A couple of weeks ago, I was unfortunate enough to fall foul of an LBC radio presenter who asked me on his show to respond to a Opinium poll that concluded 44% of Brits think Brexit is harming the UK economy. It turned out not to be an ‘interview’ as such, more of an ‘interrogation,’ one in which I was bombarded with a long list of negative statements – most of which concerned further dismissive polls from organisations wedded to the EU – and not given much of a chance to respond. All the exercise proved was how easy it is to choose ‘facts’ to fit your story. There has been plenty of good news to show Britain is beginning to boom again. Gradually, we are emerging from the horrendous economic damage done by covid lockdowns and the restrictions they put on trade, meaning that, finally, as a nation, we can start taking advantage of any Brexit benefits.
A quick rundown of recent ‘wins’ I’ve picked up within the past 14 days:
• Norton Motorcycles has opened a new factory in Solihull, creating 50 more jobs, with capacity to produce 800 motorcycles every year
• ITM Power is opening a second factory, spending £55m and creating 300 jobs
• Almac Group has announced it is investing in 1,000 new jobs
• Coca-Cola is investing a fresh £11m in Britain
• British Salt is opening a new manufacturing facility in Cheshire
• Appledore shipyard has landed a major new contract with the RNLI
• A consortium led by Rolls-Royce has secured £450m to develop small nuclear reactors
• Royal Dutch Shell, the oil giant valued at more than £125bn is to make the UK its sole home
• Airbus’ wing assembly plant in Broughton has landed a new contract for 255 jets
• TVR is opening a new manufacturing plant in Ebbw Vale in Wales
• Tiger Trailers is ramping up production and creating 50 new jobs at its £22 million Cheshire factory
• The Oxford-manufactured AstraZeneca covid jab saw the company post a record £1 billion in quarterly sales for the vaccine
• The Ministry of Defence has awarded a £100m contract to a consortium of firms led by British defence firm Babcock
• BAE Systems has acquired a new factory in Barrow to support its submarine programmes
• Ultra Electronics has won a £65m communications contract with the Ministry of Defence.
• British cinema chain Cineworld’s revenue was 27% higher in October this year than pre-pandemic
• British Airways is hiring 4,000 new staff
• Associated British Foods is opening 100 new shops in the US, France, Italy and Spain…
…Actually, that’s probably a long enough list, but I could go on.
Of course, it is not all good news. We are certainly not out of the woods yet. The collapse of 21 energy companies since August because of shockingly high increases in wholesale gas prices; the threat of rising inflation; and ongoing supply chain issues which are causing shortages in several industries are indeed bad news. However, these are global problems, and we are not alone in Britain in experiencing their not-insignificant impact.
Moreover, our jobs market has not – as many feared – collapsed along with the end of the furlough scheme. Unemployment stands at just 4.3%. Even the worst case scenario suggests, I would argue, that we are not going to do any more badly than anyone else in the face of global pressures, and will probably do much better. This morning’s news that the government is to roll out a concrete Made in the UK, Sold To The World plan to boost the UK’s annual exports to £1 trillion by the end of the decade – including a new UK trade show and an expansion of support via UK Export Finance – is another sign of hope. At last, perhaps, doom-laden polls notwithstanding, the future is finally looking quite bright again?
