Two experts on either side of the remain debate agree Britain’s split with the EU can’t be blamed for all of the nation’s ills.
Brexit can’t seem to stay out of the headlines. Most recently, it’s popped up thanks to Labour leader Keir Starmer’s promise to seek a “much better” Brexit deal for the UK if he wins the general election—something many worried about Brexit’s consequences want to hear. But on this week’s Merryn Talks Money, host Merryn Somerset Webb poses the question of whether Brexit has actually harmed the UK economy as much as some may think.
The answer is discussed by her guests: Robert Colville, director of the Centre for Policy Studies, who voted for the UK to remain in the European Union, and economist Julian Jessop, who voted for the UK to leave. They agree that—in the short term—it’s hard to argue there isn’t some damage, given the friction the UK has created between itself and one of its major trading partners. Brexit has also added to political uncertainty in the country over the last few years. But what’s less certain, they say, is how much harm has been done by Brexit.
The assumption in the UK and elsewhere has been a lot.
“In exactly the same way as we blamed Brussels for everything before Brexit, people are blaming Brexit for everything after Brexit,” says Colville. But there isn’t much evidence to back that up, the two argue. The most recent numbers show UK growth not at the bottom of the pack but knocking around the middle. And the inflation numbers—while high—aren’t much different either: the EU is suffering from tight labor markets and high energy prices in just the same way as the UK, they contend.
The truth is that, while the British economy isn’t in great shape, this has been the case for decades. So rather than blaming it on Brexit, Jessop and Colville say, the UK needs to look at its own policies and its own failures of government.
© Bloomberg