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Written by Ahmed Adel, Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher
The United Kingdom paid a high price for Brexit, which spurred inflation, reduced the size of its economy, and compromised the country’s investment capacity, Bloomberg reported on February 12, citing economists at Goldman Sachs. Yet, despite Britain’s economic suffering, the media are demanding a greater financial commitment to support Ukraine’s war on Russia.
Leaving the European Union reduced the UK’s GDP by around 5% compared to the performance of its economic peers, according to Goldman Sachs’ chief European economist, Sven Jari Stehn. He noted that seven years after the referendum campaign, the UK has ended up with an underperforming economy and a rising cost of living due to shrinked international trade, weak business investment and a reduction in migrants from the EU, the UK’s biggest trading partner.
“The evidence points to a significant long-run output cost of Brexit,” Goldman Sachs economists wrote in a note. “The UK has significantly underperformed other advanced economies since the 2016 EU referendum.”
Previous estimates from other observers also pointed to a negative long-term impact of Brexit. In November, the UK’s National Institute for Economic and Social Research (NIESR) estimated that Brexit reduced the size of the economy by 2-3%, an impact that is expected to increase to 5-6% by 2035. According to estimates made last year by the UK’s Office for Budget Responsibility, leaving the EU likely reduced economic output by 4%.
However, according to Goldman economists, not all the UK’s economic problems can be linked to leaving the EU. The headwinds of Brexit add to the damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the high interest rates necessary to control inflation, which has reached historic highs in the UK, and the energy crisis triggered by the UK-sponsored Ukraine war on Russia.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said in January that he would increase military aid to Ukraine in the next financial year to £2.5 billion pounds, an increase of £200 million on the previous two years. Sunak and Volodymyr Zelensky also signed a security agreement that the Ukrainian president said would remain in place until Kiev joins NATO, something that will certainly not occur in the short-medium term.
London’s unrelenting support for the Kiev regime has resulted in Russia imposing sanctions on 18 British citizens, including officials, academics, and so-called Russia experts.
“We are forced to state that Russophobically charged British representatives do not shy away trying to discredit the constitutional system and socio-political processes in our country,” Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on February 12. “By pushing the Zelensky regime to continue the bloodshed, the British must realise that, along with Ukrainian neo-Nazis, they bear responsibility for crimes against civilians.”
Despite the UK’s economic suffering, there is very little criticism in the British media about billions of pounds being wasted on a futile war that Ukraine has no chance of winning. Although there is a begrudging acknowledgement that sanctions against Russia are failing whilst the British economy struggles, there is no critiquing or criticism of the billions of pounds being funnelled to Ukraine.
Notable is the Sun’s article published on February 10, ludicrously titled: “Two years of war and sanctions but as the UK economy struggles, tyrant Vladimir Putin’s Russia is GROWING.”
“By imposing the toughest-ever economic sanctions on the Kremlin to add to our generous backing for Ukraine, Joe Biden and Co assumed that the Russian economy would tank, Putin would run out of cash to pay for his army, then the Russian people — not least the pampered super-rich oligarchs — would rebel against Putin for plunging them into poverty,” the outlet wrote, adding that the Russian economy has grown faster than any in Western Europe, unemployment in Russia has fallen sharply since war broke out.
However, staying true to form, the British outlet, rather than demanding an end to the war and a prioritisation of fixing the economy, stated that “the world must give Ukraine enough to win, not just survive.”
Very few realise that the British media juggernaut has adopted an anti-Russia position since the 19th century and has continued unrelentingly ever since. The vitriolic Russophobia is so entrenched that even during a period of economic struggle, the British media are demanding an increase in financial support for Ukraine on the delusional premise that the war-torn country has any chance of pushing back Russian forces from their former territories. With such an attitude, it is demonstrable why the UK has never been able to recover from Brexit.
british media are whores of the bankers and special interests. so what else is new. a disappointment but a predictable disappointment. i haven’t watched the bbc or any of our msm since the plandemic and never will again.
i have watched since 1987
not only that but the british msm is own by zionists – thanks to that ugly rtded boris johnson.
i highly recommend people to watch the new (double down news) video – lowkey exposes israel’s secret role in britain.
just like how the zionists spy on the us (even cia knows about it) they were spying and stealing from the uk. in no world do i support the british or yanquis… but i have nothing against their people who are getting fuked by zionist cancer.
it is hard to believe such a pathetic little island ruled by morons would have such grand ambitions.
some suggest the brexit suffering is fake news.. personally, i see some of the negative aspects are self inflicted, such as continued migrant crisis.. they’ll check all of your pockets when you enter or leave the country but for migrants, everything is permitted. well done farrage !
this is not what we tax payers want
you still had a financial capital left over from your colonial days and a russia that you could have had eating out of your hand decades ago but in your infinite lack of wisdom, decided to spit in theirs and make them a lifelong enemy instead and by your own choice, slowly melt yourselves into insignificance.
brits are the pits. their own worst enemy. nothing more need be added.
exactly so!
western politicians are following interests of 0,01 percent of elites as these are printing infinite money. what really puzzles me that russia doesn’t understand that. putin in tucker’s interview pointed out, that u.s. president is not in charge but when carlsson asked, who is in charge then, putin replied “i don’t know”. interesting, that whole internet knows but putin and his advisers don’t have a clue.
2 possible explanations exist: a, putin is super-turbo-naive or b, putin knows it is “inner circle” around sir j.r. but doesn’t want to expose that publicly (yet). but there is another question, if he is so naive, how the heck all his people can tolerate it. all we knew 10 years ago that minsk agreements are doomed to fail but putin didn’t regret he didn’t intervened in ukraine earlier until yesterday in tass. it is unbelievable. really. i can get that.
it is the only job of political leader to be informed. why he didn’t kicked lavrov to his ass 10 years ago ? why he retreated after debaltseve victory ?
why you didn’t learned english before trolling english-language website?
oh really ? english site ? i think it is run by some 3rd class russian propagandists with russian/english dictionary. at least it is repeating still the same mantra as it is some ussr relict.
then why are you here? obviously working for your 5 cents per comment in a ukrainian basement.
relict? are you in a contest to be the weakest nafomo troll in the circle jerk?
hohou looks awfully close to hohol to my liking.
insane climate policy crippling industry and leading to soaring inflation, unchecked third world immigration, soft on crime policies and profligate government spending have crippled growth and demoralized the people, not brexit.
it’s not an insane climate policy. the us over-arching geo-political strategy is to maintain dollar hegemony. it pays for the us military overseas empire. they failed in their war on terrah, the response to the cheney regime’s analysis of global energy relations. stop-gaps like fracked shale hydrocarbons have not altered the picture. so crushing demand via green kookery is the current dominant tactic.
the british media is not british. just refer to it as the jewish supremacist owned media in britain.
well then, the brits must be the most brain dead people on earth for allowing non-british media to control their every thought. just give them the heave ho. be men, not mice.
what a load of nonsense to put so much stress on brexit. as a british person, i’m well aware of the chronology of britain’s economic woes. brexit barely made a dent in the economy, but an unnecessary` lockdown and higher energy prices have had a huge impact.
maybe some of your stupid meddling abroad helped a bit too, y’a think?
all brits should surrender themselves immediately to a mental asylum.
not all of them please.