Conspiracy of Silence by UK Parties
Before the Brexit vote, former Scots Tory leader Ruth Davidson made the following prediction:
There is no doubt in my mind that there will be a large economic cost of Brexit
RUTH DAVIDSON, FT, 21 JUNE 2016
And there has been.
The UK is the poor man of North West Europe and has been for decades; but Brexit is making that worse.
No-one voted for an increasing cost-of-living crisis, and Scotland certainly didn’t vote for Brexit. But Brexit is a key reason why there is an increasing cost-of-living crisis.
The Endless Damning Headlines
No doubt people will have seen the headlines about new Brexit rules for products coming into the UK from the EU and how this impacts on the already soaring prices of food:
- Food and drink price rise warning as Brexit border changes come into force – ITN News, 31 January 2024
- New Brexit border rules will hit UK supply chains, food industry warns – FT, 29 January 2024
- ‘Price of Brexit’: Shoppers face price hikes on ham, cheese and sausages – The i, 19 January 2024
But this is just the latest chapter in the ongoing saga of our EU exit adding to the increased cost of household shopping, as was already revealed last year:
- Brexit to blame for a third of Britain’s food bill rise, researchers say – Reuters, 26 May 2023
- Brexit food trade barriers have cost UK households £7bn, report finds – Guardian, 24 May 2023
More widely, headlines show how bad Brexit is for the economy – whether it’s the food sector, fishing, farming, tourism or the music industry – as well as how little Westminster party politicians care:
- Minister tells struggling businesses £330m Brexit import checks were ‘not a surprise’ – Lancashire Post, 2 Feb 2024
- London food market boss urges Brexit rules rethink – FT, 6 Feb 2024
- New research reveals too many ‘broken promises’ in the fishing industry post-Brexit – University of York, 7 Feb 2024
- Jacob Rees-Mogg taken to school by farmer angry at Brexit – HuffPost UK Politics, 1 Feb 2024
- What happened to those post-Brexit farm subsidies? – Yorkshire Bylines, 31 Jan 2024
- Holidays cancelled as firm shuts down due to Brexit and Covid – The Independent, 7 Feb 2024
- Ski firm cancels holidays after ‘extraordinary challenges’ of Covid and Brexit – Mirror, 6 Feb 2024
- Eurostar could limit passenger numbers under post-Brexit plans – The London Economic, 5 Feb 2024
- Brexit: UK music industry will ‘eventually die’ without help National World, 7 Feb 2024
In Scotland, the effects of Brexit have seen businesses hit by a 25% slump in exports to EU, with red tape costing Scotland’s salmon sector millions of pounds and Scottish farmers the worst hit by Westminster’s post-Brexit trade deals. And you’ve probably noticed the Brexit effect on services in shops, pubs, restaurants and bus services because of staff shortages.
Reports are clear on the damage Brexit is doing.
In defiance of Sir Keir Starmer’s silence on Brexit, his own party’s London Mayor published a report indicating that EU withdrawal has already shrunk the UK economy by almost £140 billion. And the Tory UK Government’s very own Office for Budget Responsibility said last year that the economic damage of Brexit was as big as Covid.
No Alternative Under Westminster
The upshot of Brexit, however, it how it has exposed Westminster as the source of economic failure – having laid bare the myth of the Brussels bogeyman as the source of all problems.
But no Westminster party offers a route out of this mayhem. All those Westminster parties are engaged in what a Financial Times editor described as a “conspiracy of silence” when it comes to Brexit and the UK leaving the world’s largest single market.
And don’t forget, those same Westminster parties – the Tories, Labour, and the LibDems – promised Brexit wouldn’t happen if Scotland voted ‘No’ to independence.
In particular, the man most likely to be the next Westminster Prime Minister has a policy on Brexit which is no different from the Tories:
- Keir Starmer embraces Brexit slogan with ‘take back control’ pledge – BBC News, 5 January 2023
- Starmer ends Labour silence on Brexit as he rules out rejoining single market – The Guardian, 4 July 2022
As for the Lib Dems, they’ve also given up. Their leader said that re-joining was “for the birds“. This despite their Scottish leader promising they would become the ‘party of re-entry‘ after Brexit.
Scotland voted to Remain in the EU, but Westminster parties offer no hope for fear of losing votes in the rest of the UK. They want YOU to give up. They will tolerate the Brexit-induced cost-of-living crisis just so they can be elected to Westminster.
Scotland Can Do So Much Better
The idea of a UK cost-of-living crisis isn’t entirely accurate. The word ‘crisis’ implies something is temporary and will pass.
Yet for far too many people in the UK and Scotland, low living standards have become a permanent feature of their lives as economists predict that Brexit will leave the UK £300bn worse off by 2035 – that’s over £10,000 per household. Poverty and inequality are rife and Westminster government spending decisions play a significant part in this.
A UK Government Minister once said that “the best way to tackle the cost of living crisis is to ensure that we get on with building a stronger economy that will support jobs and growth”. That was ten years ago.
But Scotland does have an alternative.
Scotland can escape the Brexit now embraced by all the Westminster parties. Voting for the SNP is a vote for independence – the only route Scotland has to re-join the largest single market in the world.
Despite limited powers in the current context of devolution, we have shown that, when it comes to the economy, we can make decisions that create an environment that helps both businesses and workers.
In spite of everything, Scotland’s economy is the top-performing part of the UK outside London and the South East – with the third highest wages and highest value in goods and services per person in 2021. In 2023, earnings in Scotland grew faster than any other part of the UK including London and the South East.
Imagine how much better things would be if Scotland could make all the decisions that affect us, instead of being at the mercy of the Westminster parties who only offer more of the same.
