AS we gear up to a December election, the first economic assessment of Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal has indicated the incredibly damaging impact it will have on the UK economy.
Research by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) has revealed that GDP would be 3.5% lower in 10 years’ time under the deal, leaving the UK a staggering £70 billion worse off than had we remained in the EU.
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This is not quite the “sunny uplands” the Brexiteers have repeatedly promised.
NIESR said approval of the Prime Minister’s deal “would reduce the risk of a disorderly outcome but eliminate the possibility of a closer trading relationship with the EU”. However, despite the agreement between the EU and the UK removing uncertainty, customs and regulatory barriers would “hinder goods and services trade with the continent, leaving all regions of the United Kingdom worse off than they would be if the UK stayed in the EU.”
The report also found the proposed free trade deal with the EU was slightly worse for the economy than Theresa May’s deal of last year.
When voters mark their X in the box, these figures lay bare the economic future that faces the nation and the major impact that their choice will have.
Alex Orr
Edinburgh
IN the aftermath of this latest ridiculous announcement, that this desperate Tory PM Johnson, has managed to cajole parliamentarians to vote in favour of a pre-Christmas General Election, I suggest the headline “The PM who spoiled Christmas” for your front page with an appropriate “grinch” caricature of Johnson!
What a joke arrangement during a joyous festive period when the last thing one wants to witness is the poisonous events of another British General Election. I despair!
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What strikes me regarding the upcoming hustings is the fact that there is so much “ammunition” for opposition parties, including the SNP, to “fire” at Johnson and his fascist chums – where do they start? In the case of the SNP, I suppose the Spectator poem that referred to “verminous Scots” should be leafleted together with many other anti-Scottish comments that border on blatant racism.
But of course Johnson has proved by his own behaviour that he is indeed a racist anyway, with many negative comments against Muslims and indeed even against Liverpudlians, and one thing Johnson proved time and again is the fact he was never contrite, never an apologist!
As for his time as the London Mayor? Get out the “wrecking ball” because his whole reputation is there to be destroyed and deemed irretrievable as it has become clear this man, an Old Etonian, should be nowhere near a British PM’s position alongside right-wing Tory fascists like Rees-Mogg, Gove, Patel and many others who have absolutely no regard for people or the well-being of the country!
This desperate Tory government must be stopped at all costs, and one part of this exercise must be achieved in Scotland with a massive campaign to dismantle them and the other Unionist parties who have opposed and dismissed Scottish self-determination with impunity.
The Brexit factor will predominate and Remain voters (and the need for a People’s Vote!) must come to the fore in a first-past-the-post electoral system that is precarious under such circumstances and is one of the reasons why Johnson and his conniving little ultra-right buddy Cummings wanted this General Election.
Bernie Japs
Edinburgh
WITH nothing better to do on Tuesday afternoon, I watched the Parliament channel on TV. The selective amnesia of the Tory party speakers during the debate about holding a General Election in December was mind-boggling. Apart from playing to the cameras with election speeches, they:
1. Totally ignored the promises made by themselves in the run-up to the 2016 referendum such as “the easiest deal ever” and “getting a free trade deal will be a walk in the park” and others too numerous to mention.
2. Conveniently forgot the lies that were told to the electorate regarding the benefits of leaving the EU.
3. Skipped over the fact that it was actually the right wing of the Tory party who caused further delay by voting down Mrs May’s exit deal, which took two years to negotiate, for the simple reason they wanted to get rid of her and shoe in Boris Johnson, who was prepared to leave without a deal.
4. After causing three years of delay they now try to blame the opposition for claiming their right to scrutinise the pretend “new” deal (a minor re-hash of Mrs May’s deal) before voting on it.
5. But the biggest joke of the day was the Tory member for St Albans accusing the opposition of “playing politics”!
Mike Underwood
Linlithgow
CAN someone please explain to me just why most of the SNP are so jubilent about having a General Election? Yes, it may increase their number of MPs – so what? Previously they had almost every seat in Scotland – it made no difference. Now they have the majority, it makes no difference.
How is gaining a few more seats going to make a difference when it’s is almost certainly going to let in a right-wing xenophobic UK Government who are going to make it even harder for us to go for indyref2? And dare I say it – we have no Plan B because Plan A is “so dead brilliant”! If I remember rightly, another referendum was lost on the question “what’s your Plan B?” and we didn’t have one, because we were so sure Plan A was so brilliant and was all we needed?
Crìsdean Mac Fhearghais
Dùn Èideann
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