Broken Brexit Britain is catching up with Burnham
by It’s taken less than two weeks for the new Westminster Prime Minister to run into the wall of economic reality.
Despite promising a shiny new brand of politics, Andy Burnham’s grand plans are already colliding with the chronic, embedded failure of Brexit Britain.
Expecting a new Westminster Prime Minister to fix a structurally broken UK economy without addressing Brexit is like going for a suntan on the deck chairs of a sinking cruise ship – it might be relaxing for a second, but you’re still facing disaster.
The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) has blown the whistle, warning that the UK faces inflation climbing to 3.8% with a staggering £24 billion budget shortfall by the end of the decade. This is worse compared to earlier forecasts.
Translation?
Westminster is once again gearing up to serve Scotland an autumn of austerity made up of deep spending cuts and tax hikes. An austerity the voters of Scotland have continually rejected.
This painful cycle isn’t an accident; it is the direct consequence of a Westminster system that treats Scotland’s democratic choices as an afterthought.
Back in 2014, the anti-independence campaign promised the people of Scotland that staying in the UK was the only way to keep our place in the European Union and guarantee we would be an equal partner in the UK.
Instead, in 2016, Scotland voted overwhelmingly to remain in the EU by 62% to 38% across every single local authority area. Yet despite that clear democratic verdict, Westminster dragged Scotland out of the EU against its will anyway.
It was the political equivalent of ordering the vegetarian meal at a restaurant, only for the waiter to slam down a burnt meat pie because the table next to you asked for it.
As for being an “equal partner” Scotland has been treated like an equal partner in the exact same way a spare tire is treated like an equal partner by the rest of the car – ignored in the boot until needed.
As SNP Westminster Leader Dave Doogan MP has highlighted, the economic justification for Westminster control has collapsed entirely under flatlining living standards and constant Westminster chaos. He has said:
“The chronic and embedded failure of Brexit Britain has been repeatedly laid bare – every budget and every year sees the same pattern of painful policies that have hit people in the pocket for nearly 20 years.
“Burnham promised a different kind of politics, but he now looks set to lock us into the same damaging cycle.
“The uncomfortable truth for Burnham is that the foundations of this broken Westminster system are now beyond economic repair – it’s time to take Scotland’s future into our own hands, time to build anew.”
For a generation, Westminster politicians from all parties have promised “change,” only for things to go from bad to worse.
Changing the tenant in 10 Downing Street doesn’t fix the fact that the house itself is built on the sinking sand of Brexit.
Scotland does not have to hitched to a declining UK economy. Small, independent European nations of a similar size to Scotland are thriving, resilient, and far better equipped to protect their citizens’ standard of living.
By taking our future into our own hands through independence in the EU, Scotland can escape the endless loop of Westminster austerity, restore our trade links to boost our economy and tax revenues, and build a fairer, wealthier nation.