The EU: Get informed. Get the facts.
Event Information
Description
WHEN: 9.30am-6pm, Friday 10 June
WHERE: Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre
With only weeks left before the referendum, we’re delighted to invite you to this one day flagship conference. The day will feature a range of keynotes and parallel sessions addressing the major issues of the campaign. Speakers from both sides of the debate will present their cases for leaving or remaining in Europe and experts will provide an insight into the debate and the implications of different possible outcomes.
The event is organised by The UK in a Changing Europe, created to provide impartial analysis of UK-EU relations and to bring the research of leading academic experts to a wider audience.
Please register your place above.
We're pleased to confirm that we have the following keynote speakers for the day:
- The Rt Hon Ed Miliband MP (Member of Parliament for Doncaster North)
- Professor John Curtice (Senior Fellow, UK in a Changing Europe & Professor of Politics, University of Strathclyde)
- The Rt Hon Iain Duncan Smith MP (Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 2010-2016)
Please note that when you register, you will be asked to indicate your first and second preferences for the morning and afternoon parallel sessions. We will do our utmost to ensure you have a place at your preferred session.
A bit more information about our mid afternoon sessions...
The illusion of sovereignty?
One of the key issues in relation to the UK’s referendum is the extent to which EU membership undermines UK sovereignty. This session will discuss whether the notion of parliamentary sovereignty that lies at the heart of the Westminster model of government has become illusory with the growth of power-sharing with EU partners, and as government is divided within the UK. Would ‘Brexit’ result in more or less sovereignty for Parliament?
Speakers: Peter Foster (Telegraph, Chair), Sir William Cash MP (European Scrutiny Committee, House of Commons), Damian Chalmers (LSE)
The territorial dimension of the EU referendum debate
Our session kicks off with a series of lightening talks on the terriorial dimension of the EU referendum debate. Our speakers discuss the state of debate on the forthcoming referendum on EU membership in Scotland and Wales and examine territorial differences in social media discussions on Twitter. Participants have the opportunity to ask questions and to chat directly with speakers or to take part in a series of interactive sessions demonstrating the, often unconscious, psychological effects that territorial attachments can have on political attitudes and behaviours in the EU referendum debate.
Speakers: Professor Michael Keating (University of Aberdeen), Dr Rachel Minto (Cardiff University), Professor Laura Cram (University of Edinburgh)
Brexit in the City
Financial services has been one of our most important economic sectors for two centuries: we ask how leaving the EU might affect this sector; in particular the Euro financial activity carried out in London.
Speakers: Martin Sandbu (Financial Times, Chair), Professor Niamh Moloney (LSE), Rupert Harrison (Blackrock), John Mills (Business for Britain), Eric Lonergan (M&G Investments)
Britain after Brexit: 100 days after
If the result of the referendum was for Britain to leave the EU, how would events unfold in the first 100 days after the vote? How would the machinery of government respond to a Brexit vote? Are there any precedents for the British political system and what would be the impact upon Parliament and the political parties? The financial markets would respond to the vote but in what directions might they be expected to move? And how would the media look to organise its coverage and inform the public on the consequences?
Speakers: Adam Boulton (Sky News, Chair), Professor Vernon Bogdanor (King's College London), Dr Paola Subacchi (Chatham House)
Rule or rue Britannia: The UK's place in the world, Brexit or Bremain?
The debate about the whether the UK is more secure as a consequence of EU membership has been central to the referendum debate. This debate has been more rhetorical and less informed by facts. What are the costs and benefits of EU membership for Britain’s diplomacy and foreign, security and defence policies? Would a Brexit provide the opportunity to gain a more significant place for the UK in international relations by building new partnerships and rekindling old relationships? Or would an exit from EU make the UK less secure and of diminished influence in global affairs?
Speakers: John Peet (The Economist, Chair), Sir Malcolm Rifkind (former Foreign Secretary), Sir Peter Ricketts (former British Ambassador to France), Baroness Neville-Jones (former Chairman of the British Joint Intelligence Committee)
What could 1975 tell us?
This session will look at what history can tell us about upcoming the 23 June referendum. What are the differences and similarities between the two referendums? Why did the Brits vote ‘yes’ in 1975? And can we learn anything from the 1975 campaign – is it even worth looking back?
Speakers: William Keegan (The Guardian, Chair), Professor Anne Deighton (Oxford University), Lord Bernard Donoughue (former advisor to Harold Wilson), Dr Robert Saunders (Queen Mary, University of London)
Brussels for dinner? Agriculture and food in the referendum debate
One of the more prosaic questions around the referendum is the role of agriculture, fishing and food, and how all of these are shaped by EU membership. For more than 40 years, agricultural and fisheries policy has been decided by the European Union rather the UK alone and these areas are some of the most Europeanised that we have. In this panel, we want to explore how farmers and fishermen see that working and what difficulties it creates, as well as looking ahead to how any change in the UK’s status as an EU member might play out. Does it mean more freedom to achieve sustainable growth, more pressure to international market forces, changes to what we eat and how much we pay for it? With a mix of panellists from academia and the industry, we’ll look at all of these aspects, and will answer the questions that you have.
Speakers: Dr Simon Usherwood (University of Surrey, Chair), Martin Haworth (Deputy Director General, National Farmers Union), Professor Wyn Grant (University of Warwick), Dr Craig McAngus (University of Aberdeen), Natalie Bennett (Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales)
A bit more information about our late afternoon sessions…
Immigration and free movement: where next?
12 years ago Europe and immigration were regarded as separate, largely unrelated issues. Not so today. Economists broadly agree that immigration benefits the UK economy; but pollsters are clear that it is the most important factor driving support for Brexit. What are the factors - economic, social and political - that have driven immigration and free movement to the centre of the referendum debate? And what will be the impact of the referendum on UK immigration policy?
Speakers: Nihal Arthanayake (BBC Asian Network & 5 Live, Chair), Gonzalo Vina (Financial Times), Sunder Katwala (Director, British Future)
UK and Europe – what happens next?
The UK’s referendum will not only have an impact on Britain, but also on the rest of the European Union. This debate will cover the views on the referendum across Continental Europe, and assess the consequences of both ‘Brexit’ and ‘Remain’ from the collective view of UK’s partners, as well as from selected Member States.
Speakers: Quentin Peel (Chatham House, formerly Financial Times, Chair), Claus Grube (Danish Ambassador to the UK), Marco Zatterin (Brussels Head of Office, La Stampa), Agata Gostynska-Jakubowska (Centre for European Reform), Brian O'Connell (British Irish Chamber of Commerce & former London Editor, Irish RTE)
What do the people think?
In this breakout session we will compare and contrast your own views with those of the national population, looking at how people are navigating the referendum and approaching issues such as immigration and the national economy. The session will be overseen by Professor Matthew Goodwin. The Chair and additional speaker tbc
Speakers: Professor Matt Goodwin (University of Kent), Joe Twyman (Director of Political Research, YouGov)
Are we better-off ‘in’ than ‘out’?
The future is always uncertain; but what are the best economists saying about whether we, and our children, will be better off, or worse off, by leaving the EU and are the risks evenly balanced?
Speakers: Ed Conway (Sky News, Chair), Dr Gerard Lyons (Chief Economic Advisor to Boris Johnson), Professor John Van Reenen (LSE), Andy Bagnall (CBI), Dr Andrew Lilico (Europe Economics)
Britain after Remain: the first 100 days
If the UK public votes to remain in the European Union what are the consequences? How will Prime Minister Cameron’s special status for the UK within the EU operate? Is the United Kingdom set to be an semi-detached from a deepening of European integration? Or, following a referendum result to remain will there be a renaissance in the UK’s relationship with the EU?
Speakers: Patrick Wintour (The Guardian, Chair), Sir John Grant (former UK Permanent Representative to the EU), Anton La Guardia (The Economist), Dr Swati Dhingra (LSE), Lord Tom McNally (former Political Secretary to the Rt Hon James Callaghan)
Leave/Remain: the facts behind the claims
Knowledge has been contested during the course of this campaign. Both sides have traded their own ‘facts’. Are there things we could and should know that would help us to make a decision? What will be the implications of this referendum for the future of democratic debate and discussion and the role of expertise in politics?
Speakers: Allegra Stratton (ITV News, Chair), Will Moy (Director, Full Fact), Dr Sara Hagemann (LSE), Professor Damian Chalmers (LSE)