Leave it on the shelf!!

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.

 

But what can the ordinary person in the street do about this,? ...with little 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, to help small British firms... if it is not UK produced, leave it on the shelf !

 

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!!

 

 

Facts and figures from the House of Commons:

  • The EU, taken as a whole is the UK’s largest trading partner. In 2018, UK exports to the EU were £289 billion (46% of all UK exports).
  • Thankfully as reported by ONS in May 2020 our exports to the EU are down to around 8% and have increased accordingly to the rest of the world!!
  • UK imports from the EU were £345 billion (54% of all UK imports).
  • The UK had an overall trade deficit of  minus £64 billion with the EU in 2018. A surplus of £29 billion on trade in services was outweighed by a deficit of -£93 billion on trade in goods.
  • The UK had a trade surplus of £44 billion with non-EU countries. A surplus of £83 billion on trade in services outweighed a deficit of -£39 billion on trade in goods.
  • Services accounted for 40% of the UK’s exports to the EU in 2018. Financial services and other business services (a category which includes legal, accounting, advertising, research and development, architectural, engineering and other professional and technical services) are important categories of services exports to the EU – in 2017 these two service categories made up 52% of UK service exports to the EU.
  • Wales, followed by Northern Ireland and the North East of England had the highest percentage of goods exports going to the EU of all the countries and regions in the UK in 2018. The East of England followed by Northern Ireland had the joint highest proportion of goods imported from the EU.
  • EU tariffs are generally low but are high on some goods, especially agricultural products.