Damien

Trade isn't just about tariffs though it's about regulatory alignment, customs checks and, in the specific case of the EU, workers' ability to move back and forth. We know the problems in Dover for example. The amount of red tape and paperwork added to trade increases time and cost.

As an example remember the arguments we had on here about Just in Time manufacturing. That doesn't hold if there are delays moving parts in/out of Britain.

I just don't think it's arguable that Brexit hit our economic performance. I think it's a bit mad that should be seen as controversial. That you could leave a massive economic block like the EU, don't really replace it with anything (which was initially the argument from the Brexit camp), and pretended it didn't have an impact. It's also true that COVID played a massive part as well coupled with general economic incompetence from the government and topped off with generally low productivity that we also seem to have had a problem with.