The Labour top brass jostling to replace Keir Starmer have all indicated that they want to reverse the Brexit referendum in some way. The most vocal EU cheerleader is Wes Streeting, who said over the weekend: ‘Leaving the European Union was a catastrophic mistake… It’s left us less wealthy, less powerful and less in control than at any point before the industrial revolution.’ Leaving aside Streeting’s comments about Britain’s relative power and control since the industrial revolution, is it fair to say that Brexit has made Britain less wealthy?
Today, the IMF upgraded Britain’s GDP growth forecast to 1 per cent, following last month’s cut, making projected growth faster than any other European economy in the G7 this year.
Similarly, GDP growth since the Brexit referendum has been the same for the UK, France, Germany and the EU bloc as a whole. Last year the UK economy grew by 1.4 per cent, compared with the EU’s 1.5 per cent, so hardly a substantial difference.
Exports in goods and services have grown faster than GDP, at 23 per cent vs. 14.4 per cent. And the proportion of goods exports to EU and non-EU countries has remained the same, with EU countries receiving just under half of British goods exports.
When comparing the data from the past decade, one thing becomes clear: it is hard to disentangle the economic effects of Brexit from those of the Covid lockdowns. Both the British and European economies are still struggling to recover from the shocks, but Britain seems to be faring a little better than its continental neighbours.
Claim: Brexit has harmed the UK economy
Reality Check verdict: unproven
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