The referendum campaign was cheapened and degraded by accusations of lies. And the most vociferous accusers were the Remain campaign.
We were repeatedly told the Leave campaign were telling lies. The Remain campaign, on the other hand, had so-called experts on their sides. International colleagues with their own vested interests to protect waded in with advice for the ignorant British working class, who were too stupid to understand the issues. The IMF, the ECB and IFS were all quoted as expert opinion.
One of the arguments the remain campaign promulgated is now coming home to roost. They told us that the UK would not be able to negotiate good terms for the “financial passporting” arrangements. These, we were told, were essential for the UK’s financial sector.
Today we read that 13,484 firms use financial passporting arrangements to transact business between the UK and the rest of the EU. But only 5,476 British firms are using passporting to sell into the EU. Far more firms, 8,008 to be precise, are using the device to sell financial products into the UK.
Well, Mr Osborne, Mr Cameron and the rest of the Remain campaign, you kept that very quiet, didn’t you? So there may in fact be more for the European financial services providers at stake than there is for the City of London.