And now for something completely different: The United Kingdom commits economic suicide

By Patrick

It is difficult to find the right words today, but I will try. If you are being misled by very foolish people, you will get very foolish results, Here at Politicalgates, I have often written about the power of propaganda, and now we can witness the power of propaganda first hand - again.

There was rarely a country which needed the European Union more than the United Kingdom. The wealth of the United Kingdom results mainly from a large financial industry which is part of the large service sector, in combination with oil reserves in Scotland. The service sector provides about 78% of the GDP of the United Kingdom. It is huuuuuuuge.

Ever since Margaret Thatcher decided to kill the UK industry and made the switch to an economy which is based on the service sector, the UK economy desperately needed open markets and foreign labour. It was also helpful that the bankers in London could develop lots of fancy financial instruments, and only had to fear the milder UK banking regulations - but with the possibility to sell all these fancy financial instruments afterwards within the European Union.

There would be much to say about all this, but this catastrophic "Brexit"-vote showed that in Britain arguments do not matter too much, when nationalist emotions are so much more appealing. We want to be free! We want to be independent! No immigrants! FREEDOM!

Also: "SAVE THE NHS!" The NHS is the "National Health Service" of the UK, a cherished institution, because it provides "free" healthcare for the young and old, the rich and the poor. Of course it is not "free", but paid by taxes. Anyway, despite the fact that American right-wingers try to tell you that universal healthcare is an invention of the devil, the British actually love their NHS.

So what the heck has the NHS to do with the European Union or the Brexit? Actually, I was asking this question myself just a few weeks ago when I saw footage of "Leave"-campaigners with NHS-signs, just like in this photo:

"Save our NHS" - sure, yes, but what has this to do with the "Brexit"...?

Only today I realized the connection. Of course, it was just propaganda, made by pretty evil people for pretty naive people.

The "Vote Leave" campaign seriously argued that leaving the European Union would "save the NHS", and the tabloids, who were complicit in spreading the "Leave"-propaganda, happily jumped on the bandwagon:

Yes, who likes "freeloading health tourists"...! Nobody! Get the hell out, you freeloaders, we are leaving! Don't come back!

Also, the "Leave-campaign" seriously argued that 350 million pounds each week could be spent on the NHS, if the money does not have to be handed over to the European Union. See the following clip with a statement by Gisela Stuart, who was the chair of the official "Vote Leave" campaign. FUN FACT: She was actually German and immigrated to Britain in 1974!

Well, first of all, the sum of "350 million pounds every week" is complete bollocks. Unfortunately, I found the correct information only in the German version of the German news magazine "Der Spiegel"  - translation:

The British government does not send 350 million pounds to Brussels every week. Thanks to the special status, that was negotiated by Margaret Thatcher in 1984, this weekly payment is reduced to 250 million pounds. If you then deduct the billions, which are flowing each year from the EU to the island, there remain only 110 million pounds which constitute the British "net payment" every week.

For this "net payment", the UK receives: Three millions of people from the EU which live in the UK, who spend a lot of money there and who pay taxes. The UK also receives free access to the European markets, and much more.

Boris Johnson, the former London Mayor and prominent "Leave"-campaigner, who appears to be rather "Trumpian" these days, loved to present himself in front of a big red bus displaying the message that 350 million pounds could be spent on the NHS every week, instead on the EU:

See also this clip with Boris Johnson, published two days ago - Quote: "350 million pounds per week is a very eye-catching figure":

It was all a joke, of course. Right-wing populists like Boris Johnson, as well as "UKIP"-leader Nigel Farage love propaganda. They don't like facts, and they also have no hesitation to walk back their "promises". This should be a lesson for US voters as well, who have the choice this year to elect snake-oil-salesman Donald Trump.

Nigel Farage today explained on British TV that this great "promise" to spend 350 million pounds on the NHS, a promise which certainly appealed to many voters, should not be taken seriously,

What were the other promises? Oh yes, immigration. The "immigrants", the "freeloaders"...for years, this has been a favorite topic of the UK tabloids:

The advantage of immigration? Don't know...it's all so complicated, isn't it. Far too complicated for the common voter, that's for sure.

In a democracy, there are politicans who are elected and who are able to deal with problems. It seems that the UK politicans were not able to solve the problems of the country, and as a result, the majority of the voters pulled the emergency break.This will now cause serious problems for years, and many people as well as businesses will suffer.

On the internet I found a very good report about the possible consequences of the "Brexit", published in June 2015 by UK experts. In typical British understatement, they outline the possible disastrous consequences of the "Brexit." There was perhaps too much understatement in these type of studies. They simply could not compete with the gripping tabloid headlines about the nasty immigrants...

Examples from this study:

"Some business would be likely move to Eurozone financial centres or be lost to Europe".

Yes, this is very likely indeed. While it is true that London would probably still be a large financial center, new reports estimate that the banking sector could lose about 40,000 jobs, mostly to Europe.

Quote:

Other banks have been more upfront in saying that it would have at least some of their staff exit London. Last week, Morgan Stanley said it would relocate as many as 1,000 workers if the U.K. was to leave the EU. J.P. Morgan Chase, prior to the vote, said it was likely to move 4,000 employees out of Europe. But on Friday morning after the vote, Dimon said JPMorgan was committed to keep a large staff in London. Still he said J.P. Morgan is likely to move at least 1,000 people out of London.

“For the moment, we will continue to serve our clients as usual, and our operating model in the U.K. remains the same, Dimon said in a memo to staff obtained by Business Insider. “In the months ahead, however, we may need to make changes to our European legal entity structure and the location of some roles.”

The following excerpt from the study also does not sound fantastic:

In addition;

"The majority of published studies find the impact on the UK would be negative and significant."

That's why you need experts who are in charge, and why you should not gamble your country away...

The funny thing is that I myself should not be sad, because it is very likely that Frankfurt will profit immensely from the developments. Frankfurt is the ideal location for the financial institutions, it is already the leading financial center on the continent and has the necessary infrastructure. It also provides much more comfortable living conditions than London.

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However, I am very sad indeed. Many British citizens will suffer as a result of foolish policies and foolish politicians.

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UPDATE:

Yes, this happens when you manipulate the voters:

Plenty of contestants today, but I think we can agree that she won the day.https://t.co/ClZ1F3LXJO #BrexitVote

— Anup Kaphle (@AnupKaphle) June 24, 2016

EDIT: The deleted video is still available HERE.

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 UPDATE 2: 

John Oliver about the Brexit - and the Brexit-campaign, simply brilliant as usual:

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UPDATE 3:

The UK "Independent" newspaper published a clip in which snake-oil-salesman Nigel Farage throws around the "10 billion per year to the EU" claim and says that he wants this money to be spent on hospitals and schools. 

Of course, none of this money will ever be spent on hospitals and schools, this was all just cheap propaganda. In order to gain access the EU market, the UK will have to spent virtually the same amount, just a Norway is doing now (the EEA contribution) - and will at the same time have no say in any of the measures adopted within the EEA.

Also, the UK will most certainly have a considerable loss in taxes due to the economic turmoil and loss of jobs that the "Brexit" will cause, so there won't be more money to spend. 

If you put yourself in the hands of foolish and insincere people, you will get fooled.

It is a huge tragedy that the British have been subjected to decades of anti-EU propaganda, but nobody ever seems to have properly explained to them the great advantages and benefits of being an EU-member.

Watch: