CLL’s Dr Anil Awesti has been invited to be the guest speaker at the Warwick and Leamington Liberal Democrats' Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Friday 17 November.

Anil, who is the Centre’s Senior Tutor and a Senior Teaching Fellow, will be discussing 'The Impact of Brexit on Warwickshire'.

“One of the most significant, but least talked about, repercussions of Brexit is the implications for funding local and regional development,” said Anil, who has previously taught the ‘Politics of Brexit’ short course with CLL.

He added: “The European Union’s (EU) regional development funds account for one-third of all spending from the community budget and the UK is set to receive 16 billion euros in the 2014-2020 funding period, spanning projects in every nation and region of the country.

“As a result, substantial questions exist about the future funding of local development projects post-Brexit. This is a particularly interesting topic given that those regions which have historically received the most money from EU regional development funds overwhelmingly voted ‘Leave’ in last year’s referendum.

“On a broader level, the government’s EU Withdrawal Bill raises the question of whether powers repatriated from Brussels will be centralised in Westminster rather than devolved to local and regional authorities. Is Brexit a mechanism for the recentralisation of powers in the UK state?”

Anil completed his undergraduate and postgraduate studies in Warwick’s Department for Politics and International Studies (PAIS). His doctoral and postdoctoral research focused on local/regional development in the EU.