Reeves must move beyond honeyed words to improve relations with the EU
Closer relations between the UK and the European Union will boost economic growth, said chancellor Rachel Reeves, kicking off her visit with EU finance chiefs, today. But there’s a problem with the Labour government continually talking about its desire for a “reset” with Europe after the chaos, controversy, pettiness and hostility that characterised the various Conservative administrations that preceded it. The severity of Brexit’s impact on its economy is hard to overstate, and prompted a highly unusual intervention from the Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey, who said while he took no position on the decision to leave the EU “per se”, he felt he had to “point out the consequences” for the British economy which it is weighing on. Accountants’ organisation, the BDO, said business confidence had fallen to its lowest level since January last year, with companies facing “faltering consumer demand”, in addition to increased costs.
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