Teenager Kieran Bailey takes on top UK economist in ‘Brexit’ battle

Teenager Kieran Bailey takes on top UK economist in ‘Brexit’ battle

A 15-year-old boy is taking on Nomura’s chief UK economist and politicians with his plan for a British exit from the European Union

By Szu Ping Chan

3:44PM GMT 31 Oct 2013

Fifteen-year-old Kieran Bailey’s plan for a British exit from the European Union has been shortlisted for a prestigious €100,000 prize, but his entry was only made possible because illness forced him to take a day off school. Kieran was among 149 candidates who submitted entries to win the six-figure “Brexit” prize, which asked entrants to devise a blueprint for Britain outside the EU. The competition was launched this summer by the Insititute of Economic Affairs, and a shortlist of 17 names was unveiled on Thursday. The teenager, who describes himself as a “eurosceptic”, only learned about the competition while watching a popular morning politics show one weekday while off from school in Bristol.Kieran’s five-stage plan to leave the EU involves preparing a bill in Parliament that would enable Britain to repatriate some powers while simultaneously setting up instruments to negotiate with the bloc and other nations on common policies and free trade.

“Instead of having a treaty-style agreement which would be very complicated, it would be a simpler to prepare a bill for parliament which could repeal laws,” he told the Telegraph.

“Britain needs to find a different position in Europe. An independent position,” he said.

But while Kieran remains calm about the prospect of winning such a large amount of money, insisting that if he won the prize he would use it to invest in commodities and shares rather than splash out on the latest gadget, like many teenagers, he admitted leaving his submission to the last minute.

“I wrote the essay on the last day […] and I thought it had to be in by 4pm, so I really rushed everything on the day to get it in by then. But then I realised I had until midnight, so I made some changes and sent the final one at 8.30pm,” he said.

Kieran is also hoping to influence policy in real life one day, and aspires to become a politician. “Politics is what i’m aiming for,” he said. “Taxes are very high. The top rate of tax is very high, capital gains tax is very high, and stamp duty could be marginalised.”

Asked if he would like to become Prime Minister, Kieran said: “I think Prime Minister is quite a high bar. Not too high, but it’s quite high.”

The judging panel includes Lord Lawson of Blaby and Telegraph columnist Roger Bootle.

Nomura’s chief UK economist Philip Rush is also on the shortlist, as is David Campbell Bannerman, a Tory MEP for the East of England, and Robert Oulds, Director of the Bruges Group.

The authors of the shortlisted entries must now make full submissions of between 10,000 and 20,000 words by mid-February.