So much for the Brexit 'crisis' - it was scaremongering all along
It's already clear that the hand-wringing doom-mongers have got Britain – and Europe – badly wrong.
By Michael Toner
August 22, 2016
IB Times
Look, I don't mean to be unkind. I know it's hard, being on the losing side.
I understand your pain, truly I do.
But I'm afraid I can't help myself. I can't resist the occasional giggle. Sometimes – I know I shouldn't – it even means breaking into a loud guffaw. It happens every time I hear the bleatings of yet another true believer in the EU.
We heard quite enough of them during the referendum campaign, the great and the good, the wise and the wonderful, who warned in the most lurid terms of the miseries that would ensue if ever Britain dared to vote against the warm embrace of Brussels. From President Obama to our then Chancellor George Osborne the message was the same: Don't do it. Or we're all doomed. Doomed!
Even after the astonishing result – astonishing anyway to all those pundits who never travel north of Watford – bewildered Remainers couldn't believe that the common peasantry (otherwise known as the voters) could possibly have rejected the conventional wisdom. Those of us who voted Leave were derided on social media as "sewage" or "scum". We were apparently as thick as yesterday's porridge, almost certainly racist and far too old to understand the issues.
Millions of sore losers immediately signed up to a petition demanding a second referendum (as we know, a speciality of the EU whenever foolish voters make the "wrong decision"). Baroness King of Bow, a former head of diversity at Channel 4 TV (there's glory for you) assured us that the Out result would lead to "impoverishment". Other unelected peers threatened to wreck any Brexit legislation. Platoons of luvvies informed us that they were ashamed of living in a country that could have got a decision so catastrophically wrong.
But for me, one of the most entertaining responses was from TV historian Dan Snow, who tweeted: "Britain didn't achieve greatness by accepting defeat. In that spirit, I absolutely refuse to accept this. #NeverBrexit." So stuff the voters, eh, Dan? Well done! No doubt the world's most disgusting dictators would agree with every word.
Yet here's the thing. The louder the complaints about the Brexit result, the sorrier a spectacle irredentist Remainers make of themselves. How pitiful they appear, when their warnings have so far proved to be badly, dismally, overwhelmingly wrong.
During the referendum debate, Leave campaigner Michael Gove came in for some pretty ferocious criticism for saying we'd all had enough of "experts". But didn't he have a point? The same crew of "experts" who failed to predict the last financial crisis, who wanted us to join the euro and before that argued for us to join the doomed Exchange Rate Mechanism are exactly the same people who predicted disaster if we voted for Brexit. And what, I wonder, is the collective noun for such a bunch of eejits? I can think of a couple, but they're not printable in a reputable publication.
George Osborne, for example, with the entire weight of the Treasury behind him, warned of the need for a Draconian emergency budget in the event of a Brexit. There would be "a profound economic shock" he predicted, talking down the economy in a way no previous Chancellor would have dreamed of. If he believed a word of such scaremongering, he would be too dim to be Chancellor. And if he didn't believe it? Then the reckless dishonesty of his claims – and the impact they could have on the real economy – would make one wonder whether he was ever fit for office.
Consider the realities – so far – of life after the Brexit vote.
Share prices across the board have rebounded healthily after the initial shock. Consumer spending roared ahead last month, with retail sales up nearly six per cent compared with a year ago. Unemployment is now less than five per cent, with the number of people in work at its highest level since 1971.
And the collapse in investment that we were warned would follow an Out vote? It hasn't happened. Meanwhile the credit ratings agency Moody's predicts that Britain's economy may slow down but won't sink into recession. It forecasts a growth rate of 1.5 per cent this year and 1.2 per cent next year – nothing to crow about, but quite respectable in view of the sluggishness in the world economy. Why, the government even managed to achieve a budget surplus last month.
Now, I'm not for one minute pretending that all is for the best, in the best of all, possible worlds. Brexit is undoubtedly a shock, not only to our economy but to our whole system of government. Disentangling ourselves from the EU is a task that will take decades, with many an unwelcome bump on the way.
Meanwhile the apparent resilience of our economic performance isn't quite as impressive as it appears, since it is largely dependent on borrowing – both by the government and by households. Britain's productivity remains poor. And the boost to our trade brought about by the devaluation of sterling may well not last.
But even if there are problems ahead – and there certainly will be – it's already clear that the hand-wringing doom-mongers have got Britain – and Europe - badly wrong.
Such is their gullibility that they see nothing but good in a sclerotic, third rate, corrupt and undemocratic EU. Such is their defeatism that they see nothing to celebrate in the opportunities open to a vibrant, thriving Britain with the confidence to determine its own destiny. Yesterday's people. What else should we do but laugh, when they can't see that the world has moved on?
Brexit: So much for Brexit 'crisis' - it was EU scaremongering all along
(((Ed Smith))) @EdSmith288 
