Saturday, September 23, 2017
Those Brexit blues
Perhaps the most unreal experience following Theresa May's Brexit concession speech in Florence yesterday was listening to all the hard line Brexiteers continue to spout the line that a promised land of milk and honey for the UK economy awaits us once we leave the EU.
That well-known champion of the under-privileged and sole saviour of the developing world's falling birth rate, Jacob Rees Mogg even suggested that in a post-Brexit world, the price of essential food stuffs would be lower.
He apparently overlooked one of the most marked effects of the referendum result, a falling pound which has put up the price of these staples and undermined the cost of living still further.
Today's Independent records yet another effect of Brexit, which its most ardent advocates seem to have overlooked, namely the fact that the UK's credit rating has been downgraded by Moody's Investor Service because of economic uncertainty caused by us leaving the single market.
They say that the downgrade came just hours after a major speech by Theresa May in which she had hoped would clarify the UK's position on Brexit. So that was a great success then!
The paper says that Moody's warned of "uncertainty for businesses" and said the current plans for Brexit will cause the "erosion of the UK's medium-term economic strength":
In a damning assessment of the Government's negotiating strategy to date, analysts said: "Moody's is no longer confident that the UK government will be able to secure a replacement free trade agreement with the EU which substantially mitigates the negative economic impact of Brexit.
"While the government seeks a 'deep and comprehensive free trade agreement' with the EU, even such a best-case scenario would not award the same access to the EU Single Market that the UK currently enjoys.
"It would likely impose additional costs, raise the regulatory and administrative burden on UK businesses and put at risk the close-knit supply chains that link the UK and the EU."
Moody's added that Theresa May's deal with the DUP was another reason for the downgrade. That is the reality of Brexit, not the rose-tinted picture painted by Rees Mogg and his pals.
That well-known champion of the under-privileged and sole saviour of the developing world's falling birth rate, Jacob Rees Mogg even suggested that in a post-Brexit world, the price of essential food stuffs would be lower.
He apparently overlooked one of the most marked effects of the referendum result, a falling pound which has put up the price of these staples and undermined the cost of living still further.
Today's Independent records yet another effect of Brexit, which its most ardent advocates seem to have overlooked, namely the fact that the UK's credit rating has been downgraded by Moody's Investor Service because of economic uncertainty caused by us leaving the single market.
They say that the downgrade came just hours after a major speech by Theresa May in which she had hoped would clarify the UK's position on Brexit. So that was a great success then!
The paper says that Moody's warned of "uncertainty for businesses" and said the current plans for Brexit will cause the "erosion of the UK's medium-term economic strength":
In a damning assessment of the Government's negotiating strategy to date, analysts said: "Moody's is no longer confident that the UK government will be able to secure a replacement free trade agreement with the EU which substantially mitigates the negative economic impact of Brexit.
"While the government seeks a 'deep and comprehensive free trade agreement' with the EU, even such a best-case scenario would not award the same access to the EU Single Market that the UK currently enjoys.
"It would likely impose additional costs, raise the regulatory and administrative burden on UK businesses and put at risk the close-knit supply chains that link the UK and the EU."
Moody's added that Theresa May's deal with the DUP was another reason for the downgrade. That is the reality of Brexit, not the rose-tinted picture painted by Rees Mogg and his pals.
