VIDEO BELOW (text provided for those who prefer to read)
It turns out that UK business leaders prefer stability and certainty over the confusion that another EU referendum would produce.
The Remoaner plot to inject as much uncertainty and upheaval into the UK economy in order to thwart Brexit, seems to have thrown up an unintended consequence.
UK businesses have been working towards Brexit and Remoaner efforts to try and halt, reverse, or semi-reverse, or we don't know what, has caused jitters in that same business community.
"The plot to reverse Brexit is missing a key ally: U.K. business." Says Bloomberg. "Companies have been among the most outspoken critics of the split from the European Union, and have much to lose from a divorce gone wrong. But as a group of lawmakers tries to engineer a second referendum, business leaders are recoiling."
Allie Renison from Europe and trade policy at the Institute of Directors, told Bloomberg:
"Calls for a second referendum, and indeed rehashing the debates we had in the run-up to the Brexit vote, now almost two years ago, will do little to move us forward.
"Our focus must be on building a global Britain."
And Miles Celic, of TheCityUK said:
“Business likes certainty and I can’t see how discussion of a second referendum helps create that certainty when the negotiations are not even concluded.”
And Paul Hardy, Brexit director at law firm DLA Piper, said:
"Businesses are uninterested in politics. They want commercial predictability. Those who have spent a lot of money on it are ready to deal with it."
And those in the Remain camp hoping for some good media attention for their push for a second referendum are going to be disappointed.
The Times reports that a planned documentary for the recently started anti-Brexit campaign, The People's Vote, has been ditched over concerns that it could be seen to breach impartiality guidelines.
The programme was to include arch Remainers, the likes of Anna Soubry and Lord Adonis but the BBC has pulled the plug even though filming had started.
Lord Adonis is reported to be livid about this (Oh dear, how sad, never mind) and he said that the BBC was running scared of the government and the Brexiteers. Now, that'd be a first! I've watched the likes of Question time for many years so I know which way the current generally runs in the BBC.
Now here's a little report that caught my eye. The Telegraph says that a combination of lower London birthrates in 2014, high property prices driving people out and European families leaving the UK, means that more children in London are getting in to their parents' first choice of school due to a 2.3% fall in demand for primary school places.
The Telegraph says: "Following the Brexit vote, European families have been leaving the capital which has eased the pressure on primary schools, the Board’s spokesman explained."
So why did it catch my eye – because it did not say something like London primary schools in crisis as EU teachers return home – think about it.
Now let's look at some of the Brexit economic doom and gloom shall we?
According to Office for National Statistics (ONS) data out today, employment is up and the nation's annual deficit is down.
The ONS says that in the three months to February this year, there were 55,000 more people in work than in the three months to November 2017 and, on top of that, there were 427,000 more people in work than a year ago.
There were also 136,000 fewer people unemployed than a year ago with the total now being 1.42 million
On top of that, average weekly earnings increased in nominal terms by 2.8%, which is greater than inflation. When taking inflation into account, says the ONS, real terms wages:
"……increased by 0.2% excluding bonuses, and by 0.1% including bonuses, compared with a year earlier."
On the national debt, the UK current account deficit, which is the amount we borrow over the financial year to keep the country going, has fallen significantly.
In the year 2016 we borrowed £58.4 billion but in 2017 this dropped by £19 billion to £39.4 billion.
This puts our annual borrowing at 1.9% of GDP, which is below the 3% reference value set out in the EU Protocol on the Excessive Deficit Procedure – and this is the first time we have been below that marker since 2007.
But, this annual deficit always gets added to the net total national debt at the end of the financial year. And that total net debt now stands at £1.786 trillion. This is the equivalent of 87.7% of UK GDP and is a massive 27.7% above the EU reference value of 60%.
It's worth a quick look at the legislation, Article 126 of the Lisbon Treaty (I've put a link to it in the description box below) where you can see how the EU could control a member state's debts when they exceed reference values – one of them is to fine the member state concerned!
But we are moving in the right direction and reducing the annual deficit year on year and then turning it into a surplus will then start driving the national debt down. And remember the interest payments alone on our national debt amounts to about £1 billion a week.
