Mon 13 Jan 2020, 07:09 AM | Posted by editor
LETTER from Mark Langabeer, Newton Abbot Labour Party
On the BBC parliamentary channel, Professor Johnathan Portes, explained the likely impact of a Tory Brexit, because, come the end of January, Britain will no longer be a member of the EU. However, there will be a period of transition which Johnson wants to complete by the end of the year. Portes considered this completion unlikely because of the complexity of securing a trade deal within eleven months.
Portes believes that the consequences of a Tory Brexit will reduce Gross Domestic Product by 6% over the course of the next ten years. Should Britain leave without a deal on trade, the fall in GDP would be between 8 and 9%. He commented on the claim that the end of Brexit uncertainty would result in a ‘flood’ of investment into the UK. Indeed, the value of sterling did rise, only to fall back to it’s pre-election level a day later.
Portes commented on the Tory promise to introduce an Australian-style points system for immigration. He described this as entirely ‘vacuous’ because it tells us nothing as to who will get the points and the numbers that are required in each economic sector. As with the trade deal, this new system , which applies to both EU and non EU immigrants, will unlikely be up and running within a year. He concluded that the shadow of ‘Brexit uncertainty’ will continue for at least a year, if not longer.
Professor Annad Menon, Director of ‘The UK in a changing Europe’, argued that the idea of a big Tory majority strengthening Britain’s negotiating position with the EU is misplaced. The fact that the Tories’ Brexit is a hard one, which differs little from no deal, will mean that the EU will play hardball when it comes to talks on Britain’s future trading ties with the EU. Neither Menon or Portes mentioned that in addition to Brexit, there is the likelihood of a world recession or even a 1929-style slump on the horizon.
Many experienced fall in living standards
It’s almost 10 years since the last recession and historically the likelihood of a new downturn is inevitable in the next year or two. For most, the ‘boom years’ have been, to say the least, joyless. Many have experienced a fall in living standards and in real terms, a stagnation of incomes. For those that have fallen for the mantra of ‘Getting Brexit Done’ and Corbyn as a ‘lover of terrorism’ and ‘antisemite’, will discover that they have been well and truly been ‘done’.
The same people who have smeared Corbyn are now demanding that Labour’s rank and file should elect Kerr Starmer as leader. This alone suggests that the members should do otherwise. The spokesmen for the bosses know that the Tories will be in trouble and need the likes of Starmer to prevent Labour from adopting socialist measures in the future. They draw the same conclusions as the Marxists, although from a different class standpoint. Left– Horizons supporters will support a leader that will continue the legacy of Corbyn and urge others to do likewise.
