Capital Economy, Business and Finance
Five years ago a Telegraph columnist paused his jottings to become prime minister, deliver Brexit, slim down the British state and sharpen up Britain's sense of the possible. Five years on another Telegraph columnist laments the state of the public finances and Brexiters’ failure to make anything of Brexit. The first is now a Mail columnist. The second is Jeremy Warner, whose howl of anger at those who took the country out of Europe is essential reading, and not just for the shires. Warner’s twin inspirations are Singaporean president Tharman Shanmugaratnam, who told him the idea of Singapore-on-Thames was always a “ludicrous trope” unsuited to a mature economy like Britain; and Paul Johnson of the IFS, who’s spotted that even if Jeremy Hunt were to cut income tax by £7 billion in next week’s budget, the state will have grown by 3 to 4 per cent of national income over this parliament. Now, “geopolitical forces are remorselessly pushing the EU and the UK back together again,” Warner writes. Trade deals with India and the US are off. Ukraine is forcing Europe and Britain to cooperate on security. Starmer won’t rejoin the single market but whatever Labour negotiates may amount to “much the same thing”. Are you getting this, Sir Keir?