Some of those quite frankly are minor issues compared to the Irish border, friction at Dover and Calais which could very realistically lead to food and medicine shortages (we are actually stockpiling CUSTARD for Christ's sake), the loss of ALL of our existing trade deals, the abandonment of EU-based UK citizens (many of whom didn't even get to vote in your oh-so-"democratic" referendum) and the betrayal and scandalous treatment of UK-based EU citizens - the rest is just utter BS. I'll just have a go a few of them anyway, only because I'm a little bit bored.
"The EU Procurement Directive won’t be able to force us to give State contracts to overseas businesses"
Likewise, EU countries won't be forced to include UK firms in tendering. My wife has written loads of tenders for NHS contracts. The awarding of tenders is hardly ever just about cost. The NHS does not automatically award tenders to the cheapest one offered. A detailed specification (performance, environmental etc.) is drawn up and points are awarded on the basis of how the submitted tender meets the required specification. Points make prizes. the 1-2% thing he mentions is just about the reddest of herrings.
"We won’t have to comply with the VATMOSS legislation, boosting jobs"
Unbelievably simplistic
Guess what, things will get worse, not better after a No Deal Brexit:
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/08/24/uk_gov_publishes_nodeal_papers/ “Compliance costs will be lower outside the European Union”
According to the OECD, “the UK is still a lightly regulated economy compared to other rich countries. This suggests that regulatory gains from leaving the EU would be quite small.”
Fact Check here:
https://fullfact.org/europe/eu-facts-behind-claims-regulation-and-single-market/For the above two points, did you realise that post-Brexit, instead of just dealing with VATMOSS, e-commerce traders selling to the EU will now have the "red-tape busting" 27 different sets of trading rules depending on the country and deal agreed. Source:
https://ec.europa.eu/info/brexit/brexit-preparedness/preparedness-notices_en . Glad to see the UK government have similarly prepared UK businesses - except they haven't, actually. "Brexit Preparedness" = oxymoron.
"We can negotiate our own bespoke trade deals with third countries"
I’ve dealt with this. We already enjoy more trading agreements through membership of the Customs Union than any other trading block or country. On March 30th, we won’t have ANY trade deals – how on earth is that better? It will take decades just to replicate what we already have and with the trade disputes at the WTO already lodged, it’s highly unlikely we will be able to conclude any substantial FTAs for years in any case. Just how more wrong can this bloke be?
"The North East is a strong fishing region. Outside the EU, our fisheries will recover through reclaiming our 200-mile limit"
The UK’s fishing economy is worth (from memory) less than £800m per annum. Relatively speaking, it’s a tiny, tiny part of our economy. The economy of Harrod’s alone is 3 times the size of that. How is it that one of our smaller industries is suddenly more important than, say the Financial Services industry which provides £billions and £billions more in positive trade flows? Call that rational? I don't.
P.S. Nigel Farage is on the Fisheries Committee at the EU. How many meetings could have he attended and how many did he actually attend? (look it up, actions speak louder than words...)
"The net EU membership fee"
So far the UK has spent £2billion on Brexit ”preparations”, the last budget allocated £2.2 billion more. We need 1000’s of extra Customs officials, 1000s of other civil servants, we need trade negotiators, more civil servants, new regulatory bodies (nuclear, banking, aviation etc. etc. etc.) and we're spending money on really useful stuff like converting motorways into lorry parks. What’s the bill for all that? Arnott mystifyingly doesn't say. DexEU has the highest turnover of staff of any Ministry (wonder why?) and the average age of staff is just 32. Anybody with any sense runs a mile in the opposite direction when offered a job there.
EU membership does cost the equivalent of approximately 0.5% of UK GDP, but the Single Market is estimated by the CBI to boost GDP by 4-5%. I think you'll find that you’re cutting off your nose to spite your face.
Finally: this “One of the key problems with uncontrolled immigration from the EU is that an oversupply of unskilled and semi-skilled labour drives down wages. Even if there existed a reasonable mechanism by which the UK might enforce the permitted restrictions on those who do not find work in the UK, uncontrolled immigration does lead to lower wages (hence, why it tends to be supported by big business).
By prioritising skilled immigration over unskilled, this downward pressure on wages will be reversed – whilst developing the skills base within the economy.”
…is just a lie, followed by another lie, with another repeated lie thrown in for good measure. Still, seeing as this Arnott bloke (who I have genuinely never heard of before) apopears to be best mates with one of this age’s great liars - ex-UKIP leader Paul Nuttall (Arnott resigned from UKIP after Nuttall resigned the UKIP leadership), it really isn’t surprising.
Nuttall, to remind everyone, lied about being a professional footballer, lied about having a PhD and lied about “losing close friends at Hillsborough". Arnott's his mate? What wouldn't that rabble lie about?
Next time, instead of just linking to some aspirational BS from some local random boob who, like Farage, Davis, Redwood, Bankski, BloJo, et al is nowhere near to any sort of Brexit decision-making (but who still insist on interfering with bloviating nonsense from the sidelines), why not have a look at what Legatum, I mean the government are actually going to fob you (and me) off with, and offer some decent self-generated critique on that?
Here's one for you - How will Brexit affect Arnott's region's biggest employer - Nissan? Nissan import
3 million components a day from the EU. With friction at the border, tariffs, customs declarations and general increase in RED TAPE (but Brexit was going to virtually eliminate that, wasn't it?), what do you think will happen to that now largely French owned firm, I wonder? Especially when their goods are subject to a another tariff upon export?
I will repeat: you were lied to, but the lies keep on coming.
Cognitive dissonance works wonders, doesn't it?
