Speaking this week at the University of Manchester, where he is an honorary professor of economics, Mr Osborne admitted that his forecast of an immediate economic shock had been wrong. “It didn’t happen but we didn’t really leave the EU. We are discussing it. It is taking us a couple of years,” he said.
But he is convinced that he was correct about the longer-term impact of leaving the bloc, pointing to the big drop in the value of sterling after the referendum and figures released last week showing the economy grew by just 0.1 per cent in the first quarter of 2018.
“The last GDP number was 0.1 per cent. We went from being the strongest growing western economy and we are now the slowest growing economy in Europe,” he said. *It is not something I take any pleasure in at all.”
“We are living with the uncertainty that leaving the EU is creating for any business looking to invest in this country. I don’t think the rest of the worldlooks at Britain and thinks [this decision] will have no impact on the economy,” he said, adding that because of the drop in the value of sterling, “if you are paid in pounds you are poorer and our country is poorer”.
Despite his reservations, Mr Osborne believes it is too late to stop Brexit, but he acknowledged that the terms on which the UK leaves are “a big open question”. [...]
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