Stagnating economy? The problem is Brexit. The solution is voting SNP
by Before the Brexit vote, former Scots Tory leader Ruth Davidson predicted: “There is no doubt in my mind that there will be a large economic cost of Brexit”.
- “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.
Headlines show how bad Brexit is for the economy whether it’s the food industry, the fishing industry, farming, tourism and the music industry. And also headlines showing how little Westminster party politicians care:
Reports show the damage Brexit is doing. In defiance of Sir Keir Starmer’s silence about Brexit, his own party’s London Mayor published a report saying Brexit has already left the almost £140 billion smaller.
The UK government’s very own Office for Budget Responsibility said last year that the economic damage of Brexit was as big as Covid.
And the future of Brexit Britain doesn’t hold much hope either, with economists also predicting that Brexit will leave the UK £300bn worse off by 2035 – that’s over £10,000 per household in the UK.
In Scotland, the effects of Brexit have seen businesses hit by a 25% slump in exports to EU, with Brexit 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.
No ordinary person voted for this damaging economic chaos, and Scotland definitely didn’t vote for Brexit but it was imposed by Westminster.
But Brexit is a key reason why the UK economy is in trouble and stagnating.
The upshot of Brexit is that it has not only laid bare the myth of the Brussels bogeyman – the EU – being the source of economic problems, but it has exposed how Westminster is the source of failure.
But no Westminster party offers a route out of this mayhem.
All those Westminster parties are 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, the 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:
Scotland voted to Remain in the EU but the Westminster parties don’t want to offer you hope as they are scared of losing votes in the rest of the UK. They want you to give up. And Starmer will tolerate the Brexit-induced economic stagnation just so he can become Prime Minister.
However, Scotland has an alternative. Scotland can escape the Brexit now embraced by all the Westminster parties.
Scotland may have limited powers when it comes to the economy but, with those we have, we can make decisions that create an environment that helps both businesses and workers.
Scotland’s economy is one of the best performing parts of the UK. It is the top-performing area 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 it instead of being at the mercy of the Westminster parties who offer more of the same?
Voting for the SNP is a vote for independence – the only route Scotland has to rejoin the largest single market in the world and be part of a real single market.