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Four Fallacies at the Heart of Brexit
There are many myths and half-truths behind the UK’s decision to leave the EU. This article takes a close look at four of them.
“They need us more than we need them”
This is predicated on the fact that we buy more goods from the other 27 member states than they collectively do from us. Hardly surprising, given that there are more of them. But that, like the assertion, misses the point of the Single Market which is what it says it is — a geographically large home market. Not “us and them”, just “us”, the 28 member nations. In theory it should be as easy for a business in Liverpool to trade with ones in Berlin and Milan as it is to trade with businesses in Birmingham and Manchester. The only impediments are the distances travelled and the need for currency exchange. This latter, by the way, is one reason why it would be advantageous for the UK to join the Euro.
It is also to overlook the way in which modern manufacturing businesses operate. Complex products, such as vehicles and domestic appliances, have parts sourced from various member nations and are assembled in another. Few products can any longer be described as “British made” or, for that matter, “Made in France” or “Made in Germany”. That extends, too, to the…