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Brexit Strangulation

By Adrian Ekins-Daukes, angry ex Tory Councillor from Tunbridge Wells.

During the run-up to the referendum, the extremist group of ‘Economists for Brexit’ predicted leaving EU would create a 4% boom for the British economy. This has not materialised. But also, Brexit guru Professor Patrick Minford admitted that it would “effectively eliminate” British manufacturing industry. That prophecy is proving spot on.

Officially, manufacturing accounts for only 10% of the economy, but in fact it is much more important. It produces 45% of all UK exports and pays for 65% of private R&D. It employs the services of many other industries, from catering to software design and logistics. Manufacturing workers are well paid, with wages 15% above the national average,  which is reflected in the tax take. In fact manufacturing probably accounts for 20% of the economy, and is vital to our trade balance, science base and general prosperity.

Much of our manufacturing industry is owned by foreign firms. who decided to base themselves in the UK largely because it offered access to the EU’s single market which enables products to be sold freely across the continent, . But Brexit has put an end to UK access to the single market, creating trade barriers, extra costs and delivery delays. Government figures show that red tape at the border with the EU costs £7bn per year.  

As a result, many foreign firms which had established their HQs in London have moved to the continent, taking the trade, money and jobs with them. Those who remain are investing less. The level of investment by such firms used to be above the average of their UK counterparts.  Now it has fallen to about half. Brexit is also proving to be a disincentive for new foreign investment.  Before, the UK attracted more foreign investment than any other EU member state but now it  has been overtaken by Germany and  others are catching up . In particular,  Germany has replaced UK as  the favourite destination of Japanese firms whose investment is rising in many EU countries but falling in the UK

Strangulation by Brexit – what a way to go !!

BREXIT KILLS OUR MOTOR INDUSTRY

The decline of our motor industry since Brexit is grim.  The number of new cars made in the UK has sunk to its lowest level for 66 years,  with production having fallen every year since  2016 . Our car plants are being overlooked when manufacturers consider where to build new models. Elon Musk bypassed Britain and built his Gigafactory in Berlin instead. The new electric models of Jaguar, Lotus and BMW’s mini are all going to be built abroad . Once sale of new petrol and diesel cars becomes illegal in the UK by 2030. There are fears within the industry that its decline may be terminal.

One major cause of the industry’s decline since Brexit is the decision by our Brexit negotiators to withdraw from the single market.  An essential feature of vehicle manufacturing in the EU is the absence of any checks or delays at its internal frontiers, enabling vehicle components to be shipped throughout Europe without hindrance. The supply chains are now so extensive that, it is said, “it takes a continent to make a car “ But the barriers erected by our Brexit negotiators abolished seamless access for our our car manufacturers , subjecting their products to checks and delays, and hence causing them to be excluded us from the system. 

BREXIT DOUBLES RED TAPE

Our negotiators have inflicted similar damage on our important  chemical industry.That is because they refused to permit the industry to remain in the EU’s ‘REACH’ system, an organisation which had registered, tested, approved and regulated virtually  every chemical in use, and which it had cost  our industry billions to join. Instead, our Brexiteer government decided to create its own. This duplication  means further huge costs for  companies having to register with and access  two different systems, possibly comply with two differing sets  of legislation, and even perhaps repeating some tests as well,  The chemical industry is a clear victim of the doubling of unnecessary red tape which Brexit causes.

Brexit is also damaging  exports of many other industrial products for which CE marking is obligatory before they can be put on the EU market. These include machinery, construction materials, electric and gas appliances, cosmetics and toys, to name but a few. The CE mark is proof that a  product conforms with  specified EU safety, health and environmental standards. Once it has been applied, normally by the manufacturer himself (who is responsible for drawing up documents proving compliance), the product is then accepted across the EU  without the need for further delays or inspections. We could have had an agreement guaranteeing equivalence between  our own standards and those of the EU,  thus enabling UK/EU  trade to continue to flow as freely as before.  Johnson actually reached an agreement with the EU to this effect in early 2019. However, following his triumph in the general election of that year, he chose to renege on it in order to appease the  extremist bigots amongst  his backbenchers, preferring instead to diverge from EU standards and create a UK version of the CE mark. He thus increased bureaucracy  and inflicted new  heavy costs on industry to no one’s advantage . Far from freeing us from EU red tape,  as Brexiteers claim, they have  doubled it for any company that manufactures for both the UK and  EU markets.

There are other essential sectors of our economy which are being as seriously damaged by Brexit as manufacturing. Michael Gove claimed recently that “on balance, Brexit has been a significant success for the country.” This opinion might be shared by the super-rich cliques who sustain the Government and some City fat cats but opinion polls show that even 2016 Leave voters,  let alone the rest of us, see it as a bare faced lie.

The Solution ? First …. 

GET THE BREXITEERS OUT !

RATTUS BREXITUS

EU-Turn Sunak

Don Adamson’s latest update from Barnsley in Yorkshire.

This week’s quotes: “ 18 Dec 2021 Frost resigned as chief negotiator citing concerns about ‘direction of travel’ ,,, Frost is a political appointee with no proven expertise “ (COMMENT: that is why the Foreign Office made him an Ambassador) … “ (Frost) tends to bugger things up, resign before the job is finished then write astonishingly brass necked columns from the sidelines … efforts to force copies of the biography of Daily Mail founder Lord Northcliffe on hacks at the paper even as they whimper and beg for mercy … Westminster reporters must undertake not to ‘put the reputation of Parliament at risk’ (COMMENT: Tory and Labour parties have already got that covered) … Efforts to clean GB News have been supplanted by an almighty meltdown … presenters must sign new contracts that make them personally responsible for fines resulting from breaches of the broadcasting code …  increasingly unhinged Neil Oliver … huge headache for Frangopoulos, the channel’s owner … whacky views … fears at TalkTV that the only possible way is down for Nadine Dorries …

BBC is in serious trouble for reporting excesses by an authoritarian government with dubious ideas on justice and efficiency. Before you get excited I should mention that the government concerned is the government of India. There is no question of the BBC reporting excesses by Richy Scumbag’s corrupt and incompetent government. Rupert Murdoch would not allow that to happen … Russia trying to overthrow the pro-EU government of Moldova … Moldova applied to join the EU … (COMMENT: Not so long ago we heard a lot of Jackanory from Gammons and Flagshaggers to the effect that the EU was on the brink of disintegration. The EU would collapse when Britain left. Yeah, right! Ukraine has also applied to join the EU and Johnson, of all people, supports the idea) …

83% rise in pubs and bars applying for insolvency … the image of Britain as a land of phlegmatic common sense has taken a beating in the last ten years … the country that voted to leave the EU without any coherent plan … simplistic answers to complex questions … Brexiters can still cause enormous damage … Richy Scumbag is surrounded by colleagues who cause him harm … waits in accident and emergency departments are gruelling … British economy will be living with the effects of the pandemic for years unlike the rest of G7 countries … damage unevenly distributed … Britain’s dismal growth over the past three years … laggard status … spending more but getting less for their money … unusually steep fall in British national income compared with peers … spending more than ever on health care but getting less for the money …  crabs poisoned by chemicals … following decades of industrial activity on the Tees … recklessly expanding the Freeport … like Long Island Sound where the lobster industry has never recovered … urgency is lacking …

France has a fatal fascination with Russia .. Marine Le Pen’s campaigns have been financed by Russia … Mr Pompeo remained obsequious – ‘He is like a heat seeking missile for Trump’s a***e … Britain’s especially limp PM Richy Scumbag … So far as I am concerned Johnson can F*** off …  Johnson is dreaming of a Churchillian return to 10 Downing St … Dominic Beales (Labour’s challenger to Johnson in his own constituency) … ‘we’re hitting the doorsteps’ … ‘I voted for Johnson last time; never again! … the government is hopeless … Johnson’s support seems remarkably soft …  his chances of beating Jonson … a startling 92% … If Uxbridge voted today it would damningly vote against the Tories … would be a seismic event in British politics …  visited Ukraine more often than his constituency … was it the visit of a genuinely concerned MP or just another photo op? … Johnson will do what is in Johnson’s interests …  he does not give a damn about Oxbridge … A charlatan’s new low …

Richy Scumbag is cursed to try to pass policies while Johnson torpedoes them …  Johnson screwed over the DUP …  a mess that needs to be fixed … “

Brexit is not a complete disaster, it is an incomplete disaster

From Don Adamson in Yorkshire. Brexorcist First Class, campaigner, writer and impressario:

This week’s quotes: “ Brexit re-enactment society: historical re-enactments are popular in Britain … fans of the genre should go the House of Lords … scrutinising the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) bill … lawmakers know the bill is dangerous, wasteful and one of the silliest pieces of legislation ever to come before Parliament … Parliament is again galloping towards an avoidable blunder … it is like lighting a fire in a library and handing the librarians a photocopier and a marker pen to save what they can … ministers do not know how many laws are in scope … hands the executive broad powers to make laws with no idea as to how the power might be used …

Treasury fears it could lose billions in tax challenges … an almighty time sink … for the vanity of those for whom the battle to leave the EU was the highlight of their careers … parliament is imprisoned by the shrill politics of Brexit … some of the most damaging features of the Brexit process … a sane country would never allow itself to be put in this vice … familiar mix of terror and irresponsibility … blithe optimism smothers debate …

Labour is wary of opposing Brexit … terrible mistake …  a clear majority of Brits believe that to Leave the EU was a mistake … Brexit causes politicians to lose their judgement …  The Old Bailey focuses mainly on murder, rape and terrorism cases … the majority of terrorism cases involved people on the far right of British politics. A minority involves Islamic terrorist cases …

Thick Lizzie addressed a reception at the Japanese Embassy … the feet shuffling mood hovered between embarrassment and cringe coated pain … Thick Lizzie assumes publishers would flock to offer her big bucks for her memoirs … interest varied between minimal and zero … must be hurtful … Johnson is clocking up millions for his memoirs and after dinner speeches … while persuading Richy Scumbag to fund lawyers to help Johnson pretend that he did not lie to Parliament over Partygate …

Brexit is choking the arts and the government is doing nothing about it … touring orchestras and music sales – British culture and arts are a huge success story … Brexit means struggling with tough opposition from abroad … rivals get better tax breaks … children’s TV is suffering … movies of all kinds, music, live theatre, dance, audio books and video games … the world loves British cultural exports but Brexit makes it far harder to sell them … games firms give £7B a year to the economy … music exports are worth £3.5B … creative industries contribute £116B to the economy … yet is one of the worst hit by Brexit … government is totally indifferent … British government promised to make up any shortfall but has not done so … huge problem for the industry … harder and more expensive … a ruinously expensive waste of time … hurt an industry where Britain has huge advantages … You have to be something of a strange breed to want to be an MP in the first place …

Daily Telegraph runs pieces overtly critical of Brexit and Johnson …  Johnson can only count on Daily Mail and Sunday Mail for blind loyalty … Michael Gove admitted ‘I ask myself if Brexit was the right thing to do ‘ … Gove’s loyalty lasts only so long as it suits his interests … wants to distance himself from the Brexit recriminations after the next election … frankly hilarious death spiral the governments poll numbers have been taking for months …

Thick Lizzie continues to peddle her ‘it was all the fault of communist currency traders’ … ‘le grande illusion’ encapsulates Brexit … Johnson’s audacity … ‘that is what Louis XVI did and he got the guillotine …  Redevelopment at Teesside Freeport is Europe’s largest and most risky Brownfield project… highly toxic land and riverbed is churned up at breakneck speed …

Environment Secretary Therese Coffey has little interest in protecting the environment … toxic waste is taken from remediated areas and piles driven into contaminated land … ‘business partners’ make tens of millions … Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy … it was in the days of Nigel Lawson and Peter Walker that this vital industry last enjoyed civil servants with genuine energy expertise … the timing of these disruptions could not be worse … a new defence export advocate to promote arms sales … given the job to a Tory peer … under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office  … there are more health professionals of Ghanaian origin working for the NHS than in Ghana … Brexit is not a complete disaster, it is an incomplete disaster … Brexit does not need fixing stormed Lord Frost to the Daily Mail …

Brexit is not a complete disaster, it is an incomplete disaster

Michel Barnier

I was delighted to attend a superb event hosted by Professor Anand Menon of UK in a Changing Europe. Even more delighted to meet Michel Barnier and present him with copies of the books Reboot Britain and Private Eyelines.

Here are my takeaways from the event. It was necessary to attend in person to gain the full value of the conversation between these two giants. Just click the link to Twitter below or go direct to the the full article on Linkedin.

Merci beaucoup pour tout ce que vous avez fait pour essayer de sauver notre pays de lui-même. Le Brexit est perdant. Nous allons nous réveiller doucement.

Whilst we are here, do check out my riotous conversation with James O’Brien on LBC re Rishi Sunak’s motivational strategy.

Talking bollocks about Rishi Sunakered – Please download the album and subscribe to our Bandcamp page for updates

We are failing

Life long Tory voter Rod Stewart has just declared that the country is a mess and the Tories need to hand over power to someone more competent. This prompted me to think of the song he covered on his Atlantic Crossing album. Apologies for the lyrical changes which are occasionally grating !! 🙂