‘Still waiting to see the Brexit benefits’

DESPITE record levels of taxation our public services are failing.

How can we be paying so much but getting so little back?

The Tory government likes to point at ‘global headwinds’ such as Covid-19 and the war in Ukraine.

There may be some truth in this but another truth, rarely spoken by either mainstream party, is that Brexit has also had a significant impact on our economic wellbeing.

The ONS has estimated that Brexit has cost the UK 4% of GDP (a measure of income) and a loss of £40 billion in tax revenues.

The effect on trade with our nearest neighbours has damaged many UK industries: from craft beer/ whisky to touring bands and from agriculture and fisheries to finance.

Estimates suggest London alone has lost £30 billion.

Significant European Regional Fund monies have been replaced by an inadequate ‘levelling up’ fund (the Public Accounts Committee estimates that only 10% has been spent).

And numerous domestic industries have been hit by the lack of European workers in sectors such as construction, hospitality and our health/adult social care services.

So when we ‘took back control’ what did this really mean?

The answer is for the Conservative Party to use the nation’s wealth to pay cronies millions for PPE contracts, pay themselves above inflation pay increases, and most recently for the government to clamp down on dissent and free speech under the pretence of stopping extremism.

Parliamentary sovereignty means letting the Tories do as they wish.

The ability to change our minds is an important aspect of any democracy and in the near future we will need to address the reality of our new position outside the European Union.

We’ve suffered a narcissist PM who broke the law (and is now making millions in speeches), an unelected PM who crashed the economy and an unelected millionaire PM, who also broke the law, who is tone deaf to the realities of life in places like Stoke-on-trent.

It is time we had a General Election and the people took back control.