Project Fear Watch
How much money are we willing to sacrifice for Brexit? How many livelihoods? How many lives?
During the referendum campaign, just about every warning of potential drawbacks to the UK’s departure from the European Union was dismissed as “Project Fear”.
Sure, there was hyperbole. Hyperbole has been a part of political discourse for as long as there has been political discourse. When you’re presenting the case against a proposition, you don’t set out the best-case scenario.
But on this occasion, even the soberest, most reasonable predictions of even the more neutral commentators were met with screams of “Scaremongering!” Which is odd, given that even some of the more rabid Leavers quietly admitted that the UK would almost certainly suffer some damage, at least in the short term.
Every time a financial expert was quoted as expressing reservations about Brexit, the Leave camp would trot out a contradictory prediction from a different economist. If a business leader spoke out against leaving, they’d find another who was in favour. If an academic was anti, they’d produce one who was pro. This gave the false impression that opinion was evenly divided, that there was practically nothing to separate the two sides.
But the reality is, 90% of all economists were against Brexit. Some weren’t sure, and only about 5% thought it would be a good idea. Similarly, the majority of business leaders and an overwhelming majority of academics warned of dire consequences. And slowly — perhaps more slowly than expected, partly because of Theresa May’s dithering — we are beginning to find out just how right they were.
So on this page, I’m going to try to keep a record of Brexit bad news stories. It’s not going to pretend to be balanced — why should I be balanced? The Express isn’t balanced, the Mail isn’t balanced, Breitbart and Infowars sure as hell aren’t balanced — and it’s not going to be comprehensive, because I simply don’t have the time. If you like, you can help out by posting useful links in the comments below. I will, however, try to link as far as possible only to sources broadly regarded as reputable.
The point of this is not to say “I told you so”. Well, not entirely. It’s more about keeping tabs on things so that we can learn from our mistakes and try not to be such dead-eyed twats in future. Will there come a point when people admit that the cost of Brexit is too high?
Economy
Few benefits to 15% fall in sterling
Spending on clothing hits five-year low
UK labour shortages reported as EU worker numbers fall
UK faces big squeeze in living standards
Post-Brexit surge in economy comes to an end
Food ‘could rot in fields’ without cheap migrant labour, say farmers
Goldman Sachs to reduce City head count by half
Lloyds, JPMorgan Chase, HSBC Holdings, Lloyds Banking Group and UBS Group to move jobs out of London
Hi-tech financial firms flee amid Brexit doubts
London ‘no longer best place’ for fintech startups
Cosmetics firm Lush to move expansion plans abroad
1,000 jobs at risk as shoe retailer Brantano goes into administration
Brexit will cost UK 30,000 jobs in finance sector
40% of games companies considering relocating to EU
Brexit-related bank moves could cause financial instability across Europe
Rolls-Royce posts record losses after Brexit
BMW to pull production of E-Mini from UK
Airlines ‘will have to relocate to Europe after Brexit’
UK will lose €40bn of direct EU funding after Brexit
Brexit jeopardises £487bn of US investment in UK
EU and UK ‘heading for economic cold war’
Vote begins to bite as rising food and fuel bills hit retail sales
Portion sizes shrinking to hide rise in import costs
Customs gridlock could damage UK trade
Brexit migration controls could push retirement age beyond 70
Leaving EU could cost UK billions in extra tariffs
100,000 euro clearing jobs under threat
Parts of UK that voted Brexit ‘most vulnerable to its effects’
UK inflation rate rises to 2.3%
UK loses EU ‘crown jewels’ of banking and medicines agencies
Higher education and research
UK universities tumble in world rankings over Brexit concerns
Applications to UK universities down 7% since Brexit vote
Erasmus scheme may exclude British students after Brexit
UK will be ‘poor cousin’ of European science after Brexit
Heriot-Watt University announces axeing of 100 jobs
Britons ‘bumped off’ EU medical research grants
EU academics already planning to leave UK
Consumer
Apple raises price of apps by 25%
Apple laptops go up by as much as £500
Microsoft PCs rise by up to £400
Toblerone maker reduces weight of bars
The Great Tesco Marmite Shortage Scandal
Brexit set to push up price of champagne and prosecco
Price of chocolate bars set to rocket
Price of Guinness, Baileys to rise because of Brexit
Confectionery sizes to shrink after Brexit
Cost of making a car in UK could rise by £2,400
Sound system manufacturer Sonos raises prices by 25%
Brits may have to pay to visit Europe after Brexit
UK tourists will have to pay mobile phone roaming charges after Brexit
Social
Brexit may be final straw for some couples
32-year-old man who has lived in UK his whole life told to take citizenship test
Dutch woman who has lived in UK for 30 years may have to leave (Two of many such cases)
Applications for Irish passports rise by 42%
3 million EU citizens could face ‘deliberate hostility’ policy
EU citizens face legal limbo after Brexit
Britons living in EU face Brexit backlash
Hard Brexit means hard border for Ireland
Brexit jeopardises Northern Ireland peace process
Brexit threatens territorial status of Gibraltar
Damaging Brexit could fuel Welsh independence movement
Ending free movement is no quick fix for low wages, say Lords
Immigration unlikely to fall by much after Brexit
Sturgeon seeks second referendum on Scottish independence
Global reputation
Brexit has damaged UK’s reputation among young Europeans
Race hate crimes/far right terrorism
No, they’re not “fake news”.
Brexit jeopardises fight against terrorism
Vile solicitor launches racist tirade at mother and son on train
Man kicks Muslim woman in stomach, causing her to lose unborn twins
Hate crimes have risen by up to 100% since Brexit
Man kicked to death by gang ‘for speaking Polish’
Gang inflicts serious head injuries on teenage refugee in Croydon
The cowardly, brutal murder of Jo Cox MP
Other
Warnings of customs chaos at ports in event of hard Brexit
EU working to push UK out of Euro space agency
Brexit will delay nuclear power stations
Senior civil servants considering stepping down over Brexit tensions
Gibraltar poses threat to post-Brexit aviation access
Ryanair will have to suspend flights in absence of Brexit deal
EU countries line up to host European Medicines Agency
Racing industry concerns over end of free movement for horses
Top orchestra quits Britain over Brexit migration clampdown
UK Sport warned of more Brexit funding cuts
Number of EU nurses coming to UK down by 90% since referendum vote
Thousands of doctors may quit UK after Brexit
600,000 could lose access to clinical trials
Top chefs refuse to move to London because of Brexit
Brexit could hinder UK efforts to fight corruption
Since I’m probably not going to be updating this as often as I should, for all the latest on the EU clusterfuck, check out Jon Henley’s excellent weekly Brexit briefing for the Guardian.
NB: The jolly impressive Brexit Shitstorm Forecast is a much more comprehensive resource on the same subject. I don’t want to steal their thunder. However, since it tries to be both compendious and balanced, there’s a lot to get through. My page will just consist of edited lowlights.