Article 3SJWS Enough Brexit fairytales. In the real world spending must increase | Phil McDuff

Enough Brexit fairytales. In the real world spending must increase | Phil McDuff

by
Phil McDuff
from Economics | The Guardian on (#3SJWS)

Leaving the EU won't result in a bonanza for public services but neither will it plunge them into renewed austerity

Theresa May has spent the weekend trying to convince people that there is such a thing as a "Brexit dividend" with the dead-eyed look of a minimum-wage sales assistant trying to get you to sign up for the extended warranty. It's obvious nonsense even she doesn't believe in, but her job depends on going through the motions, so go through them she will.

May's newly announced NHS spending promises come with the vaguest funding plans possible. She announced yesterday that "as a country taxpayers will need to contribute a bit more, but we will do that in a fair and balanced way," which could mean almost anything. Mostly, though, she is relying on the notion that money we used to send to the EU will be freed up for other things. This claim has been comprehensively, utterly debunked ever since it first appeared on the side of Boris Johnson's infamous bus. The Office for Budget Responsibility and the Institute for Fiscal Studies have both pointed out, again, that it won't happen and has no relationship to reality. It's a lie, and at this stage it's not even a very good one.

Related: May's NHS 'Brexit dividend' claim draws scepticism and doubt

Related: There's no light at the end of this tunnel. Just more pain | Polly Toynbee

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