I asked a question of Lord Livermore, Treasury Minister, when he presented the Chancellor’s statement providing an up date on the Middle East impact on the UK economy. I pointed out the Chancellor said she had pledged to other countries in Washington that the UK would not place any additional restrictions on trade . When then would she cancel plans to impose high carbon border taxes or tariffs on imports? He ignored the question and complained of my support for Brexit.I pointed out after Brexit we kept tariff free trade with the EU.
He said”
Lord Livermore “It was estimated at the time to be costing us some 4%, subsequently estimated to be 8%, of GDP, so he has put up massive tariff barriers with our biggest partner, which is not something that is in favour of free trade. He talks about it being tariff free, but he knows that the trade barriers in place are equivalent to some 20% in terms of tariff.”
He was wrong that we put up massive tariff barriers with the EU. There are no tariffs. He then alleges with no evidence and no examples that there were new presumably non tariff barriers that were costly.This is also wrong. He misconstrues the 4% figure which was a bad long term estimate whose veracity cannot be fully tested until 2035. The OBR said that by 2035 our growth might be 0.25% a year less on average post Brexit, not that there would be a 4% fall in GDP. He then compares it with an 8% study which rightly said we could fall well behind the US, as is the whole EU! That too did not say GDP would fall or had fallen by 8%!
This is dreadful. There was no attempt to answer an important exploration of the Chancellor’s international pledge. I could also have added that the government has been busy putting up steel tariffs.
May 1, 2026
Exactly JR.
I see that Baron Livermore (economics at the LSE) was chief strategist to Gordon Brown during his tenure as Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer. The excellent book “Gordon is a Moron” covers Gordon’s disastrous period as Chancellor selling the gold at the bottom of the market, debasing the currency, wrecking pensions, the disastrous independence of the Bank of England, the Equalities Act, the damaging tax credit system, the vast over taxation and over regulation, the decline public services, the decline in law and order… see also David Starkey’s “How Labour Broke Britain” video on the Skeptic and Blair was worse than two World Wars (Blair & Brown as Chancellor).
May 1, 2026
His 2008 banking crash and the botched Lords Reforms too.
May 1, 2026
Your site has been unresponsive, bit like poor Lord Livermore.
May 1, 2026
Hilarious that after all this time you STILL don’t understand what a non-tariff barrier is.
Reply I fully understand. The Minister talked about tariffs which do not exist!
May 1, 2026
You do not resolve trade barriers buy giving away the governance of your country, large chunks of your commercial entities nor pay ludicrous amounts of danegeld for no real gain – except easier passport checks for euroluvvies on their way to holiday jites.
While we were in the EU the vast bulk of trade with other members was import of goods from there, the “common market” had no accommodation for services, nor did all but the latter two trade agreements the EU negotiated.
Perhaps if the euphiles had achieved tangible benefits for the majority of people in this country the referendum outcome would have been different. But instead of acquiring a bit of humility you decided to accuse everyone who disagreed with your nirvana of being uneducated.
Speaking of … what you don’t seem to understand is that there are always non-tariff barriers and counter competitive practices to trade even when you have a trade agreement.
May 1, 2026
No, he talked about the cost of nontariff barriers. Which you don’t understand
May 1, 2026
A crucial element of the democratic process must be that the government can be held to account for it’s policies, decisions and actions, this relies on those in temporary authority being transparent and respecting the duty they owe to the people they are governing. It has been very clear that the socialists respect neither the people nor democracy and if they refuse to be held to account under the democratic process then another way must be found.
May 1, 2026
Robert Peston has conducted a podcast with the author of the study which said that Brexit has cost 6-8% of GDP (‘the rest is money’). It is hardly an interview, as peston just amplifies the points made and reminds us that he “warned people every night on his programme on ITV that Brexit would make them poorer”. It is useful to be reminded just how biased such supposed independent commentators were. There was of course no mention in this conversation of the following facts: the UK is saving c. £20bn pa in EU contributions; regulatory divergence in areas such as AI is already yielding benefits; trade has boomed since Brexit, contrary to forecasts; plotting UK growth against that of major EU economies there is no sign of the underperformance which was projected by project fear.
That said, it is difficult to discern much benefit either. My conclusion is that to date, economically at least, Brexit has made little difference either way. But the pod is worth listening to. it’s dismissive, de haut en bas tone is very typical of the genre, with not the slightest attention paid to evidence or arguments which don’t suit the narrative.
Perhaps Mr Peston will invite Lord Redwood on for a future episode for a proper debate on this topic.
May 1, 2026
The enemy within
May 1, 2026
It’s getting more and more difficult to find out what’s going on in the world. Clickbait has taken over. The real news, like the trials of the 3 men accused of firebombing Starmer’s property and the Manchester airport fight are kept from the public. Why? Every year, we become more like a communist state. Does anyone know of a news outlet that genuinely provides an unbiased view of what going on that isn’t behind a paywall?
May 1, 2026
What did you expect? It seems to be a member of this apalling Government, distorting the facts and being economical with the truth is a basic requirement.
There is a complete lack of respect for the voters and people of the UK, a refusal to face hard truths, and an ability to bluster and evade reality.
The PM’s disgraceful behaviour at PM’s questions tells you all you need to know about him and his character.
Equally, his refusal to increase defence spending urgently in an unsafe world, with two major wars going on, shows how feeble and unreal his worldview is. You can’t believe a word he says.