In a solid article in The Guardian on Sunday, William
Keegan, in his economics column asks
If Rishi Sunak fears for the deficit, why does he back Brexit? The Guardian
Sadly, supplying the answer is all too easy. Those
who have been baying to unlink from the EU almost since our membership – and
yes I know Sunak is too young for that but seems to have imbibed the notion
with mother’s milk – have always seen the EU as a regulatory weight around
their necks.
The British public has been trained by the anti-EU
brigade to see all such regulations as inherently bad – in the same basket as
all that “PC nonsense”. The reality is that it is bad for those who want to
exploit others for profit and not for ordinary people. Doing the right thing
has never been a negative for ordinary people.
The current crop of Brexit lunatics salivate for a
de-regulated society Thatcher could only dream of. And it is worth remembering
at this point in the UK’s history when this administration is all about
obfuscation, positioning and trying to pre-load our future problems into the
overstuffed excuses bin of covid – Brexit – deal or no deal is an economic
disaster. Remember – even those clamouring for it did not deny it. It’s just
that one of their many many lies was that it would be short-term.
Here in the UK we already live in an economy that
has seen hard won worker’s rights and standards eroded dramatically. Despite
the minimum wage, many workers now have much less job security working on zero
hours contracts and for the on-a-shoestring subcontractors of subcontractors whose
only goal is profit. Just last week the further horrors of ‘Sir’ Philip Green’s
cavalier attitude to workers who make up the Arcadia group has again hit the
headlines with MPs pathetically calling for the little shit (click here for blog 185. ‘Does
Sir Philip Green kick disabled orphan kittens in his spare time’) to cough up
some of his personal wealth – from plundered pension funds – to be used – well
– to fund the pensions of the workers he conned and exploited. Fat chance.
Unless you’ve lived under a rock for the past few
decades and believe in Trickle Down Economics (the theory – in brief – that
unfettered capitalism leads to economic prosperity with the subsequent economic
benefits of increased wealth at the top ‘trickling down’ to the poor!!!) sane
observers of global economics have long concluded that huge disparities in
wealth have always been an indicator of instability and anathema to healthy
ultimately prosperous societies.
Decent commentators – like Williamson – query why
Brexit is such a wet dream for the wealthy when it will mean economic chaos for
the country. But that is because too few still, in this day and age – will
accept that economic ruin for the country does not mean economic ruin for the very
wealthy. In fact economic ruin for a country whether through war or plague or
fiscal collapse means the complete opposite for those at the top. During a
depression economic life becomes a smorgasbord of opportunity for the wealthy
to get even wealthier. With cheap credit and failed businesses and desperate
workers and high unemployment it is literally ‘rich pickings’ by which I mean
pickings for the rich. When countries are going economically own the pan, rich
people get stinking rich. And if that seems unpalatable – read my last post
about those who profiteered (are profiteering) from the covid crisis with the
blessing and the cooperation of this very administration.
We need to understand that economic success or failure is not the same as prosperity or poverty for ordinary people. So, there
is every reason to understand why, while Sunak can claim he worries about the deficit, he is stull gung-ho for Brexit. He and his Tory tribe are rich. Simple.
Sunak and his ilk do not fear the economic suicide
of Brexit because vultures are never better off than during a famine…
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