Category Archives: Brexit

The immediate cause of the United Kingdoms self-inflicted economic crisis, that led to prime minister Liz Truss sacking her chancellor of the exchequer, Kwasi Kwarteng, was a series of elementary misjudgments. Those mistakes reflected the prioritisation of swaggering self-confidence over expert advice, the favouring of maverick instincts over objective facts.

However, the roots of the current mayhem lie deep in the soil of Brexit. The original sin was Brexit itself. The mentality that led to Britains departure from the European Union continues to significantly shape British government policy.

There are at least four direct links between the Brexit fable and the budgetary bedlam of recent days.

The economies of many EU countries are in a healthier state than that of the UK. But the fiction about the dead hand of Brussels bureaucracy is another necessary tenet of the Brexit cult

First is the explicit dismissal of expertise. During the 2016 referendum, the arguments about the benefits to the UK of EU membership were objectively so strong that they could only be combatted by denouncing the experts making those arguments. Michael Goves repudiation of experts was not a slip of the tongue but a fundamental doctrine of the Brexit faith. Similarly, the Truss government made clear from the outset that experts were to be sidelined. On his first day in office, her short-lived chancellor sacked the highly admired permanent secretary of his department, a move that conveyed a wider message about the value he attached to objective advice.

Then he explicitly blocked the office of budgetary responsibility, the very name of which may offend his devil-may-care instincts, from offering an opinion on his controversial mini budget. It is hard to overstate the importance, for any government, of public servants who give objective advice and ministers who are prepared to listen to them. The prime ministers dramatic U-turns reflect the belated intrusion of some reality into policy deliberations in London, but pesky reality continues to grapple with preconceived ideology.

[Liz Truss sacks chancellor and makes another budget U-turn]

A second common thread linking the Brexit rhetoric of six years ago to the recent debacle is the notion that it was EU regulation that was holding the UK economy back. This was, of course, always nonsense. The economies of many EU countries are in a healthier state than that of the UK. But the fiction about the dead hand of Brussels bureaucracy is another necessary tenet of the Brexit cult. Since the UK has not yet derived any benefit from Brexit, it must still aspire to unchain itself from fictional European manacles. Hence Kwartengs removal of the cap on bankers bonuses. Hence his buccaneering ambition to build his Singapore on the Thames, a paradise for the wealthy that goes well beyond the Brexit the British people were asked to vote for. Nor does it bear any relation to the Conservative election manifesto put before the British people in 2019.

A third aspect of the original Brexit ideology that has gained a firm foothold in the Truss economic philosophy is an exaggerated sense of the UKs importance. The UK is, of course, still an important country. However, it is not important enough to go it alone in the world. Nobody in Tokyo or Ottawa considers the UK as more global than, say, Germany or France, or indeed than the UK itself when it was still a member state of the EU. Kwartengs misfiring budgetary bazooka smacked of a similar delusion that the UK was big enough to dismiss the economic orthodoxy of its largest international partners, the concerns of the IMF and the predictable reaction of the markets.

The simple fact remains that Brexit can bring no benefits to anyone. The EU has understood this from the outset

Fourth, the dismissal of expertise makes it possible to believe the unbelievable. For Johnson, one great fantasy was that the UK could have its cake and eat it, that it could leave the EU while retaining its benefits. A similar great fantasy of the Truss government seems to be that it is plausible to have a minister for levelling up while pursuing an economic philosophy designed to foster greater divergence in society. The disconnect from reality was further underlined by implausible ministerial assertions that the UKs recent economic turbulence was part of a global phenomenon, largely unrelated to the now notorious mini-budget.

The simple fact remains that Brexit can bring no benefits to anyone. The EU has understood this from the outset. However, despite all the evidence to the contrary and despite a radical shift of the public mood in the UK in favour one day of rejoining the EU, the high priests of Brexit have no choice but to continue to believe and assert that Brexit will one day be a success. Otherwise, they would have to acknowledge the irreparable damage they have done to their country. Their desperate but necessary fantasy is that Brexits sunlit uplands lie just around some corner, if only they could find the right corner. The forlorn search for that much promised land seems to have been a significant factor behind the recent, now crumbling, budgetary gamble.

Bobby McDonagh is a former ambassador to London, Brussels and Rome

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Bobby McDonagh: Four direct links between the Brexit fable and the UK budgetary bedlam - The Irish Times

Did you vote for the UK to leave the European Union in 2016 and later have a change of heart? We would like to hear from people in the UK who voted for Brexit but reconsidered their position.

What led you to change your mind? When did it happen? How do you feel about it? If you havent changed your position, let us know as well.

We are also interested in hearing from people who voted to Remain and believe the UK has benefited from leaving the European Union.

We will only use the data you provide us for the purpose of the feature. We will delete any personal data when we no longer require it for this purpose. For more information please see our terms of service and privacy policy.

If you are 18 years or over, you can get in touch by filling in the form below or contacting us via WhatsApp by clicking here or adding +44(0)7766780300. Your responses are secure as the form is encrypted and only the Guardian has access to your contributions. One of our journalists will be in contact before we publish, so please do leave contact details.

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Tell us: are you a Brexit voter who has changed their mind? - The Guardian

Many Conservative party members will be wondering where they go from here.

There is talk of damage limitation and trying to save as many seats as possible in the next election.

The latest polls show the Tories on just 19%, with Liz Truss's approval rating at 9%. These are historic lows.

Electorally those figures would represent a wipeout never seen before in British parliamentary history.

Party members might look at how they got here, and it is hard to find anyone who disagrees with the idea that the Tories, and Britain as a whole, has arrived at its present state of political disarray on a journey that started with Brexit.

For a start it is hard to see how Liz Truss would have become Prime Minister if she had not fitted the demands of the hard Brexiteers. She was not a front runner for the leadership race but she was willing to unilaterally rip up an international treaty with her Northern Ireland Protocol Bill and won the support of the powerful ERG group.

Sure, she was a Remainer at one stage but then again so also were the vast majority of the British people.

However, there was a revolution and a lot of it had to do with a rejection of established ideas.

The vast majority of economic experts argued against Brexit. When the skies did not fall in after the vote in June 2016, Michael Gove gleefully announced that the "country has had enough of experts ... saying that they know what is best and getting it consistently wrong".

Ever since the Brexit referendum campaign started there has been this idea - almost a conspiracy theory - that there were shadowy forces or institutions holding Britain back. Almost like the "deep state" theory in the US.

For Brexiteers it was mainly "unelected Brussels bureaucrats". However, it was also often the British establishment itself - "the blob" as Dominic Cummings called it.

In her leadership campaign, Liz Truss posed as a disruptor who would take on the "Whitehall Machine".

The party membership enthusiastically endorsed her vision of economic prosperity despite warnings that the sums did not add up just as they had done with Brexit.

In her conference speech Ms Truss widened her attack to the "anti-growth coalition" including those who "taxi from north London townhouses to the BBC studio to peddle the status quo".

As well as continuing to blame others, there has also been a consistent reluctance on the part of the Conservative leadership to provide a plan.

There was no detail for the Brexit project. "Not even the sketch of a plan" as Donald Tusk then President of the European Council once put it.

Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng tried to avoid providing detail for their economic revolution by saying it was not even a budget and therefore not subject to scrutiny by the official watchdog the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).

Even in his speech Mr Kwarteng did not give even the vaguest notion as to how the government would manage the 45bn hole in public finances resulting from the tax cuts.

The markets who free marketeers usually regard as the source of wisdom recoiled. The IMF issued a warning.

Instead of Brussels or economic experts, there were new targets. Incredibly, Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg and Foreign Secretary James Cleverly started criticising the IMF as biased. They both said the IMF is "not a friend of the UK".

Liz Truss even accused the markets of "group think" and the Bank of England was also being blamed.

Take this quote from a column in The Spectator by Charles Moore complaining about the IMFs warning being "insulting" to Britain.

"It is best seen as part of a pattern, like the early attempts to reverse Brexit, or the US governments related interventions over the Northern Ireland Protocol".

Mr Moore urged the Prime Minister and Chancellor to "fight back".

However, Rishi Sunak, himself a Tory Brexiteer, had described Ms Trusss economic plan as a fairytale. And there were already signs that some of the almost delusional thinking behind Brexit was beginning to clear.

Liz Truss was the architect of the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill and did not deny saying once that the impact of a no deal on Ireland would only "affect a few farmers with turnips in the back of their trucks".

But ironically the Irish Government is reporting a sea-change in attitudes since she became prime minister or a "different space" as Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney put it.

Northern Ireland Minister Steve Baker recently apologised for his hardline Brexit stance and even talked of "eating humble pie".

There are different theories on why this has happened. Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris himself said it was the war in the Ukraine and the resulting economic difficulties that brought home the need for co-operation

Another theory is Heaton-Harris and Baker saw for themselves the complexity of the Northern Ireland Protocol situation and, as they are both hardline Brexiteers, there was no one left to criticise them for being willing to negotiate.

Maybe Liz Truss was anxious to get a deal to avoid a trade war at a time of economic difficulty.

Or maybe it was just the Brexit ideology running out of road.

In any event there will be those saying that the Conservative party needs to get out a map and, this time, plan a route for the road ahead.

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Is the Brexit ideology running out of road? - RTE.ie

Saturday, October 15th 2022 - 14:50 UTC MLA Teslyn Barkman will be informing MPs on the European Scrutiny Committee

The UK represented the Crown Dependencies and British Overseas Territories in relations with the EU while a member of the block. But since Brexit, how is it performing at engaging the EU to represent their individual interests?

MPs on the European Scrutiny Committee will find out when they hear evidence from Isle of Man Chief Minister Alfred Cannon, and representatives of Jersey, Anguilla and the Falkland Islands.

On Wednesday 19 October at 2:30 PM, Witnesses will be,

Deputy Philip Ozouf, Minister for External Relations, States of Jersey;

Deputy Jonathan Le Tocq, Minister of External Affairs, Bailiwick of Guernsey;

Hon Alfred Cannon MHK, Chief Minister, Isle of Man Government

While at 3.30pm, Dorothea Hodge, Representative, Anguilla Government, and Hon Teslyn Barkman, MLA, Falkland Islands

The Overseas Territories were carved out of the trade agreement between the UK and the EU that has allowed the UK and the Crown Dependencies to continue tariff-free trade on the majority of goods with the block.

In written evidence given to the Committee, the UK Overseas Territories Association raised concerns that its interests are not being heard. It said there had been a lack of engagement with the UK Government on what their future relationship with the EU will look like. It added that inclusion in future trade agreements, while welcome, did not make up for the loss of EU trade and called for tariffs to be lifted.

This will be the second session of the Committees inquiry into the UK's representation in Brussels examines the work of the UK Mission to the European Union, its performance in representing the interests of the UK and the territories it has responsibilities and the value it provides to taxpayer.

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Falklands MLA will report on trade agreements with EU, UK following on Brexit - MercoPress

First the dynamic duo, Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng, were going to hit the ground running; then they claimed they hadnt prepared the ground they were going to hit. What their marriage of culpable ignorance and arrogance in fact achieved was something greeted with astonishment not only by them, but worldwide: they hit the pound running.

The Conservative party took a long time to recover from Black Wednesday, 16 September 1992, when the pound was ejected humiliatingly from the European Exchange Rate Mechanism the ERM membership of which had become the fulcrum of their economic policy.

Well, it is going to take a long time for what is left of the old Conservative party to recover from this self-imposed financial crisis. The financial markets voted with their feet on Labours economic policies of the 1970s forcing the Callaghan government to borrow from the International Monetary Fund in 1976; and they have voted with their feet on Trusss and Kwartengs policies now. It took Labour ages to recover from that.

It was no good the duo and their ilk trying to dismiss the U-turn in their plan for reducing the top rate of tax as a distraction. Bringing it down from 45% to 40% was the centrepiece of their growth plan.

It goes right back to the 2012 tract, Britannia Unchained, of which they were joint authors. In a wonderful Freudian slip, Kwarteng gave the game away by beginning to say the policy was 10 years old then corrected himself to say 10 days old.

The gulf between Trusss support among Conservative party members who voted her in and Conservative MPs has become all too apparent. But when people say to me Dont you regret your opposition to Johnson? I know they must be speaking tongue-in-cheek. However appalling Truss is, Johnsons proroguing of parliament and shameless disregard for national and international law did much damage to this countrys reputation. He had to go.

The bring-back-Boris brigade need their heads and values examined. Anyway, we now learn that my old acquaintance Boris has already embarked on the US lecture circuit, where he is boasting about Brexit, while on this side of the Atlantic his obsession with getting Brexit done is recognised as a first-class disaster. A recent YouGov poll shows that 87% of respondents agree the economy has suffered since Brexit, with 38% of leave voters and 37% of Conservative voters blaming Brexit. As the Nous thinktank (formerly Global Future) points out, respondents want politicians to stop avoiding the subject Keir Starmer please note!

Which brings us to that growth plan. To my knowledge, and to the knowledge of most economists I respect, there is no evidence that cutting higher rates of tax does anything to stimulate economic growth. Moreover, the benefits do not trickle down: they remain stuck at the top. On which subject, the economist Amos Witztum points out there should be far more attention paid to the distribution of gross domestic product than to its growth.

However, against a political background where Truss has decided that the jury is no longer out on our relations with France, and President Macron is a friend, I have a suggestion for Truss, or whoever succeeds her if her parliamentary colleagues decide her political career is to be, as it were, trussed up.

Two ways of improving this countrys growth rate would be to rejoin the single market and welcome EU citizens who want to work here, and, my goodness, plenty of British employers would welcome them. The obverse of the boost to the UKs economic growth from membership of what was the European Economic Community from 1973 is typified by our Brexit-induced probable exclusion from the 95bn Horizon Europe science programme. To make the most of its eminence in scientific innovation, the UK needs to coordinate with the EU.

In which context it is interesting to note, as my fellow journalist Fintan OToole pointed out in the Irish Times, that in their strange work Britannia Unchained, Truss, Kwarteng and co did not see our then EU membership as a problem!

By quite unnecessarily disrupting the financial markets, Kwarteng has every chance of going down in history as having been responsible for one of the worst British economic policy decisions since Winston Churchill took us back on the gold standard in 1925. The essence of that decision was that, for reasons of national pride, the British exchange rate was revalued upwards to the point where our exports became seriously uncompetitive.

The Brexit about which Johnson boasts has eroded our access to our principal market, with devastating effects on our trade. Kwartengs desire to aggravate the impact of austerity, Brexit and the cost of living crisis in order to cut taxes for the rich, with no evidence it would stimulate growth, was deranged.

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Heres my plan for growth, Liz Truss: rejoin the EU and let its citizens work here - The Guardian

Remainers have claimed Brexit is a "monster" and hinted that the country could rejoin the European Union. A pro-EU Twitter account has also claimed the departure from the bloc is "destroying its creatures" while questioning its support base. The vote has come under attack recently as experts question the impact on the UK's economy.

Missing EU funds have left the country scrambling for money and could put British jobs at risk, with the Government at the mercy of financial markets.

A Twitter user has said trouble stemming from the vote has left the UK "in a panic".

A former corporate lawyer and dual citizen named Mafevema said: "The Brexit monster is destroying its creatures.

"One by one, they fall. First in slow motion. Now in fast forward."

READ MORE:Brexit Boom - Badenoch slashes red tape on Scottish whisky exports

The ESF Peer Group, born from the EU's European Social Fund (ESF), has warned the Levelling Up Fund won't replace the funding given to Northern Ireland.

The ESF previously provided approximately 40 million per year on its own, matched in part by Stormont.

Together, the two organisations provided a combined 54 million.

Those funds allowed the group to provide residents with vital employment aid.

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Representatives said the Government's planned Levelling Up funds wouldn't cover the lost income.

And they claimed to have sought a solution from Stormont and Westminster for over a year.

The group's chairman told the BBC the EU was funding aid for vulnerable and disadvantaged people who couldn't find work.

Rev Andrew Irvine said that, without the appropriate funding, the group's 1,700 workers would be left in an "uncertain" position.

He said: "Everyone accepts that the work of our members is invaluable to the most disadvantaged and marginalised in society who find it difficult to access employment.

"If, however, we can't secure continuity in funding, the 1,700 people who provide this support will face a very uncertain future.

"Much good work has already taken place to secure funding, but a final agreement is still outstanding.

"There is a small window of opportunity to address these issues this week. If no solution can be reached, jobs and our support programmes will be lost."

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Brexit monster 'is destroying its creatures' as Remainer vows 'we will be back' - Express

However, the Direccion General de Trafico (DGT), Spains driving authority, notes that those exchanges would only be processed provided that they have been verified by the United Kingdom authorities before January 1, 2021. Otherwise, from May 1 this year, any expats living in Spain cannot drive using a UK licence, and have to obtain a new Spanish one.

Negotiations have been ongoing between the UK and Spain to resolve the issue, but the failure to reach an agreement is beginning to draw the ire of expats living without the use of a car.

Ms Barnes said: Life is lovely here, but not being able to drive affects considerably our mental health. Being away from family with young kids can be hard enough without having extra stress that could be so easily avoided.

In Mallorca, you cannot solely rely on public transportation. Especially in the high season and in extreme heat. Theres also a shortage of taxis. And why would we have to pay extra to have the basic right to be mobile where you live and pay taxes?

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Couple who moved to Mallorca punished by post-Brexit driving licence rules - Express

Steve Baker, who apologised to Dublin for not paying enough respect to its interests after the UK quit the EU, has now urged the Foreign Office to pay close attention to the DUP stance against the Irish Sea border.

Mr Baker, a junior minister at the Northern Ireland Office and a noted Brexiteer MP, spoke to the News Letter earlier this week.

His interview, published inside today in the print edition and in the link below online, makes all the more striking reading in light of the turmoil which has engulfed his boss, the prime minister Liz Truss.

Mr Baker insists that he was right to issue his apology to Ireland, made on stage at the recent Tory conference, but says the media missed the other part of his comments, about Londons resolve to overhaul the protocol.

He says that as a minister under Theresa Mays government he was betrayed by UK officials in his bid for a full Brexit split from Europe.

Citing Sir Jeffrey Donaldsons recent speech to the DUP conference in Belfast, and its call for an end to EU law dominance over NI, Mr Baker says: It needs to be heard in the Foreign Office by officials who might otherwise do a tech mini technical negotiation.

Mr Baker emphasises that the unionist grievance is the constitutional question. He says that respecting the Belfast/ Good Friday Agreement East-West does mean in my view, ending the supremacy of European law [in NI].

Asked if Ms Truss is so weakened since her disastrous mini budget last month that she will lack the clout to challenge the Irish Sea border, Mr Baker says that shes got so much resilience.

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NIO minister: I was betrayed over Brexit and dont want that to happen again - Belfast News Letter

David Shipp and his wife Nadine always enjoyed the laid-back lifestyle, the food and the weather when they spent a holiday at their villa in Murcia in south-eastern Spain.

Now, they are considering living it for real when Madrid brings a new digital nomad visa into force possibly later this year.

The visa will give Britons and other non-EU citizens the chance to work under the Spanish sun at a lower cost of living than the UK and with tax breaks thrown in as an extra sweetener.

The visas will be offered to people who work remotely for businesses outside Spain and for those who derive a maximum of 20 per cent of their income from Spanish firms.

Law firms that specialise in dealing with the visa said they have received thousands of enquiries from Britons.

Mr Shipp, 51, from Cambridgeshire, who is managing director of a company distributing polished concrete products, can work from anywhere using his laptop and telephone.

I have been keeping an eye on the digital nomad visa. Our intention to move would be in around two years. We are monitoring things now because I still have a daughter at university, he toldi from his home in Britain.

When we go away to Spain for long periods I am still working. This visa (would be) ideal really.

Mr Shipp said he had always admired the Spanish way of life. He bought a holiday home with his wife about a year ago in San Javier in Murcia, a region popular with Britons.

It is something that my wife and I have been speaking about for many years. We used savings to buy the house (in Spain), he said.

(We like) the laid-back attitude (of Spaniards), the weather, the food, all the clichs. It is just a great country.

Maria Luisa Castro, of CostaLuz Lawyers which specialises in dealing with the digital nomad visa, said there had been huge interest from Britons.

There have been hundreds of potential nomads waiting for the visa to be approved, she told i.

I would say that we have between 1,000 and 1,200 prospective applicants in our files.

British diplomats echoed this feeling, telling the i that there was considerable interest in Spains nomad visa.

Spains prime minister Pedro Snchez promised last month that the Start Up law, which includes the visa, would be passed before the end of the current legislature next year.

The visa will initially be valid for one year but can be renewed for up to five years, depending on the applicants situation. Close relatives, such as a spouse or children, will be eligible to join the applicant.

To qualify, the person must come from outside the European Economic Area and be able to demonstrate that they have been working for at least a year for a company outside Spain.

They must also have a contract of employment or, if freelance, they must be able to show that they have been working for companies outside Spain for more than a year.

Applicants must show they will earn enough to be self-sufficient and that they have a permanent address in Spain. It is likely, but not certain yet, that they will have to undergo a criminal record check.

For the first four years that they are living in Spain, they will be taxed at 15 per cent, rather than the standard 25 per cent base rate in Spain.

The Start Up law, which still has to overcome some final hurdles before coming into force, aims to boost the digital economy and attract foreign talent to Spain.

It is also hoped it will smooth foreign entrepreneurs path through the notorious Spanish bureaucracy.

At present, it takes an average of between 20 and 30 days to set up a company in Spain compared to one day in the UK.

Apart from its lifestyle and weather, Spain is well connected to the internet, a crucial factor for people who may be hoping to make the beach their office.

Internet speed is among the fastest in Europe at 148Mbps, almost double the UK speed of 75Mbps.

One disadvantage is that in cities like Madrid and Barcelona, rents have risen sharply in recent years.

Spain hopes good Wi-Fi even in country villages may attract nomads who want a taste of real Spain thus offsetting a growing political problem of rural depopulation.

When the nomad visa becomes a reality in Spain, it will make it the 15th country in Europe to bring in such a scheme.

Across the border in Portugal, nomads can apply for the D7 visa which requires a monthly income of 700 (600).

In Croatia, applicants must earn at least 2,300 per month while in Estonia the minimum figure is 3,500 (3,000) and in Iceland 7,100 (6,140).

Greece brought in a nomad visa in 2021 and sets the minimum monthly income at 3,500. It is not known what the figure will be in Spain.

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New Brexit visa which lets British expats wfh in Spain set to be launched this year - iNews

By Lily Benchick

Posted 5 hours ago, Update 1 hour ago

TESTIMONIALS With the entry into force of Brexit, the need for a visa is pushing expatriates to opt for another British island: Ireland. The real estate market, as a result, is beginning to tighten.

She wanted to settle in September in Scotland to continue her studies, but Axelle Diot had to give up her project. The price of the student visa and the difficulty once there of being able to find small jobs, the obligation to make your passport, the cost of living, the financial aid which has not been put in place since Brexit All that convinced me not to comesays the young woman, who discovered only at the time of her search for installation that the migration rules in the United Kingdom had changed so much since January 1, 2021. I was only made aware of different rules when I started the process of applying to the University of Edinburghregrets the Frenchwoman, who adds that she had not been able to come and settle before the deadline of December 31, 2020, not having finished her course in France.

A real disappointment for the young woman, who finally settled in mid-September in Galway, on the west coast of Ireland, opposite the capital, Dublin. Finally, this change of plan was rather an excellent decision for her, as for others, who found in Ireland a land of substitution in the United Kingdom, offering professional possibilities and personal fulfillment. I realize that Ireland was a good choicesays Axelle Diot.

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They dreamed of the United Kingdom, but Brexit forced these French people to move to Ireland - Morning Express