Category: Trade policy

Is Brexit really costing the UK economy £100 billion a year?

One of the most dramatic claims made by those seeking to reverse Brexit is that leaving the EU is costing the UK economy ‘£100 billion every year’ in lost output, or about 4pc of GDP. Moreover, that would translate into about £40 billion in lost tax revenues, which happens to be roughly the same as … Continue reading Is Brexit really costing the UK economy £100 billion a year?

EU’s legal battles with Britain show Starmer’s ‘reset’ is a fool’s errand

The prospect of a ‘reset’ of the UK’s relations with the EU has excited some and alarmed others. This muddle of emotions has not been helped by a barrage of misinformation from supporters of much closer ties with the rest of Europe. So, how worried should we be? To be fair, the opening of negotiations … Continue reading EU’s legal battles with Britain show Starmer’s ‘reset’ is a fool’s errand

Project Rejoin’s ‘zombie statistics’ are doing no-one any favours

I often come across ‘zombie statistics’ for my collection of ‘bad Brexit takes’. Here’s a classic example for those not familiar with the genre. This week the Guardian published an article by Polly Toynbee which included the claim that “the Office for National Statistics says Brexit cost the UK £1m an hour in 2022”. This … Continue reading Project Rejoin’s ‘zombie statistics’ are doing no-one any favours