UK Queen's Speech Confirms EU Referendum for 2017
'Brexit' would be bad for business: Lloyd's of London CEO
A British referendum decision to leave the European Union would damage the country's business prospects, Lloyd's of London [LOL.UL] Chief Executive Inga Beale said in Luxembourg on Wednesday.
Britain's Conservative government, elected this month, has promised a referendum on the country's membership of the European Union by the end of 2017, though expectations are growing that the referendum will take place next year.
"We believe it would be bad for business. We think that open trade and being part of a bigger community is very important," Beale said in response to a question at the annual meeting of trade body Insurance Europe.
UK: 50 government MPs will lead campaign to exit EU unless UK gets better terms
The Telegraph newspaper on Sunday
- More than 50 Conservative MPs (i.e. the governing party) will urge British voters to leave the EU unless PM Cameron can negotiate better terms for membership
- The referendum is due by 2017
"We wish David Cameron every success but, unless senior EU officials awake to the possibility that one of the EU's largest members is serious about a fundamental change in our relationship, our recommendation to British voters seems likely to be exit."
More at the article.
Is a Brexit good or bad for the UK economy and good or bad for GBP? I reckon its not a positive but I've heard reasonable arguments on the other side.
So what else is new : if they need to use blackmail to get what they think they deserve, why don't they simply leave? Or it is the blackmail that is the goal?
Major funds draw up plans to leave London if Britain quits EU - paper
Several of the biggest fund managers based in London are drawing up plans to move trillions of pounds of assets and thousands of jobs outside of Britain should the country vote to leave the EU in a referendum due by the end of 2017, the Sunday Times said.
Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservatives won an unexpected majority in polls last month and are now seeking to renegotiate Britain's relationship with the 28-member bloc ahead of a plebiscite.
Cameron has toured major European capitals to drum up support for reforms but is facing an increasing strong Eurosceptic voice from within his own center-right party at home.
The Sunday Times said that several major funds had said on condition of anonymity that they had set up committees to prepare for a possible move, with Luxembourg being one possible country to which they could relocate.
The newspaper said it had spoken to fund managers who believed they could be forced to leave due to EU regulations which only allow the sale of investment products in the bloc when the European headquarters are based in a member state.
On Friday, the only major ratings agency still to give Britain a top-notch credit rating said it risked a downgrade due to the government's decision to hold a referendum over EU membership.
However, a senior executive with global investment firm PIMCO said earlier this week that the chance of a 'Brexit' was very low and uncertainty over the referendum outcome was not likely to affect business investment.
Scottish are getting ready for a new independence referendum
Scottish are getting ready for a new independence referendum
Add Catalonia to that list
UK's Cameron backs down on government rules for EU referendum-BBC
British Prime Minister David Cameron has backed down over rules limiting the involvement of the government in campaigning before a referendum on European Union membership after lawmakers from his Conservative Party threatened to revolt, the BBC said.
In the second concession on the referendum in two days, Cameron will agree to keep in place rules that restrict certain government activity in the weeks ahead of the vote.
On Tuesday, the government agreed to change the wording of the referendum question.
As many as 27 Eurosceptic lawmakers had argued that removing the rules for the EU referendum would have allowed the machinery of government to be used to support the case for staying in the EU, the BBC said.
"Pleased to hear purdah now to be reinstated for EU Referendum as well as fairer question than before but why does Cameron have to be forced?" Mark Reckless, director of policy for the anti-EU United Kingdom Independence Party, said on Twitter.
Amendments to the EU Referendum Bill, which is due to have its third reading in the House of Commons on Monday, will impose 'purdah' with some exceptions, though it was unclear whether the changes will satisfy all Eurosceptic lawmakers.
British officials have begun renegotiating some aspects of the country's relationship with the EU and Cameron has promised a referendum by the end of 2017, though many officials expect it to be held next year
He does not want to lose the forex and stocks scamm - if London loses it, England is as good as dead
Brexit Risks Freezing Mark Carney's Trigger Finger: UBS
The uncertainty surrounding the upcoming referendum in Great Britain may weigh on the Bank of England's (BoE) decision to raise its borrowing costs, according to analysts from UBS.
The UK's potential exit from the European Union could lead to a "period of heightened uncertainty where the final relationship between the UK and residual EU could be unclear," UBS said.
David Tinsley, an economist at UBS, said a vote to leave the EU would shave between 0.6% and 2.8% off the country's GDP, depending on whether the exit would be "soft" or "hard". The central bank is likely to be cautious in the face of such risks, and keep its interest rates at their historic lows of 0.5% ahead of the vote, he pointed out.
UBS subscribes to the view that the UK referendum will take place in the second half of next year.
Tinsley noted that the shock from a potential "Brexit" would be similar to the one the country saw back in September 1992 when its government suspended membership of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism.
Brexit is a done deal - if they keep Scotland. Without Scotland they will run to EU like little babies
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Today's Queen's Speech confirmed the UK plans to hold an in-out EU referendum by the end of 2017. This comes against calls from businesses and the Bank of England urging the government to hold the plebiscite as soon as possible in order to mitigate the level of uncertainty among investors and businesses based in the UK.
Ahead of the May general elections, Prime Minster David Cameron said "the referendum must take place before the end of 2017. If we could do that earlier, I would be delighted. The sooner I can deliver on this commitment of a renegotiation and a referendum – the sooner I can deliver on that the better," Cameron told the BBC One’s The Andrew Marr Show early this year.
Businesses across the UK want a speedy EU referendum and are calling on the government to hold a positive campaign to retain EU membership. Confederation of British Industries (CBI) President Mike Rake called on the businesses “to be crystal clear that membership is in our national interest. The EU is key to our national prosperity.”
Bank of England Governor Mark Carney also urged Westminster to hold the EU referendum "as soon as necessary", saying it was in "the interest of everybody" to resolve the issue. "We talk to a lot of bosses and there has been an awareness of some of this political uncertainty, whether because of the election or because of the referendum," Governor Carney told the BBC Today program on May 14.
Conservative party leader Cameron plans to renegotiate a special status for the UK within the EU before holding the plebiscite.
Cameron held a "working dinner" with European Commission Chief Jean-Claude Juncker this week where the prime minister reiterated that his country needed a new deal on Europe, with reforms to be implemented especially in the area of welfare benefits accorded to EU migrants coming to live in Great Britain.
"The prime minister underlined that the British people are not happy with the status quo and believe that the EU needs to change in order to better address their concerns," a Number 10 spokesperson said.
The Labour Party made a u-turn when it officially announced last week it would back the Conservatives' EU referendum. Acting Labour leader Harriet Harman and the party's foreign affairs spokesman Hilary Benn wrote in the Sunday Times newspaper last weekend that "the British people want to have a say on the UK's membership of the EU. Labour will therefore now support the EU referendum bill."
The Queen's Speech, or State Opening, is the main ceremonial event of the parliamentary calendar which happens on the first day of a new parliamentary session, or shortly after a general election. The Queen reads the speech prepared and written by the government, which contains an outline of its policies and proposed legislation for the new parliamentary session.
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