| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Brexit benefits | |
| Posted by: | Francis Rowe | |
| Date/Time: | 23/05/23 07:29:00 |
| The only metric I can see in which we are outperforming the EU at the moment is net immigration rate. Without this our already faltering economy would be deep in recession. Not being in the EU has allowed us to dramatically expand the number of visas given to citizens of non-EU countries. The main increase has come from India after Boris Johnson significantly increased the amount allowed at the insistence of Narendra Modi. With a trade deal with India deemed critical to the success of the Brexit project Johnson felt he couldn't say no. For the Indians it is freer movement to the UK that they seek primarily as part of the deal rather than access to our markets for their manufacturing sector. This influx has been critical in helping us avoid an economic crunch due to the loss of skilled workers from the EU and overall has been a huge benefit to our economy. Going forward however, it remains to be seen whether err.. the British Government can take back control of the net immigration figures because any attempt to do so would annoy the Indian government. Janice is right that not being in the EU doesn't really have much of an impact on the military situation but Russian disinformation campaigns usually aim to sow dissent rather than have specific aims. They probably couldn't believe it when the UK did actually vote for Brexit. One area where Putin did have an axe to grind with the UK over the EU was our support of expansion into the Balkans which the Foreign Office was very much leading on. The reorientation of Serbia into the pro-EU camp really annoyed Putin and the UK played a large role in that. Initially the UK coming out of the EU may have slowed the move to expansion as the main advocate among the larger countries was gone but Putin's invasion of Ukraine has focused the minds of candidate countries who now need much less encouragement to do what is necessary to join. |