The UK government intends to lower the age threshold for participation in elections to 16 years, Reuters reports citing sources in the ruling circles. According to the information, the initiative is part of a large-scale reform aimed at modernizing British democracy and increasing the participation of young people in political life. The legislative changes are due to be introduced in the coming months and will cover both parliamentary and local elections.
“Many young people aged 16-17 are already working, paying taxes, able to join the army and participating in public life. Their voice deserves to be heard at the elections,” said representatives of the initiative group.
Currently in the UK, the right to vote is from the age of 18. However, Scotland and Wales already have provisions allowing people to vote in local government elections from the age of 16.
Experts estimate that the adoption of such changes on a national level could affect hundreds of thousands of young voters. Opponents of the initiative have expressed concern about how mature political decisions can be at such an early age, but recent polls show that more than 60% of respondents aged 16-18 believe it is important to have the right to vote.
Net migration to the United Kingdom (the difference between the number of immigrants and emigrants) in the year to June 2023 amounted to a record high of 906 thousand people, according to revised data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Previously, a positive migration balance of 740 thousand people was reported. Among the reasons for the revision, the ONS cites more available data, additional information on visas for Ukrainians, and optimization of the procedure for assessing migration from countries outside the so-called EU+ (EU, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Switzerland).
In the year to June 2024, net migration fell by 20% compared to the revised level of the previous 12 months – to 728 thousand people. The decline is mainly due to a decrease in the number of dependents arriving on study visas.
Prices for residential real estate in the UK in November rose by the highest since November 2022 by 3.7% in annual terms, according to a report by the British mortgage company Nationwide Building Society. The indicator has been growing for the tenth month in a row, in October the growth was 2.4%.
The consensus forecast provided by Trading Economics assumed that the growth rate would remain at the October level.
Compared to the previous month, house prices increased by the highest since March 2022 by 1.2% after rising by 0.1% in October and now average 268,144 thousand pounds ($340.2 thousand) per property. This is only 1% below the historical high recorded in 2022.
“The acceleration in house price growth is surprising as affordability remains low by historical standards,” said Robert Gardner, senior economist at Nationwide. ”House prices remain high relative to average earnings and interest rates are well above pre-COVID levels.
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The United Kingdom has fallen to seventh place in the world in terms of the total capitalization of companies traded in the country, passing the Canadian market, Bloomberg writes.
Since the beginning of the year, the market value of companies traded in Canada has increased by 11% to $3.22 trillion.
The British stock market, which was once among the world’s leaders, is also inferior to the United States, China, Japan, Hong Kong, and India. Last year, it also passed France, but due to the difficult political situation in the neighboring country, the UK regained its status as Europe’s largest equity market earlier this year.
Over the past decade, Canadian companies have increased their capitalization by about $1 trillion, while British companies have lost about the same amount.
Brian Madden, head of First Avenue Investment Counsel, attributes this mixed performance to the UK’s decision to leave the European Union. In addition, the tech sector has an extremely small share in the main British stock index, the FTSE 100, at only 1% compared to 8.4% in Canada. In the US stock index S&P 500, high-tech companies have a share of about 30%.
Bloomberg notes that since 2022, there has not been a single IPO in Canada. However, during the same period, the Toronto Stock Exchange lured 51 companies from competing trading platforms.
Meanwhile, London still ranks second in the ranking of the world’s largest financial centers, second only to New York. Toronto ranks 23rd on the list. In addition, 11% of all global assets are managed from the UK.
On Thursday, the Verkhovna Rada completed the internal procedures necessary for the entry into force of the Agreement on Political Cooperation, Free Trade and Strategic Partnership between Ukraine and the United Kingdom in terms of trade liberalization: by 2029, all import duties and tariff quotas in bilateral trade are to be abolished, the Ministry of Economy reported.
It is specified that the agreement will be in effect until March 31, 2029, with the exception of two commodity items – eggs and poultry products, the liberalization of trade with which will be extended for two years – until April 1, 2026.
“Ukraine will also have the opportunity to plan export logistics more flexibly and increase exports of high value-added goods in the future,” the Ministry of Economy believes.
The ministry predicts a revival of trade between Ukraine and the UK and an increase in exports of domestic products traditionally supplied to the British market by domestic producers. In particular, these include flour, grain, dairy products, poultry and semi-finished products, tomato paste, honey, corn, wheat, juices, sugar, etc.
The Ministry of Economy reminded that Agreement No. 3 in the form of an exchange of letters amending the Agreement on Political Cooperation, Free Trade and Strategic Partnership between Ukraine and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in terms of commitments to trade liberalization was ratified by the Rada on February 8 this year.
An exit poll conducted by Ipsos UK for Sky News, BBC, and ITV News predicts that the opposition Labor Party will win 410 seats in parliament, the BBC reports.
“If the prediction is correct, Sir Keir Starmer will become prime minister with 410 Labor MPs, slightly less than Tony Blair’s total in 1997,” the report says.
It is noted that the Conservatives may avoid the defeat predicted by some opinion polls, but their predicted result will be a crushing blow to the party after 14 years in power. According to exit polls, the Conservatives will win 131 seats in parliament, the lowest number in history. The Liberal Democrats are expected to take third place with 61 seats.
In addition, according to exit polls, the number of Scottish National Party MPs will decrease to 10, while Reform UK is projected to gain 13 MPs. The Green Party of England and Wales is expected to double its number of MPs to two, and Plaid Cymru will get four MPs. Others are projected to win 19 seats.
The exit poll is based on voter data from approximately 130 polling stations in England, Scotland and Wales. The poll does not cover Northern Ireland.
The UK election took place on Thursday, July 4. Most of the results will start coming in on the morning of Friday, July 5.
Earlier, Experts Club presented an analytical material on the most important elections in the world in 2024, a detailed video analysis is available here – https://youtu.be/73DB0GbJy4M?si=eGb95W02MgF6KzXU
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