**
------------------------------------------------------------
* TALKING POINT, WITH SYED KAMALL
* EASTERN PROMISE
* OWN GOAL
* FREE MARKET FORUM
* FREEDOM TALKS
* THINK 2021
* YOU'RE INVITED

Boris Johnson will be disappointed that a rise in Covid cases in India has forced him to postpone his planned visit, since the current geopolitical environment suggests it is an ideal time to strengthen the UK-India relationship.

A post-Brexit UK is keen to secure as many trade deals as possible and to build alliances with Indo-Pacific countries including India, in part to balance China’s increasing assertiveness in the region.

In 2019, India’s Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale announced that "India has moved on from its non-aligned past. India is today an aligned state—but based on issues". Since then, the country has been re-shaping its foreign policy – especially as it faces an increasingly hostile neighbour in the Chinese government.

[link removed]

The UK has been quick to seize this opportunity, signing an Enhanced Trade Partnership (ETP) in February and working towards a ‘potential comprehensive’ Free Trade Agreement (FTA). The UK hopes to succeed where the EU has not. In 2013, talks on an EU-India FTA were suspended after six years, with the EU accusing India of a lack of ambition. In an IEA paper released this week ([link removed]) , IEA Academic Fellow Shanker Singham argues that the UK has the flexibility to sign an FTA with India addressing both countries' trade priorities.

While recognising that there are still many obstacles to achieving a UK-India deal, Shanker also believes such an agreement could help India to realign with countries signed up to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) as a xxxxxx against China’s ambitions. Of course, the UK has also applied to join the CPTPP.

However, the main determinant remains the attitude of the Indian government. In the 19th and early 20th century the UK played a pivotal role in the balance of power in Europe. The challenge for the current UK government will be to convince India that signing India-UK and CPTPP trade agreements will allow India to play a strategic role as a balancer of power in the Indo-Pacific region. Great opportunities lie ahead.

Professor Syed Kamall
Acting Academic and Research Director, Institute of Economic Affairs
EASTERN PROMISE

As Syed mentioned, this week marked the launch of the IEA's latest briefing paper, Eastern Promise: Assessing the Future of UK-India Trade ([link removed]) . Authored by IEA Academic Fellow Shanker Singham, the paper examines prospects for – and barriers to – a deeper relationship between the UK and India. You can watch our short explainer on the IEA YouTube channel here ([link removed]) .

[link removed]

The paper's findings were widely reported, including in the Daily Express ([link removed]) , Times of India ([link removed]) , Business Times ([link removed]) , and across the trade press.

Shanker wrote a comment piece for City AM ([link removed]) on how strong trade ties with India could put the UK in pole position to join CPTPP and face up to China. And IEA Acting Academic and Research Director Professor Syed Kamall wrote for Conservative Home ([link removed]) , on the geopolitical dimension to a possible trade deal.

[link removed]

In his biweekly column for The Times ([link removed]) , IEA Director General Mark Littlewood argued a UK-India trade deal is the "jewel in the crown" of the "buccaneering, enterprise-driven, free trading agenda our Prime Minister claims to support". Mark also appeared on Times Radio ([link removed]) with Matt Chorley to discuss his column, which you can listen to here ([link removed]) . IEA Head of Media Emily Carver also discussed the paper's findings during the Times Radio morning breakfast paper review.

And IEA Communications and Marketing Assistant Kieran Neild-Ali wrote for 1828 ([link removed]) on the report, arguing that a UK-India agreement could reinforce the UK's role on the world stage as a defender of freedom and free trade.

[link removed]

On the day of the paper's launch, Mark Littlewood chaired an IEA webinar with author Shanker Singham, Ebookers Founder Dinesh Dhamija, Conservative MP Imran Ahmad Khan and Syed Kamall. The panel discussed the opportunities for – and the challenges of – a deeper UK-India partnership. You can catch up on the discussion here ([link removed]) .
OWN GOAL

It's been a whirlwind week for football fans. News that 12 of Europe’s leading football clubs had agreed to establish a midweek competition, the European Super League (ESL), with the aim of rivalling the UEFA Champions League, was met with an outpouring of fury. Within 48 hours, the ESL had self-imploded, with all six English clubs formally withdrawing from the league.

[link removed]

IEA Director General Mark Littlewood wrote for The Telegraph ([link removed]) on the unfolding saga. Mark argued that the plans were protectionist in their aims and that they would make football an "exhibition sport, rather than one based on merit and result".

IEA Head of Education Dr Steve Davies wrote for the IEA blog ([link removed]) on the plans. Steve argued that the backlash over the ESL highlighted a dichotomy in the way football fans view the sport: on the one hand, there are those who reject any disconnect from their club's geography, history and value tough competitive games with local rivals; on the other, there are fans who see their clubs as a global brand and enjoy watching individual players.

[link removed]

Our Head of Lifestyle Economics Christopher Snowdon wrote for City AM ([link removed]) , following the news that the League had collapsed. Chris argued that the threat of capricious government intervention was "badly misguided" and that Boris Johnson’s knee-jerk threat to "drop a legislative bomb" shows Downing Street is following the philosophy of every other British government for the last 20 years in dealing with things it doesn’t like: it bans them, or at least threatens to, regardless of whether they are causing any harm or are any of the government’s business.

Elsewhere, our Head of Media Emily Carver wrote for Conservative Home ([link removed]) , and our Director of Communications Annabel Denham wrote for Reaction ([link removed]) , on the ESL story.
FREE MARKET FORUM

On Wednesday, the Institute of Economic Affairs and IEA Forum launched a major new initiative to promote free markets and a free society.

The Free Market Forum, supported operationally by the IEA, boasts over 50 parliamentary supporters who, through research, events, articles and campaigns, will examine and encourage free market thinking, and provide a public platform to proponents of classical liberalism.

[link removed]

The project, which follows in the wake of the influential, impactful Free Enterprise Group (FEG) and FREER initiatives, counts 25 members of the 2019 intake of Conservative MPs among its supporters.

Bishop Auckland MP Dehenna Davison and Buckingham MP Greg Smith have taken the reins as co-chairs. The project is also supported by an Advisory Board which includes campaigner and policy entrepreneur Matthew Elliott, business people Jon Moynihan OBE and Barbara Yerolemou, Conservative peers Lord Borwick and Lord Kamall, and former FEG and FREER leaders Ruth Porter, Luke Graham, and Lee Rowley MP.

To mark the launch, Dehenna and Greg wrote for The Times Red Box ([link removed]) , setting out the need to "rediscover the free market" after the "necessary but hopefully time-limited" policies needed to address the impact of the pandemic. They added that the FMF would "bring fresh ideas and radical proposals to the table".

You can find out more about the FMF on the website: www.freemarketforum.org ([link removed]) , where you can also sign up to the newsletter. You can also follow the initiative on Twitter at @FreeMarketForum ([link removed]) .
FREEDOM TALKS

[link removed]

This week, IEA Director General Mark Littlewood joined Andrew Allison, Head of Campaigns at The Freedom Association, for a discussion on the now aborted European Super League, the post-Covid economy, free speech and cancel culture. You can watch a clip here ([link removed]) or access the full interview on YouTube here ([link removed]) .

[link removed]

And on this week's episode of Live with Littlewood, host Mark asked what free marketeers should make of the league, whether we can realistically achieve a 78 per cent reduction in emission by 2035, and whether furlough is masking the true state of our labour market.

Mark was joined by Kate Andrews, Economics Correspondent at The Spectator; Iain Martin, Editor of Reaction; IEA Editorial and Research Fellow Professor Len Shackleton; Political Commentator Benedict Spence; and Tom Whipple, Science Editor at The Times. You can catch up on the IEA YouTube channel here ([link removed]) .

[link removed]

The third episode of fortnightly show 'The Swift Half with Snowdon' was posted on the IEA's YouTube channel this week. Host and IEA Head of Lifestyle Economics Christopher Snowdon was joined by Sam Bowman, Director of Competition Policy at the International Center for Law and Economics and a Senior Fellow at the Adam Smith Institute. The conversation covered lockdowns, the ESL and inflation. Catch up here ([link removed]) .
THINK 2021

We are thrilled to announce our third guest speaker for the THINK conference this year: the Rt Hon Sir Vince Cable, former leader of the Liberal Democrats.

[link removed]

THINK 2021 will take place on Saturday, 12th June and is free to attend on Zoom – you can register here ([link removed]) .

For more information, please visit THINKIEA.com ([link removed]) or email the IEA's Education, Outreach, and Programmes Manager Brittany Davis at [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) . We hope you can join us!
YOU'RE INVITED

*In Conversation with the Rt Hon Steve Barclay MP

[link removed]

On Monday, 26th April, from 6-7pm, the IEA will be hosting the Rt Hon Steve Barclay MP, Chief Secretary to the Treasury.

Steve was elected as Conservative MP for North East Cambridgeshire in 2010 and during his time in Parliament has served as Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Health Minister, and Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union. He was appointed as Chief Secretary to the Treasury in February 2020.

The conversation will focus on the current economic crisis facing Britain, how Brexit could change the UK, and the general political climate in 2021. The event will be live-streamed on our YouTube channel here ([link removed]) .

*Debating Democracy

Is there such a thing as too much democracy? Join us on Tuesday, 27th April, from 1-2pm, for a virtual debate to mark the launch of our latest primer, An Introduction to Democracy, authored by Dr Eamonn Butler, Director of the Adam Smith Institute.

Eamonn will be joined on the panel by Garett Jones, Associate Professor of Economics at George Mason University and author of '10% Less Democracy: Why You Should Trust the Elites a Little More'. The event will be chaired by IEA Director of EPICENTER, Adam Bartha. An Introduction to Democracy will be available on the IEA's website ([link removed]) from Tuesday.

You can watch the debate live on our YouTube channel here ([link removed]) .

*MA in Political Economy by Research

[link removed]

The IEA is working with the Vinson Centre for the Public Understanding of Economics and Entrepreneurship at the University of Buckingham on the delivery of an MA in Political Economy by Research.

The programme can be completed by distance learning and is aimed at graduates with a strong interest in the history of economic ideas and the application of economics to questions of public policy.

Online seminars will cover topics on Adam Smith; David Ricardo; John Stuart Mill; Alfred Marshall; the marginalists and neoclassical economics; Karl Marx; Friedrich Hayek and the Austrians; J.M. Keynes; James Buchanan, Gordon Tullock and public choice theory; the Frankfurt School; and behavioural economics.

For further information, please follow the link here ([link removed]) .

============================================================

With a little help from our friends...

These are difficult times for every individual and organisation, including the IEA. Understandably, your priorities will be to look after your loved ones, your family, your work or your business.

** ([link removed])

But if you do have a little extra cash available to help the IEA during these uncertain times, your contribution – no matter how small – would be deeply appreciated.

As an educational charity, the work we do is entirely funded by donations. If you are able to help please click ** here ([link removed])
or contact ** [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]?body=Dear%20Angela%2C)
. Thank you.

And why not get Amazon to donate too? All you have to do is to start shopping on ** [link removed] ([link removed])
and pick the IEA as your chosen charity. The IEA will then receive 0.5% of your spending on most items. Everything else remains the same (and at no additional cost to you).
** Twitter ([link removed])
** Facebook ([link removed])
** LinkedIn ([link removed])

You are receiving this email from the Institute of Economic Affairs
** Unsubscribe ([link removed])
from this list.

© 2020 Institute of Economic Affairs
Institute of Economic Affairs 2 Lord North Street London, London SW1P 3LB United Kingdom

Registered in England 755502, Charity No. CC/235 351, Limited by Guarantee

** Forward ([link removed])
this email to a friend

This email was sent to [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])
why did I get this? ([link removed]) unsubscribe from this list ([link removed]) update subscription preferences ([link removed])
Institute of Economic Affairs . 2 Lord North Street . London, London SW1P 3LB . United Kingdom