Richard Tice on leaked Brexit forecast: “What a load of absolute rubbish!”

Watch as Richard Tice, the Leave Means Leave Co-Chairman talks about the leaked forecast analysis done that attempts to demonstrate that the North East of England would be significantly worse off with a “no deal” Brexit.

Mr Tice says: “the reality is about this, and with economic forecasts, especially with forecasts that are 15 years out; garbage in equals garbage out with these economic models”

He continued by saying: “these models were produced by the same people whom during the referendum campaign; the treasury and the civil servants said within a year we would be in deep recession, we would lose 500,000 jobs, the tech firms would leave, banks would leave…what a load of absolute rubbish”

“…we have got 400,000 more people employed in this country, record low levels of unemployment, and we have got so much to celebrate and the great thing is, the opportunity is just beginning.”

He goes on to explain that near Darlington, if the UK leaves the Customs Union we could have a “free port”.

What are the “Free Port” opportunities in a post-Brexit UK?

• Free Ports could create more 86,000 jobs for the British economy if they were as successful as those in the United States.

• Free Port jobs would mainly be created in areas outside London where economic need is higher. Of the UK’s 30 largest ports, 17 are in the bottom quartile of Local Authorities when ranked by the ONS’ Index of Multiple Deprivation and three quarters are in ‘below average’ Local Authorities.

• Leaving the EU will enable Britain to capitalise on the Free Port opportunity. Today, the EU Customs Union and EU State Aid laws make this almost impossible.

• Free Ports have a broad appeal that could command bipartisan support, allowing the policy to act as a rapid response to Brexit.

• A Free Ports policy is fundamentally simple and is supported by a wealth of international precedent – making implementation possible over a short timescale.

• Ports are already a vital strategic asset for the UK economy, accounting for 96% of all trade volume and 75% of trade value.

• A Free Ports programme would build on an existing UK strength and reconnect us with our proud maritime history: Britain’s port infrastructure is world class, and the UK ports sector is already the second largest in Europe.

Source: http://www.cps.org.uk/publications/the-free-ports-opportunity/