Remainers have continued to insist most of the chaos surrounding the UK economy over recent months is because of Brexit.
In a historic referendum in June 2016, Britain voted to leave the European Union. Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson talked a lot about how Brexit Britain could be good for the country.
This has come even more into focus with the recent chaos engulfing the UK economy, with elements such as the cost of living crisis and struggling pound leading to fears of a deep recession in 2023.
However, David Wighton, who is The Wall Street Journal’s (WSJ) City Editor in London, has warned: “Don’t listen to the alarmist claims about Brexit and the economy.”
In an article for The Times, he cites recent comments from former Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, who said that “in 2016, the British economy was 90 percent the size of Germany’s. Now it is less than 70 percent.”
Mr Wighton warned the former BoE boss’s comment was “very misleading” and hit back: “The fall in the relative value of the UK economy he cites is due to currency movements, not the underlying performance.”
Also last month, billionaire private equity investor Guy Hands warned Britain risks becoming the “sick man of Europe” and needing a bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) unless Brexit is renegotiated with the EU.
But Mr Wighton warned that very few mainstream economists believe there is even the slightest risk that Brexit Britain will require such help from the IMF.
People like Carney and Hands are right to make the case for a reset of relations with the EU. “What they should not do is exaggerate the impact of Brexit and the perils facing the British economy.”
The Tory donor also warned: “Britain is on the path to be the sick man of Europe and a bailout from the IMF.”
Mr Hands said: “Brexit is completely hopeless and has led us to a disastrous state. The economy is doomed”.
The above summary was derived from the story linked below
Source: Brexit economy doomsters skewered for ‘peddling alarmist claims’ over UK departure from EU
