Leave it on the shelf!!

Perhaps the UK is leaving at the right time in our history?

29th June 20: 

German is coming!

 

English may be the European Union’s lingua franca, but listen carefully in the corridors of power and you’ll find the language of Goethe and Schiller is on the rise.

 

German is gaining ground among the EU’s three official working languages as Berlin prepares to take on the bloc’s presidency next month. That’s not least because native German speakers occupy top positions, including Ursula von der Leyen at the Spitze of the European Commission.

 

Those in the Brussels bubble are taking note of this change..where will it lead to one asks?.

 

Sprechen Sie Deutsch?

While Brexit leaves just Ireland and tiny Malta as the EU’s English anchors, not everybody is predicting a change in the language of diplomacy.

 

“I think we’ve all gotten used to the fact that the lingua franca of Europe, and of the EU, is English, regardless of whether the United Kingdom is a member or not,” said Wolfgang Ischinger, a former German ambassador to the U.K. and U.S., who runs the Munich Security Council.

 #leaveitontheshelf

Britain's EU Trade

We have a trade imbalance with the EU, of over £90 billion!!   That means the EU sell us lots more of their products & services than we sell to them...in fact well over £90 billion worth.

 

A little on the plus side... after selling goods and mainly financial services to the EU...the excess comes down, but we still left with a deficit of over £66 billion!

 

But what can the ordinary person in the street do about this? ...we have little direct say in all that happens in our country and particularly Parliament!

 

Surely this amount of money would be better kept within the UK, creating jobs and wealth for our own people?  So, if you would like to help British businesses small & large... if it is not UK produced, #leave it on the shelf !  Just think, the population of the UK is 66 million people...if every person in the UK diverted another £1 to UK produce, the deficit would soon come down...faster if people bought UK produced cars!

 

WE can do the only thing that can possibly have an effect ...vote with our wallets.  The less we spend on EU food and drinks products the more that we divert our hard earned cash to our own food & drink producers. Just think every purchase of UK products helps secure or create a local job.

 

Let us for example say that the 17.4 million people who voted to leave the EU decided to buy only British products to help this imbalance.  No French wines & cheeses or No Italian wines and cheeses,  But I hear you say, I like Camembert and Procecco!  Well, Britain produces an equivilent, have a look! Camembert cheese and Procecco. 

 

Just think............... if these 17.4 million individuals spent their Family grocery shopping budget, buying purely Britsh products, where possible, it could mean keeping over a £1 billion in the UK economy over the period of a year!!

 

Now, with the Corona virus devastating the economy, It is even more important that we as a nation try and buy as much, Home produce and manufactured goods as possible. This will help keep jobs in the UK.  Have a look at the latest figures for our UK retail trades.

 

Here is the latest link for Office National statistics for our National retail trade

 

Facts and figures from the House of Commons Statistics:

  • The EU, taken as a whole is the UK’s largest trading partner. In 2018, UK imports from the EU were £357 billion (53% of all UK imports)!
  • UK exports to the EU were £291 billion (45% of all UK exports).
  • The UK had an overall trade deficit of -£66 billion with the EU in 2018. 
  • The UK had a trade surplus of £29 billion with non-EU countries in rest of World.
  • The share of UK imports accounted for by the EU fell from 58% in 2002 to 51% in 2010, though this has now been at around 53% since 2014
  • EU tariffs are generally low but are high on some goods, especially agricultural products.