Vicky Pryce visits the Department to discuss the economic case for Britain staying in the EU

Greek-born economist Vicky Pryce visited the Department last month to deliver a guest lecture for the Warwick Policy Lab.

The topic covered at the lecture related to the Prime Minister’s pledge to hold a referendum on the UK’s membership in the EU by the end of 2017. Vicky set out an economic argument for Britain to remain in the EU, arguing that this would be the most beneficial course of action in terms of Britain’s overall economy, as well as other areas such as security and international influence.

Vicky recognised that public opinion was being driven by a variety of factors, including UKIP’s popularity – in particular, with its anti-immigration stance – as well as the British media which tended to be very critical of the EU.

She argued that there was an urgent need for an effective “counter” to these factors to ensure that the public had the facts, evidence and information they needed to make an informed decision come the referendum.

Following her talk, Vicky took questions from the floor including whether she though Britain’s membership of the EU was preventing it from developing strong trade relationships with other countries such as India.

Watch Vicky Pryce at our Question Time 2015 event.