Alex Orr once again makes a compelling and urgent case for rejoicing the EU. The letter below appeared in a number of Scottish newspapers in early June.
The recent claim by former foreign secretary David Milliband that Brexit was an act of “sabotage” that has made Britain up to £30bn a year worse off can hardly be disputed.
Indeed, as polling indicates, most of the British public now recognises that leaving the EU was a gross mistake.
We are suffering a punishing Brexit tax every day, and estimates put the cost of being outside the customs union at 0.5–1 per cent of GDP, so of the order of £15–30bn a year.
In December, research from King’s College London, Stanford University, the Bank of England and the University of Nottingham found that business investment is estimated to be between 12 and 18 per cent lower than it would have been if Brexit had not occurred.
The study also found that employment and productivity were each down by 3 to 4 per cent compared with where they would have been without Brexit.
At a time when we have a government committed to boosting economic growth, this is akin to trying to do this, but with one hand firmly tied behind its back.
We simply cannot afford to stand still on these matters, and by not rejoining the EU or at the least the single market and customs union, we will pay an even heavier economic price.
Additionally, in an increasingly unstable world run by self-declared “strong men”, we need the stability of being part of a much bigger entity, and that comes in the form of EU membership.
The inevitable Labour leadership contest, however, shows that there is light at the end of the tunnel, with both Andy Burnham and Wes Streeting expressing a desire for the UK to rejoin the EU. Let’s hope and pray that these fine claims become a reality.
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