The Sunday Telegraph, May 14
The post-pandemic downturn in British exports to the EU cannot be blamed on Brexit, a report has suggested.
The Centre for Brexit Policy said it was a “myth” that Britain’s departure from the bloc was mostly to blame for the shortfall in exports, pointing instead to a “combination of global factors” and the “distinctive pattern of UK exports”.
A report from the think-tank looked at why UK exports have recovered more slowly than other G7 countries since the Covid-19 pandemic.
It said that because of the distorting effects of the pandemic and the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine it is difficult to ascertain the “underlying drivers”.
But the report claimed that more than 80 per cent of the UK’s current shortfall in exports is in sectors that “cannot in any meaningful way be ascribed” to Brexit.
It said a heavy reliance on overseas sales of cars and aircraft components along with cutbacks in North Sea oil and gas production are the main reasons for the underperformance against international competitors.
Phil Radford, a trade analyst who wrote the report, said: “The UK’s particular mix of exports explains why UK trade was bound to underperform G7 countries in 2021 and 2022.
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Click here to read the report.