What a breath of fresh air the chairman of Lloyds Bank's comments are as the Brexit negotiations fall upon us. Considering banks' reputations were shattered in the aftermath of the 2008 Recession, it is nice to see one of them still speak financial sense. The Single Market is a poor deal for Britain. It has betrayed its original purpose since Margaret Thatcher helped establish it. What businesses across the EU must understand is that there is a significant difference between being a member of this body and having access to it.
'EU regulations have strangled small businesses'
When Mrs Thatcher created the Single Market, it was designed to provide member states tariff-free access to European markets. Granted, it still does this today. But what Mrs Thatcher did not intend was for the her creation to be employed as a mechanism to pave the way for a 'federal' Europe. The Euro has destroyed Mediterranean economies. EU regulations have strangled small businesses literally to death whilst large corporations have thrived (which explains why dozens of them wanted Britain to remain in the EU last year). The free movement of workers, which is a pre-requisite of Single Market membership, has alienated British people to the extent that they voted in overwhelming numbers to leave the EU altogether last year.
Why should anybody want to remain part of such a protectionist ratchet?
Many countries have access to the European markets without being a member of it. America, Canada, the list goes on. Yet these nations prosper. Why does Britain need to remain a member of it in order to thrive?
According to Matthew Elliott, the Editor of Brexit Central, before Mrs Thatcher died she predicted Britain's time to leave the EU was coming.
What a sad predicament from an iconic politician who campaigned for the UK to remain part of the original Common Market. So when big businesses threaten to scarper this nation, just remember that it is their problem if they cannot comprehend the complexities of the Single Market, which no longer functions properly.
