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While the country woke up on Friday to news of a Labour landslide in the General Election, at QE the political landscape looks very different, though still with scant consolation for the Conservatives.

In the School’s mock election, the Liberal Democrats emerged as easily the biggest party, with 21 of the 46 seats in QE’s parliament.

However, since he has no overall majority, the Lib Dems’ Ayaad Salahuddin has already struck a deal with Labour’s Shrey Verma, in second place, so that he can form a coalition government.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “The mock election seeks to build awareness of the democratic process and get pupils engaged with campaigns, debates, polling and voting. My congratulations go to all the candidates for engaging so enthusiastically in the election process and especially to Ayaad on his victory.”

The run-up to the mock election included a hustings, where parties made their pitches and fielded questions from the audience. All the candidates were drawn from Year 12.

The boys have also been informed by visits in recent months of real politicians from all three leading parties. These were: Sir Vince Cable (former Liberal Democrat Leader and Business Secretary in the Coalition Government); Lord Michael Heseltine (former Conservative Deputy Prime Minister and long-serving Cabinet minister), and Labour’s parliamentary candidate (now new Chipping Barnet MP) Dan Tomlinson, following a previous visit from then local MP Theresa Villiers (Conservative).

Whereas in the country at large, the predictions of the exit poll proved quite accurate, at QE the story was very different: pre-election polling suggested the Conservatives would win, comfortably ahead of Labour, with the Liberal Democrats third. The actual result completely reversed this, giving the Lib Dems 21 seats, Labour 13 and the Conservatives only 7.

John Haswell, Acting Head of History & Politics, said: “The Lib Dems at QE ran a very successful social media campaign and built strong support among the younger year groups, where turnout was also higher.”

In fact, turnout among Year 7 was easily the highest, at almost 80%. Only small numbers of Year 11 cast votes, having recently completed their GCSEs, while Year 13 have already left (and no postal votes were available). One seat was allocated for each of the 46 forms in the School, excluding forms in Year 13.

In contrast to the overall School result, Year 12 gave strong backing to independent candidate Ayan Basharat.

The results were:

• Ayaad Salahuddin – Liberal Democrats – 21 seats (45.6%)
• Shrey Verma – Labour – 13 seats (28.3%)
• Uday Dash – Conservatives – 7 seats (15.2%)
• Arjun Mistry – Green Party – 3 seats (6.5%)
• Rohan Varia – Reform Party – 1 seat (2.2%)
• Ayan Basharat – Independent – 1 seat (2.2%)

Former Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable first came to QE in 2016, a few months after losing his Twickenham parliamentary seat and more than a year before he won it back in the 2017 General Election.

Appropriately, then, during a lecture on his second visit, he urged on the boys the need for stamina and resilience.

His lecture came at the invitation of the School’s Politics Society. He duly gave afficionados of British Politics plenty to ponder on, giving his assessment of the likely result of the forthcoming General Election, while addressing the “more interesting questions” about what happens afterwards.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “Sir Vince is a substantial figure in the British political scene, with a lifetime of experience to draw upon. We are grateful to him for visiting and sharing with the boys his valuable insights and advice.

“He stayed to answer further questions after the end of the formal session and was candid in his views with students. He was also generous with his time, and kindly donated a copy of his book, How to be a Politician, to The Queen’s Library.”

Earlier in the year, the Politics Society welcomed Labour’s prospective parliamentary candidate for Chipping Barnet, Dan Tomlinson, and it has previously hosted Theresa Villiers MP, who has held Chipping Barnet for the Conservatives since 2005.

Sir Vince announced his intention to retire from front-line politicis in 2019 and stood down at that year’s General Election. In July 2022, he was announced as Vice President of the European Movement.

His afternoon visit to QE was led by the society’s Rishabh Bhatt, of Year 12. Before taking questions from an audience drawn from all year groups in the Main School Hall, he gave some brief advice to any aspiring politicians. They should understand the importance of:

• Being a good communicator – across all channels, including broadcasting and social media, yet without neglecting the skills required for speaking to people in person on the ground;
• Building a team – recognising that even though the focus can often be on individuals, politics is ultimately a team game, so one needs to build a team and work cooperatively with others to get things done;
• Developing persistence and resilience, cognisant of the fact that any politician is likely to face many setbacks.

With regard to the final point, he recalled that it took five attempts at running for Parliament before he first became an MP: he eventually won his Twickenham seat in 1997. His two-year hiatus from Parliament began as a result of the near-wipeout of the Lib Dems in 2015, yet after he won his seat back, he went on to become his party’s leader, serving for two years before retiring from front-line politics.

He also gave the example of Yvette Cooper, likely to be the next Home Secretary if Labour  win the forthcoming General Election. Although she has always retained her own seat, she has seen her party lose four elections since she was last in the Cabinet from 2008–2010 under Gordon Brown’s premiership.

He noted that the UK’s first-past-the-post (FPTP) electoral system is very significant and makes life difficult for smaller parties to break through, with only two parties ever really being in contention. The Lib Dems were aiming to get back to being the third party in the Commons, with the opportunities that presents, such as being able to ask regular questions at PMQs. But, he said, this will depend on what happens in Scotland with the SNP.

Assessing how the General Election may go overall, he said that a Labour government seems the most likely at present, but that it was entirely possible that it would not have the big majority that some, taking their cue from opinion polls, are assuming.

He focused on two questions relating to the election’s aftermath. Firstly, what would become of the Conservative Party if it did suffer the predicted heavy defeat. Would the Conservatives move to the populist right, closer to, or perhaps merging with, Reform UK? Would they attempt to position themselves as moderates in the centre-right – more like PM David Cameron’s coalition in which he served as Business Secretary? Or could the Conservative Party even cease to exist as an election-winning force – declining like the Liberal Party in the 1920s?

Secondly, he wondered, what would Labour actually do in power? They would face a difficult economic situation and the same long-term challenges as the current government, he pointed out, and it was unclear as yet as to how they would respond.

Sir Vince answered questions focussing on his career. These included: his move from Labour to what became the Liberal Democrats alongside the Gang of Four (a group of leading politicians who broke away from Labour in 1981); the 2010–2015 Conservative-Lib Dem Coalition (“a good, stable government… good for the country, but bad for the [Liberal Democrat] party”); the role of tactical voting in the next General Election (“always important”); the prospects in that election for the Lib Dems – they were targeting a return to 30-35 seats, he said; and the sale of Royal Mail when he was Business Secretary (it was necessary and not a bad deal at the time, he said, given that people now communicate electronically, not by letter, so the business model had to change in any case).

Bioquest, QE’s new, richly illustrated Science journal, features articles covering topics that range from a look at plant communication to an exploration of the eye’s importance in predicting human health.

The first edition is contained within the pages of The Econobethan, the School’s well-established Economics and Politics magazine, but future editions are intended to be stand-alone publications.

Edition XVII of The Econobethan takes as its theme The Economics of Conflict, looking at economic topics in theatres of war from Nazi Germany to the current conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “My congratulations go to the team who have launched Bioquest – I hope it will be the first edition of many. It is also good to see such a high-quality edition of The Econobethan.

“Such publications provide excellent opportunities for boys to display genuine academic curiosity and scholarship. Through its thematic approach, The Econobethan demonstrates how the big issues cut across disciplines.

“It is important that our pupils develop an understanding of the world around them, and these publications show that they are taking great interest and thinking carefully about context.”

Bioquest is produced by a six-strong editorial team. One of them, Year 12’s Advik Balaji, appeals in his introduction for “dedicated scientists to contribute articles” for future editions.

Its six articles all feature colour illustrations and are all written by pupils in Year 12. They include Kavinayan Manivannan’s investigation of The Plants’ Trojan Horse, which explores plant cells’ use of RNA defence systems against necrotrophic fungi. Shivam Vyas looks at Microbiome Engineering in Plants, considering how a recent research breakthrough could “dramatically cut the use of pesticides and unlock opportunities to bolster plant health”.

Seyed Jalili considers how the identification of CHIP (Clonal Hematopoiesis of Indeterminate Potential) in human blood cells might translate into effective treatments. Joshua John looks at the ethical implications of genetic screening in his piece entitled The Cost of a Human Life.

Within the Economics of Conflict-themed section of The Econobethan, the writers look both at particular wars and at economic lessons to be drawn from conflicts more generally. For example, Year 12’s Akheel Kale reflects on The Bizarre Nature of ‘Hitlernomics’ and Suryansh Sarangi, also of Year 12, explores the legacy of the British selling opium in China on the Chinese economy.

The magazine also includes a more general section on Economics, Politics and History.

• For those with access to the School’s eQE network, The Econobethan and Bioquest may be viewed here.

Writers for the latest issue of QE’s Econobethan magazine aim to make sense of complex environmental and economic issues as they look back at the COP28 summit.

The pupil-run magazine, produced in time to be read during the Christmas holidays, focuses on the summit in Dubai, while also exploring wider economic and political topics.

While celebrating progress made in combatting climate change, several of the articles identify potential or actual blockages to further progress – such as the lack of legal sanctions for countries failing to meet climate goals – and look at what can be done to move forward.

Economics teacher Celia Wallace said: “The new editors have done a wonderful job publishing this magazine, and the writers have been amazing at thinking outside the box and providing some good solutions for the problems at hand.”

The latest edition, which is issue XVI, was put together by a Year 12 editorial team comprising Zaki Mustafa, Tejas Bansal, Akheel Kale and Uday Dash.

In their introduction, they write: “Our team of writers have created a comprehensive analysis of [COP28] that is a must-read for those seeking clarity amidst the confusion of global geopolitics.”

In his own article, Leapfrogging Industrialisation, Tejas argues that the developed nations must assist the developing world in forgoing the traditional industrialisation route from which they have themselves benefited economically, and instead enable developing countries to reach their net carbon zero targets by helping them implement sustainable technologies. Tejas even provides a summary of the article in German.

Bemoaning “woefully ineffective” global climate action to date, Saim Khan, of Year 12, traces the issue to “the collective action problem, a deep-rooted psychological problem that means destructive self-interest is allowed to prevail over the greater good for all”.

Akaash Gill evaluates COP28 through a legal lens in his article entitled Enforcing Climate Justice, while fellow Year 12 student Shreyaas Sandeep takes a nuanced approach to dealing with the impacts of the OPEC oil cartel’s activities on COP28 and the climate crisis.

Other articles in the main COP28 section of the Econobethan are:

• What will the effect of a green energy revolution be on the Middle East? by Vidyuth Shankar, Year 11
• Is environmental sustainability and economic progress truly compatible? by Hari Kumarappan, Year 12
• The impact of war on COP28: how the Israel-Hamas conflict has affected global climate diplomacy by Ayaad Salahuddin, Year 12.

The separate Economics and Politics sections feature articles on topics ranging from Rohan Varia’s look at whether Kenya has been successful in balancing the requirements of economic development with environmental sustainability to Year 12 student Andreas Angelopolous’s survey of right-wing populism within Europe. Akheel Kale, in his “brief exploration of agent-based modelling” (ABM) in Economics, looked at the opportunities that increased computing power in the 21^st century has opened up to simulate intelligent agents in order to overcome the limitations of traditional macroeconomics.

Former Deputy Prime Minister Lord Michael Heseltine delivered a lunchtime lecture giving an insider’s view of the key characters and issues that have shaped modern British politics.

The Conservative politician, who worked directly with four Prime Ministers, spoke to a packed house drawn from all year groups in the Friends’ Recital Hall. The optional lecture, part of QE’s Flourish extra-curricular programme, was organised by Year 13 pupil Anish Kumar and the QE Politics Society.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “We are keen for the boys to hear from leaders and influential thinkers in their respective fields. Lord Heseltine is a towering figure in British politics: it was an honour to welcome him to the School and we are most grateful to him for taking the time to visit and deliver such an insightful lecture drawn from a political career spanning some 50 years.”

Mr Enright thanked Anish and the Politics Society for organising the visit and paid tribute to all who had worked to ensure it passed off smoothly.

Lord Heseltine, who is 90, began his career as a property developer, before becoming one of the founders of the Haymarket publishing house. He served as a Conservative Member of Parliament from 1966 to 2001, when he was created a life peer.

Having previously served Ted Heath, he entered the Cabinet in 1979 under Margaret Thatcher as Secretary of State for the Environment. He served as Deputy Prime Minister and First Secretary of State within John Major’s  administration. Later, he fulfilled advisory roles when David Cameron was Prime Minister.

Lord Heseltine began his lecture after a welcome from Anish – who introduced him as “one of [his] political heroes” ­– and warm applause from the boys.

In his lecture, he covered topics ranging from industrial strategy (a particular interest and area of expertise of his) and the revitalisation of the city of Liverpool (with which he has a special, and perhaps unique, relationship as a Conservative politician), to devolution. Famously a supporter of the European Union and opponent of Eurosceptics, he expressed his desire to see the UK return to the EU fold in the future.

In a Q & A session chaired by Anish, pupils then posed their own questions.

• On the future of the Conservative Party, he opined that it will find power from the centre-ground – an answer that was especially topical, given the recent Government reshuffle and the return to government of David, now Lord, Cameron;
• On the nature of a life in politics, Lord Heseltine said it was a privilege, but one that inescapably involved making unpopular decisions, often on “50:50” issues in which the side you support will think you reasonable and “a good, sensible bloke”, while those whose expectations are dashed will believe you don’t listen, don’t care and are in politics only for yourself!
• When asked about his proudest moment, he referenced his 1981 party conference speech;
• On whether he regrets not quite becoming Prime Minister, he answered in the affirmative and furthermore set out the approach he would take to transform the nation’s governance and economic strategy if he were in 10 Downing Street today.

The 11^th edition of The Econobethan – QE’s pupil-led magazine focusing on Economics, as well as on Politics and Sociology – spans the centuries and roams the continents.

It includes original writing from Year 12 pupils on topics ranging from the ancient world – the economic history of the Roman Empire – to the very contemporary concern of the climate crisis, and from the underlying causes of Africa’s poverty to Japan’s ‘apology culture’.

The 27-page magazine also has as its special theme, ‘Black history’, with four articles in a dedicated section. The Econobethan was published just ahead of this month’s launch of a statement expressing QE’s vision for a broad, diverse and inclusive curriculum.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “The Econobethan is always a stimulating read, and this issue is no exception, with high-quality, considered submissions from the contributors that should serve to inspire deeper thinking and research from other pupils.

“The theme of Black history is timely: through the launch of our long-term vision for a broad, diverse and inclusive curriculum, we seek to build on the very thoughtful work that has already been done at the School, ensuring that our pupils are well-equipped to thrive in our diverse, modern world.”

The Econobethan is edited by Aditya Kute, Avinash Srivastava and Nishanth Bhasuru. In their introductory editors’ note, they write that the magazine aims to “shed light on economic points of interest, as well as providing a platform for some of the School’s most talented writers to delve into current economic affairs”.

In the Black history section, Aditya looks at why Black History Month is important. He spotlights Sir Arthur Lewis, still the only Black winner of the Nobel Prize for Economics (which he won in 1979), and Claudette Colvin, a pioneer of the American civil rights movement, who, at the age of 15, was arrested in 1950s Alabama for refusing to give up her seat on a crowded bus to a white woman.

Aston Daniel looks in more detail at the work of Sir Arthur, while a piece from Avinash is entitled How Does Systemic Racism Continue to Impact Economic Outcomes for African Americans? and Keith Correia writes on How was the war on drugs in the US used as a segregation tool?

Elsewhere in The Econobethan, Nishanth explores Underworld Economics and concludes that while informal markets do cause ‘numerous issues’, nevertheless ‘contrary to the common belief, they aren’t completely negative’, since, for example, they ‘provide a pathway for low-earning families…to get by and survive’.

In the Languages section, Aayush Backory discusses Le fer et les finances: partie 1: l’économie du Luxembourg du 19ème siècle (Iron and finance Part 1: The economy of 19th century Luxembourg) and Arjun Patel writes in German on How do we Deal With the Climate Crisis? (Wie Bewältigen wir die Klimakrise?)

Sixth-formers studying Politics had a ringside seat as the House of Commons debated the war in Ukraine.

The 28 A-level students on a visit to Westminster watched as Foreign Secretary Liz Truss answered questions from MPs and described measures the Government was taking to help Ukraine. Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy responded for the Opposition, questioning whether enough was being done.

Politics teacher Liam Hargadon said: “We don’t always have the chance to see the Commons at work, so boys were really lucky to see top ministers debating the great issue of our time.”

Chipping Barnet MP Theresa Villiers, whose constituency includes QE, was also in the chamber endeavouring, ultimately unsuccessfully, to put a question.

The visit to the Palace of Westminster is normally an annual event for Year 12 Politics students, but Covid caused the cancellation of the trip last year, so this year both Year 12 and Year 13 boys went.

During their visit, the boys met Old Elizabethan James Cartlidge MP (OE 1985-1992), a junior minister in the Justice Department. He shared his fond memories of being an independent candidate in QE’s 1992 mock General Election and of hearing from visiting speakers from the political world while at the School.

“It was brilliant to see James Cartlidge again after 30 years,” said Mr Hargadon, who was the minister’s A-level Politics teacher back in 1992. “He has such fond memories of his time at QE and he’s clearly heading for high office. He was so generous with his time.”

During their visit to the Palace of Westminster, the group took in the House of Lords, Westminster Hall, the Royal Gallery and the Central Lobby.

The boys were accompanied not only by their teachers, but also by the three student teachers – Evan Burns, Nathaniel Austin-Mathley, and Ben Duncan – who are with QE this year as part of the long-established internship programme with the University of Connecticut.

The final part of the trip involved seeing political and historical landmarks in the Westminster area, including Parliament Square, with its statues of great statesmen and women, the nearby UK Supreme Court, Downing Street and the site of execution of King Charles I outside the Banqueting House on Whitehall.

Pupils overwhelmingly voted for Joe Biden in the School’s mock US elections, which were carefully modelled on the real poll taking place today on the other side of the Atlantic.

Boys voted in their forms yesterday on their first day back after the holiday, having spent the weeks before half-term finding out more about the two main presidential candidates and the whole American electoral process.

The results, which were announced to the forms today, show that the Democrats’ candidate easily broke through the 270-vote threshold needed to win the electoral college, gaining 444 of the 538 votes available. Forms representing big-hitting states such as California (with 55 votes) and New York (29) backed Biden, even if there were a few upsets, such as Florida (29) returning as Republican.

The popular vote was also emphatic: there were 821 votes for the Democrats, compared with just 322 for the Republicans. Of the six year groups voting, only Year 10 voted red (Republican), while Biden swept the board in Year 7.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “We saw this as a great opportunity for our pupils to expand their knowledge of politics and current affairs, and to enjoy the cut and thrust of an election themselves.

“Our History & Politics department and Extra-Curricular tutors took a lead in providing boys throughout the School with information and resources aimed at stimulating debate, and there were contributions from a number of our Year 12 Politics A-level students.

“We now wait with great interest to find out if American voters concur with the verdict of our boys!”

To start things off, a PowerPoint presentation on the basics of the election was shown to all the tutor groups.

In order to make the experience as realistic as possible, every tutor group was allocated a state. Each had the same number of votes as in the electoral college, ranging from Alaska, Wyoming, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Vermont, all with just three votes apiece, through to Texas, with 38, and California, with its 55.

Boys were challenged to research the state allocated to their form, including topics such as which party it normally votes for, what the major issues there are, and whether it is considered a ‘battleground state’.

To keep the mock election Covid-safe, most of the activities took place online, with links provided through a dedicated page of the School’s eQE digital platform, created by the History & Politics department.

To coincide with the actual election day, a US-themed lunch was served today in the QE Dining Hall: the menu including cheeseburgers, hot dogs and sweet potato fries, with cream soda and popcorn available, too.

Information and links on the eQE election page included:

• Information-packed 10-minute podcasts created by Year 12 members of the QE Politics Society, Utsav Atri, Alexandre Lee and Ciaran Price.
• QE’s own presidential debate, which was recorded as a video. Ciaran was again involved in this, speaking for Biden, while Ethan John, also of Year 12, represented Trump, with Christian Emmanuel putting the questions.
• A series of opinion polls. Asked which candidate had performed better in the final presidential debate, for example, 114 boys chose Biden, while just 35 picked Trump.
• An election forum, where boys have taken full advantage of the opportunity to field their own comments about the elections over the past few weeks in response to questions posted both by their teachers and by classmates.

The eQE page also featured a link to information about the elections for 35 Senate seats taking place at the same time as the presidential contest.

While Covid-19 has raged around the world this term, members of QE’s Model United Nations Club have been examining the very different approaches to the pandemic taken around the globe. 

The 24 boys involved were each allocated a country, from Australia to Iceland and from the USA to North Korea. Each member, from Years 8 to 10, was given a brief to research his nation’s response to the crisis and look at the treatment for the virus and the global distribution of a vaccine in the future. 

They met regularly using Zoom to discuss the huge issues and challenges facing the global community. 

Academic Enrichment Tutor Gillian Deakin said: “It has been great to see the boys adopting their different countries and examining their responses to Covid–19. Every week they have contributed fascinating insights into how different countries have responded. 

“With countries as diverse as Japan, Iran, France, Kenya and the USA, the participants have had to get to grips with their often very different respective policies and perspectives.” 

The club is an academic simulation of the United Nations itself, where pupils take the roles of delegates from different countries and investigate possible solutions to global issues. 

The boys have also been learning how to write policy statements and resolutions in preparation for an MUN event at Magdalen College School, Oxford, in February next year.  

“They have gained real insight and understanding of the function of the different organisations within the UN in addition to an appreciation of the possibilities and challenges of the global development and distribution of a treatment or vaccination for Covid–19,” added Miss Deakin. 

“The boys are all looking forward to returning to the School and preparing for next year’s mini–MUN conference.” 

 The participants are listed below, each with his allocated country: 

Danny Adey (Year 10) – Japan; Eesa Ahmed (Year 9) – Saudi Arabia; Tejas Bansal (Year 8) – Germany; Dhruv Chadha (Year 9) – South Korea; Karan Chauhan (Year 8) China; Tharun Dhamodharan (Year 9) – India; Rahul Doshi (Year 10) – Russia; Kovid Gothi (Year 8) – France; Pranav Haller (Year 8) – USA; Seyed Jalili (Year 8) – Iran; Shaurya Madan (Year 8) – New Zealand; Dhruv Syam (Year 10) – Sweden; Rahul Kesavan (Year 10) – Sri Lanka; Saim Khan (Year 8) – Pakistan; Zaki Mustafa (Year 8) – UK; Jai Patel (Year 10) – South Africa; Vignesh Rajiv (Year 9) – Switzerland; Chanakya Seetharam (Year 8) Canada; Anban Senthilprabu (Year 9) – North Korea; Abhiraj Singh (Year 10) – Iceland; Sai Sivakumar (Year 9) – Australia; Mukund Soni (Year 10) – Italy, Anirudh Terdal (Year 8) – Kenya; Antony Yassa (Year 10) – Egypt. 

Sixth-former Mansimar Singh has won a national essay competition with his plea for the UK Government to do more to make Britain economically stronger in a post-Brexit world.

Mansimar’s entry took the top prize in the first-ever essay competition for schools to be run by TEAMGlobal, an independent educational foundation.

Entrants had to write a maximum of 1,500 words on the question: ‘Following the 2019 election, Boris Johnson urged “let the healing begin”. What do you suggest could be done to bring this about?’

He was inspired to enter by his interest in politics: “More specifically, I was interested in researching what an independent Britain would be like for myself and other young people and Boris Johnson’s plan for Britain after Brexit.”

Head of History & Politics Helen MacGregor said: “We have been encouraging our pupils not only to continue their curricular studies through the lockdown, but also to maintain their academic interests beyond the curriculum. Mansimar’s essay is an excellent example of this, and his success is richly deserved.”

In his 1,463-word composition, he cited sources including the House of Commons Library, the Office for National Statistics and the Financial Times.

Through his research, he says he developed “a greater understanding about how each industry in the UK has been uniquely impacted by Brexit, and the various complexities involved in revitalising and preparing them for operation in an independent Britain”.

TEAMGlobal – The European Atlantic Movement – is a charity that aims to enable young people to act as global citizens, empowering them to consider world issues and to play their part in resolving problems and promoting solutions.

The competition was open to all Year 12 students. Mansimar’s £200 cash prize and a certificate are being sent to the School so they can be presented to him once the School reopens to more pupils. The prize also includes an invitation to a future TEAMGlobal Members’ Day, including tea at the House of Lords.

“My analysis of this research and my own opinions ultimately formulated my response to the essay,” Mansimar said. His main contentions were that:

• “The Government must increase an independent UK’s attractiveness for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to minimise the short to medium-term impacts on the economy and, in the long term, prepare it to become less reliant upon the EU.”
• This can be achieved by building upon the UK’s existing ‘knowledge economy’ by increasing the skills of young people in education through increased school funding and greater equality of opportunity in accessing alternatives to university, such as high-quality apprenticeships.
• The “underlying socioeconomic factors behind the Brexit vote”, such as regional inequalities, need to be addressed by significantly investing in communities outside the typical investment hotspots, such as London.
• This should, in turn, be achieved by delivering on the Prime Minister’s promise of a ‘transport revolution’ to help increase the mobility of labour, preventing it from concentrating within a few, small regions.
• Existing jobs must be protected and further job creation encouraged by revitalising local industries, attracting greater investment in growing sectors and maintaining the strengths of well-established ones, such as the financial sector.

All of this, he concluded, would “act as an engine that will fuel future economic growth in an independent Britain, but, crucially, the benefits of future economic progress will be more evenly spread and will help previously struggling communities to thrive”.

Read Mansimar’s essay here.