The Facts About Brexit

Authors: Ethan Thoburn, and Charles Wynne 

There are plenty of people talking about no deal Brexit at the moment and with Boris Johnson looking ever more likely to deliver that, we at The Bruges Group thought we would put together sort of a fact sheet on No Deal and how it won't leave us on a so called cliff edge as lots of the media like to think.

Let's start with some pro-Brexit, no-deal supporting facts which aren't always pointed out by the mainstream media:

• Only 8pc of domestic British businesses trade with the European Union

• Chlorine washing chicken reduces instances of salmonella in poultry produce from 14pc to just 2pc

• Britain's net contribution to the EU in 2016 was -£8.5bn, that gives HM Treasury the ability to lower taxes, fund better welfare programmes and relieve the budget

• Over 1.1 million more people are employed in the UK since the 2016 referendum – contrastingly, HM Treasury predicted 500,000 job losses with just a leave vote

• The UK's trade is growing faster with countries it trades with on WTO terms, for example, China's trade with the UK has increased by 12 fold in the last 20 years, compared to only 3.1pc with the rest of the world, excluding the EU, and only a measly 2pc with the EU

• The UK's global exports to non-EU nations increased by 15.3pc from June 2018 to June 2019, compared to the EU's global exports falling by 4.4pc in the same period (courtesy of Eurostat)

• On 1^st August, 45 American Senators signed a letter to Prime Minister Johnson "pledging unwavering support to the UK" as well as President Trump fully backing Mr Johnson to deliver Brexit and that "Britain are front o the queue for a trade deal" according to Mr Trump

• Deregulation would provide huge boosts to business with a benefit to the economy worth 0.7pc growth to 2pc of GDP

• Unilateral removal of tariffs by the UK would be a boost of at least 4pc of GDP to the British economy and reduce inflation by 8pc.

• Brexit could boost the UK economy by as much as £135 billion a year, according to a comprehensive new report by a team of leading economists. Worth about £5,000 a year to the average UK household, the boost should also be accompanied by an 8pc fall in prices, which would add an average of £40 a week to such households

• French officials at the ports have suggested only 1pc of UK lorries would be subject to physical border checks in the event of a no deal, and we wouldn't see mile long queues at ports

• In 2016, following the referendum result, Britain was ranked 5^th in the world for ease of import and export processes by the World Customs Organisation

• The WTO's new Trade Facilitation Agreement obliges to the European Union's frictionless borders with use of modern technology as used on the Swiss border

• A trade deal negotiated with South Korea would be hugely beneficial for British car manufacturers which export vast amounts of automobiles to South Korea, there would also be reciprocal benefits for South Korean manufacturers Kia and Hyundai. Bentley support the plan for a new trade deal to be negotiated on our terms rather than EU terms

• As we won't be contributing to the EU budget, food has the potential to reduce 40pc in price with clothing and footwear potentially saving consumers 20pc per item

• 56pc of British exports don't end up in the EU, this could have the potential to rise with newly negotiated FTAs, that suit us, with non-EU nations

Why It's Time To Go

• The Common Fisheries Policy force fisherman to dump 1.3 tonnes of dead fish in the North Atlantic a year

• The UK's fishing quota only allows UK fisherman to catch 30pc of fish in UK waters

• Due to 13,000 Customs Union tariffs imposed on imported goods, EU consumers are paying on average 17pc above world prices on food

• The EU discontinued a report on its own anti-corruption activities

• Due to under-estimation by the Office for National Statistics, they now admit that EU immigration to the EU was 240,000 people higher in the years 2009-16, than originally estimated

• Failure of EU economic policy has cost the UK £82bn due to lost economic opportunity, as UK exports to the Eurozone have been negatively impacted by weak demand

• Boris Johnson received 92,153 in being elected Conservative Leader. In comparison the next EU Council President, Commission President and EU Central Bank President all only received 28 votes to be elected

• Ursula von der Leyen was supported as EU Commission President by only 52pc of MEPs (despite being the only candidate presented to them). The Lib Dems have endorsed von der Leyen (they aren't demanding a recount on this 52-48 vote!)

• Those complaining of US food standards are ignoring the fact that in 2017, 700,000 contaminated eggs from Belgium and Holland entered UK food chains.

• In January 2019, the new EU Commission President von der Leyen wrote an online article in German newspaper Handelsblatt as Defence Minister, titled "Europe is forming an army". She argues "Europe's army is already taking shape" and that "Europe has to build an army". Not only that Ms von der Leyen was rated the second least popular German politician in a poll by Der Spiegel

• The new Commission President's department has been under investigation in Germany, the new President of the ECB has been found guilty of negligence in a multi-million Euro scandal and the EU's new Foreign Policy Minister has been a consistent cheerleader for repression in Catalonia

We will leave you with some points made by prominent Remainers and Second Referendum supporters:

• An all-female Cabinet and Government suggested by Caroline Lucas, the Green Party's solo MP

• An alternative Parliament set up in Church House which was supported by Europhiles from all parties to create a so called government of national unity, in other words a government formed by Remainers to defy the will of the people

• A temporary government led by either Ken Clarke, Jeremy Corbyn or Jo Swinson until a permanent solution is found and to remove no deal from the table

• Chaos in the Labour Party suggesting renegotiation then a referendum on that deal but backing a remain option, essentially defeating the point of renegotiating themselves

• During and since the referendum, Nick Clegg suggested "young people should vote twice as it's their future"

• Sir John Major suggested that proroguing Parliament is illegal for Boris Johnson to do, however, Mr Major prorogued Parliament, for longer than Mr Johnson has, to avoid scrutiny and to protect himself for the 'Cash for Questions Scandal' in 1997

Finally, the recent videos circulating social media of Brexiteers being called "Nazi scum" "fascists" "anti-democrats" and even been verbally or physically assaulted; a sad predicament considering this week (at the time of writing) marks the anniversary that Germany invaded Poland in 1939. True tyranny, fascism and oppressors, unfortunately the word "fascist" and "Nazi" are banded about far too freely these days and the true meaning of the word and those that perished at the hands of these evil humans is somewhat lost.