If we are serious about growth, the EU cannot be sidelined
If we are serious about growth, the EU cannot be sidelined
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Five years since the UK left the European Union, the director of the Good Growth Foundation argues that closer ties with our closest trading partner is more vital than ever. It is approaching five years since the UK officially left the European Union. And what do we have to show for it? The Tories admit that they took the UK out of the EU without a plan for growth, and the consequences are clear: the cost of living is soaring, public services are on their knees, and growth feels like a dream from a distant era. Though some may not like to hear it, a closer relationship with the EU is a key piece in solving that growth puzzle.
For too long, Westminster has avoided this topic. Any politician, business leader, or journalist brave enough to acknowledge that Brexit has harmed the UK economy was accused of dredging up the past. But, whisper it – times are changing. Labour has made growth its central mission, and they’ve made it clear a closer UK-EU relationship is part of that vision. In November last year, Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey rightly pointed out that Brexit had weighed on the UK’s ability to trade. Even arch-Brexiteer Kemi Badenoch, leader of the Conservative Party, has admitted that her party took the UK out of the EU without a plan for growth. Is politics finally catching up with economic reality?.
It seems that public sentiment is. Last year, just after Donald Trump’s November election victory, the Good Growth Foundation thinktank found that post-Brexit Britain is not as anti-EU as some might assume. In a direct choice between closer ties to Europe or the US, the public firmly chose Europe.
