'Project Fear' bites the dust
It is less than six weeks since Brexit was proclaimed on June 23, a historic date in the history of the United Kingdom. How easily now do we forget the dire prophesies of the Remain campaign, since we have sailed serenely along since Brexit.
The sky has not fallen in. We have not had to have an emergency budget. The British stock market is riding high. It is true that the value of the pound has fallen, but this has had an immediate beneficial effect on tourism. There were those who feared to wake up to find that we were no longer European. Nothing could be farther from the truth, as huge numbers still take continental holidays. Housing prices have held up, and the price of food in supermarkets remains the same.
While David Cameron resigned as prime minister – quite rightly in my opinion – Theresa May took over and immediately went on a tour of the continent. She demonstrated that while we are leaving the EU, we are still friends with our European allies. Furthermore, we are still trading, and the global outlook is promising, with some 29 countries actively seeking trade deals.
All that's left is to remove ourselves financially from the clutches of the EU. Here I will quote from the diary-blog of John Redwood, M.P., with his permission.
The UK currently hands over £19 billion to the EU every year. We get £9 billion back in services and the rebate which means when we Vote Leave we will be able to guarantee all the funding to farmers, universities and regional grants that currently come from the EU and still have £10 billion more to spend on our priorities like the NHS.
There you have it from a reputable source. The farmers and the scientists have nothing to fear. We will have an extra £10 billion to spare on priorities like the NHS. This is a fact and not a “whopper,” as Nicola Sturgeon declared. Boris Johnson and his team of Andrea Leadsom and Gisela Stuart are vindicated.
Incidentally, how wonderful it is to have a foreign secretary in Boris Johnson, who can speak colloquial French and Italian, as well as Latin, and can even break into song in German. His Spanish is okay, too. So he can charm the birds with his humor and is already doing so.
What a difference a day makes – so goes the popular song. What a difference five weeks and a day have made already. The Re-Moaners have been proved wrong on every count. Christine Lagarde of the International Monetary Fund promised serious trouble for us, but the truth is different. If there is trouble anywhere, it is in the Eurozone.
The prospects for Great Britain have rarely looked better. We only wait for Article 50 to be declared in order to cut the umbilical cord. What are you waiting for, Prime Minister? It cannot come a day too soon.