PINSTRIPE
We are constantly being told by the media that the British economy is performing dreadfully. The Scottish Government loves joining in with the same message but with the tedious extra twist that of course it’s all the fault of Theresa and the nasty Tories - anything to divert attention away from the fact that Scotland’s economy is underperforming relative to England’s.
The real shame though is that the basic proposition is not true - the British economy is in fact not doing that badly.
Unemployment at just over 4% is at its lowest for over 40 years.
In terms of economic growth you would think that the UK has lagged its competitors. Not so. Take France as a reasonable comparator. Last year our economic growth was almost identical to theirs but in the five years before that the UK economy grew much more strongly than that of France - approximately 7% more over the period as a whole.
Economic growth between countries is never perfectly co-ordinated so it is entirely possible that growth in France could be better than in Britain for a year or two . The fact is though that on average Britain is outperforming France and has been for a considerable period. An inconvenient truth for the doom-mongers.
Britain does have economic problems - poor infrastructure, lower productively growth than our competitors and, as a consequence, lower growth in real wages. This creates the situation, especially for the young, that in real terms standards of living have been stuck in a rut for a decade. The long squeeze on public spending, though necessary to bring public borrowing under control, has undoubtedly led to a deterioration in public services. These issues are not imagined, they are real - but they are also not insoluble.
Which brings me to Brexit. The media and political commentators seem determined that this is inevitably going to be a disaster. Like most of the guff we hear from these people it is complete rubbish.
If, as a result of Brexit, Britain turns it on itself, back to the 1970’s - divided, hostile to outsiders and replicating with gold plate every regulation the EU used to impose - then we could with a bit of effort create a homegrown disaster. Why instead don’t we try to make Brexit a success? To do that we need to come together not to pull part. Westminster needs to let go of a controlling mindset and only retain those powers returning from the EU if they really are needed to ensure the workings of the UK single market. The Scottish Government needs to back off, stop screeching and work with the UK Government as the people of Scotland need it to. A flexible, outward looking, confident Britain has little to fear in the world once the dislocation of leaving the EU is behind us.
If our politicians work together with a positive attitude business will not be long in picking up the signal. Companies, both British and those from other nations, do not want to relocate the operations they currently have in the UK to somewhere else in Europe, they only need to consider it because our politicians do not provide leadership and clarity. Britain is a naturally outwardly looking nation and a good place to do business in and, as long as our Governments in both Scotland and the UK don’t muck it up it can stay that way.
Playground splits in the Tory and Labour parties and posturing by the SNP for imagined political gain are doing us all no favours. A successful future is within our grasp.
Pinstripe is a senior member of Scotland's financial services community.
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