Nonsense! Now Britain’s going global and we’ll do just f ine

DON’T panic. The economy will do just fine. In fact, with solid political leadership and sound policy making, it is more likely that growth will surprise on the upside than disappoint on the downside in the coming years.

Now that the country has voted to leave the EU, what lies ahead?

The UK needs a clear vision. We need to reaffirm that we are becoming Global Britain, not Little Britain. Indeed, with quality goods at a competitive price, we can sell not just into the Single Market from outside the EU but into many markets across the globe.

We must ensure people realise this was not a vote against Europe but against the institutions and working practices of the European Union. That is a big difference. Also, we are now in a position to reaffirm our status as one of the most open and tolerant societies in the world. We can do that with a sensible migration policy.

Migration is good for an economy but the scale of current migration highlights problems. With a future UK points-based system, there will be scope for greater flexibility.

It was also clear the scale of migration prevented wages from rising in some areas and increased pressure on public services and housing, creating tensions. This highlighted the need for both a sensible approach and for the Government to invest more in infrastructure and to boost the housing supply.

All this can happen now – but it will take time. The EU may have been the future once but no more. Leaving the EU now allows the UK to better position itself in a changing global economy.

The more we think about this, the more it makes sense

to be thinking globally while distancing Britain from the plethora of crises that lie ahead for the EU.

There was no way Remain could argue that the UK would be better off in the EU to take on global challenges. Indeed, Remain never provided positive reasons to stay in the EU.

The UK now needs to embrace free trade outside the EU, to think globally and to focus on pro-growth policies driven by increased investment, infrastructure and innovation. There are many reasons to be optimistic about the UK’s longer term economic outlook. In an era of globalisation, technical change and innovation, the UK has made a clear, bold decision to distance itself from the centralising, controlling and regulating environment of the EU. The countries that will succeed need to be global in their outlook, adaptable, flexible and to control their own destiny. All this starts to become real from now.

The policy statement from the Bank of England Governor on Friday helped send a clear, positive message.

The City is in a very strong position to be able to withstand an economic shock, with the Bank set to take whatever action is needed to stabilise the markets, with interest rates set to remain low for some time. Alongside a weaker pound, this will help stabilise the economy.

Dr Gerard Lyons is the chief economic strategist at Netwealth and a member of Economists for Brexit.