Want “Brexit benefits”? — Sorry, not available from the Hunt-Sunak-OBR government
EXPOSED. Watch Brexit benefits and costs of lockdowns disappear in the Hunt-Sunak-OBR “poverty budget”
Then it came to pass we British had a referendum to leave the EU
Then came Covid that decimated the world and its economy including the UK’s.
Then came along Putin who confounded matters and really twatted the world economy including the UK.
Then came Rejoiners who blamed it all on Brexit.
Yes, that’s how dumb some people can be.
The hidden black holes they would rather not talk about
If readers would like to witness a magical disappearing act this weekend, I recommend looking at Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s Autumn Statement and the OBR forecasts he based his budget on.
Hey, presto! Watch Brexit virtually disappear before your eyes.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer’s ‘poverty budget’ on Thursday (17 Nov 2022) continues to be vilified from all sides in the media. However, amongst all the criticism one gaping omission has been overlooked. Where did Brexit go?
What did Remainer Jeremy Hunt and his Remainer OBR friends say about Brexit?
In his entire Autumn Statement, Jeremy Hunt mentioned Brexit and the EU just once, in relation to “changes to EU regulations” which might be made by the end of 2023. (See below for details.)
In the OBR’s entire “Economic and Fiscal Outlook — November 2022” on which the Autumn Statement was based, the OBR mentioned Brexit once, citing just one paper published by two pro-EU academics in the Republic of Ireland claiming how much negative impact it was having on the UK.
How the Chancellor kicked Brexit benefits further down the road
Below is the only section of the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement relating to Brexit — and this once again delays any Brexit benefits.
“By the end of next year, we will decide on and announce changes to EU regulations in our five growth industries: digital, life sciences, green industries, financial services and advanced manufacturing.
“I have asked the chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance, who did such a brilliant job in the pandemic, to lead our work on how to do this.”
“… I also announce that we are publishing our decision on Solvency II, which will unlock tens of billions of pounds of investment for our growth-enhancing industries.”
The Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt, The Commons, Autumn Statement, 17 Nov 2022
And what did they each say about lockdowns having caused the economic crisis?
When it comes to lockdowns — the greatest cause of the economic crisis we are now in — the Chancellor chose not to use the word. The OBR mentioned it just once, in relation to each of us increasing our savings at that time.
On top of this, he has appointed one of those responsible for the draconian measures over Covid to be the man responsible for reviewing EU laws and regulations. Quite what qualifies Sir Patrick Vallance to be in charge of this specialised and vital area for the UK’s economy has not been explained by the Chancellor.
Remainer’s budget fails to deliver positive Brexit benefits
Seven years after the historic vote to leave the European Union, it seems the Government is continuing to postpone the Brexit benefits we all expected to see. This is not the fault of Brexit, it is the fault of successive governments to deliver it.
The “bonfire of EU laws” remains unlit. Our financial services sector remains hidebound by EU regulations designed by Brussels bureaucrats to suit EU tastes, holding back UK growth. In other sectors, there are still thousands of EU regulations in place, predominantly designed to suit the needs of the German and French economies.
There are so many areas in which the Government has failed to deliver the economic benefits of Brexit. These range from the revitalisation of our coastal communities from fisheries reform, to our continuing financial payments into the EU budget, to the snail-like pace of Freeports and Investment Zones, and much more besides.
Sshhh… Don’t mention the costs of lockdowns
When it comes to the real cause of the economic crisis, we witnessed another sleight of hands by ‘Conjuror-Chancellor Hunt’ on Thursday. Incredibly Jeremy Hunt managed to get through an entire Autumn Statement lasting almost an hour without once mentioning the word “lockdown”. He never once even used the word “Covid”.
It is as if the over-used expression “the elephant in the room” has now become “the pre-historic mammoth in the library, consigned to the history books and best-forgotten”.
There is absolutely no doubt that Government policies towards Covid have had a devastating impact on the economy and continue to have a massive impact on people’s lives. Excess deaths are running at around 10%, many people have refused to go back to their place of work, education has suffered, the NHS waiting list is now over seven million… the list goes on and on.
Despite the huge impact of the Government’s policies on lockdowns and the massive costs of paying people to sit at home, together with the costs of protective equipment and the unused Nightingale hospitals et al, the Chancellor chose not to even mention lockdowns at all.
[ Sources: Hansard | OBR ]
