Captain Caveman
Platinum Member
Sorry, your spiel was inaccurate. For a start, you need to stop mourning Brexit.Not Welsh, myself, but if I may...
"This paper reviews the evidence on the economic implications of the UK’s accession to the European Economic Community and subsequent EU membership. The benefits were much greater than the costs, probably by a ratio of about 6 to 1. The UK benefited from lower trade costs and higher volumes of trade with other member countries and this raised productivity. Different estimation methods point to permanent gains in the level of real GDP of 8.6 per cent after 10 or 15 years. The costs to the UK were a net contribution to the EU budget which averaged about 0.5 per cent of GDP per year and the adoption of regulations for which compliance costs exceeded benefits, estimated at about 0.9 per cent of GDP per year. Voters in favour of Brexit who were protesting about government policies gave little or no weight to its productivity implications."
From the Financial Times (hardly a left wing source):
What has the EU done for the UK?
The long-running debate over the economic benefits of membership remains unresolvedwww.ft.com
"Many economists contend what matters most is not funds transferred between Brussels and London, or even claims of jobs created or destroyed. Instead, the central issue is how EU membership has changed the shape of the British economy — its competitiveness and openness to other markets — through the impact on thousands of companies such as Nifco. “Competition forced these guys to improve or exit,” said Professor Nick Bloom of Stanford University. “The single European market increased competition and forced British firms to increase the level of innovation.”
"Britain joined what was then the European Economic Community in 1973 as the sick man of Europe. By the late 1960s, France, West Germany and Italy — the three founder members closest in size to the UK — produced more per person than it did and the gap grew larger every year. Between 1958, when the EEC was set up, and Britain’s entry in 1973, gross domestic product per head rose 95 per cent in these three countries compared with only 50 per cent in Britain. After becoming an EEC member, Britain slowly began to catch up. Gross domestic product per person has grown faster than Italy, Germany and France in the more than 40 years since. By 2013, Britain became more prosperous than the average of the three other large European economies for the first time since 1965."
The list goes on, but that's enough for the moment. That was then, this is now; we're on the verge of economic collapse, far worse than our European neighbours.
As for the sovereignty "argument", well we never lost it.
Britain, the EU and the Sovereignty Myth
The argument that Britain needs to leave the European Union to reclaim its sovereignty is misguided says new paper, Britain, the EU and the Sovereignty Myth.www.chathamhouse.org
Did you read what you posted compared to reality? If you think The Times is a good source, you need to think again.
COVID highlighted that the EU couldn't respond, the UK did better compared to the EU countries because of immediate action on interest rates etc.. Rather than hiding behind the EU, our government is now upfront in our faces, that has got them into action.
If you knew anything about the start of the Common Market, you would know that the Frogs detested the UK joining. You would also know it morphed in the EU parliament whilst the spineless UK lefties ran off to sign the treaties.
Don't be as gullible and spineless as Lefty Taffy Tommy.
