In or Out – The EU Debate

A big part of the recent national discussion is the nature of the EU agreements, and whether they are benefitting the UK, or are a detriment to our way of life and economic growth. We’ve even seen two debates between the two most outspoken parties in this discussion, the Lib Dems, and UKIP, with most of the UK seeming to come down on UKIP’s side of the argument. This is bourne out in the majority of polls taken on the subject, although some of the more in-depth polls seem to indicate something different. While peoples opinions do seem to be strongly against the current EU relationship, they are also in favour of the general idea of what the EU represents, just not when they dictate rules and regulations to our businesses.

The effects of our leaving the EU are still unclear, and that hasn’t really been helped by the debates, as both parties seemed to be cherry picking data to support their own ideas, with the Lib Dems saying that all two million jobs dependent upon the commerce with the EU will be lost, and UKIP saying that we are more than able to go it alone.

A Period of Growth for the UK Economy

Data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has confirmed that the UK economy grew 1.7% in 2013. It’s been a positive year for the UK in that sense, however 2013 was expected to grow 1.8% so it is still less that the estimations.

The services and industries benefited from a 0.8% increase, while manufacturing rose by 0.5%. There is certainly room for improvement if we the UK is to get back onto its feet, but many people feel as though the UK remains on course.

Things are also looking up for businesses as investment for companies grew 2.4% in the fourth quarter. It will be interesting to see whether these improvements continue in the next quarter, and perhaps s2014 will be remembered as the year that bough significant improvements.

The Build Up to the General Election

We may around a year away from the 2015 general election but things are certainly hotting up. There is more talk about UKIP (UK Independence Party) than ever before, and many people may opt to vote for this party if they want to opt out of the European Union.

Obviously Labour and the conservatives are still seen as the big two, with a huge following, and both of these parities has the potential to win the next election and the next months will be some of the most important in the run up to the 2015 election.

Election debates will soon be taking the media spotlight, and it may be a case of the closer we get to the election the more idea we have on which parties are the favourites, but so far it is looking like UKIP are competing with the Liberal Democrats, while they’re not quite ready for the big 2 (Labour and Tories) but only time will tell.