This is a reissue of important data
Conventional wisdom says that the UK received an economic boost from joining the EEC, wrongly called the Common Market at the time. It also alleges there was a further boost from the EEC transforming itself into the EU and completing its so called single market in 1992.
I believe in checking the data. If you look at the graphs and charts of our economic output there is no sudden favourable burst in 1973-5 when we first joined, and no sudden surge in 1993-5 when the EU announced single market completion. Nor is there any sign throughout this period of any upward tilt in our economic performance, however slight. If you gave people the charts and asked them when a significant favourable event occurred they would not have chosen 1973 or 1993.
Worse still is that in practice both our time in the Common market and in the single market impeded our growth and helped destroy important parts of our industrial base. These were the years of big decline in everything from fishing to steel and from market gardening to shipbuilding.
The 20 years from 1953 to 1972 prior to our entry into the EEC saw the UK grow by 95%. That was a growth rate of 3.4% a year. I have left out 1945-1952 as years obviously boosted by recovery from a war and affected by demobilisation.
The next twenty years in the Common market, 1973-92, saw our growth slump to just 42%, under half the previous 20 year period. That was an annual rate of 1.76%
If we then look at the 28 years 1993 to 2020 when we were in the single market and customs union, total growth was 59%. That was an annual growth rate of just 1.66%.
So we grew much slower in the EEC/EU than out, and slower still once the restrictive and bureaucratic single market was completed. These numbers flatter the later EU period as they are not per capita. They are not adjusted for Labour’s relaxation of control on economic migrants after 1997. Our per capita performance has been very poor recently.
February 17, 2026
Good morning.
The EEC / EU is not about economics but about politics. Everything is designed around the belief that a single European entity, called the EU, would be far better as a single national government than many differing ones.
After the WWII France and Germany agreed to never go to war again. To this end they created the ECSC, for runner of today’s EU.
Because the EEC was so mis-sold to the British public it took us decades to realise what it really was – A supranational government.
I do not care about the economic arguments for the EU. We are not discussing the reality of what it really is.
February 17, 2026
Agreed Mark, the CM/EEC/EU was always about creating a political united states of Europe to prevent future internal conflicts.
Sir John, you should expand you analysis to include he growth rates of other western counties and developed nations. You will find that these countries collectively and individually achieved much faster growth than the UK did over the decades of EU membership. It always confuses me why nobody presents this data and explains the cost of the EU in terms of economic drag.
Reply I regularly set out the great out performance all this century so far by the USA and explain why the US wins and the EU loses.
February 17, 2026
@Mark B
+1
February 17, 2026
It did not take a lot of people “decades”, even as a teenager and too young to vote I was against joining – but voters were given no choice by the dire Ted (three day week Con-socialist) Heath. Then Wilson gave a (post joining’ “Common Market” dishonest referendum with a biased question. It was patently anti-democratic and is now even more so – doubtless why the appalling anti-democratic Starmer wishes to re-align/rejoin.
When all the main political parties support something like the EU, net zero, the minimum wages, ever higher taxes, ever more red tape, wars against landlords and small business, the NHS structure, excessive planning restrictions… it is almost invariably a very bad idea.
February 17, 2026
Those who were arguing to remain in the EU largely used emotional arguments (the let’s all be friends in Europe hold hands and sing the Choral symphony together). Those like Enoch Powell, Peter Shaw, Tony Benn, Foot, Richard Powel, Varley, Castle used rather more rational/logical arguments. I was of the love Europe hate the anti-democratic EU view. Heart or Head? What is the point of voting in a UK government that is not really in power due to the un-democratic EU.
February 17, 2026
A supranational, anti-democratic and hugely costly government using a broken compass with no real control from voters at all.
February 17, 2026
I cannot believe that 10 years from the Brexit vote we are still having to have these discussions.
The EU forvthe average British pets was a disaster, for the EU it was a goldmine.
Most legislation was designed to favour France and Germany at the expense of Britain.
We now have a PM who hates this country and is he’ll bent on sliding us back into their orbit.
Reform have made it clear, as with renewable subsidies that they will cancel any agreement detrimental to the UK and after the debacle of the local elections, 2TK should take note.
February 17, 2026
It started in the way you describe but quickly devloped into ‘Ever closer union’ with the aim of forming a new state that would replace the USA as the most powerful state in the western world. That is why it has been undermining NATO for decades, duplicating NATO structures and, unlike NATO, the EU takes political control of forces from member states taking part in EU military operations. In NATO political control of forces always remains with the state providing them and the sovereignty of states is never impugned. Such a voluntary principle is unacceptable in the EU as it would undermine the EU’s supreme authority over member states.
February 17, 2026
There is no economic justification for EEC/EU membership and there never was. Those who support it do it for political reasons, not economic ones.
It’s an attempt to build a United States of Europe, governed by a self-selecting and “on message” Elite with just a pretence of democracy: the institutional structure is similar to the USSR.
The Remainers / Rejoiners like Two-Tier try to use an economic argument because they don’t to use the political one because it would mean admitting that the intention is to completely destroy this country’s independence and that of the other nations of Europe.
Well done to Nigel Farage and Reform for forcing Two-Tier to drop his anti-democratic attempt to cancel Local Elections. I’m sure the Labour and “Conservative” Councils, who seized the opportunity to deny their Council Tax payers the right to vote on who is spending their money, are very happy that they will be held to account in May.
February 17, 2026
Indeed “There is no economic justification for EEC/EU membership and there never was. Those who support it do it for political reasons, not economic ones.” No economic justification for almost everything this Labour Government has done either unless you want economic vandalism.
Surely the Labour and Tory councillors who went along with this appalling attempted suppression of democracy should be totally wiped out!
February 17, 2026
+1
So Rachel Reeves states that the government has “created the conditions for growth,” Surely she missed out “to kill growth”. Can anyone suggest anything that has been done by this government which might encourage or create growth?
February 17, 2026
I see Mr jelly fish as U-Turn on people voting in local elections, reality check or what , what next u-turn on the CU or SM in the EU don’t hold your breath this is all these bunch of muppets want because they along with the EU don’t have the intelligence to run a bath let alone a country, the start of labour’s demise will come next week in the by-election then they will be like rats in a sack
February 17, 2026
When a country runs a trading deficit with other countries the options for growth of GDP are limited as any growth is being taken up by the other countries.
Unless exports increase massively as a result of any agreements there is no real benefit to anyone except the companies themselves.
Without the incoming goods, that demand needs to be satisfied by a country’s own internal market.
February 17, 2026
It would be a great idea if our host got together with GBNews and presented these graphs and data – as nobody else is telling the truth on this matter.
It would be a counter-weight to Starmers deceit on the subject.
GBNews are open to such debates on this subject where other media just give out the internationalist’s misinformation.
Reply I have said these things on GB News, and most recently even on BBC 5 Live in a rare interview.
February 17, 2026
Good to have all this confirmed but my memory is that the myth of UK’s economy being boosted by membership of the EU was well and truly busted during the EU referendum debate, probably by Briefings for Britain. Odd thing about human nature: it finds myths comforting and in some cases propels believers into paroxysms of rage and hate, especially when the myth is disproved.
Now, however the argument is no longer about the economy. It is about globalisation and human rights. This is Starmer’s lifetime’s ambition. He and his gang in government and fellow Fabians see the EU as an essential step towards global socialist government, which Fabians believe should replace nation states. Starmer’s gang is happy for us to pay billions to get UK subjugated to the EU for this reason alone. They are anti-democratic and they don’t do God so happily allied to Islamists.
Somewhat off topic but related, a myth fondly revered in Australia is that the British betrayed the Australians at Gallipoli in 1915. It’s balderdash as their own official military histories, eg., the history of the Aus 1st Div, show but in Australia the myth is considered to be beyond dispute and a foundational myth of the nation of Australia. At least it explains why so many Australians have a chip on their shoulders.
February 17, 2026
Yes, I believe you M’Lud but the Jury never see’s that data and the common belief is that Brexit has damaged our ecomomy. Very few commentators defend your views and virtually no other politicians argue it. The Conservative Party should have been driving home this message both before and after 2016 but it did not and the reason is very clear. Much of the CP was very much in favour of EU membership and in my view this is still true. I’d like to believe Mrs Badenoch has purged these Liberal / pro-EU tendencies but I’m afraid deep in my heart I don’t. That is the real dilemma at the heart of the “Conservative” problem over the next three years and it is one that I cannot see a solution to. Personally, I will not vote for any party that has a majority of sitting MP’s who are pro-EU.
Reply The modern Conservative policy agrees with this analysis, opposes the bad government re set and has no wish to re enter the EU.
February 17, 2026
When we joined in ’73 we left all that growth in the years following WW2 behind – we joined a new model where we were part of something new and to do that we pooled sovereignty and economy of scale in order to pursue economic greatness within a different framework. However we joined and then we left and It was a big mistake as the decision to leave was not based on sound logic or due diligence but rather on nostalgia and a search for the Empire past – a big mistake by the deluded and those who advised us because had we not joined the EEC in 1973 the Empire was still going to fade.
February 17, 2026
People keep telling me that we our poorer for leaving the EU. When I ask what they mean they usually trot out the 4% statistic. When I point out that our growth since we left the EU has been in line with all the major EU economies and ask if they are saying we would have outperformed them by 4%, something which never occurred during our period of membership, they have no answer.