Brexit: ‘No pressure’ for Joe Biden to strike trade deal says expert
The Prime Minister said the country has now taken back control of its destiny, laws, borders and money as promised. Economists have heralded an economic golden era for the UK as it shakes off European Union controls. Mr Johnson recorded a Christmas message in which he described the trade deal as “glad tidings of great joy”.
The PM told the nation how the deal means the UK has ‘taken back control’ of its laws and destiny (Image: PA)
Holding up a copy of the document that charts Britain’s future as an independent nation, he said: “I believe it will be the basis of a happy and successful and stable partnership with our friends in the EU for years to come.”
The deal was finally signed off on Christmas Eve after four years of bitter wrangling following Britain’s vote to leave.
Mr Johnson spoke later in Downing Street to tell the nation how the deal means the UK has “taken back control of our laws and our destiny”.
“We have taken back control of every jot and tittle of our regulation in a way that is complete and unfettered,” he said.
Britain will cement its place as a world leading economic powerhouse as it reaps the benefits of Brexit, experts have said.
European markets are “declining catastrophically” while the UK’s new freedom means it can build up trade relations with countries on the rise.
The UK is forecast to leave France trailing in its wake, even if Scotland breaks away from the historic union, according to a major new report.
It found Britain’s financial system, infrastructure, educated workforce and diversity means it will remain one of the strongest economies in the world throughout the next decade and beyond.
Experts predict Britain will cement its place as a world leading economic powerhouse (Image: PA)
The Centre for Economic and Business Research (CEBR) said even with uncertainty over Brexit since the referendum, the UK economy continues to be one of the better performers in Europe.
Its forecast is also on the more cautious side about Britain’s future as economists were mixed about the impact of Brexit.
Douglas McWilliams, founder and deputy chairman, said Brexit will hit the economy next year (2021) but will have a positive impact in the long term.
He said the UK has focused for too long on the “soft target” and relatively “cushy” market of Europe despite its share of the world economy “declining catastrophically”.
He said: “Brexit will force us to concentrate on the other markets, even though initially they will be harder to get into.”
He said most of the downsides of leaving the EU are linked to trade in goods, which will become less important as the UK becomes more service focussed.
The CEBR founder predicts the City will do a deal with New York and the Asian centres that will give the combined group an advantage of about a quarter of a percent in cheaper cost of capital.
That would enhance London’s position as the leading financial centre in the European time zone.
Douglas McWilliams said Brexit will have a positive impact on the economy in the long term (Image: JLA)
At the start of the next decade, the UK will still be the world’s sixth-biggest economy, according to CEBR’s annual World Economic League Table (WELT), which is produced by international economic forecasters.
China will overtake the United States to become the strongest performer. India is predicted to take third place, followed by Japan with Germany dropping a place to fifth.
By 2035, the UK’s economy is forecast to be 23 percent larger than France, because it leads it in technological development.
It predicts Britain will remain a creative centre attracting talent from overseas but the countries workers come from will change. Mr McWilliams said: “We have a huge competitive advantage in this tech based sector which the pandemic has kicked forward.
“Most of this is pretty Brexit proof provided the UK continues to attract talented people. The sector is often measured late by the statisticians which is why the UK’s comparative position keeps getting revised up.
“And it looks as though this sector will keep the UK up in this table over the next 15 years despite the likely disruptions caused by Brexit.
“The forecast lead over France by 2035 is so large that even if Scotland left the UK and England didn’t benefit, the rest of the UK economy would still be larger than France’s.” The CEBR’s forecasts, written before a Brexit trade deal was struck, were based on the assumption there would be an agreement.
Kay Neufeld, head of macroeconomics at Cebr, said: “While European countries accounted for 19 percent of output in the top 10 of the WELT ranking of 2020, the share will fall to just 12 percent by 2035.”
The report found “issues of cohesion” in the UK and said devolution to Scotland and Wales had “fired the flames of nationalism”.
New major reports forecast the UK to leave France trailing in its wake (Image: Getty)
Northern Ireland has negotiated a “potentially advantageous position” where it is part in the EU and part outside but it questions if the position is sustainable if too many businesses take advantage of it.
The UK is ranked 8th in the world for ease of doing business, “well above most other European countries” – the second highest level in Europe after Denmark and one place higher than last year.
A Treasury spokesman said: “Since the start of the pandemic we’ve invested over £280billion to protect millions of jobs and businesses across the UK in a response which has been praised by the IMF as one of the best examples of coordinated action globally.
“Our economy’s strong fundamentals mean we’re well placed to bounce back from the pandemic and to lead the way in innovation, technology and the green industrial revolution. Doing that will also help deliver on our number one priority – creating jobs.”
