How Britons ignored Project Fear and set new spending record

A UNITED Nations committee has accused pro-Brexit politicians of ‘creating prejudice’ around the time of the EU referendum.

The UN’s Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination also blamed leading Brexit campaigners for a rise in reports of so-called ‘hate crimes’. In an incendiary report, it claimed the campaign was marked by ‘divisive, anti-immigrant and xenophobic rhetoric’ and accused politicians of ‘emboldening individuals’ to carry out hate crimes.

Pro-Leave MPs said the UN was trying to ‘prevent honest debate’ on migration. Tory MP Andrew Bridgen said: ‘The UN are basically having a go at the Leave campaign. I don’t think their conclusions are fair.’

UPBEAT British families went on a spending spree ahead of the EU referendum as they brushed off scare stories over Brexit, official figures showed yesterday. Households spent a record £291.4billion between april and June – up three per cent on the same period last year.

This is the biggest increase since 2007 before the financial crisis struck and was the key driver of economic growth of 0.6 per cent in the second quarter of the year.

Businesses also boosted investment over the threemonth period and British industry enjoyed its best quarter since 1999 – making a mockery of warnings from Remain campaigners that worries about the referendum were denting the economy.

Martin Beck, senior economic adviser to the Ernst & Young Item Club, said: ‘Predictions that the economy will fall into recession look unduly pessimistic.’

The Office for National Statistics, which published the figures, said ‘there is very little anecdotal evidence at present to suggest that the referendum has had an impact’ on the economy in the second quarter of the year.

Joe Grice, chief economist at the ONS, even suggested that there was no fall off in activity in the final week of the quarter following the Brexit vote on June 23. ‘Our survey returns, which include the period leading up to and immediately following the referendum, show no sign so far of uncertainty having significantly affected investment or GDP,’ he said.

The report is just the latest sign that the economy entered the referendum in good shape and has continued to perform well ever since.

Official figures last week showed retail sales rose 1.4 per cent in July – the first full month after the referendum – while a report yesterday said consumer confidence has risen at the fastest rate in three-and-a-half years this month.

The flurry of upbeat reports undermine doom-laden warnings – including from David Cameron and George Osborne – that Brexit would be a disaster for the UK economy.

The ONS report yesterday showed the economy grew by 0.6 per cent in the second quarter of the year – outstripping expansion in the United States, Germany, France and Japan.

Household spending was up 0.9 per cent on the previous quarter and 3 per cent on the same quarter last year.

Business investment rose 0.5 per cent over the three month period but was down 0.8 per cent year-on-year.

Industrial production was up 2.1 per cent on the previous quarter – its best showing since 1999 – and 1.8 per cent on the same quarter last year.

THERESA May has been warned to start the process of leaving the EU by next spring to avoid the wrath of Brexiteers. Former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith said he welcomed the Prime Minister’s assurance that article 50 should be triggered early in the new year.