BY JOHN ISMAEL
If you are heading to a dinner party this weekend where there will be annoying remoaners present, print and place in your pocket or purse the following cheat sheet so you can shoot them down with Brexit facts.
No doubt May’s lacklustre election has emboldened some of the loudmouth Remoaners and they should once more be reminded of how democracy works and get drowned in facts about why Brexit will be bountiful. Who knows? They may stop moaning.
This list of points is a sound one which will hopefully get them to switch subjects and start talking about little Timothy’s school or the pros and cons of the new Lexus people carrier.
Bon appetit.
Brexit Bullets:
- ‘Over the next ten to 15 years, 90% of world demand will be generated outside Europe.’ — the European Commission.
- It took 11 months for America to seal a free trade deal with Australia, yet eight years for the EU to seal one with Canada.
- All three of the world’s largest economies want bespoke bilateral Free Trade Agreements with the UK: America, China & Japan
- When we Brexit, we’ll still be in: WTO G7 G20 OECD FSB NATO UNSC UNEP UNECE ISO ILO Codex Interpol Five Eyes Commonwealth
- The UK contributes €6bn a year towards the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Our farmers receive back €3bn from the EU.
- 82% of the five million British expatriates do not live in the EU27.
- Of the World’s Top 35 Universities outside USA, 10 are in UK, 5 in Australia, 4 in HK, 3 Canada and 2 Singapore. 2 in EU27.
- Global Financial Centres Index world ranking: #01 London #18 Luxembourg #23 Frankfurt #27 Munich #29 Paris #33 Dublin
- The EU28 isn’t Europe. It’s 43% of Europe’s land mass, 56% of Europe’s countries, and 68% of Europe’s people.
- There are more Americans living in the EU (1.0m) than there are Brits (0.9m). There are more Brits in Australia (1.3m).
- The UK runs trade surpluses w/ USA, Japan, Brazil, S Korea, Australia, Malaysia, S Africa. We run a deficit with the EU27.
- The UK ran a trade surplus with the EU (EEC) before 1973, yet have run a trade deficit with it ever since (except in 1975).
- The UK is the World #2 professional services exporter. There is no Single Market in Europe in services.
- No other EU country exports less to the EU as a percentage of its total global exports than the UK. And that % is shrinking
- The UK is the EU27’s #1 global export market, Germany’s #3 (#1 for cars), Poland’s #2, Netherlands’ #3 and Ireland’s #2.
- There are 5.8 million jobs in the EU27 dependent on trade with the UK, of which 1.3 million are in Germany alone.
- Every year bar one (1975) since we joined the EU and its forerunners in 1973, the UK has run a trade trade deficit with it.
- Non-EU27 countries are participants of the Erasmus student programme: Iceland Macedonia Norway Turkey. UK will participate International co-operation between university research departments is a global phenomenon, not a regional EU one.
- UK economic growth was faster in the 20 years before we joined the EU in 1973 than it has been in the most recent twenty.
- The Rotterdam Effect: UK goods exported to the Rest of the World and transhipped via EU ports are logged as exports to EU27.
- Yes, the EU27 has a huge economy. However, 3 countries that want FTAs with us (China, Korea, Taiwan) have almost the same GDP.
- Brexit is NOT just about exiting the EU. It’s also about our opportunity to seal free trade deals with 35 non-EU countries.
- The United States of America is the largest Single Market on the planet, some 35% larger than the economy of the EU27.