The pantomime season may be over, but when it comes to the government’s much-repeated claim to be pursuing economic growth above all else, the cry of “It’s behind you” is sounding ever louder. This classic panto joke works when everyone in the audience can see something clearly but the character on stage pretends not to. So it is with Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal and Rachel Reeves’s attempts to kickstart the economy. Reeves and Keir Starmer are ignoring what is blindingly obvious to everyone else: Brexit is a significant drag on Britain’s growth prospects. They know it’s true but refuse to acknowledge it and, more importantly, to do anything about it.
There is, however, nothing comical about this situation. The hard Brexit negotiated by Johnson took the UK out of the EU, the single market and the customs union and brought an end to freedom of movement. As a result, people are paying the price through higher food bills, lower growth and therefore lower tax revenue that could and should be spent on the NHS.
