Amid the politics, human cost has been forgotten

WHILE I watch the comedy that has become Westminster, there is a human cost to Brexit – and one those who obstruct or obfuscate are either blind to or don’t care about.

A large percentage of European doctors and medical staff who work in the NHS have indicated that if there is a no-deal Brexit they will return to their own countries – this on top of the fact there are more than 100,000 vacancies in the NHS that cannot be filled because of the uncertainty over what’s happening.

There are more than 476,000 people who work in the agri-sector in the UK and quite a number of those are seasonal or part-time workers from EU countries.

It produces less than 60pc of what it eats. It exports its products to 450 million customers in the EU. It also receives £3.3bn (€3.84bn) in subsidies from the EU. The imposition of tariffs and border checks will wipe this sector out.

More than 800,000 people are employed in the automotive sector and, with delays at borders in a no-deal scenario, the consequences for people’s lives will be unimaginable. Again, border checks and tariffs on imports to the UK will all but decimate this industry.

The Bank of England warned the cost to the British economy since the 2016 referendum is £40bn (€46.5bn) a year, or £800m (€930m) per week, and that the UK economy has lost 2pc of GDP – twice what the Leave campaign predicted. Investment in Britain dropped by 3.7pc in 2018, while each household lost between £900 (€1,050) and £1,500 (€1,747).

The figures are startling but this is the reality of where the UK stands. Who among the naysayers or Brexiteers will have the courage of their convictions to go back to the people of the UK and say “Don’t worry, it’s better we have no deal and crash out than the one presented by Mrs May and agreed by the EU”?

Sadly, we have seen politics and sovereignty versus pragmatism and reality. But the reality for those in the UK, whether citizens or workers from the EU, is quite stark.

A quote from JRR Tolkien from the ‘Lord of the Rings’: “He knew all the hazards and perils were now drawing together to a point; the next day would be a day of doom, the day of final effort or disaster, the last gasp.”

Christy Galligan

Letterkenny, Co Donegal