The mayor of London calls for that the Sunak Government communicate brazenly concerning the harm brought on by Brexit | International | EUROtoday

For London, a metropolis open to the world wherein the English are a minority, Brexit was at all times extra tragic than in the remainder of the United Kingdom. And though paradoxically the financial system of the metropolis has resisted this divorce higher, its EU melancholy stays extra intense. That is why the Labor mayor is a unfastened verse in a celebration that, underneath the management of Keir Starmer, has made peace with the previous.

“I would prefer not to be talking about Brexit again,” Sadiq Khan advised company on the annual dinner that the City Council organizes with the buyers and businessmen of the metropolis monetary establishment of London. “But part of the mayor’s job is to defend the city. We have to be honest. Brexit is not simply a secondary concern that we can leave behind. “It is a key factor in the cost of living crisis we are suffering today and has been the cause of many lost opportunities, lost businesses and lost income, at a time when neither companies nor individuals could afford it,” Khan has assured.

London City Council has commissioned the consultancy Cambridge Econometrics, with which he had previously worked, a report on the consequences of Brexit, three years after its entry into force. The data is devastating. Not only because of the damage already caused by the divorce between London and Brussels, but also because of the projection that the study reflects for the next decade, until 2035.

If in 2023 the Gross Added Value of the United Kingdom is 6% less than what it would have been if it had remained in the EU, that is, about 162,000 million euros, the figure will rise to 360,000 million in 2035. If Brexit has meant 1.8 million fewer jobs across the country – 300,000 fewer in London – within a decade that loss of job opportunities will reach three million jobs.

On average, each Briton is 2,300 euros poorer in 2023 due to leaving the European Union. In the case of Londoners the amount is much higher, reaching almost 4,000 euros.

“Rather than dodging or avoiding the issue, it is imperative that we all have a mature and honest discussion about the best way forward. It is obvious that Brexit has not been good. The hard version we end up having [con salida del mercado interior y el espacio aduanero de la UE] It has weighed down our economy and pushed up the cost of living. Food is more expensive, which increases pressure on households and has a negative impact on sectors key to our success such as hospitality, construction and financial services,” stated Khan.

Distance with the Labor Party

The London mayoral elections shall be held subsequent May. General elections within the United Kingdom are deliberate, as advised by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, for subsequent autumn. But whereas the polls are smiling on Starmer, giving a median lead of 18 share factors to the Labor Party, Mayor Khan’s forecasts are a lot much less rosy. His recognition has deteriorated lately, and controversies such because the rise within the car congestion fee or the enlargement of the Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ) have decreased his possibilities of repeating on the head of town. Khan clings to the banner that Londoners, way more than the remainder of the British, maintain alive: the battle in opposition to Brexit.

The mayor’s request to open a realistic debate on the advantages of becoming a member of the EU inner market or its customs space goes far past what was promised by Starmer, who has restricted himself to making sure that he’ll attempt to renegotiate the present Trade Agreement, when the overview interval opens in 2025, to attempt to receive concrete enhancements. Starmer is conscious that the wound of Brexit doesn’t damage as a lot within the north or middle of England, conventional supporters of Labour, as in cosmopolitan London. 60% of Londoners voted in opposition to leaving the EU in 2016.

At a time when immigration is being utilized in damaging phrases as a political weapon and the controversy revolves round find out how to expedite the deportations of irregulars to Rwanda, Khan has known as for a debate on the difficulty “based on evidence, and not on the prejudices”. “I am not in favor of open borders or uncontrolled immigration. But we have a serious labor shortage, and we need to be honest about what is best for this city. We need both British and foreign workers to strengthen our public services and our companies, as well as for the capital and the country to move forward,” defended the London mayor.

Follow all the international information on Facebook y Xor our weekly newsletter.

_