Jacob Rees-Mogg has dismissed claims Brexit hit trade - here's why he's wrong | indy100

Jacob Rees-Mogg claims the British elector is 'very pleased with the leader ...

Independent

You would probably expect someone with the job title 'Minister for Brexit Opportunities' to wax lyrical about Brexit and its opportunities, but in doing so by dismissing concerns that Brexit has hit trade, Jacob Rees-Mogg has attracted a flurry of criticism.

Asked by the BBC about falls in trade during a visit to the port of Felixstowe, Rees-Mogg said Covid had caused "the most enormous disruptions to supply chains" and defended an "extremely beneficial" Brexit.

"We've had containers simply being stuck the wrong place, being stuck in Chinese ports, being stuck in the port of Los Angeles," he added.

"This has been a global trade issue - and we do have to recover from the problems of Covid".

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Asked whether Brexit had reduced UK trade, he replied: "I think Brexit has been extremely beneficial for the country.

"I think the evidence that Brexit has caused trade drops is few and far between."

But there are a few problems with his claim. Today, new ONS figures revealed that UK exports to EU countries shrunk by a record £20bn in just 20 months.

Meanwhile, a recent survey, carried out by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), found that 71 per cent of businesses felt the EU trade deal was not enabling them to grow or increase sales and the majority of exporters said Brexit had pushed up costs, increased paperwork, delays, and put the UK at a competitive disadvantage.

And research from the Centre for European Reform concluded that in October 2021 the UK's trade in goods with the EU had been 15.7 per cent or £12.6bn lower, than it would have been without Brexit. Then there's this recent PAC report...

All this and more was pointed out by people on Twitter:

Jacob Rees-Mogg says evidence that Brexit has damaged trade is "few and far between". \n\nHere's what the government's own Office for Budget Responsibility say.pic.twitter.com/DyAoH0rhuF
— Adam Bienkov (@Adam Bienkov) 1645082961

Minister for Brexit opportunities Jacob Rees-Mogg says there is little evidence leaving the EU has harmed trade\n\n...despite overwhelming evidence that Brexit has in fact, harmed trade.https://www.joe.co.uk/news/brexit-research-proves-leaving-eu-has-harmed-business-317687?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=PoliticsJOE&utm_campaign=feed\u00a0\u2026
— PoliticsJOE (@PoliticsJOE) 1645051136

Little evidence apart from empirical fact that is.https://twitter.com/bbcpolitics/status/1494057240675893252\u00a0\u2026
— Jolyon Rubinstein (@Jolyon Rubinstein) 1645083024

He\u2019s lying again.https://twitter.com/bbcpolitics/status/1494057240675893252\u00a0\u2026
— Prof Paul Bernal (@Prof Paul Bernal) 1645089910

Little evidence Jacob Rees-Mogg tells the truth. It would be one thing for a government minister to argue that the 15-percent trade reduction with the EU is worth some bigger prize, whatever it may be. But it\u2019s something else entirely to lie.https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-60407234\u00a0\u2026
— Anton Spisak (@Anton Spisak) 1645049417

Jacob Rees-Mogg says "the evidence that Brexit has caused trade drops is few and far between". Other than the evidence of the actual, official trade statistics, but they were produced by "experts", so can probably be discounted.
— Nick Tyrone (@Nick Tyrone) 1645085808

Rees-Mogg: "The evidence that Brexit has caused trade drops is few and far between."\n\nThere is something quite extraordinary in gov't ignoring the economic data provided to it by the OBR - the body gov't created to provide it with economic data. ~AAhttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-60407234\u00a0\u2026
— Best for Britain (@Best for Britain) 1645093391

Elsewhere on this merry trip to the port, local MP Natalie Elphicke was questioned about the benefits of Brexit and whether it could have possibly contributed to traffic jams near the port. But she remained adamant that Brexit was pretty good, despite people telling her otherwise.

Decent start to the Brexit opportunities gig, then...

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