Making social science accessible

Who is Matt Hancock?

Matt Hancock is the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, having been appointed in July 2018 under Theresa May.
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Who is David Frost?

David Frost is Boris Johnson’s Europe advisor and chief negotiator for the talks on the UK’s future relationship with the EU.
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What are level playing field measures?

Level playing field measures are often included in trade agreements to ensure that minimum requirements in areas such as labour rights and environmental standards are maintained by both sides.
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What was the Benn Act?

The Benn Act – or the European Union (Withdrawal) (No. 2) Act 2019 – is an Act of Parliament that provided a statutory obligation for the government to prevent a no deal Brexit on 31 October 2019 by requiring in the Prime Minister to ask for an extension of Article 50.
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What is a Brexiteer?

This term is shorthand for those who are in favour of Brexit, i.e. those who advocated for the UK to withdraw from the EU.
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What is a cliff-edge Brexit?

This was a term used by critics of Brexit to describe the prospect of the UK leaving the European Union without a Withdrawal Agreement.
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What is a Eurosceptic?

This describes a person who is critical of the EU and European integration, generally on grounds of the EU having too much control.
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What is the d’Hondt method?

When the candidate with the most votes in a constituency is elected, the d’Hondt method is used to distribute several seats within an electoral area.
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What is the European Statutory Instruments Committee?

This is a relatively new committee of MPs in the House of Commons, created by the EU (Withdrawal) Act 2018, to ‘sift’ through any changes made by ministers to the EU law that will be converted into UK law once we leave the EU.
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What is Brexit?

This is the shorthand used to refer to the UK’s exit from the EU. The word initially derived from the Greek crisis in the EU and the possibility that Greece could exit the EU as a result. Hence ‘Grexit’ was the forerunner to ‘Brexit’.
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What was Chequers?

This refers to the outline of the UK’s future relationship with the EU that was agreed under the government of Theresa May at Chequers.
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What was the Department for Exiting the EU?

The Department for Exiting the EU (DExEU) was set up just after the EU referendum to manage and prepare for the UK’s exit from the EU.
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