Scotland doesn’t have to accept this
From rising food prices and squeezed wages, to the UK economy being the worst performing among all major economies, the impacts of Brexit are making millions of people poorer.
The evidence is so clear, that even the Brexit architect Nigel Farage admitted what people in Scotland knew all along – that “we have not benefitted from Brexit” and that it has “failed”.
And yet, despite that, Keir Starmer’s Labour Party remain ardent cheerleaders for Brexit regardless of the economic damage it’s continuing to cause.
Put simply – Scotland has overwhelmingly voted to remain in Europe, but we’re forced to pay a heavy price of Westminster’s economic mismanagement.
UK workers have suffered the longest and deepest wage squeeze in decades
In 2022, UK workers have suffered the biggest drop in their spending power, with the slowest wage growth in the G7 and the biggest wage squeeze in more than 20 years.
People are getting poorer, which is largely driven by UK wages falling behind inflation – which has been significantly increased as a result of Brexit.
However, the problem with UK wages goes back further than Brexit, and paints a broader story of Westminster economic mismanagement.
According to analysis by the Trades Union Congress, working people lost almost £20,000 in real earnings between 2008 and 2021, due to pay not keeping up with inflation.
Over than a decade on from the financial crisis, UK workers are still earning around £75 a month less (in real terms, when adjusted for inflation) than they were in 2008.
UK households just “need to accept” they’re getting poorer, according to the Bank of England’s chief economist
Huw Pill, the chief economist of the Bank of England, said that UK households “need to accept” they are getting poorer and that workers should stop demanding higher wages.
His justification was the UK’s rate of inflation which is staying above 10% – the highest inflation rate in the G7.
Factors such as disruptions to supply chains, delays at the border in Dover, and shortages of workers are all caused by Brexit, and are resulting in higher prices for businesses, who then pass on these increases onto consumers.
Brexit alone has added almost £6bn to UK food bills in two years
According to analysis from the London School of Economics, Brexit has added almost £6 billion to the UK food bills over 2020 and 2021.
This translates to around £210 extra food costs for the average household, purely as a result of extra red tape and barriers imposed by Brexit.
And it’s affecting poorest households the most, with prices of household essentials shooting up at a higher rate than the average food price increase.
And UK government officials admit that Brexit food inflation is about to get worse
As the UK government prepares to roll out its final and delayed border checks system from October, government officials admitted that the checks will cost importers up to £400 million a year.
These higher costs will pile more misery on people, on top of the already fastest increase in food bills in the UK for over 45 years.
Industry bosses have also warned that apart from even higher food prices, the checks will threaten some food shortages on supermarket shelves.
It doesn’t have to be this way – we can build a better future with independence
After almost thirteen years of Tory austerity, cruel welfare cuts, Brexit and economic mismanagement, people across Scotland are paying the price of Westminster control.
But no one should have to just accept being worse off as a result of Tory governments we don’t vote for.
With independence, we can permanently escape the damage of Tory governments, end austerity and rejoin the EU – building a better, fairer future for all.
Help us make it happen by getting involved with your local SNP team. And if you haven’t already, join us and help shape Scotland’s future.
