Quote:One of the UK’s most respected diplomats has accused Boris Johnson of planning three separate breaches of international law, warning that trust in the UK abroad is being shredded. Kim Darroch, a former national security adviser and US ambassador, has attacked plans to neuter commitments to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), arguing they will violate the Good Friday Agreement. In an interview with The Independent, he said the threat sits alongside moves to tear up the Brexit deal for Northern Ireland and to deport refugees to Rwanda, breaking the Geneva Convention. “I think you can argue that this government is breaching international law in three areas,” Lord Darroch argued.

Quote:Ignorance or wilful misrepresentation of the single market was the binding thread in a triple fallacy in the economic case for leaving the EU. First, Europe was dismissed as the dotard of the global economy, sclerotic and declining. The real prize was therefore trade deals with rising powers further afield. Second, Britain wouldn’t lose the benefits of the single market anyway, because EU businesses would lobby to retain access to UK consumers. Third, the cost of regulatory compliance with EU rules was greater than any benefit of membership.

Sunak cited all three in an article explaining his decision to vote leave in 2016. Europe’s share of the global economy was shrinking relative to other continents, he explained. “Canada, South Korea and South Africa all trade freely with Europe without surrendering their independence. As one of Europe’s largest customers, I see no sensible reason why we could not achieve a similar agreement.” Also, “excessive red tape” stifled every British business, even the ones that don’t export to the continent.

It is clear from those arguments that Sunak’s understanding of the single market was limited to the repertoire of dogmatic ditties that a thrusting young Tory learns to sing if he wants to be selected as the parliamentary candidate in a safe seat. Ministerial colleagues and officials in the Treasury say that his grasp of the issue was later enriched by the experience of serving as chancellor. By then, Brexit was a fait accompli.

Quote:First such accord after leaving EU was predicted to bring £15bn boost but UK now lags rivals The first major free trade agreement signed by Britain after Brexit has been branded a failure after new figures showed exports had fallen since it came into force. Liz Truss signed a “historic” deal with Japan as trade secretary in October 2020, describing it as a “landmark moment for Britain”. It was claimed it would boost trade by billions of pounds and help the UK recover from the pandemic. However, figures collated by the Department for International Trade show exports to Japan fell from £12.3bn to £11.9bn in the year to June 2022. Exports in goods fell 4.9% to £6.1bn and services fell 2% to £5.8bn. The decline is a significant setback for supporters of Brexit who claimed global trade with non-EU countries would help compensate for any losses from leaving the single market. One such deal, with Australia, was criticised earlier this month by the former environment secretary George Eustice, who said it was “not actually a very good deal for the UK”.

Quote:The official statistics watchdog has reprimanded the Conservatives for claiming the UK had secured £800bn in “new free trade deals” since leaving the EU, saying the figure includes deals rolled over from before Brexit. The UK Statistics Authority (UKSA) said it had written to the Tories about the infographic, shared last month by Michael Gove among others, also warning that the party should provide sources for such figures in the future.

Quote:The cost of materials and labour for construction have increased more steeply in the UK than the EU since the Brexit referendum, new research has found. Analysis of data from EU member states, the central EU database, Eurostat, and the UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy show that between 2015 and 2022 the cost of construction materials including cement, timber and steel increased by 60%. At the same time, the cost of labour in the UK went up by 30%. In the EU, where similar pressures including supply chain and Covid problems applied, the cost of materials went up 35% while labour in countries such as Denmark and the Netherlands went up by just over 14%.

Quote:A British bicycle entrepreneur says Brexit has buckled his business and left him with a £100,000 hole in revenues, accusing the government of failing to do enough to mitigate its impact on British small exporters. Cycloc, which has made a name for its distinctive indoor bicycle storage and accessories and includes Stella McCartney, Jonathan Ross and cycling star Mark Cavendish among its customers, says the EU represented 50% of its business before Brexit left it nursing a 25% decline in overall sales. “It is very disappointing. I am a naturally optimistic person, but in a sense it is very difficult to be positive,” said the company’s founder and designer, Andrew Lang, in his studio in east London.