In a few days it will be 10 years since the British voted in a referendum to leave the European Union. Today the country is poorer, and the structural problems that plague British society seem to be deepening, media and analysts note. Britain's problems, however, date back long before Brexit.
How did one of the richest countries in the Western world - Britain - become a place where people have a standard of living similar to that of Mississippi - the poorest American state, asks the magazine “Atlantic".
The cost of Brexit
10 years after the referendum that changed the direction of the island, GDP per capita in Britain is 6-8% lower than it would have been if Brexit had not happened, according to data from the US National Bureau of Economic Research. At the same time, investment is 18% lower and productivity is 4% lower, writes „The Guardian".
The UK also turned out to be the worst-performing country in the G7 in terms of the speed with which the workforce returns to the labor market after the end of pandemic-related restrictions, writes Richard Partington.
The poor pay the price for crises
But Brexit is not the only reason. Before the global financial crisis in 2008, the average household income in Britain had just surpassed that of Germany, notes Idris Kalun in an extensive article for „The Atlantic". The pound was worth more than $2, and London was on track to replace New York as the center of international banking.
Today, British wages lag significantly behind those in Germany, France, the Netherlands, and Denmark, and if the trend continues, within a few years the average Pole will have a standard of living equal to the average Briton.
It all started with the crisis, which hit Britain hard, as well as most major economies. In the years that followed, the government in London decided to pursue a strict fiscal policy and cut spending, including from the social and health systems. The National Health Service fell into crisis, there was a shortage of staff, funds, and beds, the infrastructure is in poor condition, and today about six million patients - one tenth of the population - are on the waiting list for treatment. Meanwhile, the number of children growing up in poverty has jumped from 14 to 23%, notes Calhoun.
The cuts in social spending are hitting the poorest hard, and they blame globalization, in the form of elites and migrants from the European Union, who are convinced that they are taking their jobs, as the main culprit. To save himself from growing populism, Prime Minister David Cameron decided to hold a referendum on EU membership, not expecting to lose it. Resignations, short terms, accusations and polarization followed. Since 2010, Britain has had six prime ministers - and each of them blames the opposition or their internal party opponents for the crisis.
How does the person responsible for Brexit benefit from its failure?
Meanwhile, the effects of Brexit, as well as the refusal to invest in alternative energy sources, are making production extremely expensive for British businesses. In the period 2004-2024, energy tripled in price and is now the most expensive in the world, we read further in the text of “The Atlantic”.
Both the Conservatives and Labour, who have dominated British politics for most of 40 years, are in losing positions. And the main winner seems to be only one - Nigel Farage. But how does a man responsible for Brexit manage to capitalize on dissatisfaction with the consequences of it. “Farage offers an attractive answer to the question “Who ruined Britain?”: characterless elites, inefficient civil servants and unwanted immigrants,” writes Idris Kalun. "Even if the country's problems are beyond his ability to solve, he can at least promise that those listed will bear their responsibility", summarizes the author of "Atlantic".
Yet Britain is not doomed, he believes. The country's governments simply need to address the problems properly, rather than ignore them and look for an external culprit: "To stop the current trend of decline, it will be necessary to acknowledge a harsh truth. What ruined Britain was not Brussels, bad luck, or the bankers. The British ruined Britain. To fix it, they must first stop ruining it even more."
Alexander Detev Editor