The Positive Brexit Thread

[Hoola Han Solo 448]

35 minutes ago, Jools said:

The following article completely destroys the Remainiacs 'Project Fear' and economic argument:

 

Most people know that about 46% of UK goods exports go to the EU

What people weren't told until now is that this is only 7.7% of GDP

If we lose all EU exports tomorrow, the economic effect would be much less than COVID

AN EXCLUSIVE AND IMPORTANT REPORT FROM BREXIT FACTS4EU.ORG

SOME HIGHLIGHTS

• Big Brexit Britain and the truth about the EU’s small economic effect
• Revealed: EU’s “Single Market” in goods - only 7.7% of UK’s GDP… and falling
• The EU’s share of UK goods exports has been falling for years
• Countries such as Germany have benefited far more, with 50% higher exports as proportion of GDP
• Yet UK total exports to the non-EU World are growing fast – now 18% of UK economy
• The UK could lose ALL EU exports and it would have less effect on UK GDP than COVID-19

This special Brexit Facts4EU.Org report includes a special insight for our readers from David Campbell Bannerman, former MEP of 10 years’ standing, crucially with many years of experience sitting on the EU Parliament’s International Trade Committee.

It is well-known fact that around 46% of the UK’s goods exports go to the EU. This figure drops to 43% if services are included.

It is a lesser-known fact that a percentage of the UK’s “EU exports” in fact merely transit through Dutch and Belgian ports on their way to the rest of the world. The true percentage for “EU exports” is therefore lower than reported.

One fact which is NOT known is that the UK’s exports to the EU represent a very small proportion of the UK’s economy as a whole.

The effect of EU exports on our economy is so small in fact, that the economic effects of the Coronavirus measures will dwarf any possible Brexit impacts on GDP.

Even if EU goods exports (7.7% of GDP) are added to EU services exports (5.9%), the percentage of UK GDP arising from export trade with the EU last year only just made it into the teens.

Brexit Facts4EU.Org exposes the myths about the importance of EU trade

After extensive research into the Government’s latest figures for 2019, Brexit Facts4EU.Org can reveal some astonishing facts. We have used the latest data for 2019, from the Office for National Statistics and HM Treasury.

Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary

Putting the EU in its place, economically

• UK's total GDP in 2019 : £2,214.9bn
• UK goods exports to the EU : £170.6bn (7.70% of GDP)
• UK services exports to the EU : £129.8bn (5.86% of GDP)
• 86.4% of the UK economy has NOTHING to do with exports to the EU

In fact, nearly 70% of the UK economy is derived from domestic activities

• Domestic GDP (EXCLUDING exports to all EU and non-EU destinations) 68.46%
• GDP from non-EU goods exports : 9.12%
• GDP from non-EU services exports : 8.87%
• GDP from EU goods exports : 7.70%
• GDP from EU services exports : 5.86%

How does the UK compare to Germany?

• UK's GDP from EU goods exports : 7.7%
• Germany's GDP from EU goods exports : 22.3%
• Germany has been doing almost three times better from EU membership than the UK

Of the proportion of the UK economy derived from exports, the non-EU Rest of the World has a much larger impact than the EU. The UK’s exports of goods and services to non-EU countries in 2019 were ONE-THIRD HIGHER than to the EU27.

Former MEP and EU Parliament International Trade Committee Member,
David Campbell Bannerman, commented:-

“Your excellent research shows very strongly that the main driver of our economic wealth isn’t the EU – it’s our own economy. We're making and selling so much to ourselves. Almost 70% - as you found out - is generated within our own borders, and 86% has nothing to do with the EU.

“So this argument that we have to do a deal with the EU or we're finished is a nonsense.”

A full interview with Mr Campbell Bannerman appears in tomorrow's edition of Facts4EU.Org.

What has happened to UK goods exports to the EU’s Single Market in the past 20 years?

The story of the UK’s economic relationship with the EU’s Single Market has not been a happy one. Below we show what has happened to the proportion of the UK’s goods exports to the EU over the past 20 years.

 

PLEASE NOTE : This chart shows the percentage of UK goods exports which go to the EU - NOT the small percentage contribution they make to UK GDP.

• In just 20 years, the share of UK goods exports going to the EU has plummeted from 60.2% to 45.8%
• That’s a drop of ALMOST one quarter
• It means that exports of UK goods to the EU now only represent 7.7% of UK GDP
• Exports of UK services to the EU are even lower at 5.86% of GDP
• Services are the lifeblood of the UK economy- around 80% of total GDP

 

And when it comes to services, it should be recalled what the EU’s Single Market Commissioner admitted in 2017:-

“The Single Market – this jewel that is all too often taken for granted – does not function properly for services”

- EU Commissioner for the Single Market, 2017

Given that services represents almost 80% of the UK economy, and that the Single Market has been going for over 25 years, this was an extraordinary admission.

 

This is the Single Market which was described by the OECD in their damning 2016 report as being: “unfinished and stalled”. (This report came out just before the Referendum, but somehow the BBC forgot to mention it.)

The non-EU world is buying from the UK more and more

Below we show how the rest of the (non-EU) world has been buying more and more goods from the UK, and contributing more and more to UK GDP. In the last 20 years, while goods sales to the EU have been falling, the rest of the World has been snapping up an increasing number of products from UK companies.

Sales of goods to the rest of the (non-EU) world now account for 9.1% of GDP. And these sales have been growing.

 

And finally, what about services?

When it comes to services, the UK's sales to the rest of the (non-EU) world are far more important for UK GDP than our sales of services to the EU27.

In fact the UK’s sales are now more than 50% higher to the rest of the (non-EU) world than to the EU, as a proportion of UK GDP.

SUMMARY

The EU is on our doorstep. We were members for 47 years. Yet the EU has a much smaller effect on UK GDP than our trading partners in other parts of the world, and the EU has been shrinking in importance for years.

In this article we have tried to put the EU’s market into context. In terms of the UK’s overall economy, the impact of our sales to the EU are much smaller than most people have been told. Even if the EU stopped buying anything from the UK tomorrow, the effect on the UK economy would be less than the effects that the Coronavirus measures are having.

 

Informative opinions

We asked renowned former MEP David Campbell Bannerman – a man with years of experience on the EU Parliament’s International Trade Committee – for his views on our research.

Mr Campbell Bannerman is a former MEP of 10 years’ standing, former Chairman of the Conservative Bow Group, former Deputy Leader of UKIP, and crucially has many years of experience sitting on the EU Parliament’s International Trade Committee. He is also the originator of the ‘SuperCanada’ trade option, for the future trade arrangement between the EU and the UK, and is an ardent Brexiteer.

EU Parliament Brexit spokesman - the Belgian Guy Verhofstadt - once called David Campbell Bannerman's comments “insane”.

We can’t think of a better recommendation for reading what Mr Campbell Bannerman has to say.

 

Photo left: Guy Verhofstadt, MEP from Belgium, a divided country with less than a fifth of the economic power of the United Kingdom - an extreme EU federalist politician in the EU Parliament

Here is a short excerpt from our interview with David Campbell Bannerman.

“Post COVID we've got to be much nimbler as an economy – indeed as a country.

“We've got to be more competitive, we've got to be less regulated. All of these things can be compromised by a bad deal with the EU involving regulatory control. That is not acceptable. That is too big a price to pay.”

You do not want to miss David Campbell Bannerman's fascinating views on our research here tomorrow, together with his thoughts on the UK-EU trade talk

 

Observations

Naturally no-one would wish away anything contributing to the UK's GDP, and this article does not say this. What it does do is to provide solid and up-to-date facts about the relative importance of EU exports to the UK economy.

This report is about context. It's about proportionality.

For years the British people have been brainwashed by previous governments, the London Establishment, Big Business, the BBC, and others into believing that exports to the EU provide the lion's share of jobs and wealth. They don't. Not even remotely close.

We remember Remainer MPs - mostly Labour, LibDem and SNP, but many Conservative MPs too - telling the public that "50% of our exports go to the EU", "our jobs depend on the EU", and other such claims. Prior to the Referendum and every day since we have tried to counter these falsehoods.

Over and over again - both before and since the EU Referendum four years ago – anti-Brexit campaigners have trotted out the same tired arguments about Brexit. One of their recurrent themes has been what they claim as being the necessity of staying in - or closely allied to - the EU’s “Single Market” and “Customs Union”. They claimed - and still do - that so much of our economy depends on this. Sadly their arguments were not based on the facts.

Our research above clearly shows how the EU has made a much smaller contribution to the UK economy and its GDP than the public has been told for so many years.

The information in our article has all been researched from official sources - in this case from the Office for National Statistics and HM Treasury.

Of course it makes sense to do a trade deal with the EU - on very good terms

If an advantageous trade deal can be struck with the EU, then of course it should be done. The problem is that the EU seem to believe that the UK will do a deal at any price.

Given the current intransigence by the EU and given the relatively small contribution from the EU market to the UK's overall economy, however, it seems inevitable that Monsieur Barnier's "teek-tock" will still be ringing in his head for long after his retirement.

 

We hope readers agree that the above report is important, and that it was worth researching, writing, designing and publishing it. We know it's longer than most of our articles, and that it contains more facts than usual, but we felt readers would want a full picture.

 

 

 

 

 

How would you know? I doubt you could read a lot of the big words in it.

[A Load of Squit 5,108]

Poor Jools, he's still cutting and pasting this nonsense from his propaganda web sites and no-one is being fooled by it.

 

[SwindonCanary 455]

[Herman 9,691]

 

[SwindonCanary 455]

As I've been saying since the start of Brexit the BBC are Bias

 

[Surfer 1,547]

4 hours ago, Herman said:

 

It’s really the wrong thread for this - but brilliant! 

[Surfer 1,547]

4 hours ago, SwindonCanary said:

Don’t politicise it says the politician, politicising it. 😂

[Surfer 1,547]

It is a lesser-known fact that a percentage of the UK’s “EU exports” in fact merely transit through Dutch and Belgian ports on their way to the rest of the world. The true percentage for “EU exports” is therefore lower than reported.
 

Wow Jools - you finally got us now - who would have known “a percentage” of UK exports are trans shipped through (global container cargo) ports like Rotterdam? Did you tell Boris as it’s the kind of thing President Trump likes to point out. “Not many people know (insert the bleed’n obvious) that”

Edited May 24, 2020 by Surfer

[Herman 9,691]

6 hours ago, Surfer said:

It’s really the wrong thread for this - but brilliant! 

Didn't want to upset Barbe or Winky too much so stuck it on this one.😉

[sonyc 5,481]

11 hours ago, Herman said:

 

Is there a beanie hat to go with it? I want one.

[A Load of Squit 5,108]

10 hours ago, SwindonCanary said:

As I've been saying since the start of Brexit the BBC are Bias

 

You can say what you like but we all know you're an idiot so this on a par with 'the moons made of cheese' and "I've got an Instagram girlfriend".

 

[SwindonCanary 455]

1 hour ago, A Load of Squit said:

You can say what you like but we all know you're an idiot so this on a par with 'the moons made of cheese' and "I've got an Instagram girlfriend".

 

You are well aware what I've been saying about the BBC, All you lot just love having a go at me, even if I'm proved right once again, Id call that very sad.

[Hoola Han Solo 448]

5 minutes ago, SwindonCanary said:

You are well aware what I've been saying about the BBC, All you lot just love having a go at me, even if I'm proved right once again, Id call that very sad.

Are you going to offer an apology for the misinformation you posted up about the points system?

Don’t you ever get fed up being wrong all the while?

[A Load of Squit 5,108]

27 minutes ago, SwindonCanary said:

You are well aware what I've been saying about the BBC, All you lot just love having a go at me, even if I'm proved right once again, Id call that very sad.

The one thing that has been proven is that you are an idiot.

If you want to post evidence do not use RWNJ's Youtube posts, they are obviously as stupid as you are.

 

Edited May 24, 2020 by A Load of Squit

[Creative Midfielder 1,985]

4 hours ago, Herman said:

Didn't want to upset Barbe or Winky too much so stuck it on this one.😉

....or Mark .Y. he's is invariably upset by any criticism of this government - apparently, thinking that there is something amiss with thousands of our fellow citizens dying unnecessarily due to the incompetence of the government is being unnecessarily 'political'. 🙄

At least on this thread nobody, whatever their opinion on Brexit, is under the illusion that what the government does or doesn't do is irrelevant or unimportant to the issue under discussion  😂

[Herman 9,691]

On 22/05/2020 at 14:41, Creative Midfielder said:

 No argument with any of that, and it's certainly true that whilst all members of the Government (and to some extent all Tory MPs) bear some responsibility for the appalling blunders made by the Government, your very apposite comparison with New Zealand highlights just how important the leadership (of lack of it) of an individual is.

New Zealand have a leader with the class, competence, and genuine connection with her citizens that frankly the UK can only dream about. Last time I saw a survey she had an 88% trust rating which is no real surprise given her stellar performance throughout her 2 years as PM and especially during this crisis - locked down before the first death, provided consistent and coherent guidance (being trustworthy probably helped a bit here!), started unlocking after 4 weeks with an R value of 0.4 and to date 1,504 cases and 21 deaths.

 

[Creative Midfielder 1,985]

2 minutes ago, Herman said:

 

Yes, saw that - amazing and once again the polar opposite of Johnson yesterday who was just asked a few simple questions and reacted as if he'd been hit by a major quake!   😂

Also very refreshing that even when on national television she talks like a normal human being rather than mouthing political spin, difficult to avoid wishing we were New Zealand right now - well for the last two years actually!!

[SwindonCanary 455]

Well, all I can say is there are a lot of bitter and sad people on this forum, some of you need to cheer up !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kE186w91YVU

 

[Creative Midfielder 1,985]

6 hours ago, SwindonCanary said:

Well, all I can say is there are a lot of bitter and sad people on this forum, some of you need to cheer up !

Well all I can say is that even if you are fortunate enough not to have lost a loved one or close friend to the virus, bitter and sad are both pretty mild terms to apply to how most people feel about nearly 60,000 (and still counting) of their fellow citizens suffering an early, and in many cases, unnecessary death.

Guess things must be different in the microcosm that you seem to inhabit.

[SwindonCanary 455]

1 hour ago, Creative Midfielder said:

Well all I can say is that even if you are fortunate enough not to have lost a loved one or close friend to the virus, bitter and sad are both pretty mild terms to apply to how most people feel about nearly 60,000 (and still counting) of their fellow citizens suffering an early, and in many cases, unnecessary death.

Guess things must be different in the microcosm that you seem to inhabit.

I'm not saying you are bitter and sad due to the virus it's all about having a go at me

[Creative Midfielder 1,985]

4 minutes ago, SwindonCanary said:

I'm not saying you are bitter and sad due to the virus it's all about having a go at me

I don't think I've had a go at you for quite a while 😀

And despite you complaining quite frequently about people having a go at you, you do rather seem to go out of your way to provoke a response - almost as if you enjoy the attention?

Anyway what you actually said was 'Well, all I can say is there are a lot of bitter and sad people on this forum' - isn't that aimed at most of us?

[SwindonCanary 455]

Just those that voted to remain in the EU

[BigFish 1,986]

2 hours ago, SwindonCanary said:

Just those that voted to remain in the EU

@SwindonCanary, you may well feel vindicated, that you have somehow "won" and that may make you feel better about yourself. The curious thing is that you continue with the argument, why is that?

The Conservative Party has been remade in the image of the Brexit Party, they won a GE to give them an 80 seat majority and they have taken the UK out of the EU but you still need to fight these arguments. Us Remainers have largely moved on, it is you who is stuck in the past. Strangely, it is you that demonstrates the bitterness.

I cannot begin to understand why this would be the case when it appears you have everything you wanted. Perhaps it is because it is not quite what was promised, quite what you believed. The "easiest trade deal in history" looks unlikely to happen, it looks like the EU "doesn't need us more than we need them" and there will be a border down the Irish Sea. There is no likely deal with the US and if there is it is calculated to be of little benefit to the UK but a very high cost. The EU isn't collapsing even under the pressure of the virus, the "vast contribution" the UK was supposedly making turns out to be chicken feed, it seems the EU can shut down freedom of movement if it wishes and Turkey shows no sign of joining. Even your precious Honda are packing up and leaving Swindon.

So what happens now? What is the great global Britain that Johnson/Conservatives/Brexit Party will deliver. What is the plan? It is not going very well is it? Ever get the feeling you've been cheated.

[SHRIMPER 328]

2 hours ago, BigFish said:

@SwindonCanary, you may well feel vindicated, that you have somehow "won" and that may make you feel better about yourself. The curious thing is that you continue with the argument, why is that?

Because SWINDO is a Fvckwit.

 

[nevermind, neoliberalism has had it 159]

I think that Swindon Canary should propose and accept an extension to leaving the EU, unless he really wants to land England in the proverbial brown corona infused matter. At present we have seen its trajectory and everyone, including Brexiteers, can see that its in mid flight and that it will hit the twirling fan blades soon. It is very likely to coincide with BJ and DC leaving office, making all the other, just appointed, ex leave spads rather uncomfortable in their skins. What odds on BJ leaving before end of October?

 

Edited May 26, 2020 by nevermind, neoliberalism has had it

[SwindonCanary 455]

I do keep on, because some on here call me names and even after the event,when they clearly got it wrong, continue.

[Hoola Han Solo 448]

2 minutes ago, SwindonCanary said:

I do keep on, because some on here call me names and even after the event,when they clearly got it wrong, continue.

Has your life improved following Brexit? Please do tell us in which ways it has given you a happier and more fulfilled life.

 

[BigFish 1,986]

21 minutes ago, SwindonCanary said:

I do keep on, because some on here call me names and even after the event,when they clearly got it wrong, continue.

You really have nothing of value to say, do you?

Edited May 26, 2020 by BigFish

[SwindonCanary 455]

6 hours ago, Hoola Han Solo said:

Has your life improved following Brexit? Please do tell us in which ways it has given you a happier and more fulfilled life.

 

I'm happy simply because many of you wrote on here saying it would not happen or if it did, our world would fall in. None have !

[Herman 9,691]

6 hours ago, BigFish said:

You really have nothing of value to say, do you?

Yep, wasting everyone's time. Block or ignore is a good idea.