BREXIT News update 17th August 2017

by David Baber, Managing Director.

From now on until Britain has left the EU, CPA are going to post regular blogs for the comments we have seen in the press and elsewhere about Brexit, which is perhaps the most momentous event that will happen to the UK for a very long time and will have long-term implications for every citizen living in this country for good or ill. We aim to be balanced in our reports which will be divided into three categories;

• Category 1 – Positive comments on Brexit
• Category 2 – Negative comments on Brexit
• Category 3 – Neutral comments on Brexit

Or see all posts referencing Brexit

Please find below our latest Brexit blog which has been compiled today on 17th August 2017:-

BREXIT; NEGATIVE COMMENT: In The Guardian, 11^th August, under the heading “UK trade deficit widens despite fall in sterling” in an article by Angela Monaghan, she said that the trade position of Britain worsened in June with the rest of the world with the big fall in the value of sterling since the Brexit vote failed to lift sales of UK goods abroad.

Further, the weaker June data was driven by a decline of 7.9% in exports to countries outside the EU, while goods transported to EU member states rose by 2.7%.

It was later written by her “The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) estimates that the pace of economic growth slowed to 0.2% in the three months ending in July.”

BREXIT; POSITIVE COMMENT: In an article in The Times on 14^th August, Matt Ridley writes “I am more confident than ever about Brexit” and sublined ”The robust economy set against the appalling behaviour of the European Commission show we are far better off without it”. Matt Ridley states that he realises that we who ended up on the ‘Leave’ side have probably made a mistake, “No, not that we should have voted the other way, but that we thought we had won the argument last year during those weeks when we lived and breathed every details of the debate. To some extent we then stopped making the case. The ‘Remainers’ did not.”

He then goes onto to give many reasons why he feels this was the right decision to leave, including that “unemployment is now lower than at any time since 1975”. Also that “Britain is currently the most popular destination in Europe for foreign direct investment, which shot up to £197 billion in 2016.”

His article ends on a similar positive note where he states “In recent months I have had conversations about immigration policy with Australians, fishing policy with Icelanders, farm subsidies with Swiss, environmental policies with Americans and tobacco control with Canadians. These conversations no longer end in that despairing realisation that reform is impossible because it requires persuading 27 other nations and a lobby-fodder commission to come to some sort of compromise. Suddenly anything is possible.”

BREXIT; NEUTRAL COMMENT: “EU war chest of €3m will fund Brussels propaganda”. In an article in The Times of 14^th August headed as above, Bruno Waterfield wrote that “Brussels is spending €500,000 on projects ‘challenging Euroscepticism’ as it plans to create a ‘long-term network’ to undermine hostility to the EU.”

There followed many examples of substantial funding’s to various locations including Streatham and Witham being paid in ‘propaganda’ to “fostering of the wider concept of European citizenship especially from UK members who may be tempted to withdraw from the idea following the Brexit vote…”

BREXIT; POSITIVE COMMENT: In The Guardian, 15^th August “Eurozone industrial output slumps” writes Tim Wallace who points out that Germany’s monthly output fell, Ireland’s crashed and even the French industrial output dropped as well.  The article ends “Economists expect the Eurozone economy overall to grow by 2% this year, up from 1.7% in 2016. However, that is forecast to be a high point. GDP growth is set to slow in 2018 and will only be 1.5% in 2019.”

BREXIT; NEGATIVE COMMENT: “UK’s transition plans threatened by Irish block” In an article by Steven Swinford in the Daily Telegraph of 15^th August, he says that Ireland accuses Britain of delusion about what is required to be done, warning it may use its veto.

He writes that he feels the dollar’s decline will quickly end and he predicts the euro is likely to end the year closer to where it started at $1.30, though not in time to ease the pain of holidays this summer.

BREXIT; POSITIVE COMMENT: “The days of a resurgent euro are numbered” writes Matthew Lynn in the Daily Telegraph of 15^th August. He says that despite the recent rises of the euro “While everyone can sign up to platitudes about ‘unity’, when it comes to details, no one will agree to anything”.

BREXIT; NEGATIVE COMMENT: “All they are selling is a pipe dream” says John Springford in his article in The Guardian of 15^th August, who goes on to say “It is fine for Liam Fox and Philip Hammond to show unity on Brexit – yet realism is what is truly needed.” He says there is not enough time to negotiate both a made-to-measure transition and the outline of the final deal in the time remaining. He ends the article by saying “Whatever their motives, Fox and Hammond’s words are demonstrably too detached from reality to be taken seriously.”

BREXIT; POSITIVE COMMENT: In The Morning Account, 15^th August, under the heading “EU citizens rush to find City jobs” it was reported that figures from Morgan McKinley show the number of people looking for a job in the City rose last month, as EU citizens rushed to find employment in the UK ahead of Brexit. There was a 12% month-on-month increase in those seeking jobs in London’s financial industry in July, compared with a 14% drop during the same period last year. The Times.