK taxpayers was estimated to be in excess of £3 billion, as a result of the Maastricht Treaty, the European Communities became the European Union on 1 November 1993
2.
Chuka Umunna
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Chuka Harrison Umunna is a British Labour politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Streatham since 2010 and was Shadow Business Secretary from 2011 to 2015. Umunna was born in London, England and his father Bennett, of the Nigerian Igbo ethnic group, died in a road accident in Nigeria in 1992. Umunnas mother, Patricia Milmo, a solicitor, is of English-Irish background, Umunnas maternal grandparents were Joan Frances and Sir Helenus Milmo QC, a prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials. He is married to Alice Sullivan, an employment lawyer, Umunna was educated at Hitherfield Primary School in Streatham, South London, and the Christ Church Primary School in Brixton Hill. During this period he was also a chorister at Southwark Cathedral and he has said that his politics and moral values come from Christianity, but that he is not majorly religious. After university, in 2002, he work as a solicitor for the City of London firm Herbert Smith. In 2006 he joined Rochman Landau, specialising in employment law and he also wrote articles for the Financial Times, Tribune, The Voice, The Guardian and the New Statesman, and began to appear on various radio and television programmes as a commentator. He founded and edited the political magazine, The Multicultural Politic. In 2007, he campaigned for Jon Cruddas unsuccessful bid to become Labour deputy leader, in March 2008, Umunna was adopted as the Labour Partys prospective parliamentary candidate for Streatham. At the 2010 general election, he was elected Member of Parliament for Streatham with a 3,259 majority and he took a particular interest in economic policy and reform of the City. Umunna increased his majority to 13,934 at the 2015 General Election, Umunna has described himself as being One Nation Labour and has written articles promoting the Blue Labour trend. He has also described himself as a modern European social democrat, Umunna was one of 73 Labour MPs to nominate Ed Miliband in the 2010 Labour leadership election to succeed Gordon Brown as party leader. In June 2010, he was elected as a member of the Treasury Select Committee, in response to a question from Umunna, Diamond admitted in February 2011 that Barclays had paid £113m in UK corporation tax in 2009, despite making £11. 6bn in profit. He held this position until his appointment to Shadow Minister for Small Business, Umunna was promoted as Shadow Business Secretary on 7 October 2011, replacing John Denham, who announced his retirement from front-bench politics. Following his appointment, Umunna re-affirmed Labours commitment to introducing a tax in place of university tuition fees. In early April 2013, Umunnas law firm was linked to favourable updates made on his Wikipedia page in 2007, in the same month, Umunna was criticised for comments he had made in his mid 20s on the exclusive social network ASmallWorld about the West End of London. Despite assurances from Pfizer, Umunna went on to denounce the proposed takeover proclaiming that Pfizers assurances were not worth the paper they were written on. The takeover bid fell through in late May 2014 after the AstraZeneca board rejected Pfizers final offer
3.
United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
4.
European Union
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The European Union is a political and economic union of 28 member states that are located primarily in Europe. It has an area of 4,475,757 km2, the EU has developed an internal single market through a standardised system of laws that apply in all member states. Within the Schengen Area, passport controls have been abolished, a monetary union was established in 1999 and came into full force in 2002, and is composed of 19 EU member states which use the euro currency. The EU operates through a system of supranational and intergovernmental decision-making. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community, the community and its successors have grown in size by the accession of new member states and in power by the addition of policy areas to its remit. While no member state has left the EU or its antecedent organisations, the Maastricht Treaty established the European Union in 1993 and introduced European citizenship. The latest major amendment to the basis of the EU. The EU as a whole is the largest economy in the world, additionally,27 out of 28 EU countries have a very high Human Development Index, according to the United Nations Development Programme. In 2012, the EU was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, through the Common Foreign and Security Policy, the EU has developed a role in external relations and defence. The union maintains permanent diplomatic missions throughout the world and represents itself at the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the G7, because of its global influence, the European Union has been described as an emerging superpower. After World War II, European integration was seen as an antidote to the nationalism which had devastated the continent. 1952 saw the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community, the supporters of the Community included Alcide De Gasperi, Jean Monnet, Robert Schuman, and Paul-Henri Spaak. These men and others are credited as the Founding fathers of the European Union. In 1957, Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany signed the Treaty of Rome and they also signed another pact creating the European Atomic Energy Community for co-operation in developing nuclear energy. Both treaties came into force in 1958, the EEC and Euratom were created separately from the ECSC, although they shared the same courts and the Common Assembly. The EEC was headed by Walter Hallstein and Euratom was headed by Louis Armand, Euratom was to integrate sectors in nuclear energy while the EEC would develop a customs union among members. During the 1960s, tensions began to show, with France seeking to limit supranational power, Jean Rey presided over the first merged Commission. In 1973, the Communities enlarged to include Denmark, Ireland, Norway had negotiated to join at the same time, but Norwegian voters rejected membership in a referendum
5.
1973 enlargement of the European Communities
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The 1973 enlargement of the European Communities was the first enlargement of the European Communities, now the European Union. Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom acceded to the EC on 1 January 1973. Ireland and Denmark both held referenda in 1972 in May and October respectively, and the UK held a referendum in 1975, on membership of the EC, Norway planned to accede, but this was rejected in a referendum held in September 1972. Norway later reapplied to join, but voters rejected the proposal in a 1994 referendum. Greenland later withdrew from the EC on 1 January 1985 after a referendum in 1982 and this was followed by the UK holding a referendum in 2016 on membership which resulted in the United Kingdom voting to leave the now EU. In 1960 the European Free Trade Association was established and was formed by Austria, Denmark, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland and these countries were often referred to as the Outer Seven, as opposed to the Inner Six of the founding members of the European Community. The EFTA was founded by a known as the Stockholm Convention in 1960. On 31 July 1961 the United Kingdom, Ireland and Denmark applied to join the EC, in 1963, after negotiations, France vetoed Britains application because of the aversion of Charles de Gaulle to the UK, which he considered a trojan horse for the United States. De Gaulle resigned the French presidency in 1969, in the 1970s, the EFTA states concluded free trade agreements with the EC
6.
Referendum Act 1975
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In accordance with the Act, the European Communities Referendum took place on 5 June 1975, and voters approved continued EC/EEC membership by 67% to 33% on a national turnout of 64%. As there was no precedent for the holding of such a plebiscite across the United Kingdom the Act also set out its procedure. Permitting a YES / NO answer, when the bill was introduced it gave the question to appear on ballot papers, permitting a YES / NO answer. The question was revised after the Government agreed to amend it to include the term the Common Market in brackets at the end of the question. The Act also provided for the public funding of two campaigns, one for a Yes vote, the other for a No vote. While each campaign was to receive the amount of public money which amounted to £125,000 each. The Act allowed for the appointment of a National Counting Officer who would lead, also within the legislation it oversaw the appointment of the Returning Officers who would oversee the counts within their local areas. Verification took place locally in England and Wales after the stations closed. Members of the House of Lords were permitted to vote, voting took place from 0700 to 2200 British Summer Time on Thursday 5 June. The minimum age for voters in the referendum was 18 years, the final national referendum result was declared late on Friday 6 June 1975 by the Chief counting officer Sir Phillip Allen in London
7.
European Communities Act 1972 (UK)
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All three of these institutions would later form part of what is now known as the European Union. The act has been amended several times to give effect to the Single European Act, the Maastricht Treaty which formed the European Union. It may be repealed or amended following the decision in the EU Referendum to Leave the European Union on 23 June 2016, in an interview with BBC News on 2 October 2016, Theresa May promised that the Government would introduce a bill to repeal the Act. The European Communities Act was the instrument whereby the UK was able to join the European Union and it enables, under section 2, UK government ministers to lay regulations before Parliament to transpose EU Directives and rulings of the European Court of Justice into UK law. It also provides, in section 2, that all UK legislation and this has been interpreted by UK courts as granting EU law primacy over domestic UK legislation. The view of the ECJ is that any norm of EU law takes precedence over national law, most national courts, including the United Kingdoms, do not accept this monist perspective. The primacy of EU law in the United Kingdom derives from the European Communities Act and this was made clear to be the law in the United Kingdom by the inclusion of the sovereignty clause in the EU Act 2011 passed by the British Parliament. The question of sovereignty had been discussed in a document that became available to the public in January 2002 under the Thirty-year rule. The document concluded that it was advisable to put the considerations of influence, in the Factortame case, the House of Lords has interpreted section 2 as effectively inserting an implied clause into all UK statutes that they shall not apply where they conflict with European law. This is seen by some as a departure from the British constitutional doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty, the UK voted for British withdrawal from the EU in the June 2016 referendum. In October 2016 the prime minister, Theresa May, promised a Great Repeal Bill which would repeal the 1972 act and import its regulations into UK law, the regulations could then be amended or repealed on a case-by-case basis. The Supreme Court ruled in January 2017 that an act of Parliament was needed before the government could invoke Article 50 to give notice to leave the European Union, the Great Deception, Continuum Publishing London and New York,2003
8.
UK rebate
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The UK rebate is a financial mechanism that reduces the United Kingdoms contribution to the EU budget in effect since 1985. It is a calculation which equates to approximately 66% of the UKs net contribution – the amount paid by the UK into the EU budget less EU expenditure in the UK. Based on a net contribution of €12.1 billion in 2014, although the rebate is not set in the EU treaties, it is negotiated as part of the Multiannual Financial Framework every seven years and must be unanimously agreed. In April 1970 the six founding member states of the European Economic Community adopted the so-called own resources system as the means of funding the EEC budget. To address this, at the Fontainebleau European Council in June 1984 Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher successfully negotiated the UK Rebate which was adopted in the May 1985 European Council decision and it has been in place ever since. The objective was to address what was perceived as an unfair effect of the rebate. These changes were adopted in the June 2007 European Council decision, calculating the size of the UKs annual rebate is complex. Broadly, the UK gets back 66% of the difference between its share of member states VAT contributions and its share of EU spending in return, the European Commission sets out the detailed calculations in a working document. The calculation of the rebate for any one year is budgeted and paid for the year. There is no transfer of money from the European Commission to the UK Treasury involved, the effect of the rebate is to increase contributions required from all other member states, to make up the loss from the overall budget. Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and Austria all have their contribution to make up for the rebate capped to 25% of the figure which would otherwise apply, there has been growing pressure in recent years from various EU member states for the rebate to be scrapped. The new entrants, however, are likely to be net recipients of EU funds and not net contributors like the UK, the rebate distorts UK funding negotiations with the EU. Normally, countries and independent agencies within each country bid to receive central EU funds, the UK government is aware that two-thirds of any EU funding will in effect be deducted from the rebate and come out of UK government funds. Thus the UK has only a one-third incentive to apply for EU funds, other countries, whose contributions into the budget are not affected by funds they receive back, have no incentive to moderate their requests for funds. Furthermore, many EU grants are conditional on the recipient finding a proportion of funding from local sources and this increases the proportion coming from UK government revenue even further. This has the effect of artificially reducing EU expenditure returning to the UK, the British government has resisted campaigns to abolish the rebate and the UK has a veto on any decision by the EU to do so. Former Prime Minister Tony Blair said that he would veto any attempt to scrap the rebate and he was supported by many in his Cabinet and by the main opposition party, the Conservatives, as well as the majority of the British public. In addition, they point out that without the rebate, the UK would pay more into the EU than comparably wealthy countries like France
