Mar 21 2007
The questions Mr Brown will not answer in his budget
Amidst all the self congratulation about the UK’s economic performance there will be little interest in a sober appraisal of the weaknesses as well as the strengths of the UK economy.
We should ask these questions:
Why has Ireland grown three times as quickly as the UK over the Brown years?
Why are the Irish now enjoying higher living standards than us?
Why are companies leaving the UK to establish head offices elsewhere?
Why has UK productivity fallen over the Brown years?
Why do we now have higher inflation than our main competitors?
Why do we have such a large balance of payments deficit?
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John Redwood has been the Member of Parliament for Wokingham since 1987. First attending Kent College, Canterbury, he graduated from Magdalen College...
“Companies are leaving the UK to pay lower taxes in places like the Netherlands” - If Barclays does go then all the major banks will have to follow.
When I went to Eire I was amazed at the number of projects being funded by the EU. Has that helped growth?
The main reason for Ireland’s advantage is the tax rate.Scotland gets a lot of funding from the UK government, but it does not create a fast growth rate.
Ireland cut taxes & started fast growth in 1989 so it slightly predates Gordon. Nonetheless you are right about the cause - most of Ireland’s subsidy from the EU was naturally enough, in agriculture & this traditional Irish staple has grown slower than the rest of their economy.