Brexit and the Courtauld Gallery
The Courtauld Gallery in London houses one of the most wonderful collections of 19th and early 20th century French and other European Impressionist and post- Impressionist Art in the World.
Manet , Monet, Van Gogh , Cezanne, Gauguin , Seurat, Pissarro, Renoir, Degas and Daumier all live on with others on the top- floor of this unique gallery set on four floors of Somerset House.
Paul Cezanne’s “Man with a Pipe” is one of the paintings on display and the Gallery’s side caption quotes Cezanne as saying of this iconic painting : “ I love above all the appearance of people who have grown old without breaking the old customs”. This citation could well apply to the links between the continental European impressionists and post-impressionists and 20th century British artists whose works are also on display in the Gallery, such as paintings by Bloomsbury Group artists like Roger Fry and Duncan Grant.
The UK is part of the European mainstream in artistic and cultural terms and it seems that, with a prospective Post-Brexit “reset”, the UK and the EU may be about to move a little closer in economic and political terms too.
Let us all hope for the best!
Brexit and Spain
On 31st January 2025, The Times published an article ( by columnist, Isambard Wilkinson), entitled “Booming Spain is on track to a new age of prosperity”, the title of which speaks for itself! The thrust of the article is that Spain’s economy is thriving, notwithstanding a certain paralysis in its political system – a surge of tourists and migrant workers seems to have strengthened Spain’s economy greatly in recent times.
This is a good opportunity, therefore , to examine the present state of UK-Spain trade and investment trade relations.
According to a trade and investment factsheet published by the UK Department for Business and Trade ( “DBT”) on 31st January 2025, Spain was the UK’s 7th largest trading partner in the four quarters to the end of Quarter 3 (Q3) 2024, accounting for 3.7% of total UK trade. Furthermore, total trade in goods and services ( exports plus imports) between the two countries was £62.4 billion in the four quarters to the end of Q3 2024, an increase of 4.3% or £2.6 billion in current prices from the four quarters to the end of Q3 2023. Of this £62.4 billion:
- Total UK exports to Spain amounted to £19.7 billion in the four quarters to the end of Q3 2024 ( a decrease of 1.4% or £279 million in current prices, compared to the four quarters to the end of Q3 2023);and
- Total UK imports from Spain amounted to £42.7 billion in the four quarters to the end of Q3 2024 ( an increase of 7.2% or £2.9 billion in current prices, compared to the four quarters to the end of Q3 2023).
The DBT also showed that, in 2023, the outward stock of foreign direct investment ( FDI) from the UK in Spain was £94.1 billion, accounting for 5.1% of the total UK outward FDI stock, and that, in the same period, the inward stock of FDI in the UK from Spain was £17.9 billion , accounting for 0.9% of the total UK inward FDI stock.
There is a significant trading and investment imbalance between the UK and Spain and it remains to be seen whether this will be bridged or reduced in the current UK search for growth in its economy.
Brexit and the Three Bears
It appears that the UK is faced increasingly on the European plain with having to deal with at least three large “bears”- the EU , the US and Russia – who are squaring up to each other and in different ways on economic, defence and security matters – with China a very significant presence in the background.
On 4th February 2025, “The Times” reported that the UK Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, had warned European leaders at a meeting that he attended with them in Brussels on 3rd February 2025 that the UK would not take sides between the EU and the US in a trade war between them , saying that it was in the UK’s “vital interests” to avoid a conflict with the two of them, the UK’s most important allies.
The UK’s problems with Russia on the security and defence front are perhaps of a more obvious kind.
Meanwhile, in a separate article ( by columnists, Oliver Wright and Bruno Waterfield) published on 4th February 2025,entitled “Migration and food exports at the heart of “reset” Brexit deal”, The Times listed and analysed many ( if not all) of the areas which are likely to form part of the UK’s “ Brexit reset “ discussions with the EU, namely:-
- No checks on foodstuffs;
- Defence;
- Net Zero;
- Fighting illegal migration;
- Mutual recognition of professional qualifications;
- Mobility; and
- Joining the Pan-European Mediterranean Convention.
Interesting times!
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