i would blame the EU and their puppet regime of Leo Varadkar for all the problems.

knowing people in England, Northern Ireland and South of Ireland , i can say categorically that Nothing Varadkar ever says has the support of anybody......other than nasty Angela Merkel & her cronies.

the EU are trying to use Ulster as a stick to beat John Bull. And its a really bad idea.

Edited by PalazioVecchio (23 Jan 2023 1.55pm)

You keep avoiding the question re alternatives to economic planning? I'm sure you're not suggesting just blind faith?

A forecast is not fact but it is also not pulled out of thin air - it is infinitely more sensible to use the information we have to make projections than to ignore it altogether. Worse still would be to dismiss it because it hurts out feelings.

It's a bit boring you're asking me to provide the examples when there are so many of them - it's also boring because you will not accept any of them because you they are projections and sticking your figures in your ears is preferable.

"OBR reports that Brexit costs us £40bn a year in lost tax revenue"

"The only member of the G7 with a smaller economy than before the pandemic"

"The British pound has lost nearly a fifth of it's value since the EU referendum"

"Research by the Centre for European Reform, a think tank, estimates that over the 18 months to June 2022, UK goods trade is 7% lower than it would have been had Britain remained in the European Union."

"Researchers at the London School of Economics estimate that the variety of UK products exported to the European Union declined by 30% during the first year of Brexit. "

"A British Chambers of Commerce survey of more than 1,168 businesses published this month reported that 77% said Brexit has not helped them increase sales or grow their businesses."

"Brexit to reduce Britain’s output by 4% over 15 years compared to remaining in the bloc. Exports and imports are projected to be around 15% lower in the long run."

"in the fourth quarter of 2021, UK goods export volumes to the European Union were 9% below 2019 levels, with imports from the European Union 18% lower. Goods exports to non-EU countries were 18% weaker than in 2019."

"By the end of 2021, total goods export volumes among advanced economies had rebounded to 3% above their pre-pandemic levels, while UK goods export volumes remained about 12% weaker."

"The United Kingdom “appears to have become a less trade-intensive economy, with trade as a share of GDP falling 12% since 2019, two and a half times more than in any other G7 country,” the OBR said in the March report."

I appreciate that you believe what you are saying, but that doesn't make it so.

So ref your 2 nd paragraph; do we act and respond as how it is on said forecasts as truth then. By begging to rejoin the EU or something. Recent forecasts about inflation have been wrong I will add.

Can someone explain to me why our economic performance is so much worse than comparable economies over the last year or two, if we're so sure it's not Brexit?

Covid-19 was worldwide, as was the impact of the Ukraine invasion and yet we are the only G7 economy not to recover to pre-pandemic size... why could that be? What am I missing?

Edited by EverybodyDannsNow (24 Jan 2023 3.46pm)