2019 Sir Alexander Stone Lecture: Brexit : the unanswered questions for UK and Scottish policymakers

Can I welcome to everyone for coming along this evening. I must confess to only knowing of Sir Alexander Stone as the name on the building at the University of Glasgow where my economics lectures used to be held. For those of you who don’t know, he was a banker and philanthropist helping to support a number of notable causes across the country. He was also the son of Jewish parents who fled Russia in the early 20th century to escape persecution. In these current times, it does no harm to be reminded of our shared history and the importance of human values, respect, tolerance and solidarity. Tonight I want to talk about Brexit. Now I’m sure many of you – including me – are sick of the very word. And trust me, I’m now on version 53 of this lecture tonight. But what I want to do is to look forward; to reflect upon where the UK and Scotland might go next; and to raise some of the big economic questions that still need to be resolved.